A Sinner’s Chance

It was the final day of the month and the day I planned on issuing my challenge to Hiroshi. With it being such an important event I naturally was running a final check on the new suit of armor and weapons I'd created. Functionality was still still very much important, but ever since I'd inherited some of Vellastria' s memories and personality, I paid far more attention to the final appearance as well. I'd been foolishly weighed down with the thought that it should be close to traditional armor and weapons, it was a different story now.

I'd already clearly cemented myself as an amorous and domineering person, so why not take that idea to its extreme and reflect that in my outfit? As such, my new armor looked even less like armor than the previous and was more like the suit you'd see a dominatrix wear, lots of straps, and shiny black material, though mine was a mix of carapace and silk rather than latex or leather. It was of course extremely functional for my purposes, though I imagined others would view it as impractical and mostly useless.

As for my new weapons, the sword wasn't that different, but I had reinforced the edge with some monomolecular wire, as well as improving the vibrating enchantment I'd placed on it. A new addition was a pair of whip-like monomolecular wires that I could channel Desiccating Yin energy into, creating glowing dark purple plasma whips. I'd created them mostly to help fight large amounts of weak enemies, as the single greatsword wasn't that great for it.

With the addition of the Thread Manipulation Skill, I was able to heavily improve my wrist launchers as well, as I could now direct where the thread would connect on my outfit. There were many places on my harness that would now be perfect if I needed to keep both hands free while using it.

With a final check over my equipment I suited up, feeling somewhat nostalgic at the similar situation as to when I'd first decided to fight my way into the top ranks at the very beginning of the year. Almost as if history decided to repeat itself Arya of course found her way to me just before I planned on going to challenge the Hero. She even expressed her worry as she had last time, though with much more concern since I had just been in a coma not but five days ago.

I wasn't worried in the slightest however. I had a sudden leap in strength, and Eldora had assured me that I should be able to defeat a Hero rather easily, unless they significantly outclassed me, something I didn't think Hiroshi was capable of given his over reliance on the System for all his training.

I reassured Arya with a few words before suddenly leaning into her and stealing a quick kiss. Something that caused her to freeze for a moment, before she stuttered embarrassedly. I'd become far more unrestrained since inheriting Vellastria's memory, and smile teasingly. "We've got some stuff to talk about when I get back, so don't go anywhere, okay?"

Arya could only meekly nod while her flush deepened, no doubt imagining some dirty scenario that I may or may not have planned. With another quick stolen kiss I made my way away from our residence to find the Hero, a task that was extremely easy to accomplish, since all I had to do was find the biggest crowd with an odd disparity of women to men.

I rudely interrupted whatever the Hero and some girl were talking about as I locked eyes with the dark haired Japanese boy. "I've come to fight, Hiroshi, right now, let's go." I was dismissive and impatient as I wanted to pull the information from his mouth no matter the cost, on top of wanting to get back to Arya to talk about some things that had been bothering me.

Hiroshi's eyes narrowed as he looked me up and down. "Somehow you've become even more charming since we last met. Very well Vell, I hope you're prepared to honor my request."

I just snorted and began to make my way over to the Dreamscape Center. I didn't know how but it seemed the news that I was going up against the first ranked on the list had already spread and there was a large crowd forming before I had even been able to get access to a Dreamscape Altar and laid down, losing consciousness for a moment before finding myself in the familiar equipment room of the Dreamscape arena. I could hear the low roar of the crowd already forming despite the fact that I'd only entered a few moments ago.

After making sure my equipment was all there and how I wanted it to be I opened the portcullis and made my way out into the arena, waiting for the Hero to finish selecting his equipment.