Strings Of Domination

"You, human boy, what is your name?" the tone with which the old Sky Beast talked was cold and could possibly cause anyone with a weaker will severe mental damage, but for some strange reason, Nash just stood in one place without showing any hint of fear or worry.

"Nash," Nash replied with an indifferent face, his voice holding a level of tone which compared to the rest of the humans seemed to lose no hope at all. As a fact, even a blind being would be able to see that he was filled with confidence and determination to the brim!

"I see, so it is Nash." the old Sky Beast nodded and with narrowed eyes asked, "Then, Nash, let me ask this. Do you have any clue what you have done here today?"

The question was simple and straight, however, when everyone including the past students of the old Sky Beast heard how those words were spoken, it felt like a huge boulder suddenly appeared on their shoulders, pressing down almost bone-shattering weight on their bodies from above!

It was especially true for the human on Nash's side, as one by one all of them fell on their knees with a pale expression, their lips opening and closing rapidly as if they wished to scream but somehow no sound came out of their mouths!

Nash felt the pressure on his body too but in contrast to the rest of his kind who were unable to resist the force, although with somewhat struggle as he only had his physical strength to withstand the power, he was able to keep standing on his feet!

Naturally, it was only possible because the old Sky Beast seemed to test him and didn't wish to crush him, or else he would have been long ago lying flat on the ground, waiting for his demise without a chance to put up a fight!

"I... I do." Nash forced a short reply through his clenched teeth in a form of a hiss.

"And do you think that was the right choice to do?" the old Sky Beast asked, this time walking toward Nash with his blood-freezing stare.

Nash remained silent as he watched how the old Sky Beast approached him, but soon he took a deep breath and nodded, "Yes, I do. Even... if I have another 100 times to... redo, I would do the same thing."

"Oh?" the old Sky Beast was pleasantly surprised by the answer was given and after arriving before him, now only a single foot away from Nash, he asked, "And are you aware what kind of punishment will you get once you dare to injure much less kill a Sky Beast on this planet?"

This time Nash didn't reply immediately, but after half a minute later shook his head and said, "No... I don't."

"As I have thought." the old Sky Beast sighed and quickly waved his hand.

When Nash saw the slow but the same time surprisingly swift gesture of the old Sky Beast, at first he thought it was the end for him and his head will be severed from his shoulders at that very moment, but just as he was ready to accept his fate as there was no way in seven hell he could dodge an attack from a Warrior Rank being even if it was only 0.1% strong, suddenly the old Sky Beast summoned several weapons before him and said, "Choose."

"...Huh?" Nash was stupefied when he saw how four different weapons appeared on the ground before his feet and raised his gaze in puzzlement at the old Sky Beast.

"Don't look so surprised, this is your punishment." the old Sky Beast said, but his face quickly revealed an eerie grin as he said, "Everyone, including you human slaves, if break any of the rules on this planet, you are sentenced to death without question. However, in contrast to other places, here you won't die immediately but are given one final chance to compete for your salvation, and that is a deathmatch."

Then, the old Sky Beast gestured toward Nile in the distance, who immediately appeared on his side, and said, "Choose a weapon and fight him. You will be given 15 minutes. If you are still alive after 15 minutes, you won't be sentenced to death, but if you lose, then you are as good as dead. Naturally, you can also die during the fight."

"What?" Nash was shocked as this was his first time hearing such a rule, but once he saw how serious the old Sky Beast was, he gulped now with a slightly worried expression and glanced at Nile.

'I... need to fight him? For 15 minutes?' Nash felt his blood running cold when he realized that he literally had zero chance to remain alive!

'Fuck no! This is worse than killing me right away! This is like torturing a pig before killing it!' Nash thought in his heart, but once he felt the piercing stare on his skin, he knew he had no other chance but to obey as if he would try to run away, he will be killed even before he could raise his feet from the ground!

'Fuck!' Nash cursed for the second time, as his face turned pale while his teeth and fingers clenched into a firm lock.

Of course, this was only a natural reaction as who would not look lost in the face of their seemingly unavoidable death where they had simply no chance of survival?

Fighting a being that had its Legacy while his own was sealed away? It was not fair at all! They could just rip his limbs off and feed his body to beasts, it would be the same too!

And to make things even worse, when he glanced at the Sky Beast he will wight with soon, Nash saw how a mocking grin was on Nile's face, telling him he will make sure to teach him a lesson!

"Now choose your weapon." the old Sky Beast spoke in an indifferent voice and waved his hand, immediately causing everyone around the three of them to vanish from the spot.

"Don't worry, I just teleported them back to their section. Now do what I said and choose your weapon." the old Sky Beast explained when he saw Nash's face, gesturing toward the four weapons.

Nash remained silent but soon sighed and glanced at the four weapons floating in front of him.

'A sword, a dagger, a shield, and a staff?' Nash examined each weapon, but as he saw that none of them had any special trait or look he just sighed and thought, 'Which one should I choose?'

Although he would have liked to wield a sword because the weapon looked extremely thick and heavy he knew he had no chance at all to use it properly, as a fact, could end up dragging him down during the fight, hence pushing him into his death way faster.

As for the dagger and the shield, while the former was easier to use and move around with while the latter provided him with great defensive capabilities, he knew none of the two were a good choice. Against Nile's weapon, which was a staff and was able to shatter even a longsword into bits, a dagger was useless while a shield would be just way too hard to carry around, much harder than the sword!

That is why, after considering everything, including the pros and cons, Nash found the best choice to be the staff which although looked long, was easy to wield, could be used for both defense and offense, and was not heavy at all.

'Well, it's not like it will change anything, so...' Nash sighed bitterly in his heart, and under the waiting gaze of the two Sky Beasts, he extended his hand forward and grabbed the staff.

"Oh?" the old Sky Beast was pleasantly surprised when he saw the choice of Nash as in the past he saw way too many deathmatches, and none of those times did he see a slave choose the staff.

Of course, the reason was obvious even at a glance. While a sword was lethal-looking, sharp, and a very common weapon until then staff in many eyes was just like that... A staff that looked like a stick that was unable to claim other lives!

Some would even choose a broken dagger or an old and fragile-looking shield over a staff, just because they seemed to possess greater use!

However, the old Sky Beast knew perfectly well that in the hands of an expert, a staff could become a way more threatening weapon than a sword and a far more destructive item than a spear!

On the other hand, Nile looked at Nash with a solemn expression and even a hint of anger as in his eyes the moment Nash choose the staff it was akin to him getting looked down on!

Though Nash didn't notice the stare he was getting from Nile as the moment his fingers grabbed and took a proper hold of the staff, his expression became stupefied, almost as if an electric shot ran through his body all of a sudden!

'What.... Is this feeling?' Nash thought in his heart as he stared at the staff in his hand as if he was mesmerized by something invisible he at the moment couldn't comprehend!