After a few days, Orsted had to start thinking of creating a new weapon for himself again. The [black lightning gauntlet] was dozens of times weaker than his current body. Not a very useful weapon to wear all-time around.
Hence, Orsted just placed it in the inventory and used his claw-like fist instead.
Acquiring materials from Roswaal, he began experimenting without hesitation. He recycled his old equipment and the leftover magic crystal from Kararagi too.
And time went by like that,
Without much surprise, the first challenger appeared within the second week after Orsted completed his dragonification.
"-hence~ Mister Rague wishes to challenge master Orsted and Zarestia to a duel~. Seeing as he is affiliated with the kingdom knights, I think he is just a probing pawn by the royalties or sages." Roswaal stated his thoughts directly to Orsted.
The middle aged knight named Rague waited in the ground floor's hall patiently.
'I guess it's natural to go through Roswaal to challenge me, since I'm his special guest. However, not everyone would bother about ethics like knights either...' Orsted was happy to see people come to challenge him so soon.
"The duel, I accept, but are you sure he is here to challenge both me and Zarestia?" Orsted felt like this Rague knight had a death wish.
If it was just Orsted, he wouldn't mind letting the challenger live, hoping for them to come challenge him again. In hindsight, if it were Zarestia, the fight would only end with someone's death, she maintained a very high pride as a shinigami after all.
"Well~ It is a particularly well known fact~ that Zarestia is your contracted spirit, so she could be considered a part of your strength overall, master Orsted~." Roswaal smiled while holding both of his hands before his chin.
After a pause, Orsted turned to the system.
'System, since Zarestia is my contracted spirit, if she defeats a challenger, it should count as my win in the chain quest, right?' Orsted felt very positive due to his intuition.
[Yes.]
The cold mechanical answer didn't disappoint either.
In the end, Orsted still decided to fight by himself. It would be problematic if it was known that he killed any challengers coming his way. Many people would hesitate to challenge him otherwise. Earning [Divinity] was his primary goal now.
If there was someone unlucky, who came to challenge Zarestia instead of Orsted, then it didn't have anything to do with him.
'I hope there are more ambitious people in the world....'
The duel was set to be carried out in the middle of the Kemaldy forest, where Orsted spent the last nine months.
Zarestia, Roswaal and the oni maid Ram were watching the match with keen interest.
"I'm Rague Angils, an elite knight of the royal army and today, I raise my sword to challenge one of the seven great powers. I hope you can overlook my presumptuous words, Mister Orsted." Rague held his sword ready to strike. He appeared to be in his late thirties, but his strength was not to be underestimated.
There are only 2,000 kingdom knights and being one of them showed his exceptional skills.
"....I'm Orsted." He almost didn't understand why Rague waited silently after introducing himself.
"....Please draw your sword, Mister Orsted." Rague spoke with a sharp and serious expression, maintaining his serious sword stance.
"It's not needed. You are free to attack me in any way you see fit." Orsted signaled for Rague to attack with his hand. His rough voice pierced into his opponent.
"Hk! Then, I will make the first move." Rague lunged forwards with his sword pointing forward.
Clang!
"What...?" Rague's eyes widened watching Orsted parry his sword with his claw-like hand. It was such an effortless parry that it gave the illusion that the sword was swung by a child.
"Attack seriously, if you don't want the duel to end immediately." Orsted's cold eyes stared into Rague's eyes.
"Ugh!" Holding his position, Rague began swinging his sword with an intent to kill.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Not a single attack hit their intended target, easily parried away by Orsted's hand. The fact that his opponent used only a single hand to easily deal with his attack, discontented Rague.
"Ahhhh!"
Rague's sword attack rained down non-stop, but the result didn't appear to have changed.
'Too weak....I can predict all his moves without even trying.' Orsted decided to end this battle, seeing the gap between them.
"No way...Even after all that, agh!" Rague still showed an exceptional amount of liveliness, as he quickly thrust the sword with all his strength.
[Flow]
Click~
"Ha...?" Watching his sword being held between Orsted's two fingers, Rague's mouth slack open.
Bang!
Rague's body crashed into the group of trees, trailing a line along in the ground the next moment.
'I just sent back the power of his attack using [Flow] into his body. He let down his guard in the end to fly away like that. He might be above average in strength, but that's all he is in the end.' Orsted moved to check Rague's status slowly.
The battle was so short fought that it didn't even feel like a duel. However, It was a necessary battle for Orsted, to complete the chain quest in the end.
Even if Rague's attack hit, his sword would break without even touching Orsted's skin.
After Seeing Rague holding up to his life, Orsted healed him and simply pointed out some problems with his sword techniques.
"... You are free to challenge me anytime." Orsted headed back to the mansion after watching Rague's blank face. Since he thanked Orsted for his teaching, he should be alright?
This was only the start, Many people began approaching Roswaal's mansion to challenge Orsted soon.
Retired soldier, Mercenary, knights, Demi-humans and even travellers from afar. Orsted rejected none, he would even welcome a rat if it wished to challenge him before crushing it to death.
There were a few unlucky among the challengers, who wished to fight Zarestia. They met their end swiftly.
Just like that, three months went by,