Chapter 2115: Hustle and Upsell

The first round of matches set the mood for all the ones that came after them.

While the first round had been intense, it was nothing compared to the round that came after it, and by the third round, most of the contestants, other than the Peak Immortals, who had responsibilities to their Clans that involved holding something in reserve, were fighting as if their lives were on the line.

In a way, perhaps they were.

With every Clan in the region now at each other’s throats, the entire southern end of the continent, right up to the Almeixei Sect, was putting forward their most impressive front, hoping to prove that their Clan was not worth facing in open battle.

And by extension, that their Alliance was the strongest, with the hopes of making their enemies back down.

It was doomed to failure, but it was great entertainment.

Karl’s viewing was interrupted when a message came from the Dark Elven Priestess construct running the Guild Shop.

[Boss, there are a bunch of Supreme Ranked people here to see you, in particular. We offered to have one of the others meet them, but they insisted on meeting you.]

That was curious.

If they were here for goods, they should want to speak with one of the Supreme Ranked craftsmen who would be doing the actual work. But they wanted to speak with the Branch Leader, which meant that it was likely political.

[Are they in Church Robes?]

[No, standard Clan Leader type robes.]

Now Karl knew that it was going to be a political meeting, so he excused himself from the tournament.

"I have a number of Supreme Ranked Clan Leaders at my shop, asking for my presence. If you need anything, just ask Lala, and she can get it for you," he explained.

"Of course. Do try not to let them stress you out too much, the fights will get better after dark," Eryman agreed.

The tournament didn’t stop for the entire seven days.

While the proper fights would start on day three, unless matches finished exceptionally early, they would actually have matches going continuously from now until the final day of the tournament, when there would be a break, so the final rounds would be held in the daylight hours.

Not that it mattered inside the arena itself.

The contestants saw a neutral mid afternoon overcast, bright enough for everyone to see clearly, no sun to use to your advantage, no clouds that you could reach or other weather factors.

The arena floor had been carefully designed to be as neutral to all parties as possible, even going as far as to assist the vampires and other nocturnal species by making the ambient light high, but the direct sunlight factor zero, so they weren’t uncomfortable.

Most of the fighters hadn’t even realized it, they just thought that the arena environment lacked details.

Those who had fought here before knew better.

Normally, it either mirrored what was outside, or you set it to a completely different environment. Some of them had fought in extremely unlikely situations, like on the top of a mountain, surrounded by glaciers, or in a jungle during a hurricane.

If you let the arena decide without guidelines, it could be nearly anything, and they loved it for that.

So, after seeing what it could do, the careful neutrality was glaringly obvious.

Karl arrived at the Guild House and found that there more than the few Supreme Ranked leaders waiting for him. Each had brought an honour guard of ten Ascended or Peak Immortal Elders from their Clan, so there were nearly a hundred Elders lingering in the yard.

At first, Karl thought that it was just courtesy, as that many would clog the shop, unless they were brought to the back room to wait for him.

However, after a moment, he found that the Lycan girl on duty had taken this opportunity to try to bump her sales numbers, and she was using the "Cute Creature" factor to its best extent, trying to weasel a few more sales out of them.

It was clear that they had already purchased a few items, and that had only assured her that her method had worked.

"If you would like, I can have Lala come help with the sale. Perhaps in a cute outfit? What’s your preference? Or, we can have Lady Rae dress them. She makes my work uniforms, and aren’t they adorable?"

The Elder looked panicked, while his rivals from the nearby factions tried not to laugh.

The worker was close to a thousand years younger than he was, and it had been a long time since the Elder had been hit with a sales pitch this intense. Normally, people were reserved and respectful, not upselling him in a shop full of items that could cost half his life savings.

"Thank you, Miss, but I am here as a representative of the Janill Clan, I cannot indulge in such frivolity today."

The clerk gave him her most heartbreaking pouting face, with her fluffy wolf ears pressed flat to her head. The sight was enough to melt even the hardest heart, but the Elder steeled his will, and shook his head.

Rejected, she moved on to the leader of the group next to him.

"You won’t be so heartless, will you?"

Karl nearly laughed as he realized that it wasn’t one of the students, but one of the older Lycan women who had used [Unobtrusive Behemoth], or had the Lesser Watcher use it on her, to look smaller and more innocent.

No wonder she was so good at this, she had four small children who would have done the same thing to her on a daily basis.

"Guild Leader, thank goodness that you’re here. The Clan Leader is waiting for you inside. Can you please ask your sales girl to back down? She’s already hustled us out of half our savings," the Elder who had rejected her sales pitch begged.

Karl patted the clerk on the head and ruffled her hair. "Good job with the sales, but these guys are working, you can go easy on them for now. Get them tomorrow when they come back for the things they didn’t want to buy today."