Eventually, I did manage to find what I had been looking for before Reanas situation had distracted ; so pork ribs glazed with honey. Sothing about the combination of flavors had always made my mouth water.
When I arrived at the participants booth, I found Cerion chatting with Gaius, the earthbending monk from the previous round. Reana was seated there as well, but she made it a point to ignore . Surprisingly, she wasnt the only participant that was keeping to themself. Arcellus had yet to break out of his contemplative mood, which stood in stark contrast to the attitude he had had when we first t less than a week ago. Sothing about his loss to must have brought about this change. Either that, or his factions tier 6s had given him a severe reprimand after his loss. Regardless, it wasnt any of my business.
Down below, the battle was still raging on. I couldnt rember either participants nas, but I recalled seeing their faces in the battle against the hive queen. The two classsers were giving it all they had and using a variety of skills, but the battle was well below what the seeded participants were capable of. I had hoped for so more upsets or a dark horse or sothing, but besides John I hadnt been impressed by the unseeded participants. The difference between their strength and ours was like that of a chasm, and the poor fools probably already knew that no matter who won, they were bound to lose to Gaius in the quarter finals, since he would be up next.
I sat down next to Cerion and handed him a paper bag that was leaking so sauce, though he didnt seem to mind. As I greeted the monk I offered him so of my own sweet pork ribs, but he refused, stating that he practiced vegetarianism or sothing. I couldnt imagine the nightmare of not eating at, but to each their own, I supposed, before chowing down on Helios greatest gift to man.
Halfway through my al, I decided to make so conversation.
Gaius, youre up next, right?
Still holding his hand in prayer, Gaius nodded.
Indeed, you rember correctly.
If your opponent is as tough as these guys, I dont think youll have much trouble I mused, before tearing off another chunk of at and noticing so of it getting stuck between my teeth.
Gaius frowned a little when he heard my assessnt, but agreed in the end.
Not to speak ill of my fellow competitors, but if your assessnt of my future opponent proves to be correct, then I believe I will be able to defeat them rather quickly. he lanted while sighing. After a mont, he recovered and that inviting smile returned to his face. There are more important things than strength, of course! Did you know that one of the elders at our temple is just tier 1 and practices pacifism? His wisdom is deferred to by many in their hour of need! he described animatedly.
Thankfully, his explanation was interrupted by the announcer, who announced the end of the match. One of the classers had thrown so kind of acidic bolt that had finally gotten past her opponents defenses and sent him sprawling in pain. Acid turned out to be surprisingly effective at that kind of thing. Who would have guessed?
Realizing that it was his turn to go out there, Gaius stood up and saluted us as he left for the waiting area, allowing Cerion and to focus on our food, which we gorged down in a matter of minutes.
Eventually, the start of the next match was announced. Monk from the East versus local knight yada yada. After the announcer finished his usual song and dance he gave the signal to start.
Perhaps as expected, Gaius was the first out of sheath* and he stomped down with both feet, one after the other. Two large clumps of earth sprung out of the ground and floated in front of him, as if they were waiting for his command. Then, Gaius threw so kind of standing kick, which sohow let the boulders know that they were supposed to fly towards the knight. Unfortunately for the knight, these inanimate objects flew with almost religious fervor, because they covered the distance in less than a second and crashed into him at the sa ti, sending the man sprawling on the floor. Stunned, he wasnt prepared for the earthly limbs that Gaius commanded to cover him from top to bottom, burying him alive. In what would end up being the last five seconds of the fight, he used as many skills in as many seconds, to no avail. Attempting to break out with his stats and skills simply wasnt possible. With that, the shortest match so far ended in a record breaking 12 seconds, which might even stay the fastest fight of the entire tournant when all was said and done.
Unfortunately for Gaius, his speedy fight faced stiff competition. The rest of this rounds fights were all 1 versus one battles where a seeded competitor would face a non-seeded one, which ant that they all had a shot at the record. That ant that there would at least be so competition taking place, because the battles themselves would no doubt be landslide victories for the seeded classers. Oh well, at least that ant that I would be allowed to fight sooner.
~scene transition~
Sure enough, my guess had turned out to be sowhat accurate.
First, Arcellus had cooked his opponent, a lith archer, with a single sun. The archer had attempted to set so kind of trap for Arcellus, but he was calm enough to see it coming and burned it before it could catch him. From that point on, even the archer himself had given up, the light vanishing from his eyes as he stopped hoping for a fluke. He was teleported away before his body beca dium-rare, I think. All in all, the battle had lasted just under a minute. Fast, but not quite a competitive ti compared to Gaius. Even the monk himself seed smug when the twelve second mark passed, though he hid his pride well.
Then, it had been Cerions turn. His opponent had been a little tougher, he had been a tall knight wielding so kind of mix between a kite and a tower shield. Really, it was just a giant kite shield, but it served its purpose. Thanks to so skills, the defensive tank held on as wave after wave threatened to lift him off of his feet and he even tried to counter-attack by throwing a boorang-shaped sword at Cerion, before recalling the weapon with a skill when my friend blocked it. Eventually though, he, too, lost. One of Cerions water orbs used in combination with a tidal wave had been enough to finally throw him out of the arena. The battle lasted about two minutes, and I could see the competitive glint in Gaius eyes strengthen, even as he praised Cerions prowess loudly. His antics were humorous, causing to chuckle. I liked him enough not to call him out on his obvious competitive streak, and I was sure Cerion would do the sa when he returned.
Karon was up next, and he initiated the battle with a vengeance. I wondered where his anger ca from, when I rembered just who he was facing. In the last round, Karon had been betrayed by one of his goons, who had stabbed him in the back to get a whole bunch of revenge points. Karon undoubtedly took this betrayal to heart, either because his pride was hurt or because maybe, just maybe, he really did care for his goons. Regardless, the battle was short but vicious. Karons goon wasnt weak by any stretch of the imagination, but because the rcenary champion went all out from the start, he didnt last long. Not long after the start of the match, the arena had been decimated and turned into a burning oil field, Karon still heaving from the effort, eyes bloodshot in rage. Despite this hasty style of combat, it still took more than 20 seconds for Karons opponents to succumb to his onslaught. It was a close second to Gaius ti, but he remained in first place, his smile now bordering on taunting.
For the final match of this series of battles, Eri was up against a non-seeded fighter. She had been quietly seated on the outskirts of the booth, keeping to herself, but now that she stood in the arena and held her spear at her side, her dangerous side ca out. Sothing about her stoic but deadly gaze fascinated , and I had a hard ti averting my eyes from her figure as she shot into action. Her light-affinity mana was just as sharp as her weapon and flashed dangerously every ti she used a skill. There was almost no down-ti in between her attacks, every skill flowed into another one. Her opponent had so kind of counter-skill, that rewarded every successful block with a fast strike. A powerful skill, even on its own, but it was heavily outmatched by Eris skill.
As she twirled and twisted, dancing around the arena, I was captivated by her form. By the end of the match, I found myself smiling from ear to ear, hoping desperately that I would get to fight her.
Arthur, are you alright? Cerion asked, concerned.
Of course. I mumbled absentmindedly, only glancing in his direction montarily before focussing on the match again. Cerion gave a strange, overly happy smile, but didnt say anything when I asked him what he was smiling about. It didnt matter, anyway. The match was over, and Eri had left the arena. The match had lasted about thirty seconds, which ant that Gaius was all but guaranteed to keep his record, as long as the tier 3s and 4s didnt show any significant differences in skill compared to their own opponents.
Now that all the matches had finished, I made a list in my head of who would go up against who in the quarter-finals.
First, I would face Reana, the wood-using classer who knew from sowhere.
Then, Gaius would face an unseeded classer, which might allow him to beat his own record, as long as the tier 3s and 4s didnt have any significant differences in power compared to their opponents.
Thirdly, Arcellus would be facing Cerion, in what could be one of the best fights of the tournant. Hopefully, my friend would win, but I could only give him even odds at best. As much as I hated to admit it, Arcellus was a monster.
Then, Eri would face Karon which, in my opinion, would probably be a clean sweep. Eri was too skilled and thodical, too free and constrained at the sa ti to be defeated by a scheming idiot like Karon.
I left the stands and headed to the waiting room since, after a twenty minute break, the next quarter-finals would begin, and I was up first. On my way there, I happened across Eri, who was headed back towards the stands. As I passed, I felt it a good idea to complint her prowess.
That was a beautiful fight. I said. The blond, stoic girl paused and stared at . I wondered whether she would be offended by kind of giving her opponent partial credit, so I rephrased my assessnt. You fight beautifully.
Hearing that, she quickly turned away and quickly walked off, disappearing around a corner. I scratched the back of my head, confused and afraid that I had pissed her off sohow. Shit.
Well, I couldnt exactly run after her, since I had a match to focus on. Reana would not be an easy opponent, and I needed to place my focus on what was in front of .
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