The crowd that bet on him to win cheered, while that bet against seethed and punched the air in anger.
"Alright, who's next? Come on, I've barely worked up a sweat"
Eon expressed as he jumped up and down like a boxer.
"It's my turn!"
A slender woman jumped into the ring with a big grin on her face. However, Eon immediately stopped moving and gave her a long, serious look; he could tell she was controlling her aura, keeping it calm and serene.
Eon only controlled his aura enough so that people didn't freak out when they sensed it, but he still let out enough amounts of it for people to be able to sense it and much like a beast his aura was unrefined and wild, it fluctuated wildly like sea waves.
However, the woman before him had hers under control. It was akin to the flow of a gentle river, barely any fluctuation, just a still flow.
Eon didn't know enough about aura as he never really bothered to learn about it, but as a fan of anime, specifically Shounen, he could easily understand what it means when someone has great control over their aura.
This meant that this woman before him was to be taken seriously.
"Aren't you gonna taunt me like you did that guy?"
She said, pointing to the guy who was being dragged away by the guild employees.
"If you're into tease play, don't involve me please"
Dot chuckled at his response and shook her head in amusement.
"You're a funny guy, although I can't say calling yourself the strongest is a sign of someone with a small ego"
She expressed and placed her hand on her waist, Eon took this as a sign that she wanted to converse a bit before the fight began, so he obliged.
"No one without an ego has ever achieved something worth remembering"
"You're not wrong, but you realise that once you get to a certain level as an adventurer, you'll be facing opponents that are actually strong, not some low-level bums without even a hint of skill"
She warned him that the world was vast with many people occupying it, and some of those people are strong, really strong, and almost all of them are proud of their strength, so hearing someone call themselves the strongest is practically an invitation to them.
"That's the plan, I'm here to have fun, I want to have an exciting life, something I can look back on my deathbed and say "that was awesome" you know Dad lore and all that"
Eon explained and earned a hum from his opponent. Having lived a boring life on earth, Eon sought not to repeat that, there was nothing he could be proud of back on earth, so he'd rather not repeat that with this second chance at life.
"I dunno what "Dad lore" is, but I can see what you're saying. I guess I'll have to humble you ear–"
"Get to fighting already. We're getting bored over here"
Dot was unfortunately interrupted by one of the spectators, who was getting impatient at watching two people talk.
"Shut your Bitch ass up!!"
Eon expressed before turning his attention towards his opponent.
"So what were you saying?"
Dot didn't respond but instead smiled; she had planned to just play around and then lose; however, now, as a warrior, she needed to show him that there are bigger fish in the sea and teach him some humility.
Although it was sad that she'd have to kill him later though, whatever lesson she wanted to teach him would be short-lived, such a shame.
'Wind arts: weightless step'
Before Eon could react to her movement she was already before him, shocking him as he didn't expect the beginning of the fight to be so abrupt.
'Wind arts: typhoon strike'
Her fist glowed green and a swirling typhoon of wind surrounded her arm as she struck out and connected with Eon's stomach with incredible force and forced wads of saliva out of his mouth and his eyes bulged open in both shock and pain, however, the Dragonoid grit his teeth and stood his ground, only being pushed back and sliding back a few meters.
Dot, however, didn't give him time to recover as she was already before him with another attack ready; this time, her open palm aimed to strike Eon's nose.
'Wind arts: Gale palm strike'
Wind coalesced at the front of her palm, and her hand struck her foe with tremendous power and sent him tumbling across the ground like a ragdoll only being stopped by the half-a-meter-long ring made from earth.
The crowd cheered at the sight; Eon had won all his fights and had a record of being undefeated. However, this time, it looked like those who bet on him to lose just might be getting their money's worth.
"Come on, don't tell me you're done already Strongest man"
She mocked with a grin on her face, of course, she still planned to lose, She just wanted him to reconsider calling himself the "strongest man"
Eon slowly got up and dusted himself off, removing some of the grass in his hair and face. He could feel the tingling pain on his face and nose.
"Hardly!"
Eon huffed in displeasure, he definitely didn't like to get mocked, especially not when Reniris was watching him.
"if that's the case the–"
She was unable to finish her sentence as a blow to her stomach interrupted her and forced her to bend over, Eon had cleared the distance between them in a fraction of a second and delivered a powerful uppercut to her stomach and nearly lifted her off her feet.
He grabbed her head and gave her a head butt, and let her stagger back before grabbing her collar pulling her in and slapping her with
an open palm to the jaw and nearly knocked her out as she dropped to her knees.
"I'd make a joke about sucking dick but I can't think of one so hold this kick"
He voiced with a vicious grin on his face and kicked her to the face causing her to roll on the ground in the same manner he did earlier.
One would think being so ruthless with a woman would be quite uncalled for. However, when a woman asks for a fight, you give her one, although Eon had exceptions to this.
He didn't particularly think refusing to hit women was sexist; after all, getting punched in the face hurts, so if one wants to spare women such pain, then that's completely fine in his book.
Dot got to her feet and wiped the blood off her lip and nose, and stepped forward; she felt her anger build up. However, she quickly quelled it, and she remembered that she was supposed to lose on purpose.
Meanwhile, Reniris, who was among the spectators, was enjoying Eon's shirtless view when she felt someone suddenly stand next to her.
Turning her head, she saw a hooded figure of a woman.
"Your friend is quite skilled, isn't he?"
The strange woman asked, but her question felt more like a statement than a curiosity; Reniris raised her brow before responding.
"How do you know he's my friend?"
She asked, her suspicion mounting and curious about this individual, she also couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity towards the woman like she had seen her before.
"Is that even a question? You're easily the most beautiful woman I've seen, and he's quite handsome as well, so both of you attract attention, plus you're always with him"
Reniris squinted her eyes. Clearly, this woman wasn't just some random individual. Sure, it's believable that she and Eon may attract attention due to their looks, but thanks to the [Diminished presence] spell Reniris learned from Reniella, the average individual would only glance at her before moving on
This means that this woman has been paying special attention to them specifically, and she's been watching them or has been told by someone about them.
"I see, so why did you approach me?"
The redhead questioned. She was suspicious, but at the same time, she knew that the woman probably wouldn't attack in such a crowded place, and even if she did, it wouldn't be a problem to take her out.
"Your aura, you've completely suppressed it"
The woman noted. This was true. Ever since Reniris has met Eon, her magical presence has been practically non-existent, This was a precaution on her part to ensure her nature as a devil wasn't discovered.
"And?"
"And that's a sign that you're an incredibly skilled person. We are looking for skilled people"
"Who is we?"
"I can only disclose that if you agree to something"
"Then this conversation is over"
Reniris declared, Whoever this individual was, they were clearly not to be trusted, and this meant agreeing to anything they asked was out of the question.
"I see, I tried at least"
The woman said with a devious smile before she slowly retreated back and exited the crowd of spectators, leaving Reniris confused but she decided to shrug off that interaction and returned her gaze to Eon, only to see his opponent suddenly get knocked down and stay down.
"Another one, who's next!"
Eon shouted as his fight with Dot ended. He was a little disappointed that it ended so quickly, although he suspected she threw the match, but he was not going to complain.
While this was happening unbeknownst to everyone, including Eon and Reniris, there was a transparent mist that floated from within the city towards the forest; the mist held no scent and was untraceable; what it did, however, was currently unknown.