My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem - My Dungeon Life – Chapter 1451-1453

Chapter 1451

“Alright, by my calculations, you’ll need to win 20 matches to earn enough cred to challenge the Catgirl of Doom. If you defeat her, you’ll have enough to make your announcement and recruit people.”

“What is cred? Seriously, is it a currency?” I asked, fidgeting with the mask on my face.

“I’ve already explained, cred is the amount of popularity you have… and stop playing with that! If people learn you’re a lord before earning the cred, then you’ll immediately lose the ability to earn cred.”

“If I reveal I’m a lord after earning the cred, then won’t I lose the cred anyway? In fact, won’t they be angry because I lied to them?” I asked, dropping my hands.

“That’s not how cred works!” She responded indignantly. “It won’t matter once you have the cred. They’ll come to respect you for acting on their level. Do you understand?”

“I don’t…” I admitted.

This whole thing sounded arbitrary to me. Either I should have their respect or not. Whether I can knock a few heads or not shouldn’t even come into it, let alone be the most important contributing factor.

“Look, I spent years in the underworld. You’re just going to have to trust me that this is how it all works. If you want to see that catgirl up close and have a chance to meet with her, this is the way.”

“Still, twenty fights. I only have less than a week now.”

“If you can handle four fights a night, then you can have them all done in five days. They recommend you don’t sign up for more than two. Even more than one is considered extremely cocky. Most will only compete every other night so they have one to rest. You’ll be fighting back to back. This kind of stuff is exhausting for most, but since it’s you…” She bit her lip awkwardly.

“I’m a white mage. I can heal all my wounds and continue. I understand.”

It would be five nights for me to earn my cred and find Lydia, and 2 nights to recruit whomever else would fight.  Of course, I still had the days to manage everything else. This seemed to be the best I could do.

“Alright.” I agreed. “In that case, let’s begin.”

I was eager to get this out of the way. Was I a bit overconfident in my abilities? After all, I was agreeing that I could defeat twenty matches in a row from skilled fighters and gladiators. Some of these people were undoubtedly adventurers or mercenaries too. I didn’t think I was overestimating my abilities though. Most of these people were likely in the 2nd tier of their jobs, while I was in the third to fourth-tier inability. There were only a handful of people, Kings and Dungeon Masters, who might have the ability to give me significant trouble.

If I presumed that Carmine and Bernice, two of the victors from the gladiatorial match from a few months ago, were near the top of contestants at the time inability, then the current me should be able to hand that level at least.

“Our next match, it’s Rex the Hex versus a newcomer who just signed up, Deacon the Dragon!”

“Seriously? That’s the name?”

“You said just come up with something. Isn’t that your name in another world?” Bernice demanded.

“It’s fine.” I coughed.

I just wasn’t used to hearing my real name. It was weird having that name to hide my identity. It was fine though. Maybe Lydia would recognize it and this would all be over quickly. One could only hope.

Chapter 1452

After signing up, I was let into a back area where I could prepare. This area was regrettably not the same as those in the higher-tier fights. As Bernice had already said, I was going to need to work my way there by winning fights in rapid succession. As I left the backroom, Bernice followed me, stepping to the side. A referee was standing just outside the ropes who seemed to be doing the announcing. As I reached him, he put his hand upon my chest.

“This is your first time, so I’m going to warn you, we don’t pull punches. If you die, you lose your life deposit so we can resurrect you. Also, you won’t be able to compete again for a month. Do you understand?”

“There are no weapons, right?” I asked, wondering how often people died with punches.

“Just because you can’t use anything sharp doesn’t mean you can’t enhance your attacks with skills.” He gave me a look like I was a newbie. “Look at your opponent.”

I looked over at him and then had to look twice. Unlike the other fights I had paid attention to, this guy was wearing a full set of armor. The thing I noticed most was that he had gauntlets over his hands.

“Gauntlet! Wait… are things like gloves and brass knuckles allowed?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “Of course. As long as it’s not sharp and it doesn’t propel from your body, it’s allowed. You don’t know what you’re walking in. I guess that’s why the bet is against you one to two.

“One to two?” I asked as an idea struck me. “Any chance you can bet on yourself?”

“Hehe… we believe in encouraging the underdogs to try their hardest. You can bet for yourself, but I must warn you that 20% of the bet is taken immediately. The winner splits it with the house 50/50. So, even if you bet on yourself, your earnings won’t be that great. As for betting against yourself, that is strictly prohibited for obvious reasons.”

I think I understood what he meant. A 5-gold bet would immediately have 20% taken, so it’d be a 4-gold bet. If I won, I’d get back 12 gold for every 5 gold I bet. However, that was only if I was an underdog with good odds. Once it got to the point where I was likely to win, I would no longer be making money. For the moment, I was still effectively the underdog, so I might be able to fix some of Alerith’s money problems right there just by making some bets. I took out a bag of coins and tossed it to Bernice.

“Ah!” She made a noise as she suddenly grabbed at it.

“Put it on me.” I declared.

“Heh… that’s a lad.” He chuckled. “Get on in.”

I stepped up over the rope and onto the stage. The man in full arm stood across from me. I held up my hands. I wasn’t a pugilist like Shao, but who knew, maybe I’d become one by the end of this as if I needed more jobs.

“Begin!” The referee cried out as the man charged toward me.

Chapter 1453

A fist slammed into my face. There was a time I seemed to recall really hating pain. I would do just about anything to avoid it. Sometime after my soul was cut in two and then I was forced to feel the pain of soul refinement, my outlook on pain had started to change.  I had allowed him to hit me because I wanted to get a feel for his level. Even with his gauntleted fist on, I had the mentality that any pain would be temporary. I could always just heal myself.

To these contestants, they would have to go to a priest to heal themselves, and most priest spells took time. It ranged anywhere from an hour to a few days, but the kind of instantaneous fixes I could do were a third-tier White Magician. To reach that level, you would have to first become a Basic Magician and then work toward Intermediate Magician.

Only then, dedicating your life to healing, would you finally be able to unlock the White Mage job and learn such healing spells. When it came to a priest, healing was one of the first spells you learned, and you could become a priest simply by joining a church and taking the vows. Truly, I had jumped my place when I came to this world, and even if I hadn’t understood it at the time, White Mage was truly an overpowered starting job.

When it came to contestants, these were commoners and others that were part of the underworld. Gladiators were often supported and sponsored by the wealthy, but these guys had no one. Even being able to afford a priest would be a costly maneuver. That meant that every strike you faced was meaningful. As the fist struck my face, the crowds immediately reacted with hisses. To them, such a direct strike would be something that might even handicap and contestant permanently.

“That was it?”

I let out such cocky words before I had even stopped to think about it. The man named Rex the Hex took several steps back, looking down at his gauntlet in shock. I wasn’t sure if I should play it like I was hurt, thus pretending I was weak to lure my enemies in, or if I should come out as overbearing. If it came to earning cred, which would be better?

That’s when I noticed that the gauntlet in his hand had something hidden in it. Had he not been staring at his hand in obvious confusion, I wouldn’t have noticed. I reached out and grabbed his hands like an adult would grab a child trying to hide something. He let out a cry, but he was too slow and too weak for my movements. I turned his hand over to reveal that within his gauntlet was a little blade.

When he punched, the blade must have come out and stabbed into the person, doing extra hidden damage. However, the reason he was caught off guard was that he had punched me, and the blade had not punctured my skin. It was only made of iron, after all. It had cut me slightly, but I had Regen on and the very small amount of damage it did heal before anyone could see it.

“Is this allowed?” I asked, holding up Rex’s gauntleted hand, revealing the trick.

He was still attached to his glove though and was trying to force the glove away from me, but absolutely couldn’t manage. The cheering all seemed to cease as people stared dumbfounded.

“Ah! D-disqualified!” The referee finally recollected himself.

I let him go, and the man turned and fled in embarrassment, being booed the entire time.

“Wait, was that a victory?” I asked as I left the ring past the referee.

“Since the match was disqualified, the bets will be returned, however, you’ll still be given a win.”

I felt like crying. Next time, I’d just punch them and collect my money.