Chapter 73: The Great Flaming Fist
Keith's plan to build the water filter was simple. Thrust a few long sticks into the ground and tie up the goat skin leather to the top of the sticks to make a saggy leather bowl. Inside that, he planned on tossing in some layers of cloth, charcoal powder, soil and some small stones.
It'd work as a physical filter, but they'd still have to boil the water to make it safe to drink.
As he got to work, he kept an eye on Vincent's actions as he had to fight a tough opponent this time. He didn't plan on helping him win the fight, but if things went wrong, he did hope to at least preserve his life.
The reason for his nervousness was the all group fight and based on the information he received until now, there would be a total of twelve opponents that Vincent would have to face.
'There are five awakened in that group and every single one of them have strong abilities. If his luck is bad, then he's done for. I just hope that they don't gang up on him.' he thought as he kept an eye on the system screen.
Vincent took a deep breath and entered the ring, only to see every single one of the twelve prisoners shift their attention towards him.
"Hehe, looks like we got a new chick here boys." one of the more buffed guys said while the others laughed in response.
"Yeah, he can just surrender and safe his own life while we must fight to death." another one spat out as he glared at Vincent.
Keith who was watching everything from the side, understood what was going to happen if he let things be as they were and decided to immediately interfere. He began to create a new quest for Vincent and since it was a simple quest, it didn't take too long to make.
[Quest: Surrender Immediately]
Reward: None
Punishment for Failure: Death
"Oh my god, come onnn! I can beat these assholes even if they gang up on me!" Vincent screamed at the sky, making Keith sigh.
He shook his head and withdrew the quest before deciding to take a risk.
'It's almost night time, so we'll all head to bed soon. Everyone else should also be busy with their own preparations, so I guess I can take a risk by helping Vincent out. He's been obedient lately too.' he thought as he created a "gift pack" and kept it ready just in case Vincent might need it.
Vincent on the other hand, had successfully drawn the aggro of all 12 gladiators instantly by saying that he could beat them even if they ganged up on him.
"Damn this kid, I'LL VIOLATE YOU!!!" the buff guy roared as his muscled began to twitch. Dark brown fur grew over his body along with a long tail.
"Nah, I'd rather do it with a beautiful girl instead of a monkey." Vincent replied as he put his pinky in his ears, trying to dig out some wax from inside.
"Grrraaahhh!" the buffed guy, who was now a two meter tall gorilla, roared before jumping up into the sky. Vincent simply glanced as him, but his eyes were on the other 11 people who were staring at him.
He immediately picked a target and without waiting for the gorilla to land, he dashed forward with his balled fist, ready to strike. His speed wasn't too high, but not a single person in the ring had expected to see that happened next.
As he neared one of the gladiators who had multiple scars on his face, he punched outwards, only to have his fist grabbed by the guy. Contrary to everyone's expectations, Vincent grinned.
"Thanks, that's the reason why I punched so slow." he said and the next instant, the guy was up in flames. One second felt like an entire minute to him as he didn't really feel any heat, but once his pain receptors sent the signal to his brain, he began to scream.
Every other gladiator including the gorilla, stood silently as they watched the guy burn for more than a minute before falling to the ground. He still continued to struggle, but it didn't last long.
His body continued to burn, but when Vincent snapped his fingers, the fire was immediately suppressed.
"All I need to do, is touch you once and you face the same fate as this guy here." he said as he turned to look at every one of them. His gaze paused when he reached the gorilla, but the guy who had shown the most amount of guts and rage, looked away and attacked the person closest to him.
"Oraaaaaa" he screamed as he grabbed another gladiator and immediately pulled his arms out from his body before stomping his head, eliciting a loud crunch and a splatter.
Everyone but two of them actively ignored Vincent, but when he saw these two slowly walk towards him with uncommunicated coordination, he was pretty surprised.
"I'm guessing that you guys have something that could counter me." he said confidently, but inwardly, he was pretty nervous.
One of them grinned and thick layer of rocks formed over his body. It took him approximately three seconds, but in that time, he grew up to be three meters tall and looked like a massive stone golem.
The other guy didn't do anything and just stood still with a smirk on his face, "Come hit me, you idiot. Do you really think that I'm afraid of your flames? I've won forty eight gladiator fights. Do you really think that I'll lose to someone like you?"
Vincent didn't really know the answer himself. Not when he had no information on his opponent. He knew that he couldn't fight the golem and he was too hesitant to fight the other guy too.
His meagre, but intense fighting experience had taught him not to fall for taunts and he trusted his experience a lot.
"Oh well, I can't kill you guys. But that doesn't mean that I won't try." he muttered under his breath as he raised his arms outwards, to his sides and opened his mouth to scream.
"I am! The Great Flaming Fist!"