MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1464: Myriad Prodigies: Second Round - Ataraxia (1)

Hearing his name be called just after he said he wouldnʼt be called any time soon, Ataraxia wanted nothing else than to dig a pit and jump into it at that very moment.

Of course, with the two not bothering to hide their conversation, some of the people surrounding them let out a bit of laughter at the irony of the situation, only to then become silent once they realized who were talking.

”Look! Itʼs Ylvar!”

”And thatʼs… the dark horse from that one city tournament. Whatʼs his name again?”

”Itʼs Ataraxia. His nameʼs Ataraxia.”

”Also, heʼs not just some dark horse. Donʼt you know heʼs Ylvarʼs student?”

”Wait… seriously?”

Listening to the soft conversations the people in the tavern were having, Ataraxia and Valyr looked at each other for a bit before wry smiles adorned their faces.

”Best of luck,” said Valyr after some time, which only made Ataraxia feel further embarrassment as he made his way up the surface.

Watching the young man slowly disappear from his field of vision, Valyr let out a slight chuckle as he slightly shook his head.

”Still a long way to go.”

Taking a sip of his cold beverage, he then shifted his attention towards the magic screen, immediately finding his student mingling with the other members of the 262nd batch.

”…Damn.” Sweeping his gaze over the participants Ataraxia would have to work with for the second round, a slight frown soon appeared on Valyrʼs face. ”Thereʼs not a lot of Rank 5 class holders in his batch.”

”Same goes for Rank 4 class holders, actually.”

”Well then.” Coming to this realization, Valyr scratched the back of his head.

”Thatʼs gonna be a problem.”

…

”Batch 262…”

After shaking off the embarrassment he felt from the events that transpired earlier, Valyr made his way up the surface, easily finding the batch that he would be a part of for the second round.

”Excuse me.” Of course, just like what he did before, he asked one of the other people nearby to make sure he was in the right place. ”This is the 262nd batch, right?”

”Ah…” Looking around for a bit, the young man Valyr asked eventually nodded at him in response. ”This is the batch, yes.”

”Do we have a plan of action yet?” Feeling like the young man was amicable to further conversation, Valyr decided to ask him a few more questions. ”Do we have a leader?”

”A plan of action…” The young man bitterly smiled. ”If the strongest ones in our batch come to a decision on who would lead, perhaps we would.”

”Hmm?” Hearing those words, Valyr slightly frowned, slowly sweeping his gaze over the other members that were in the same batch as him.

Eventually, he found a man and a woman arguing with one another, their expressions seemingly on the verge of exploding in anger.

”The fuck you mean youʼll lead the batch?” The man looked at the woman with disdain. ”You really think your shitty ass whip would help?”

”As if youʼre the one to talk!” said the woman in return, her disgust for the man greatly evident. ”Have you ever thought for a second that your sickle would do jack shit to the beast?”

”Er…” Knowing that their chances of reaching the third round would become drastically lower if they couldnʼt come an agreement, Valyr eventually decided to step into their conversation, sensing that his focus was now entirely on the current situation.

Yet, just as he was about to ask the two to make amends and come to a compromise somehow, the two immediately glared daggers at him before he could talk, only to then pressure him with their auras at the same time.

”…Haah.” Although he was unaffected by their auras, the young man now understood that the two would only listen to him if he were stronger than them.

With that, he went ahead and used [Soul Fusion].

Whoosh!

At the very instant the skill activated, Valyr showed no hesitation in releasing his aura in its entirety, causing everyone in his batch to pay attention to him.

Naturally, the pair that was fighting also took note of him because of his actions, their expressions becoming solemn as they felt that the young man had greater strength than them.

Seeing as the two now seemed willing to listen to his next words, the young man looked at the two with kind smiles in the hopes he would be able to discuss their plan for the second round smoothly with the two.

However, just as he was about to open his mouth…

”Hey! Isnʼt that Ataraxia?!”

”Oh yeah! Heʼs that genius mage from the first round!”

”Isnʼt he like Ylvarʼs student or something?”

”Man… if only I was in his place…”

Listening to the conversations the audience were having about him, Valyr tried his best to ignore their words as he looked at the two before him with a slightly apologetic smile.

Yet, rather than interpret his smile the way the young man intended, the pair instead returned the smile with looks of disappointment, with the man looking at Valyr with narrowed eyes

”Were you planning to have us submit to you as the leader for this round or something?” asked the man, his tone that of slight disgust. ”To make use of your reputation just for something like that… disgusting.”

”Do you really think weʼd agree that easily?” the woman said after that, shaking her head as she watched the man distanced himself from the batch. ”We admit you have talent, but you should at least show us how strong you are before you submit.”

Watching the woman walk away from him after that, a slight frown appeared on the young manʼs face as he mulled over the words the two spoke.

ʼ…But I did show you my strength, though?ʼ

Getting the feeling that it would be difficult to talk sense to the two before they had to fight their beast, Valyr decided to rally up the other members of the batch instead, hoping that the two wouldnʼt stop him from making sure theyʼd get far into the second round.

Unfortunately, as if the heavens were playing tricks on him, the duo decided to sabotage his attempts at unifying them by forcing some of the members to their sides, effectively transforming what was initially a group of 100 into three smaller groups.

ʼI really hope it doesnʼt get any worse than this,ʼ thought Valyr to himself, wracking his mind to come up with a foolproof plan as fast as possible.