"How?" Asked one of the men, eyeing the spot where the bullet had failed to penetrate.
"Like this." I smiled as my skin scaled over. I took a scale, and ripped it free, feeling blood gush down my forehead. "My scales are stronger than any metal you will find. Therefore, your weapons can't hurt me."
The gush of blood slowly stopped, the wound healing at a rate considered as abnormal by them.
"Well, for the most part. It's still just a cheap copy. This body is not nearly as strong or resilient as my own true body."
I twisted away from them, moving towards the greater gate.
"Where are you going?"
"To decapitate your spies, of course. You agreed to this when you signed the agreements on entering these lands. When I get back, you had better have them in cuffs." I looked to Marcellus before moving away faster than they could follow.
It took me less time to track down each spy and drag them along with me than it took them to cuff everyone responsible and drag them to the main hall.
I stepped into the great hall, my full armour bathed in red, blood dripping from my hands and the stench of death hanging onto me in a way that could unsettle any who smelled it.
I walked up to my own seat, next to Marcellus close to Sebia and Lavin Zkaldkin, and sat down. The blood stained into the material of the chair, earning a look of disgust from Lavin.
"Is there a reason why you are staining a perfectly beautiful chair? What is that? Blood?"
"Yes. It's blood."
"Who did you kill this time?" he asked.
"I told you." I said as a space opened in front of me, heads falling from the space and onto the floor in front of the detained royals from the visiting nations. "I decapitated their spies. This was all stated in the forms they signed and agreed to."
The hall was silent, eyes trained on the bloody heads in the middle of the floor.
"Oh... Did you want their bodies as well?" I asked, pretending that 'realization' had hit me. A new space opened, and headless corpses fell out.
"You... Y-you killed them...?" Prince Dusk's father seemed extremely shocked.
He looked at the bodies, then back to me, then to the bodies again. And then he smiled.
"We accept the marriage proposal." He seemed strangely excited, and curiosity got the better of me.
I peeked into his mind, slightly amused. The man was extremely excited, for his other sons had worthless women and his own daughters seemed equally worthless to him. The idea of a daughter-in-law able to stand her own ground excited him.
"Of course, on the condition that the bride to be spars with me."
This, of course, surprised Prince Dusk. His father had never challenged any of his brother's wives. But the fact that even though she had killed the men they had hidden did not deter his father.
"That's fine by me."
The Prince's eyes widened further, so did the eyes of his retainers and generals that had accompanied him. This was out of the norm.
"Shall we proceed to the training grounds?" I asked, walking towards my now future father-in-law who towered over me, eyeing him with a smirk.
"Lead the way, little horns."
We were reluctantly followed, the day's events seeming to exhaust those around us.
Standing opposite one another we gained the interest of the soldiers who had been training previously. I watched as he chose a weapon, a heavy axe, and set it aside, before starting to remove his heavy armour. Nodding, knowing his request, I started removing my own helmet first, before moving to remove the leather armour from my chest. The shirt beneath was short and skin tight, showing little of the actual muscle beneath the skin. I removed the armoured gear over my pants as well, leaving the pants alone. I slipped my boots off, standing barefoot on the raised floor.
The King was bare chested and barefooted as well.
This was called 'true strength' fighting. Where two fighters would fight barehanded with physical strength alone the first round. For many of the humans this was not a popular sport because many of the fighters had ended up killing each other or harming the other's inner strength.
It was the same way I took out many attackers, because I knew exactly where to hit for the most effective results.
After the barehanded fight the cultivators were allowed to continue their fight with weapons and using their special powers.
He nodded to me, indicating that he was ready, and I did the same.
He held both palms open in a loose stance, seeming to wait for me to make the first move. I on the other hand turned from him, holding my hands out to Marcellus who clamped shackles onto my wrists. I could feel the immediate effect, knowing they were working as intended.
"What are those?"
"They measure my power output. Since we have yet to determine my own actual strength by this world's standards these shackles were designed to measure how much strength I use with every move."
"Your strength is undetermined, then?"
"Yes. Do you mind? I can sense you are stronger than my usual opponent. I'd like to see the results."
"By all means, little horns. You have made me curious."
I nodded, walking closer to the centre, taking up a stance of my own. And this is how we stood for a full fifteen minutes, neither throwing the first punch, much to the displeasure of our crowd.
I shifted my attention to Marcellus for a second and he moved. The movement was swift, with little movement and almost no trace of him actually moving, but I caught on. His palm came down towards my diaphragm, and I moved in kind, smacking his palm away with one hand and punching him square in the jaw with a quick jab with the other hand. He seemed stunned for a moment, before he realised what had happened. I took his initiative as my cue and threw another punch to his gut. He adjusted as fast as I had, catching my hand and using my momentum against me, he pulled me in. His hands moved quickly, an open palm smacking into my stomach, leaving a visible print before he tried a jab of his own at my face.
I again adjusted my speed to faster than his own and landed three jabs to his gut before I twisted, landing a side kick and then a roundhouse kick to his face in quick succession. He fell to his hands and knees, a look of exasperation colouring his expression, a trickle of blood coming out from the side of his lip.
The faces around the raised floor seemed equally baffled.
"What was that?" he asked, seeming excited as he got back up.
"It's called fighting." I smirked. "I know at least one hundred and forty-five forms of martial arts from my own world. Many forms this world has yet to discover since you rely on cultivation so heavily. You have interesting forms yourself but most are based on basic martial arts. You could stand to learn more, don't you think?"
"Show me more, little horns."
"That's not a nice name."
"I like it. And you do have horns, little horns. Shouldn't you make sure your father-in-law likes you?"
"You would not have accepted my engagement to your son had you not liked me."
"Hah! You got me there, little horns."
He moved faster again, pushing his body to match my own speed, which was unfortunately for him a difficult thing in and of itself.
He made fists like I had, copying my moves with astonishing precision, landing two out of three punches before his side kick hit my forearm, I moved before he could, pushing his leg down before clamping it between my hip and arm, using my other arm to elbow him in the thigh. I heard a crack, let his leg go and watched as he hobbled back, the leg I had injured wobbling slightly. I twisted again, landing another roundhouse kick to his shoulder, throwing him off balance.
He again seemed shocked.
"It has been a long time since I had need to use my full strength. Would you allow me the time to release the needed strength?"
I stepped away and sat down, watching as he released his aura in a controlled manner. This immediately repaired the damage to his leg and the busted lip. It took some time, however I was a patient being.
He seemed to glow when the low hum of power reached my ear. He stood, waiting for me to do the same.
"Shall we continue?"
I smirked, making fists, pumping my hands out in a quick two-part jab, releasing some of my own energy as I did this. My own power was rarely tested in this world, and this brought a satisfied smile to my lips.
His eyes widened, taking in the sight of my now very visible aura.
"How did you do that so fast? Never mind! Let's continue, shall we?"
He charged at me, grabbing me around the waist and attempting to lift me over his head, but my fists came down on his back before he had a hold on me, forcing him face-first into the floor. I moved back, allowing him to get up. As soon as he was up he charged again and I twisted for another kick. He was a quick learner, this King, and I expected his move. He was testing what he was learning while we were still fighting. He repeated my own movements, holding my leg captive before he brought an elbow down.
I moved again, a fist redirecting his elbow before it made contact and another landing a hard blow to his temple. My leg was still captive and he was momentarily dizzy, and I took my chance, twisting and kicking him with more force, testing his ability to withstand my strength.
He shook his head, still holding my leg. I jumped, kicking him a second time with more strength, hearing him grunt. My leg was finally let go of and I fell to the floor with a huff.
Getting up I was ambushed with several jabs, some landing and others stopped mid-strike as I moved to match his speed. He himself seemed not to realise it but his own aura was displayed for the naked human eye to see.
He moved faster and faster and harder and harder until he reached the pique of his own abilities, taking and landing hits as we moved. By now I could see that those watching were having a hard time following, but they did follow, like devoted little fans they watched us move.
A hit landed on my jaw, and I felt my own lip bursting open,
I could feel my own excitement growing at the prospect of getting an actual challenge.
But to my horrid dismay, my excitement got the better of me.
I landed hits faster than he could stop and with too much force, I heard the sound after the last punch hit.
His ribs cracked, his arm broke and his body bruised as soon as the hits landed. He was overexerting and overcompensating his power, causing his body to become more frail than it actually was.
I stood, watching as he crumpled onto the floor, wheezing and caughing blood.
Well Fuck.
Moving to him I held a hand about a centimeter above his skin, allowing my power to seep into him, his bruised body healing in quick succession.
"You OK, King Henner?"
He sat up, looking his own body over and confirming that he had no remaining damage, before he looked at me again.
"Let's continue!"