Chapter 2: Celebrate Extravagantly!

Gervas, holding a spear and wearing an obviously oversized, worn leather armor, stood outside the wooden wall of the arena.

The civil official began announcing to the audience the challenger for this round.

When the crowd learned the challenger was a minor noble’s second son with no reputation, a chorus of boos erupted.

Commoners and serfs may lack experience, but they are not fools.

This poor noble’s second son’s armor didn’t even fit—he was clearly borrowing it, and undoubtedly meant to be cannon fodder.

“I declare this round of challenge begun! Let us wish Gervas Gail success!”

The torrent of boos had no effect on the civil official; after his brief speech, he announced the challenge had begun.

“Kid, here’s what you asked for—the challenge starts now. I’ll give you one last chance: return the silver coins, and we’ll let you out the moment it’s over!” The same soldiers who had just been “extorted” approached Gervas and handed him a porcelain bottle.

Gervas took the bottle first, then smiled and said, “Dream on!”

With that, Gervas stepped directly through the gate of the enclosure.

“You bastard!” The soldiers clenched their teeth in fury, powerless to stop him, hoping only that the Corroding Black Bear would be strong enough to tear the boy apart.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Though deprived of sight and hearing, the Corroding Black Bear’s sense of smell remained keen—it sensed Gervas’s approach instantly.

The scent of living flesh made the already injured and enraged bear go even wilder, charging toward Gervas at full speed.

The massive bear radiated overwhelming power, yet its short-distance speed matched any predator—each step sent a thudding tremor through the ground.

Fifty meters, thirty meters, ten meters…

In an instant, the Corroding Black Bear reached him.

“Ah!”

A cry of shock rose from the crowd, especially among noble ladies and ladies-in-waiting, who instinctively covered their eyes, unable to bear the bloody scene about to unfold.

Yet the high nobles looked puzzled. “Why isn’t the boy running?”

“Yeah, just run two laps—once a minute passes, he can surrender. That shouldn’t be too hard!”

“Could he be frozen with fear?”

“Possibly. Civil Official Poli, you’ll need to spend some time explaining and apologizing to this boy’s father after the challenge ends!”

Civil Official Poli’s face twisted in agony. Just moments ago, the boy had seemed clever—now he’d turned into an idiot.

Just as everyone believed Gervas was doomed, Gervas in the arena finally moved.

When the Corroding Black Bear was only two meters away, he flung a handful of red powder forward and simultaneously dove sideways to evade.

Aaaoooh!

The black bear was struck by the red powder and let out a piercing, agonized roar.

Gervas, having dodged in time, safely avoided the charge and quickly pulled back over ten meters.

The Corroding Black Bear now had no attention left for Gervas—it staggered in place, shaking its head wildly and lashing out at random.

For the powder Gervas had thrown was chili powder.

The bear’s sense of smell was no less acute than a dog’s nose.

Thus, with sight and hearing gone, and its smell overwhelmed by the chili powder, it became a true “blind man” in moments.

“What happened? What did that second son do to the Corroding Black Bear?”

“I don’t know—could that powder be poison?”

“But the Corroding Black Bear is a dark creature—it’s immune to poison…”

Amid the crowd’s confusion, Gervas confirmed the bear was thoroughly disoriented, then raised his spear and began advancing deliberately.

As the crowd gasped, convinced the second son had gone mad, Gervas thrust his spear straight at the bear’s eye socket.

Roar!

Though he struck the bear’s head, the spear only scraped its thick skull.

The bear grew even more furious.

Gervas stepped back two paces—he knew he had to strike fast, precise, and hard at the bear’s weakness.

“Die!”

Gervas charged forward again, seizing the moment to stab the spear with all his strength.

Plop!

This time, no resistance met his spear—the tip had pierced the bear’s eye socket with perfect accuracy.

Gervas, fearing it wasn’t enough, twisted the spear shaft with all his might.

With a howl, the once thrashing Corroding Black Bear stiffened.

Thud. The bear collapsed, lifeless.

“This…”

The arena fell silent. Everyone stared, stunned, at what had just transpired.

Especially the sons of the high nobles waiting for their own turns.

They could not believe this minor noble’s second son had slain the Corroding Black Bear.

Was the Corroding Black Bear blind?

How could he have killed it so easily?

Unlike the high noble sons, the commoners didn’t care.

This minor noble had slain the near-impossible Corroding Black Bear—a true, shocking reversal.

Moreover, because Gervas was poor and lowly, they felt a personal sense of triumph—a small man’s revenge against the powerful—and erupted into a thunderous cheer.

“Brave! Gervas is brave!”

“Gervas is brave!”…

The commoners’ roar finally snapped the high nobles out of their shock.

“Civil Official Poli, what do we do now?” The high nobles stared at him, faces grim.

What to do?

Of course—celebrate extravagantly.

Civil Official Poli glanced sidelong at the high nobles.

If not for their refusal to send their own sons into the arena, this minor noble’s second son would never have gotten the chance.

Now, having slain the Corroding Black Bear before the eyes of all, even if Poli had a thousand courage, he dared not interfere further.

One hundred gold coins were tempting, but compared to his position and his life, they meant nothing.

…

“Gervas Gail, do you swear fealty to His Majesty, King Henryk VII, the Lion-Eagle?”

“I do!”

“Excellent. I, Poli, hereby declare on behalf of King Henryk VII that from this moment, Gervas Gail is officially ennobled as a noble of the kingdom, with the title of Baron!”

“Congratulations, Baron Gervas. Here are your letters of enfeoffment and land deed.”

Taking the two parchment scrolls from Civil Official Poli, Gervas became the center of all attention.

Admiration, envy, jealousy, resentment, disdain—all stared at him.

Gervas paid them no mind. As a transmigrator with a system and now a fief, he felt his ascent was about to begin.

He opened the land deed, eager to see the location of his new territory.

But as he read, Gervas froze.

The Stormhold? On the edge of the Death Mountains—the very land known as a death zone?

The four high noble sons who had also been ennobled glanced at his parchment and their expressions turned utterly bewildered.

“Hahaha!” The high noble sons burst into laughter.

“What’s going on? What’s so funny?”

“Yeah, why are they laughing?”

Their laughter drew curiosity from the surrounding crowd.

“Do you know where his fief is?”

“Where?”

“The Stormhold! The Stormhold near the Death Mountains!”

“What? That place full of barbarians and demons? Other border fiefs might be dangerous, but there? You go in, you die—no exceptions. Three lords have died there in the past decade!”

Clearly, the high nobles resented this minor noble for snatching their “fruit,” and had quietly arranged some mischief.