BXBX NOVEL Chapter 97: Sol Vs Union.
[The goddess of war is skeptical of the system's intentions after it has given you such a title]
[The system hardly cares about any emotional or psychological reactions brought by its decisions and deems the reward for killing such a massive amount of creatures fair]
"Heh, I knew you were sentient but I never imagined you defending me." Ikaris stared at the window with a smile.
[It is a fair reward]
"Aye," Ikaris closed her wings and began rapidly descending through the clouds of steam and smoke created from her bombing of the horde. "It was a gamble I had to make, if it didn't work I would have shamefully retreated as well." She commented before landing on the ground epically destroying it a bit more as her feet made a crater to break her fall.
"It worked though, and I have gotten much stronger."
She remained in one place, using her divine magic to create cloudless rain out of thin air and douce the land around her while the sun began slowly drying the wet ground, it created a humid environment that she stood inside of and relaxed.
After several more minutes the others all showed up with Sara's help, and the first thing Dina did was run toward Ikaris and start checking her for injuries.
"How on earth... Ikaris are you hurt anywhere?" She asked, and Ikaris smiled and shook her head.
"Not even a scratch."
"When you said you wanted to handle it I hardly imagined you would turn the entire plain into a hellscape, what was that earlier?" Arla asked genuinely shocked as evidence of the explosion had been erased by its sheer force and the plain had been reduced to a sunken piece of land, nobody would notice it because of the sheer size but they were standing in the crater of what would later become a swamp or marsh after torrential rain.
"It is of no concern." Ikaris smiled under her bangs and then looked at Usami, Bruce, and Eris.
"The conditions remain the same, in order to attain a hero's title you need to endure something individual to your own power and firmly stand by a belief, while I am not entirely sure of the exact process I do know that the system recognises one's selflessness and rewards them according to what could be their sacrifice."
"You got a title?" Usami asked and Ikaris nodded.
"Goddess of Battle; it has incredible effects but a very short time limit because of those same effects, virtually making me invulnerable for a few minutes with no drawback." She explained and then looked at Dina who was confused.
"The Hero title is activated individually, it is achieved when you are fighting alone, so this is why you have yet to receive it; I believe had you fought the Eldritch by yourself or the first horde we met, or even the minotaur, then you would have been granted your title already."
"I have been sticking to a more supportive role as a mage..." Dina nodded.
"It's fine, while [pulsar] might become obsolete someday I don't think it's that bad, even Sol said that it's far from the strongest it can be, so I just need to hone that skill and find a way to work around the debuffs after I use it, and maybe get variant types that can be cast faster like [origin explosion\\s]" She cupped her chin in thought.
"Instead of getting new skills and a title that could possibly complicate things for me, I'll focus on the many skills I already have and hone them all to perfection.
"Well said." Arla nodded and then looked around again. "Sara, I just realised but... What happened to the horses?" She asked and the maid smiled and extended her hand casting a large shadow across the ground and they all watched shocked as the horses ran through.
"When you all left to fight I packed the camp supplies and tent back on our mounts and then sent them somewhere safe, luckily too since lady Ikaris wiped the entire area off the map." She explained with a humble smile.
"That is such a broken ability." Eris raised a brow in admiration. "Honestly, I think it's a little overpowered." She added, but Sara shook her head.
"There is a carrier limit that is bound to the mana I possess, I am only level 80, so there is a weight limit, and because my abilities are so heavily shadow-based, any disruption of pure mana or light will cause it to misbehave and possibly even kill me if I am moving through it, there has to be an absolute shadow for it to work."
[Casting: Mana bolt]
Sara raised her hand at the shadow on the ground and shot a small mana bolt at it, and as soon as the bolt hit the shadow it burst open with a whispering screech and then slowly reformed itself over the passage of a few seconds.
"The skill itself though is the most useful one I have seen in a while, instantaneously traversing a shadow realm to wherever you desire means you can almost always escape, and though you are limited by day, I have seen your performance at night; remarkable." Arla commented and Sara smiled humbly again and gave them a small bow.
"Thank you for your kind words." She stood upright again and turned to the horses. "The food from earlier has gone cold-"
"No worries, I'll eat anything right now -I'm famished." Bruce spoke first walking behind her and accepting the covered dish as soon as she took it from a large chest where they were secured and unspilled.
"Besides, with the arrival of the demonkin earlier we weren't able to make any progress today, we should at least try making it to the mountains." Usami suggested with Arla nodding in agreement as they all took a few more minutes to get something into their stomachs before setting off toward the mountains in the distance.
***
"You're done!" Sol spun beneath a large hand and threw a punch, catching his opponent in their stomach and knocking the wind out of them, and then standing and watching them fall to his feet.
"There's no further point to this fight, I accepted the rechallenge because you eagerly wanted to prove yourself, but let's face it Yama, you're not my opponent anymore, not after my fight with Sorath." He took a seat on the ground and stared at the god of strength next to him. "You are a good fighter, but I need stronger opponents than myself, Understand the stakes and don't take this to heart.
"Haah~" Yama rolled onto his back heaving and staring at Sol who had a serious expression even though he had dominated the fight from the very start. "I feel no shame anymore, the last time I fled I was ridiculed for it, but even though I still lost I have regained some dignity as the god of strength, thank you." Yama smiled as he heaved. "I respectfully forfeit."
*Ding
[Challenger Yama, the god of strength has forefeit, the winner by default is the demigod; Sol Vestic, according to the conditions of the challenge, the loser gains nothing while the winner gains a permanent 0.8x increase in physical strength and a 20% increase in their mana... Calculating]
[Accept]
[...]
The system paused for a few seconds as if processing the notification.
[Pardon?] The system sent a message to Sol.
"There is another challenge, before calculating the rewards, I want to accept that fight as well, double the rewards from the previous challenge, I'll keep fighting." He answered.
[...]
[Very well, a second challenge has been accepted]
*Ding
[You have accepted the challenge of the god of weapons; Union, switching to a different venue, summing up rewards]
In a flash of light Sol vanished again, finding himself in a brightly lit terrain mostly flat with cone shaped spikes the size and height of houses growing out of the ground everywhere, and before him he saw a system portal open and a male of similar build to himself emerge, he wore gold-plated armour, streamlined for speed and friction like sports helmets and gear with a silver crown made of small swords pointing behind him and a rune on his chestplate that resembled a bullet.
His eyes and mouth were hidden, and only his black hair was recognised beyond his armour.
[The winner will gain a 1.6 increase in their strength permanently and a 80% increase in their mana cap, you may begin whenever you wish]
Without saying a word Union estended his hand to his side and summoned a hammer that was a perfect copy of Sol's usual Warhammer, finished with the same white and gold colours and even the sharp end on the back that contrasted the jagged flat surface. "..."
"This is interesting." Sol commented, extending his own hand in the same manner and summoning his hammer while his heart skilled a gleeful beat.
"This is going to be fun."