Despite the lingering worry about his strength, Adrian decided to push it aside for now. He had montum, and he intended to ride it. ’I’ll cross that bridge when I get there,’ he thought, rejoining the queue.
For the next several minutes, Adrian tore through the Silver League. He fought a four-ard insectoid duelist, dismantling its chitinous defenses with precise strikes. He outmaneuvered a gravity-manipulating rock-being, using its own pull to launch himself into a knockout blow. Each victory was faster than the last, his efficiency terrifying. He checked his profile again.
[FIGHTER PROFILE: Project_Protheus]
[CIVILIZATION: Sparkborn (Tier-1)]
[LEAGUE: Silver]
[RANK: 29]
[WINS: 11 | LOSSES: 0]
[KILLS: 0]
He was almost there for the promotional requirent, but he felt unfulfilled. Most of the fights hadn’t truly tested him. He had avoided the top 20, choosing quick matches instead. It was ti to change that.
He walked up to the terminal, intending to challenge Rank 6, the strongest fighter currently showing as ’Available.’ But just as he was about to press the button, the list refreshed. A new na flashed online at the very top.
[Rank 1: The Watcher - Online]
Adrian imdiately changed his mind. He selected it.
The receptionist, a different alien with tired eyes, looked at the request and actually flinched. She let out a long, shuddering sigh.
"I would advise you not to challenge that fighter, rookie. ’The Watcher’ has been the gatekeeper of the Silver League for three years. He personally refuses to ascend. If we’re being real, his strength ranks among the strongest fighters in the Gold League, perhaps even higher."
Her words made Adrian pause. A gatekeeper who refused to leave? That implied a level of mastery and arrogance that was dangerous. But then again, he was looking for a challenge. ’It doesn’t matter much if I don’t win,’ he reasoned. ’I need to see the ceiling.’
He looked at the alien attendant. "If that’s all, I don’t mind continuing."
But the alien shook her head, leaning in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The Watcher is being investigated by the Concordat... informally. He’s not your average fighter. Most of his fights have ended in... accidents. Permanent ones. So say he doesn’t just tornt people’s minds; he feeds on their souls. You better rethink your decision, or this might spell the end for you."
Her words were matter-of-fact and terrifying, but to Adrian, they had the opposite effect. He wasn’t intimidated, he was confident in not dying at the very least, and all this dark lore made the challenge infinitely more exciting.
"Proceed," he said.
Seconds later, Adrian was transported.
Imdiately upon appearing, he was hit by a whole new atmosphere. There were MILLIONS of beings watching this particular fight, their holographic avatars filling the sky-high stands.
The entire atmosphere was quiet, electric with a terrified anticipation. The silence was centered on the being floating at the other end of the arena.
It wasn’t even a creature, to Adrian’s surprise. "It’s just... an Eye?"
It was a colossal, five-ter-wide floating eyeball, the iris a swirling vortex of crimson and black energy, the sclera a sickly, veined yellow. It had no limbs, no body, just that single, horrifying organ of sight. It looked like a biological nightmare ripped from a madness dinsion.
[FIGHTER PROFILE: The Watcher]
[CIVILIZATION: Oculon (Tier-4)]
[LEAGUE: Silver]
[RANK: 1]
[WINS: 93 | LOSSES: 0]
[KILLS: 51]
’51 kills... what the hell?’ As Adrian examined its profile, he realized why it was so feared. A kill rate that high when kills weren’t permitted was abnormal. He couldn’t help but swallow as the creature fixed its gaze on him.
Two new comntators appeared on the main screen, their voices hushed and serious.
~GONG!~
Imdiately as the match kicked off, Adrian didn’t hesitate. "Equip!" The Power Suit flowed over him, and he activated Phantom Steps, charging straight at the floating eye.
The Watcher didn’t move. It didn’t blink. Its pupil simply dilated.
the comntator scread.
A wash of crimson light flooded the entire arena, originating from the eye. It wasn’t a beam; it was an omnipresent field of psychic dominance. Adrian tried to dodge, banking hard to the left, but there was no escaping it. The red light washed over him.
Everyone expected him to fall, to scream, to have his mind flayed open.
But nothing happened.
Adrian felt a prick at his consciousness, like a mosquito trying to bite a steel wall. His soul simply shrugged off the ntal assault. It was annoying, not debilitating.
Before the crowd or The Watcher could comprehend what was happening, Adrian was back on his feet, charging again.
The Oculon panicked. Its pupil frantically constricted and dilated, firing beams of concentrated telekinetic force, creating illusions of terrifying monsters, trying to invade Adrian’s mind with nightmares.
None of it worked. Adrian tore through the illusions like cobwebs and tanked the telekinetic blasts like nothing.
In no ti, Adrian arrived directly in front of the floating horror. His fist glowed with a mana-charged Resonant Fist, before being delivered straight into the center of the crimson pupil.
~BOOOOM!~
A shockwave erupted, but it wasn’t from the pupil exploding. Instead, it was Adrian that got rebounded. He was hurled back as if he had just punched tal.
The fight wasn’t won yet.
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