The empire was no stranger to controversial policy. But there was one law that went above and beyond, causing so much division and repulsion among the detractors that the only reason it never got abolished was because those who hated it simply didn’t have the power to do anything about it—the Lordship Qualification Standard.
When it came to deciding who was to be Lord, only one thing mattered above all else, even loyalty, to an extent: power. To become a Lord or Lady, one had to be strong. And that was basically it.
There were a number of reasons why the empire employed such a standard. Like the fact that there was simply too much land that needed to be tamed. Or that those with power had a tendency to strike out on their own, making it easier to just give them what they wanted, lest they try to take it by force.
Needless to say, giving land based only on personal power had its downsides. There was no shortage of bloodthirsty, cruel rulers who sought to inflict horrors beyond imagining upon their subjects.
But regardless of how hard it was to stomach the downsides, as far as Lissia was concerned, these arguments were all petty nonsense; the spoiled chattering of those who had never truly tasted the despair which plagued the wider world, coming and going in waves of devastation and misery.
The empire had it well, for what it worth. There were places on New Earth that even hell would recoil at.
Ethics were a luxury. They came about from peace, from safety and stability. Humans loved believing themselves the apex predator, the tamer of the wilds, and the establisher of order.
In reality, they were still little more than animals, lost deep within the woods, countless eyes lurking upon their supple flesh from the cold, bottomless darkness around them.
Lissia had been born in the little years past the Rift—a mere two decades after it happened. Her childhood had been filled with death. Her adulthood had been filled with death. Her timeless age past moral lifespan had been, and still was, filled with death.
The empire couldn’t afford good people. It couldn’t waste time on the extravagance of moral values. If the psychopaths wanted their fun, they could have it.
As long as they were there to spear the skull of whatever horrible thing came from the forest, they could have anything they wanted. Happy or not, it was the only way those under them would remain alive.
Freddy Stern was a good man, as far as Lissia could tell. She didn’t judge him for that. Lords with actual morals still reigned better than despicable bastards, and the empire could only benefit from another solid head on a pair of broad shoulders.
What she cared more about, however, was that he was powerful.
Admittedly, she had had her doubts at first. Things which happened in subordinate territories tended to get… slightly exaggerated. There were many out there who would be blown away by the mere sight of someone just… killing a monster. Not even a particularly strong one, just… any monster in general.
Even the most mundane of accomplishments, when beheld by idiots, had a habit of transforming into an epic tale of a god-sent hero tearing the head off the dragon with his bare hands.
The tales of Freddy Stern were unreliable. Those who were close to him all had an agenda in making him look as good as possible, and those who weren’t had no clue what they were talking about.
Still, rumors could only be so exaggerated. Where there was smoke, there was fire, and boy, were the clouds of smoke positively billowing around him.
Lissia really hadn’t expected to see or hear much from the young man for another while. She had expected that he would waste a year or two of his life on hopelessly losing the fight against his soul damage before finally succumbing to the temptation to just down an elixir and be done with it.
Instead, he was positively thriving by every imaginable standard for someone of his age, background, and rank.
The boy’s appetite for combat and his sheer endurance was beyond anything she had seen in her life, and fully healed, she had no doubt he could face even mid-level three-stars. Even if he never overcame the Triple Block, he was already as valuable as dozens of ordinary three-stars by the mere virtue of just how much he could get done.
Usually, she would have waited for him to heal before doing an evaluation like this. But having heard of the ring he received, she simply couldn’t wait. She had been choking on smoke.
Now, she wanted to see the fire.
Her eyes glimmered with expectation as he made his way to the panel.
What will it be? Will you settle for the bare minimum I put before you, or will you push for more?
Beating a low-level three-star dummy in his current state would be a pretty significant accomplishment, but from what her gut was telling her, he could certainly do that much. What she wanted to see was how far he was willing to push himself. Would he dare add a second dummy? Just that much would make the fight more than twice as difficult.
The dummies were programmed by the best of the best. Two at once would work together, meaning they would provide a challenge that would add up to more than just the sum of their parts.
Or perhaps he would even be so bold as to try his luck against a mid-level three-star? That would be one hell of a spectacle.
Freddy approached the panel, bringing up the options.
Lissia watched with anticipation as he upped the difficulty… to high-level three-star.
Well. That’s just stupid.
Before the disappointment could even set in, the young man added two more dummies, selecting different types that would make for a seriously challenging party. And then he removed the safety features.
Is this a joke?
He seemed serious enough. Especially given that he pressed the button to confirm his choices with literally zero hesitation, having not even equipped any gear whatsoever.
Usually, she would stop him, but even with the safety off, the dummies were coded to at the very least avoid aiming for the brain. There was a staff of highly competent healers waiting a room over, and even if—or when in this case—Freddy got himself chopped into pieces, he would live. With his talent, he’d be just fine, his ego notwithstanding.
Even though she hadn’t had any plans to do so no matter what he did, she ultimately couldn’t stop herself from speaking up. “You do realize that you only have one shot at this?”
“I do.”
“Then I highly recommend you abort the session and start a new one, preferably with settings that won’t guarantee an instant loss.”
He smiled mysteriously. “Man I’m going to look like such an idiot if that happens.”
Lissia gave him a disbelieving glare as he chuckled to himself and made his way to the chamber.
Well… To be fair, anyone who would delve the way he did in his state had to have more than a couple screws loose.
Freddy swaggered into the chamber with all the confidence—or delusion—of someone with no doubt in his ability. Lissia remained outside, looking in through the large one-way mirror wall. There was a shimmering barrier in the middle of the room, keeping Freddy from reaching the dummies before the fight began. Once the timer reached zero, it would vanish.
The doors on the opposite side of the reinforced chambers opened, and three dummies walked out. The layers upon layers of black-runed enchantments on impact alloy gave them an intimidating look. They came in a variety of body types, and three getting ready for the session had a bulky male build holding a large shield and axe, a lean female build with a shortsword, and a thin, short male build with a charged crossbow standing in the back.
Those crossbows were immensely powerful. If it weren’t for the absurd recoil and the eye-watering cost of firing them, they would be extremely popular among archhumans below the fourth star.
The dummies got into position, and their joints lit up with a healthy green light, showcasing the current state of their bodies. Whenever they got hit, those lights would shift towards yellow, orange, red, and finally, completely turned off to signify death or disablement of limb.
Just as expected, they kept their distance, with the two melees positioning themselves to keep the ranger safe, the bulky tank there to protect it directly, and the slim swordsman hovering to the side, ready to flank and kite as needed.
Lissia released a frustrated sigh as she tapped the glass of her watch, sending a message to the medics to be ready to come over at a moment's notice.
The timer ticked down to thirty seconds.
She wondered whether this could be salvaged somehow. Oh well… At least I’ll get a good measure of his durability. The man was said to be quite tough, after all.
Just as the timer reached ten seconds remaining, Freddy leaned over and whispered something. That had to be the time-twisting spirit ability. Quite a rare find, that one. Spirit abilities that came at functionally no cost were not only rare, but they sold for a king’s ransom whenever they appeared. And this one was simply marvelous. The ability to experience time in slow motion…
Who knows? He might even land a good hit or two before he goes down.
The time reached three seconds on the clock. Then two, then one—
A deafening sound echoed through the chamber as the ranger fired the crossbow, the projectile just barely failing to catch the sped-up Freddy, who ducked and exploded forward with a burst of motion.
He moved fluidly, utilizing a variation of Hydraulic Flex to perform rapid bursts of movement in different directions, allowing him to dodge another two projectiles that followed shortly after the first one, conjuring a set of crimson scales all across his body, and two shields on his forearms before he reached the tank, where he swiftly conjured an oversized crimson sword, the black tattoo on his arm squirming as it enveloped it in golden-lipped darkness.
Just as Lissia got her hopes up that she might see something interesting, Freddy reached the tank, and then suffered a bolt right through his chest, inches from his spine.
It’s over.
The exit wound sprayed blood and gore into the air, exploding out his back like macabre fireworks of flesh, just in time to mark the arrival of the swordsman who speared Freddy right through the neck, failing to cut the spine but severing a painful slice out of the man’s throat, releasing another torrent of crimson liquid.
Rather than fall as any ordinary man would, Freddy’s muscles tensed, the grip on the sword tightening like an iron vice.
The blood he had lost shimmered, trails of energy moving towards the now-open, toothy mouths scattered about the surface of his sword.
Every hair on Lissia’s neck stood on end as the mouths sang a discordant symphony, time-dilated screams heralding the arrival of inevitable, devastating retaliation.
Freddy swung the sword in a broad diagonal arc.
The bulky tank exploded into literal pieces on impact, and the sword continued on to smash into the swordsman, who had tried to pull back, but lost a leg in the process.
Another twang of crossbow string banged, the menacing whistle of the bolt following after it. Freddy tried to dodge, but it hit his shoulder right at the joint, spearing through and severing it, completely disconnecting Freddy’s left arm, leaving it hanging by nothing but skin and a bit of muscle.
The sword yet again screamed in indignation, and this time, Freddy threw it—not at the ranger, who would have definitely dodged it, but at the swordsman, who was too wounded to step away in time.
The massive sword flew out with the momentum of an asteroid, smashing right through the swordsman’s chest and sending it careening back, tumbling into the far side of the chamber, the lights on the combat dummy going dark in an instant.
Freddy’s movements changed as five seconds passed, and the boost of his spirit ability ran out. Lissia noted with much interest that the light on the ring had gone out—ten seconds had passed from Freddy’s perspective after all, and the eight seconds he got to use his abilities were gone.
The golden-lipped mass of darkness slithered across the ground as it made its way back to its master, but Freddy didn’t wait for it, charging straight toward the ranger who was ready to fire another shot.
The man raised his right arm before his face. The bolt struck the shield, and Freddy’s entire body lit up with a faint sheen of blood energy. The shield cracked apart, but managed to prevent the bolt from piercing right through the man’s forearm, and subsequently, the back of his throat.
Freddy leaned forward, putting every shred of his power into speeding up, dropping his guard entirely. It was the only choice he had. The ranger was fast, and if he didn’t put everything into reaching it, he would be stuck getting kited in circles and whittled down.
He was barely fast enough to outpace it, which was still immensely impressive given he was only relying on his base physique.
But the ranger wasn’t in range yet, and it raised its weapon, ready to fire a shot right at Freddy’s mouth.
Freddy raised his hand, opening his palm as if getting ready to knock the projectile aside when it came.
There is no way.
The string twanged, and the bolt whistled. With an inhuman reaction speed, Freddy moved his head to the right and his palm to the left. He just barely made contact with the bolt, pushing it but an inch to the side, and he only managed to move his head so far. The bolt crashed into his cheek bone, shattering it and leaving his eye loose in its socket, then proceeded to cut the left side of his jaw away from the rest of his head.
It was a devastating, terrible blow that would have instantly knocked the vast majority of fighters down, or even out entirely. But he ignored it as if it were little more than a scratch, then sped forward to make the last few steps.
The ranger unsheathed a long knife, swinging right at his neck, but he accepted it with his palm, gripping the dummy’s fist to pull it off balance. Every muscle in his body tightened with flawless synchrony, and just as his awakened soul construct reached him, he immediately wrapped it around his shoe, which he thrust up in a perfectly aimed kick, landing a devastating strike right on the ranger’s chin, one loud and exact enough that it made Lissia wince.
The dummy’s head snapped back with a crunch, and the lights shut down.