<h4>Chapter 11: -11- Celebratory banquet</h4>


    Ss just stood there and watched Thea, who was smiling while looking down at her body.


    ''Damn, she''s fine,'' he couldn''t help but think as he had a moment to appreciate her beauty as she stood there in her sweat-soaked, skin-tight blue robe that clung to her body, showing each and every one of her plentiful curves.


    Thea soon looked up and softly said, "Do you forfeit?"


    Ss justughed and shook his head.


    "Fine, I''ll just make you suffer for a little bit first," she quickly said as her smiling face turned serious.


    "Whoosh!" she shed forward.


    "Bang!" "Bang!" "ng!" "ng!" "ng!" she attacked, and while Ss was able to block twice, with her upgraded strength and speed on top of her near-equal weaponprehension, she was easily able to get past his defense andnd three quick but powerful attacks.


    There was just one problem.


    "What the hell is your body made of?" she asked in frustration. She had clearlynded three solid attacks, but not only did it not harm him in the slightest, only white scratches could be seen on his skin where her attacksnded.


    Ss ignored her with augh and continued his own attack.


    He knew he couldn''t win, but he also knew he couldn''t lose. Since he had reached Cycle 1A of the [Reaper''s Immortal Husk] his body was as durable as a low-tier rank 2 weapon, so unless she could pull out a rank 2 weapon that was higher quality than low-tier which was unlikely in this inheritance realm than she would never be able to harm him.


    This being the case, he was going to milk this fight for all it was worth and continue to level up his scytheprehension until the fight was forced to be called a draw.


    "Bang!" "Bang!" "ng!" "ng!" "ng!" "ng!"


    "Bang!" "ng!" "ng!" "ng!"


    "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "ng!"


    The fight continued for hours, but to the surprise of the audience, the higher-ups of all the ns, and especially the Redstone Patriarch, Ss was unable to be injured at all no matter how many times Thea attacked in anger and frustration.


    "Bang!" "Bang!" "ng!"


    "ng!" "ng!" "ng!" "ng!"


    "ng!" "ng!" "ng!" "ng!" "ng!"


    "ng!" "ng!"


    Soon, despite not wanting to, the Redstone Patriarch blew the whistle and stepped forward. "For the first time since the inception of this event, I announce a draw."


    The crowd instantly went silent in confusion. First, they were confused by Ss''s defense, and now this.


    "So, I present to you the king and queen of the region for the next five years: Ss Armstrong and Thea Redstone!"


    The crowd then slowly began to cheer.


    The Redstone patriarch then looked to Ss and Thea and said, "As you should know, by bing the king and queen of the region, you will be given two prizes: the highest quality ranked weapon and armor we are capable of making. I already know what to get Thea, but what do you want, Ss?"


    (Weapon ranks:


    Unranked - Mortal


    —Ranked - Transcendent


    Spiritual - Revolving Core


    Earth - Golden Core


    Heaven - Sage


    Immortal - Earth Immortal


    Pure Yang - True Immortal)


    [A/n: It could sound as if I''m saying they will be given the highest-ranked weapon possible, which would likely be a rank 3 or 4 weapon, but that''s not it.]


    Ss thought about it for a short moment, then said, "Just give me a robe simr to this one as my armor and make me a scythe simr to this," he said as he pointed to both his robe and scythe, "and make them the colors of my n primarily ck with ents of red."


    ***


    Hourster, inside one of the grand buildings of the Redstone Prefecture, the Redstone n and the Armstrong n held a celebratory feast.


    There was a long table that was filled with food.


    The Redstone n was on one side of the table, and the Armstrong n was on the other.


    On the Redstone side, seated first, was the Redstone Patriarch himself, Oscar Redstone. Beside him sat Thea, with her parents next to her, followed by the rest of her family.


    On the Armstrong side, Keaton, the Patriarch of the Armstrong n, sat at the head of the table, followed by Ss, his grandfather Charles, and then his father and mother. Red and the rest of his family who attended the event were seated further down.


    Toward the end of both tables sat the higher-ups of both ns, the lord prefects, their aides, etc.


    The feast was delicious, and the banquet was fun, but soon it started to be drawn to a close.


    After all the food was eaten and taken away, Oscar, the Redstone Patriarch, with a serious and contemtive face, looked at Ss, then Thea, and then after a moment, with a smile, he looked over at Charles.


    "Charles, my old friend, we both have the most talented youths that have been born from our ns in the past several hundred years, if not since their founding, so why don''t we join their hands together in marriage and let them produce each of us several heirs?"


    This put shocked looks on both Ss''s and Thea''s faces while putting smiles on each of their families'' faces. To them, this was a match made in heaven.


    Charles, without looking to Ss or his family for their opinions, quickly answered with a smile, "That sounds amazing. I couldn''t think of a better idea myself. When should we n the wedding?"


    ''A wedding with Thea?'' Ss thought. While he wasn''t against marrying the heavenly beauty, his thoughts immediately went to Lilian, his wife from his first life.


    ''What would she think?'' he thought, but he soon came to the conclusion that she would want him to be happy. That was all she had ever wanted from him.


    ''But while she''s stunningly gorgeous, I don''t know her,'' Ss, having already been married once to an absolute beauty, didn''t simply care for looks. He also wanted the girl to have a good personality and get along with him well. He also knew that with his talents, he would eventually have girls lining up to marry him, and good lookers wouldn''t becking.


    Ss then decided to peek over at Thea to see what she was thinking.


    As he looked in her direction, Thea, who had done the same to him, quickly looked away with a shy and red face.


    ''She''s embarrassed?'' Ss thought, somewhat surprised at the stark difference from the battle-crazed warrior from before to the sweet and shy girl now.


    "What do you think, Ss?" Charles suddenly said with a big pat on his back.


    Ss looked back up to the surrounding people and then to Charles, his great-grandfather, and then over to Oscar, the Redstone Patriarch.


    "I, umm..." he quickly started. ''What should I say?''


    "I think Thea is a lovely girl. She is extremely talented, and I would be honored to marry such a person, but I think it would be best if we got to know each other first." Ss said the first thing that came to mind, avoiding saying yes or no straight out. This seemed like the perfect middle ground.


    "Oh yes, you two should spend some time together first. How about you stay here in my Redstone n as an honored guest for a couple of months or years, and you can get to know my precious Thea," Oscar asked with a smile Ss wasn''t aware he had. He also noticed that Thea''s face was now even redder, and she was staring at the ground.


    Ss thought about it for a moment, then looked over to his great-grandpa and his parents. Then he answered, "I would love to, but I have something else to do first, so it will have to wait untilter if that''s okay?" Upon saying this, he saw Thea breathe a breath of fresh air.


    "Ahh yes, how could a young and talented youth such as yourself not have things to do? So yes, after you have finished your obligations, pleasee down and spend some time here in my prefecture," Oscar said with a smile and a nod.


    "Yes, that sounds good," Ss said.


    ***


    ***


    [A/n: I changed some of the ranks it now goes:


    1. Mortal


    2. Transcendent


    3. Revolving Core


    4. Golden Core]