Obviously, although she was very interested in the goods and the gray dwarf slaves, her real purpose was to target Zuo Si and his dark elf warriors from the very beginning.

Although there are about 20,000 dark elf warriors in the city of Menzoberranzan, most of them have been divided up and controlled by aristocratic families of all sizes, and even those mercenaries often sign long-term employment contracts.

Therefore, in this city, foreign mercenary groups like Zuo Si's, which have no background, are the fat meat in the eyes of those ambitious families who want to continue to climb up.

What's more, the fact that they were able to capture such a large caravan of gray dwarves with just a dozen people has already proved their impressive strength.

Facing the offer from the mistress of an unknown family, Zuo Si immediately refused without hesitation: "I am very sorry, Your Excellency, I am honored by your offer, but I and my people will not accept employment from any family for the time being."

"Oh? Why?"

The drow woman narrowed her eyes and revealed a very dangerous expression.

As a high-ranking priestess and mistress, she was obviously accustomed to being obeyed by others and hated anyone who dared to go against her will, especially this kind of "ungrateful" guy.

But Zuo Si didn't care. Instead, he kept smiling and answered, "Because my people and I have just arrived in Menzoberranzan, and have not yet proved our worth to the mistresses. Under such circumstances, I don't think anyone can offer a price that will satisfy me."

Hearing this, the drow woman immediately couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! You are very confident, more confident and bold than any man I have ever seen. In this case, why don't you go to the arena in the tavern and prove yourself? I will pay you 100,000 gold coins to buy all the goods and slaves you have, but the condition is that you must win at least five games in a row in the arena."

"Are you going to let me please you with blood, killing and death?" Zuo Si raised his head and asked meaningfully.

"Why, are you scared?" The drow woman pursed her lips and revealed a cold and cruel look.

Because if the answer from Zuo Si at this moment was negative, then she would not hesitate to let her family soldiers rush forward and teach this group of ignorant foreign "refugees" who is the real ruler of the city of Mozoberranzan.

You should know that as a "lowly male", refusing the request made by the high priestess is itself an extremely rude behavior in the dark elf society and needs to be punished and educated.

When Trist was little, he was often whipped by his sisters for things like this.

From then on, he learned to lower his head as much as possible when facing the high priestess, and never look into the other's eyes, otherwise he would suffer.

However, Zuo Si obviously did not have even the slightest respect for these female priests of the spider goddess Rose. Not only did he look up and look them in the eye, he also responded bluntly: "No, I'm just worried about whether there are enough warriors in this city who dare to walk into the arena with me."

"Arrogant! Madam, please allow me to teach this ignorant outsider a lesson."

A dark elf warrior wearing a noble badge stepped forward.

He looked stronger than the average dark elf male, and carried a giant magical sword emitting a red glow on his back. One could tell at a glance that he was a pretty good warrior.

If nothing unexpected happens, he should be the martial arts master of this family, a role similar to a warrior instructor.

This is a very important position in the noble families of the Dark Elf, and usually only the warriors with the best combat skills are qualified to hold it.

In the past, the strongest martial arts master in Menzoberranzan was Drizzt's father Zaknafein.

Later, Zaknafein was sacrificed to the spider goddess Lolth by his mother Malice, which triggered a series of events such as Drizzt's defection from the family. Then the title of the strongest martial arts master was obtained by Dendrog of the Baenre family.

But the martial arts master of the Baenre family did not hold the title of the strongest for long, and died at the hands of Drizzt in a one-on-one duel.

In other words, Drizzt Do'Urden is the true number one warrior in Menzoberranzan.

Unfortunately, his two scimitars and artistic dance of death are so recognizable that he will be recognized by anyone who is interested as soon as he uses them.

So Zuo Si raised his hand to stop the ranger from fighting on his behalf. He stared at the martial arts master who was eager to show off in front of his mistress with eyes like a dead man, and said with a smile: "If you are ready, I am always available. But remember, once you enter the arena, only one person can walk out alive, and that person will definitely not be you."

"Hmph! Boy! I hope you can still be as arrogant as you are now when my sword pierces your heart and slits your throat."

The unknown dark elf warrior grinned with a bloodthirsty expression.

Seeing that the tension between the two was so strong that it was about to overflow, the high-ranking priestess of the mistress immediately clapped her hands happily: "Very good! Very good! Since both of you are so confident in your skills, let the great goddess Rose make the final decision later. Only the winner will be qualified to survive."

As these words came out, the dark elves around who were originally watching the fun suddenly burst into deafening cheers.

Because for them, nothing can make them feel more excited, stimulated and happy than watching two compatriots fighting each other.

Especially in this kind of "life and death situation" where one is destined to survive.

Soon, surrounded by these people, everyone including the matron rushed into the largest tavern in the city of Mozoberranzan.

Of course, the reason why this place is called a tavern is mainly for the convenience of understanding.

In fact, this building is a comprehensive entertainment venue that provides a variety of services, specifically for dark elves to vent their pent-up desires.

On the upper floor, massage and erotic services are mainly provided, and at a glance, there are almost naked or half-naked men and women.

Among them were dark elves, humans, tieflings, and mixed-race children of some other races. There were even quite a few succubi who swaggered among the guests, enjoying flirting with these equally chaotic and evil dark elves.

Apart from the dark elves, there is probably no other race in this world that can live in harmony with demons.

As for the middle floor, it is a special room for satisfying bloodlust and killing desires.

Here, you can buy a living slave for just a few dozen gold coins, and then do whatever you want to him or her according to your own wishes.

This includes but is not limited to skinning the person alive, gouging out the person's eyes, chopping off the person's hands and feet, and then forcing them to eat them.

Since there are a large number of torture instruments placed in each room, one can often hear creepy screams and wails coming from inside.

Compared with the two upper floors, the services provided in the lobby on the lowest floor are much more ordinary, just simple alcoholic beverages and food.

However, there is one thing that is unique in the lower area, and that is the arena, which can also be called the Colosseum.

This is a cylindrical cage with a radius of more than twenty meters.

Any dark elf who is confident in his own strength can enter the cage and wait for others to challenge him.

By winning by killing their opponents, they could make a name for themselves and attract the attention of noble families.

If you are lucky enough to be noticed by a mistress, you can get rid of your commoner status and become a "father's servant" in a few minutes.

This is a very special position, which can be simply understood as the nominal husband and male lover of the mistresses.

In principle, there can only be one servant to the father, just as in feudal society men can only have one legal wife.

But the problem is that serving one's father is not protected by any rules or laws.

If they want to maintain their status and not be deprived of it, first of all, they must satisfy the mistress's physiological needs in bed anytime and anywhere.

Secondly, you need to have certain strength.

Otherwise, a loser can't be a stable servant to his father.

Not to mention the problem that the mistress will gradually get tired of the old and love the new as time goes by, there are many dark elves who are ambitious and eyeing this position, and they will use poisoning, assassination and other means to eliminate the current servant.

Only those who are powerful enough can make the mistress think twice before changing a servant.

But even so, becoming a squire is the only way for many dark elf civilian men to change their class.

Therefore, the arena in the tavern will never lack adventurers and challengers.

In order to prove their strength, some people will even ask to challenge some of the most terrifying monsters in the Underdark, such as beholders, mind flayers, Kuo-toa murloc priests or princes, demons summoned from the Abyss, and so on.

Of course, the usual outcome for such people is that they are mercilessly torn to pieces by monsters.

After all, although the dark elves are considered to be overlords in the Underdark, that refers to overall strength, not the combat effectiveness of a single individual.

More often than not, the arena was a place to settle personal grudges and a place of execution where killings could be "legally" committed.

When Zuo Si and the dark elf warrior walked into the huge iron cage, all eyes in the tavern were quickly drawn to them.

Even the guests on the upper level temporarily stopped their intense exercise, put on their coats, stood beside the hollow railings, looked down, and intended to enjoy this rare show.

Because unlike Zuo Si who had just arrived and didn't know the situation, these locals had already recognized the dark elf warrior standing in the arena. It was none other than Jody, who had been aiming for the title of the strongest martial arts master in Mozoberranzan in recent years and was loyal to the third-ranked Obroza family.

And without asking, one would know that the high-ranking priestess must be the leader of the Obroza family - Keyo Obroza.

"Have you thought of your last words?"

As soon as the door of the iron cage was slammed shut, Jody immediately drew his weapon and assumed an attacking stance.

He was obviously very confident in his own strength, and didn't think that the greenhorn in front of him could be his opponent.

After all, even after transforming into a dark elf, Zuo Si looked no more than forty years old, which is equivalent to about sixteen or seventeen years old in human terms.

"Last words? Haha, that should be something you need to prepare, not me. In fact, from the moment you stepped into the arena, you were already dead."

Zuo Si gently fiddled with the seemingly inconspicuous two-handed sword in his hand.

Needless to say, he did not intend to expose himself as a spellcaster too early, but instead planned to use the swordsmanship and melee combat skills he had recently learned from the ancient planeswalker Sorin Markov to solve the little trouble at hand.

Although during the melee training, Zuo Si complained and grumbled more than once that it was a complete waste of time and energy for the planeswalkers to learn such cold weapon combat skills.

But after a few days of intense fighting, he was able to hold out for at least five minutes under Sorin Markov's relentless onslaught.

Converted to the warrior level of Furen, it should be at least LV12~14.

Coupled with the bonus of his own strength, agility and physique attributes, a fighter of the same level would not even have a chance to attack if he encountered Zuo Si. He would be suppressed by the violent blows and eventually drop his weapons because he could not withstand the fierce impact.

Especially the strength attribute of up to thirty-one points, which is simply not something that ordinary people can possess.

Unless there is absolutely no collision of weapons, the opponent's hands will be numbed or even lose consciousness due to the shock.

But Jody obviously didn't know this. When the bell rang to start the duel, he rushed forward wielding a huge sword emitting a red glow, and launched the first round of attacks at lightning speed.

Ding! With the golden sparks flying out from the collision of the two weapons, this one-on-one duel finally began.

As a person who is qualified to compete for the title of the strongest martial arts master in Menzoberranzan, Jody's swordsmanship skills are undoubtedly very superb. Even in the eyes of the legendary ranger Drizzt, he is a very difficult and powerful opponent.

In particular, his way of always liking to seize the initiative and fighting with his super-fast reaction speed is a typical Just-Sreen style in the dark elf martial arts, also known as "Dangerous Front".

When facing an enemy using this style of martial arts, one will often be suppressed by the opponent if one is not careful, and ultimately be defeated in the high-speed transition between offense and defense.

By the way, the martial arts style used by Drizzt is Della Villefort, also known as the Double Blade. It is a superb skill that only a very small number of dark elf nobles who have the talent of ambidextrous and luxurious educational resources are qualified to learn and master.

In fact, the martial arts of the dark elves have gradually evolved into twelve major schools over tens of thousands of years.

Including Baosa Zixin (Flash Away), Della Villefort (Double Blade), Jiven Gorjir (Clever Plot), Cain Vidrin (Careful Shadow), Keorin Prien (Qi Ge), Russ Alur (Forced Throw), Orb Alur (Spiral Spider), Fidal Straka (Beastly Beast), Sarg Alg (Punishment), Just Thrine (Dangerous Front), Zar Sarak (Cavalry Assault), and Ziris Asarak (Military Might).

Almost every genre has its own unique characteristics.

Any dark elf who can master one of these skills can basically be considered an elite among his own race.

Generally speaking, only nobles have enough time and energy to learn these advanced martial arts that common people will never be able to achieve in their lifetime.

"Is there any need to ask? Of course it's Soth! Look at the hand holding the sword. It has been very steady since just now, without the slightest shake. Do you know what this means?" Trist asked in a low voice.

"What does it mean?" Vinar blinked in confusion.

She was obviously not a warrior, but an excellent assassin. She rarely confronted the enemy head-on, so she didn't know much about this.

Drizzt patiently explained, "This means there is an absolute gap in strength attributes! The dark elf warrior named Jody launched a fierce attack with all his might, but he couldn't even make Soth feel any pressure. As a user of the martial arts of the Just Sirien (Dangerous Front) school, he has fallen into a dilemma where he will be defeated instantly if he stops."

"You mean... the master is now being suppressed and is actually waiting for his opponent to be exhausted?" Vinar raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

You know, in her cognition, Zuo Si has always been a powerful spellcaster, with extremely high levels in both arcane and divine magic.

This can be seen from the terrifying group strengthening magic in the previous battle.

But now, such a powerful spellcaster actually displayed martial arts that were not inferior to those of high-level warriors. It was really hard to accept.

After all, even among the dark elves who have a lifespan of hundreds of years, few would have extra energy to learn martial arts after choosing "Sinnoh Dual Cultivation".

"That's why I say Soth is a real monster. The power he possesses cannot be measured by common sense. Most importantly, he is the chosen one appointed by the two goddesses and possesses powerful abilities. But so far, he has not used any of these abilities."

While saying this, Drizzt's tone and eyes became unprecedentedly serious.

As a friend of Silvermoon City's supreme ruler Alustriel, he obviously knew some secrets about the Silver Fire. He was even more aware of how terrifying and astonishing the destructive power could be if Zuo Si was enraged. The entire city of Menzoberranzan might be reduced to ruins and a dead city under his wrath.

But Vinar obviously didn't care about the life and death of Menzoberranzan. Instead, he laughed heartlessly and said, "Isn't this better? With such a strong man as a backer, my people and I will definitely live a very comfortable life on the surface. Maybe I should take advantage of this trip to the Underdark to recruit more talented dark elves. Maybe we can even build a village of our own on the surface."

"I have no objection to this. But you'd better be careful with your actions, otherwise once the high priestess notices, the consequences will be disastrous." Trist warned seriously.

He was actually quite happy to see more of his fellow dark elves leaving the Underdark and heading to the surface to start a new life.

But the prerequisite is to abandon the chaotic and evil nature of the past.

"Don't worry, I'm not a fool. I know what kind of target to choose." Vinar rolled his eyes in annoyance.

As the two were talking, the fierce battle pace in the arena finally began to slow down.

After all, most dark elves are not known for their physical strength.

In addition, Jody attacked fiercely from the beginning, which caused him to lose his physical strength very quickly. In less than ten minutes, he was sweating all over.

The hand holding the sword was shaking slightly uncontrollably.

Needless to say, he had personally experienced the terrifying impact brought by Zuo Si's strength attribute of 31 points.

With almost every collision of weapons, the arms, hands and wrists have to endure unimaginable recoil.

That’s it, and it’s still the result of not putting in much effort.

It was obvious that Zuo Si was learning and absorbing the advantages of the opponent's martial arts style through this battle, so he chose to defend rather than attack.

"Are you done? If you are, it will be my turn!"

Zuo Si asked with a half-smile as he looked at the ordinary two-handed sword in his hand which had been chopped into countless gaps and dents by the opponent.

"You...what kind of monster are you?"

Jody was breathing heavily, his eyes revealing panic and fear.

At this moment, his lungs were already beginning to feel intense burning and stinging due to the intense exercise.

But what about the opponent?

There was no change in the opponent's breathing, as if he had not just gone through a high-speed attack and defense transition in a battle, but was merely warming up.

This meant that the young dark elf in front of him not only crushed him in terms of strength, but also in terms of physique.

If he hadn't had a slight advantage in agility, he might have been seized upon and killed.

"Monster? Is that how you call someone who is stronger than you? Or, you just can't accept your own failure and death, so you're trying to find excuses?" Zuo Si asked with a look of contempt.

There was no doubt that the dark elf warrior in front of him did not pose any threat to him from beginning to end.

Likewise, he realized how well the close combat and swordsmanship skills Sorin Markov had taught him were at the level of Faerûn.

Perhaps except for those high gods, all mortal warriors are younger brothers in front of the powerful King of Innistrad.

After all, the latter's martial arts had taken thousands of years to develop, absorbing knowledge and strength bit by bit from other worlds, and had been improved through countless battles.

This alone makes them incomparable to any mortal warrior on the continent of Faerun.

"No! This is not an excuse! You are not a dark elf at all! You must be some other kind of monster!" Jody accused loudly like a madman.

Because he had realized that he was no match for the young man in front of him, he wanted to use some other methods to escape the fate of failure and death.

But unfortunately, the other black elves watching the scene immediately booed loudly at this behavior of not being able to accept defeat.

The guests standing on the upper floors even spilled the food and drinks in their hands and cursed with the most vicious words in the dark elf language.

"Go to hell, you lowly maggot!"

"Don't make excuses for your weakness and failure!"

"When you were slaughtering those young dark elf warriors here, why didn't you say that you were also a monster?"

"Stranger! Kill him!"

"We want to see him bleed like a river! We want to see his heart dug out and offered as a sacrifice to the great Queen Lolth!"

…

For a moment, the entire tavern looked like a riot was about to break out, with roars and shouts everywhere.

The dark elves who were torturing and killing slaves for fun on the middle level even threw the slaves' arms, internal organs and intestines down from a high place to vent their inner dissatisfaction.

Jody was obviously frightened by this atmosphere of being a public enemy, and he looked to the mistress for help, hoping that she would save him once for her past service to the family.

Unfortunately, the mistress, who was a high-level priestess, ignored him at all. Instead, she turned her gaze to Zuo Si, her eyes flashing with naked and undisguised greed and desire.

"Mother, are you sure you want to give up Jodi?" The eldest daughter of the Obroza family cautiously tested.

"Why not? After all, now we have a better and more perfect replacement, don't we?" Madam Keyo pursed her lips and revealed a cold and cruel smile.

You have to know that just a few hours ago, she and Jody had done some healthy exercises in a room on the second floor of her house, and promised to give him a higher status and power within the family.

But now, when a better target appeared, the poor guy was immediately abandoned.

As many scholars have described, the mistress of every dark elf family is basically a cruel black widow.

To them, men are nothing more than objects to be played with and tools to be used. Once they lose their value, they will be immediately thrown away like garbage.

The more tragic ones were even taken to the Great Hall and sacrificed to the spider goddess Lolth with a terrible ritual dagger.

Zuo Si undoubtedly noticed this, and slowly raised the sword in his hand, saying in a tone full of pity: "It seems that you have been abandoned. In this case, let me end your miserable life. Do you understand? In fact, in my opinion, the so-called martial arts are nothing more than two things, namely speed and strength. As long as these two are brought to the extreme, even the most ordinary attack can produce unimaginable power. Just like this..."

As the last sentence came out of his mouth, Zuo Si suddenly took a step forward at lightning speed, raised the sword in his hand high above his head, and chopped it down with an unmatched posture.

The next second...

Ding!!! The sound of the weapons colliding instantly echoed throughout the tavern, and countless golden sparks flew everywhere.

Before others could react to what was happening, they saw that the ordinary two-handed sword in Zuo Si's hand had broken into two pieces at some point. One half was in his hand, and the other half had already slashed horizontally from the side of Jodi's neck into his chest.

Half of the body was almost split in half, and a large amount of blood gushed out of the wound, dyeing the ground red in a short while.

Just one strike! The martial arts master of the Obroza family, who was only one step away from becoming the strongest warrior in Mozoblay City, turned into a warm corpse.

Especially the terrifying impact force of the half sword body, which almost crushed all the internal organs, and even the ribs responsible for protecting the chest cavity were almost all broken.

Anyone who knows a little about combat would understand that if the weapon in Zuo Si's hand was not of too poor quality and the weapon in the opponent's hand was not of too good quality, Jody's body would definitely have been split in two by now.

There is no skill involved in this attack!

From beginning to end, it was the most primitive, purest, and most brutal power! After a brief silence, thunderous cheers broke out in the tavern.

Because this extremely brutal, bloody and merciless killing method greatly satisfies the bloodthirsty appetite of the dark elves.

Similarly, many interested people have begun to notice the potential of Zuo Si, the "newcomer" who has just arrived in the city of Mozoberranzan.

Madam Keyo even stood up and gave applause, and held up four fingers and said, "Four more games to go! As long as you win four more games, I will use 100,000 gold coins to buy all the goods and slaves you have."

"As you wish, noble Madam. But I'm not sure if anyone is willing to walk into the arena with me now."

As he spoke, Zuo Si looked around with an aggressive look.

After making eye contact with them, many dark elf warriors chose to lower their heads to show weakness.

They are not fools, they will not come forward to seek death at this time.

Just when the atmosphere became awkward, the tavern owner came up and suggested in a flattering tone: "Honorable Madam Keyo, we have a batch of newly captured powerful monsters that should be able to satisfy this brave and bloodthirsty warrior. Since no one dares to challenge him, why not let him deal with these monsters."

"Tell me, what kind of monsters are there?" Mistress Keyo touched her chin and showed an interested expression.

Not only her, but other guests in the tavern also became eager to try.

After all, the battle just now had completely aroused their bloodthirsty desire, so they couldn't wait to see more scenes of blood and death.

The tavern owner quickly pulled out a list from his pocket and answered excitedly, "We have six Horrors, one Beholder, four Trolls, one Ettin, a Kuo-Toa Prince, and a Berserker. I suggest starting with the Trolls, Giants, or Horrors, and gradually increase the difficulty of the challenge."

Needless to say, he was planning to use Zuo Si and these monsters to set up gambling games to make a fortune.

You know, on weekdays, although there are occasional dark elves who stand up to challenge monsters, most of them just give it a try and will never joke about their own lives.

So the gambling has always been lukewarm.

But now, hearing that Zuo Si had to fight at least four more games in a row, the tavern owner immediately smelled an opportunity to make a lot of money.

(End of this chapter)