Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

First things first came the sword.

Zaroth wanted to start with them as he felt it was the easiest choice.

It was hard to find a good spear as it was important to take note of its weight, balance, piercing potential, throwing potential, and other things.

Daggers were hard to test as they required a real battle, but in general, it was important to be able to take them out fast in case he wanted to surprise his opponent, and they needed to be light and easy to use.

But swords? It was all about how sharp they were.

Of course, there were a lot of things that came with swords, like the type of blade, weight, and other aspects, but Zaroth didn't care about that.

When he used a sword, he didn't care how fast he was able to move it or how well he would be able to parry attacks with it.

The most important thing was its raw power.

Using swords was his way of delivering maximum power against his opponents.

After all, even if his beasts could do part of that, it would be nice if he were able to do it as well.

No matter how tough their armor, shield, or skill that protected them, he wanted to be able to break it all with his sword.

As such, rather than going for the normal ones, he primarily focused his attention on the heavier ones.

Sure, he didn't have much experience when it came to using them, but so what? It was all just a sword, so how hard could it be?

"Stop." He froze when he heard Elysia's command.

"Have you ever used heavy-type swords?" she asked with a hint of coldness in her voice.

Zaroth was silent for a few moments until he replied. "No, not really."

"Let me guess, you are somewhat capable of using a normal one, so you think, why don't you experiment with using different kinds of swords?"

Zaroth's cheeks got a bit red in embarrassment."...Yes."

"Are you an idiot?"

Elysia's question caught him off guard.

At this moment, Zaroth finally heard Luna's voice again in his head.

Or more accurately, he heard her laughing—it seemed that she was enjoying the moment.

A moment later, he frowned.

"No… I am not sure… okay, maybe, but why are you asking me that?"

"Do you seriously think that just because you can use one type of blade, you will be able to wield others? The ones that you are looking at will be too unfamiliar for you."

Zaroth gritted his teeth, but he had to admit that she was kind of right.

After all, it was arrogant of him to assume that just because he was able to use a normal swords, he would be able to use a heavy swords or an curved swords—they had different types of fighting styles and learning curves, after all.

But there was something else that didn't make him abandon his idea.

And it was the way he went about getting stronger.

Sure, he could spend all his time, energy, and focus on getting good with one thing.

But he felt it would be a mistake. He felt that it would be better to learn the basics of a lot of things and begin to combine them in unique ways rather than focusing on just one thing.

Another reason was that if he focused on one thing specifically, that thing would no doubt have weaknesses—for instance, sword fighters were at a disadvantage against ranged enemies, and there would be no way to get rid of that weakness.

Whereas being able to use a variety of weapons could help cover weak points.

Sure, one might argue that being average in a lot of areas would have the side effect of not having strong points, and that could be considered true for some people.

But this didn't apply to him.

Zaroth already had a strong point, after all.

He was an Undead Beast Master—he was able to use dead beasts for as long as he had mana.

There wasn't much of a stronger point than that.

So rather than cowering in fear, Zaroth looked Elysia in the eyes as he spoke firmly."Even so, I believe it would be beneficial for getting stronger."

Elysia looked at him for some time and then looked away as she scoffed."Do what you wish."

Zaroth nodded as he went back to inspecting the weapons, while Elysia began to throw him glances from time to time.

Zaroth hadn't realized it himself, but by standing his ground on something he believed to be true, even when he was challenged by someone of higher authority, he appeared more mature.

And these actions changed, Elysia impressed him, even if just by a little.

Ten minutes later, Zaroth made his choice.

With a sigh, Elysia opened the glass and gave him the sword.

The moment he took the sword in his hands, he was forced to take a step forward to adjust his balance.

He smiled menacingly as his eyes sparkled.

It would definitely take some time to get used to using this kind of blade, but it felt right in his hands.

Almost like this weapon type was made for him.

The blade was more than a meter and a half long and was curved.

Zaroth wasn't sure why, but it seemed that he liked the fact that it was curved—it just felt right using a curved weapon even though he had never used one before.

Unlike the first sword he had used, this one had only one sharp edge, and it was thinner than normal.

Zaroth wasn't an expert, but he was pretty sure that this kind of weapon was called an Odachi.

They were similar to Katanas but much bigger.

He took a few practice slashes to test the weapon, and in the end, he chose it because it felt right.

After that, he chose a set of daggers.

They were black in color, matching his armor, and they looked like they were durable as well, so it was an easy choice.

And finally, he chose a spear.

This one didn't match his set, however, as it wasn't black but white instead.

Zaroth didn't mind, however, as the usefulness of the weapon was more important than its outer appearance.

He threw it a few times around the room and practiced holding it to get a feel for it.

He nodded with satisfaction at his choice and glanced at Elysia."This is pretty much it—I am ready."

He spoke with a slight bow. He had been given so many valuable things that he felt immense gratitude toward Elysia.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that after Luna, Elysia was the one who had helped him the most.

This not only made him feel immediately grateful toward the chairwoman, but his heart also began to beat faster.

It was like his feelings toward her were slowly changing from lust to genuine love.

And not only that, but this all happened when Zaroth had been feeling down—she was the one who managed to figure out why he was feeling bad and managed to distract him from the unpleasant thoughts.

Seeing him bow slightly, Elysia smiled faintly as she approached him.

Putting her hand on his head, she spoke. Unlike before, her voice didn't carry any coldness or warmth—it was more alluring than anything.

"You know, these things would have cost you tens of millions of credits if you had bought them."

Zaroth's eyes widened for a moment.

Even if he spent years betting in the arena, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to gather that much money.

Not to mention, even if he got the money, he doubted that it would have been an easy thing to buy, as this kind of gear was no doubt highly sought after.

Seeing his expression, Elysia smiled wider.

"Oh? Are you feeling guilty taking things that are so expensive?"

She lowered her head slightly, bringing her lips close to his ear as she whispered, "Don't worry. Winning the tournament will be worth far more, after all."

Zaroth gulped as he forced his heart to calm down. Winning wouldn't just grant him a wish from the Emperor's family, but also a wish from Elysia herself…

Thanks to Elysia's actions today, Zaroth was more or less able to forget about the dilemma he had faced after the 13th round.

Now, he was waiting for the next round with anticipation.