Building An Empire Starting From The Labor Camp In Exile-Chapter 295: Made of sand

When he raised his head, it was to a crowd that was totally stunned. Atrox raised his hand and fire bellowed straight up. The fire turned and coiled in the air, forming shapes.

And then in the middle of the air of the arena hung a flag of the Soryu, a serpent coiled around a helmet, all made of fire.

The flag cracked like burning coal, the only sound in the arena at the time.

"All hail the Clan leader!" one person shouted, a woman, and her voice echoed throughout the arena, seemingly to be amplified.

"All hail the Clan leader!" another shouted.

And then hundreds of voices joined. "All hail the Clan leader!"

Thousands joined and soon the shouting was like a homonymous storm that swept through the arena, shaking the very foundation and making the bones shake. Those outside also caught it and it shook everywhere, a tide that seemed to swallow everything and everyone.

Atrox raised his hand and let the banner burn even brighter, the red fire creating so much heat. The shouting from the crowd was like a balm that made Atrox relax.

Atrox turned to Svenjar who was looking at him oddly. "The fight never started and you’re using this much essence." His eyes narrowed. "Don’t tell me you have some tricks you are up to. The rules have already been set."

Atrox smiled and asked an entirely new question. "How do you find my Clan so far?"

He grunted. "Not bad. You are clearly well-loved and you don’t have to fight for bones to eat. I’ll say you are on a good path."

Atrox smiled. "Thank you. Now shall we fight?"

The rules were simple. No death but one of them must surrender for the win to count. No enchanted tool, only their powers.

The audience had long since finished hailing Atrox and now they waited in anticipation. Apparently the bet for him had climbed even higher minutes before the betting closed.

Fight!

There was no signal but they both knew they could start fighting anytime they wanted.

Svenjar dipped his hand into the short trousers he was wearing and when he removed it his hand was covered in sand. "This is the sand from my place, the Akatsuki territory. I brought it here because it’s the sands I’m most used to."

Atrox frowned. "You are going to beat me with something like that?"

High above them and in all places around the platform, there were projections of the fight in holo light.

Svenjar laughed and then he blew on his hand. The small sand that covered his hand suddenly bellowed out as he blew on it. It was as if a wave was blowing in the desert and carried waves of sand with it.

"Woah! Woah! Woah!" the crowd shouted.

The ground was covered in brown sand. It was as if half of the platform was a desert. Atrox couldn’t help but be impressed. "Do you really just multiply the sand?"

Svenjar laughed. "Afraid now? But it’s too late!"

The sand was spreading fast as it was multiplying at an astonishing rate. Something about the way the sand was moving gave Atrox a chill. ’...this is how the Akatsuki wanted to claim my Clan...’

Atrox began to release his essence pressure. The space around him grew weight and grey hazy redness. He began to walk towards Svenjar without waiting for the sand to spread to him.

Suddenly a small explosion sent Atrox hurling towards Svenjar!

All Svenjar saw was a blur as the air shifted but as he said to Atrox before, he had been fighting since he was a kid. He directly sank into the sand as if it were water.

Where he was before, a kick passed through.

Atrox twisted in the air and righted himself to land on his feet, but just before his feet touched the ground, a small explosion carried him out of the sand and onto the normal ground of the platform.

His instincts had warned him not to step foot on the sand.

Svenjar appeared again, swimming out of the sand like a fish in water, his face all smiles. "Oh! You really aren’t that bad, Atrox! You didn’t even step on my sand. A pity, most of my fights end quickly that way.

"Anyway. Seems we will have to do it the rough way then. It seems I will have to go all out from the beginning," Svenjar said. He pointed to the crowd and then at Atrox. "Be glad, you are about to see my strongest attack."

"It’s a technique that was initially made for those with water magic but since there was no water in my Clan, I had to modify it to the highest level!"

Atrox watched him and let him continue. Svenjar was very good at exaggeration and drama. Atrox had come to know that about him, so he let him ramble on since the crowd loved it.

Also, he was curious about the technique as well.

Suddenly Svenjar opened his mouth wide. Even his jaws seemed to be dislocated. With an open mouth like that, he looked like a snake about to swallow its prey.

Atrox watched with an unbelievable expression as Svenjar began to swallow sand as if it were water. With Pomora swallowing water, it was convincing. It was water!

But sand? Atrox shuddered as he watched him swallow sand. The sand lifted by itself and entered into his mouth.

He wasn’t the only one surprised as well. Everyone was watching the whole thing in complete shock. Of course, they had seen magic before, but this one definitely topped as one of the weirdest! Maybe it was because eating itself is relatable, so to see someone eating sand like that made everyone shudder.

The more he ate, the more his skin changed. At first, it went extremely brown before it gained a copper hue that seemed to sparkle as the sun shone on it.

But then it changed again. His body began to turn more statue-like, made of baked mud. Before finally, he swallowed all the sand and he finally turned into a man made of desert sand.

He was still in Svenjar’s form, but he was made of sand.