Galaxy's First Ruler

An exchange of pointers.

These events weren't rare, but amid nobles, they had a specific time and place. Especially not during a ceremony and unannounced. There were just too many constraints on such events. One needed to consider age, Rank, and levels. And even if one was to ignore the background, the thing that couldn't be ignored was the arsenals available to them.

So, despite their harmless nature, Aldrich knew these events were held to show the power of their Houses. The better the young Dreamers of the House, the better would be their prospects. And in the presence of so many High-Rank Dreamers, this also meant to put a pointer of their Houses on the maps of Marquesses.

Who would have rejected this cunning idea of Earl Frida?

Aldrich was just a bastard, and even if Trifon had been taking care of him since his birth, there wasn't much he could do regarding his strength for him to remain hidden. Aldrich also knew that in the mind of everyone, the Marquesses were targeting him to put Earl Drago in their pockets, but it wasn't even near the truth. One thing that he was sure of was that he couldn't back out from this scheme.

A part of his promise to the Ancient Oracle was to assist House Venomous Rose in regaining its lost footing. It was also one reason he said nothing when Harold presented his 2nd announcement. No matter who was to challenge him, he needed to win this "quick show of might". Otherwise, Earl Drago might lose his credibility in the eyes of Marquess Harold.

Winning wasn't an issue for Aldrich. For him, the only issue was how to win without showing all his cards. There were Dreamers presented in the Great Hall, who he hadn't thought would come here before the beginning of the ceremony.

Aldrich scanned the Great Hall and remembered that these hidden Dreamers could kill him in one breath. The Pillar of Footprints had already caught their attention. There was no way Aldrich wanted to give them any more reasons to prod his background.

"Very well."

Marquess Nicholas nodded as he looked away from Frida and gave Harold a look. Harold, lost in thoughts, took a long moment to nod in response. It was clear to Aldrich that if Nicholas wasn't here, Marques Harold would have never agreed to this nonsense. But now, things have proceeded out of his hands, and Harold had to take the lead from here.

"I also don't mind. BUT…"

Harold's yellow eyes shone with a brilliance that of a star as he stared at Frida, Nicholas, and the mass of young Dreamers. The power of this single 'But' was so strong that even Aldrich's found it irresistible and almost fell to his knees. It didn't even need to tell that all the other Viscounts weren't faring any better. Aldrich too pretended he was having troubles and buckled his right knee in response.

From the corner of his eyes, Aldrich saw Trifon wearing an exaggerating smile, and giving him a thumbs up on the acting.

"…"

The pressure soon disappeared, and Harold lowered the intensity of his voice.

"… But there won't be any dealing of deadly blows. There won't be any bets related to Items, and those who get defeated once won't be able to fight again."

Humph!

Aldrich harrumphed in his mind as the boy Marquess blubbered out the conditions. While people were focusing on the second matter related to the bet, only Aldrich knew that the last one was the crux of the matter. Both Marquesses didn't want him to die before they could get their hands on him, as shown by the nodding of Nicholas' head. Not even one of them thought he could win against the Viscounts of ancient Houses.

The only question that worried Aldrich was why Nicholas showed interest in him even before he found the presence of the Pillar of Footprints.

"Hehe! My Lords, you can be the judge along with the assistant of me and Count… oops. Earl Drago. Let this stage serve as the battlefield. Making one's opponent yield or throwing out of the stage's boundary would count as winning, " said Earl Frida.

Aldrich saw Earl Drago giving him a secretive nod as he followed the Marquesses off the stage. Five more chairs appeared on the Ancient Oracle's left and right, who seemed unaffected by all this. Aldrich noticed the two Earls sitting down on the right of Rosalia. On her left, Amalia, along with the two Marquesses, sat down and Aldrich found her looking directly at him.

Aldrich shook his head and muttered.

"What a waste of time…"

"Daddy…"

Sha's voice rang in his head as all the Viscounts lined up in an orderly manner around the stage.

"What?"

"Daddy… Sha… play… too."

"Not now."

"Whaaaa!… Why???… Now… I… can…"

Sha exclaimed out defiantly but Aldrich ignored her gaping mouth.

"Not now."

Aldrich approached the stage, and Enok came to stand beside him, pushing away a few Dreamers out of his way. A fat Dreamer jumped up onto the stage and bowed towards the six chairs.

"Level 36 Viscount Jerker, House Right Hand."

Upon getting a nod, Jerker stood up and eyed the entire crowd surrounding the stage with hawk like eyes. An enormous black hammer materialized his hand, and he pointed it straight towards Aldrich.

"Bastard, come on stage."

Sigh!

Aldrich sighed and took a step, but Enok's voice came as if he was waiting for this moment.

"Not even caring to stand for yourself. Huh! Not even a thread of shame… The apple didn't fall far from the tree."

Hahaha!

A low laugh spread out among the Dreamers around Aldrich. He gave the blue cladded Enok a look and jumped on the stage. Aldrich wanted to spend the least amount of time doing these pointless things. And there was only one way he could make sure that things would work out as he wished.

Aldrich bowed in the same style towards the six chairs and spoke out.

"Level 34 Viscount Aldrich, House Venomous Rose."

After getting the nod, Aldrich walked and halted a dozen feet away from Viscount Jerker. Aldrich had already retracted all the traces of the Devil from his greatcoat, and now it seemed nothing but plain clothing. With his hands behind his back, Aldrich waited for the Jerker to make a move.

The fat viscount gave out an evil smile as he kept tapping on the hammer with the other hand.

"Take out your weapon, bastard."

The opponent looked at the pole on Aldrich's back, thinking it was his main Item, but Aldrich didn't give any response. It did nothing but maddened the Level 36 viscount as he took the form of an attack and shouted.

"Gave up already? Doesn't matter, you aren't going off this stage in one piece."

Haaaaa!

The fat viscount, wearing a cream-colored jacket, let out a shout and lunged at Aldrich. The wind howled as he raised the hammer, and with all his might, he brought it down on Aldrich.

BOOM!

There wasn't much dust, and as the debris settled, all got a look at the outcome of the attack. The hammer was buried half in the stage, and on it stood Aldrich as if the hammer had gone right through him. Before anyone could realize what had just happened, a breath came out of Aldrich, and along with it came out words which only he could hear.

"All Proficient…

… Traditional ITF Taekwondo: Heaven Ascension."

THWACK!!!