Second World

Four Windsʼ two axes then danced again. This time even faster than the previous. The slashes sometimes scrapped upon each other that they created sparks. Uncountable starlights swirled around the berserker. The wildebeests that came ramming were smacked to the side continuously.

Purple Mist was casting a spell behind Four Winds. Although Four Windsʼ axe art was impressive, it couldnʼt sustain such pressure for long. The Wild Stampede spell lasted 5 seconds at its first level. Every level increased the duration by half a second. Antsy had upgraded his spell to level 11, allowing it to last a long ten seconds. Four Winds wonʼt be able to continue deflecting the stampede for that long.

Purple Mist completed a spell. She and the four nearby her suddenly vanished. The stampede trampled over the place they were at a moment ago.

While everyone was wondering what had happened. A circle of runes appeared beside Megan and Antsy before the five orc players materialized within that circle.

”Itʼs Mass Teleportation spell! a very rare non-standard spell,” Peniel exclaimed. ”Teleportation spell is a rather common non-standard spell to acquire for magic users. You should be able to exchange for this spell once you reach the next rank of Apprentice in the Order of Magi. But Mass Teleportation is a harder spell to get oneʼs hands on. She is very lucky to have acquired it.”

ʼTeleportation spell,ʼ Jack thought. He hoped he can truly get his hands on this spell soon. It is a very useful spell to get one out of a tough situation as was exhibited by the orc team in this match.

On the arena, after the orc team reappeared, the fastest member of this team immediately took action. Disco Rain lunged towards Antsy. Her figure turned into a blur before multiple slashing flashes fell on Antsy.

ʼThat is Oswaldʼs move!ʼ Jack thought when he recognized the skill from the assassin NPC who had targeted him in the past. Peniel had informed him before that this skill was called Deadly Flash Strikes.

Antsy was already low on health, the last move by Disco Rain took him out.

Megan was left all alone on the battlefield. She knew she had no hope to win anymore. Yet, her eyes didnʼt show that she was going to go down just like that. She advanced with her mace swinging.

”Do not touch her!” Four Winds uttered and met Megan head-on. The other four followed his command and moved back, allowing them some space.

The two exchanged lots of martial moves. As time passed, it was clear that Four Winds was the better expert. Megan finally fell. Her name on the sky was greyed out.

The ten appeared back onto the arena below as Pallas announced team orc as the victors.

”That orc team is not simple,” Paytowin said.

”Yes. Each of them is a martial expert with good equipment. All of them also have non-standard skills and spells. They might still keep other surprises,” Jack agreed.

”Thatʼs not all,” Paytowin said. ”Try inspecting them.”

”Oh? Why? We already know their names,” Jack said, but he still did as his friend asked.

”They… They are all from one guild?” Jack uttered after using Inspect on the five. ”No wonder their teamwork is good. They are used to fighting together already. Hm… Cipher Flight, I feel like I have heard this guild name before.”

”You should. Remember the previous most popular game we played, Lordʼs Realm?” Paytowin asked.

”Ah, yes! They are that rookie guild,” Jack uttered.

”Yeah. They are that rookie guild that everyone called the fastest-growing rookie guild in gaming history. Under the leadership of their charismatic leader, Four Winds, they had become one of the top guilds. Many old veteran guilds banded together trying to put them down, but those guilds were miserably beaten back.”

”Yes, they certainly made a huge wave back then.”

”I guess that they are still making a huge wave here, at least in Verremor Nation. Itʼs not an easy feat to have a country send a team match consisting of all the members coming from the same guild. They must have some kind of a pull in that countryʼs politics to achieve that.”

Jack nodded. He watched the orc leader, Four Winds, as he led his team away. The team match had ended so the tournament also ended for the day.

Jack and Paytowin scurried towards the Temple of Courage and dove back into the ancient battleground. Nothing much changed from yesterday. Jack and Paytowin killed as much as they could before they went over to the golden knightʼs side. Actually, Jack didnʼt put much effort into the killings. He truly was not interested in the trashy rewards. His priority was only to learn mana manipulation.

In their second run of the day, they didnʼt hit the required kill marks, but Jack told Paytowin to start moving to the golden knightʼs side before they started their suicide charge. It would be more difficult to chase after them if they were ahead. Jack didnʼt want to miss the chance in studying the knight leaderʼs moves just to catch the one thousand kills.

He also tried to perform attacks using mana manipulation. It was easier to do in this dimension due to the unnaturally dense mana. He didnʼt try fancy moves like the One-word Slash, though. That move required high concentration. He was not proficient enough in mana manipulation to do the move during battle. He simply tried to apply mana manipulation in a simple slash.

After several trials, he found it easier to start from attacks using his own body instead of using swords, with punches and kicks. Regulating the mana around his body was much more direct. His body was the one tool he was most used to, after all. It had been with him since he was born.

So, Jack decided to store his swords during the middle of their second run and instead fought using his fists and legs. Paytowin was flabbergasted at first. He was just about to ask what Jack was doing storing his weapons in the middle of a battle, but then he was shocked when Jackʼs punch resulted in damage to the opponent.

”Do you have a fourth class which is Battle Monk?” He asked.

”This is the power of mana manipulation!” Jack exclaimed as he gave the mutated human a backhand fist, which didnʼt cause any damage.

”Oh…” He uttered before the mutated human retaliated by slashing him.

”Shit! I still canʼt control the mana as I wish,” Jack said. He focused his mind to work with the mana around him, guided them to follow his punches and kicks as he dished out punishments. His Hundred Synchronous Thoughts gave him the ability to focus on mana control while still fighting efficiently. Still, two out of five hits were blank. He still needed a lot of practice.

He figured when he was out there with a less mana environment, his success rate would drop further. Thus, he needed to get himself accustomed to this mana control while he was still given the chance of entering this battleground.

They didnʼt hit the required kill marks on their second run precisely because Jack was busy practicing instead of killing. Paytowin didnʼt complain, however. He understood what his friend was trying to achieve.

After they finished the second run, Jack was tempted to dive a third time again, but he contained himself. He had a match tomorrow. He needed to have a good rest to prepare himself. His game body might not be tired, but he still needed to rest his mind. A dull and tired mind was as good a source of failure as a tired body.

*

The next morning, everyone gathered for the fourth match. Everyone was excited about todayʼs matches. Unlike previous, these fourth matches consisted of participants who had won previous fights. So, the ones competing today were all victors. They had seen how these victors claimed their victories from their last matches. They were eager to find out how they were going to claim todayʼs victories from each other.

Domon and Leavemealone were present again because Wong was fighting today. They should be able to see more from that grandmasterʼs match today because Jack mentioned his opponent, Kill Order, was a gaming expert who also could sense mana.

They sat beside Jack on the other side from Paytowin.

Once everyone gathered, Pallas announced that todayʼs tournament was to begin and for the ones with their names shown on the sky to come down to the arena.

*

Knight Section Match 4

Jeanny, level 46 Dragoon (human) Vs Rodney, level 46 Avenger (dwarf)

*

Jeanny and Rodney came down to the arena below and took their positions.

”That girl is your friend, right?” Paytowin asked.

”Yeah, she is the main leader of the guild Iʼm in,” Jack replied.

”I hope she wins.”

”She will.”

”You are very confident. I hope she doesnʼt carry your overconfidence as well. Her opponent is a good reversal expert as he had shown in his last match. She needs to stay on her toes even if she is winning.”

”Donʼt worry, she isnʼt stupid.”

As they were chatting, Pallas announced the start of the match, ”Match four of the Knight section, begin!”

😉