Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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/Flash!/

"This feeling is still a bit disorienting..." Dale said as he shook his head

'Let's see... Where am I now?'

Atop a floating island hundreds of meters above the surface of the ocean, Dale manifested as he held a spear against the ground.

Different from before, he wasn't wearing his heavy armor, as instead, he decided to down another set; One lighter and weaker for the sole purpose of having a fairer but more enhoyable fight.

Well… He didn't say it out loud but he was also a bit tired of wearing his heavy armor for four hours straight, especially the pain it brought to him whenever he accumulated high stacks of Heat, causing boiling steam to hit his skin.

Though of course, his new armor doesn't show his face as it still covers most of his body, it's just now that his outline became more defined.

It was a mix of medium and light armor to maximize flexibility, speed, and dexterity. Together with a long spear made out of a slightly heavy brown metal with a golden decorated tip.

(Image?)

It was a set he received from the Loot Boxes, and one of the rewards Eleonora managed to get when she rolled a 95.

[Tempest Chasing Set (Epic)][1]

Dale had previously thought that he could only get one thing per chest, and he was right, however, if a group of items was contained within a single, greater classification, like a bag of some sort, he could get them together at once.

Like a box of potions for example, a reward Erminia managed to get for rolling a 92, and the reward he got for rolling an 86, another Loot Box, one of a higher grade, a Relic Grade Box containing an uncountable number of items and objects within.

This set was the reward for rolling a 94.

Its Stats were pretty good, favoring Dexterity and Reflexes while possessing many Skills, the usual to expect from an Epic set of gear.

In fact, this was Dale's first Epic armor set as he hadn't had many options prior to it.

He used a Unique set from the Tutorial for a while before jumping a few grades and using a Relic Grade set from the Wall Corps for some time before now using a Fable Grade one.

Dale planned to use this one for a while during his Duels in the Arena to make things feel… Fairer.

An arrogant and stupid thought to have, but he had a reason for this, to give himself as much real experience as he could.

He won't gain anything from bashing all of his opponents with one hit nor will he sharpen his senses by having an armor set so unbelievably tough his opponents can't even graze him.

Acting complacent will only lead to a nasty surprise whenever a really capable opponent arrives on the field.

And Dale planned to crush everyone, to treat them as stepping stones as some may say.

The more he experienced, the better it would be for his Reflection.

The more Skills his enemies showed him, the more chances he would have to replicate them or learn a thing or two about their application, but for that, he needed to create an environment where he could study his opponent.

[DING]

[Welcome to the Arena!]

[Envyroment: Sky City Colosseum]

[Time Limit: 5 Minutes]

[Defeat your opponent or throw him out of the borders, if both contestants are still standing once time's up, it's considered a draw regardless of their physical conditions]

[Arms Up! The protective barrier will fade away in 30 seconds]

[30…]

"Hum…"

'It's rather steep.'

Dale came to his senses at the edge of the circular Arena next to a stone wall.

It was rather wide, with his predicting its total size to be around 30 meters in diameter, thus being way wider than he expected it to be.

The Arena was decorated with broken ruins and pillars, together with symbols on its rocky ground, with a circular metal sheet in the middle being around 10 meters in diameter half buried in dirt and faint sand.

It seemed abandoned, with bushes and small plants growing here and there, a rather sad sight for something that was once likely glorious to observe.

This wasn't a stadium meant for people to spectate a fight… But he felt it was good enough.

(Image?)[2]

"I like this place, it's rather serene and peaceful…"

'Since I'm here, I should open the Stream again. I closed it around an hour ago because streaming for too long isn't my thing…'

'The viewers were also a bit tired, so I gave them a rest.'

'Time to come up with a new Title… Hum…'

'... "Challenging the Arena, climbing the Ranks."...'

A pretty lackluster name but his viewers were already used to his simple yet straightforward Titles…

[Ding]

[Both participants have been confirmed in the Arena]

[Your opponent is: Up#Maroro (SdM) -> Level 30][3]

[Solo 1v1 -> 39/3/1][4]

[Highest Winning Streak: 33]

[Leaderboard Ranking -> 9,831]

[The Match will begin in 20 seconds…]

"..."

Dale raised his head, gazing at the other side of the Arena to see a man in leather armor seemingly manifest from nothing.

He had definitely been there from the start but only now did the System reveal their appearances to each other, maybe to give them time to adjust and think a bit about their surroundings.

His opponent wore simple leather armor together with a pair of metal daggers on the sides of his waist, most likely a Thief or Assassin.

(Image?)

He inspected his foot all the way to his head in just a few seconds, trying to figure out every aspect of his being…

But just as Dale observed the man, his opponent did the same to him…

...

/Pov change/

[Ding]

[Both participants have been confirmed in the Arena]

[Your opponent is: DareDevil (HcM) -> Level (Private)][5]

[Solo 1v1 -> 0/0/0]

[The Match will begin in 20 seconds…]

"Hm… This is new." He said out loud as he scratched his chin

Maroro read the notifications, but there wasn't anything there… Yet that already said a lot.

'I'm against a newcomer for the very first match? But I'm in the top ten thousand…'

His eyes sharpened as he came up with an idea.

'This must mean he has an unbelievably high Recognition score, enough for the System to determine him to be skilled enough to be thrown directly at these rankings.'

'Usually, the first ten matches are just calibrating Matches, and if I'm his opponent… The System must've deemed me to be beneath his Skill Level... Which is a bit offensive.'

'Either that or I'm Higher than that to act as a hard check… Either way, I need to keep my wits.'

'From the description, he's a HardCore player, so he'll hit like a truck if not outright KO me if that spear hits my head.'

'He looks like an Agility type, similar to me so I should first…'

While Maroro was in deep thought as well, each of their priorities were completely different.

Although, maybe, it was to be expected, they did have one thing in common…

'Alright, I've set the bets! Let's see what the people think!' He thought as he looked at Dale

Both of them had their streams to take care of.

…

/Pov change/

[5 seconds remaining…] .

"..."

After he was finished observing his soon-to-be opponent, Dale crossed his arms quietly, adjusting his mentality for the fight ahead.

There wasn't anything else for him to do aside from that as overthinking would only lead to him stressing himself out.

So he waited… Grasping his spear the moment the countdown came to an end

[1 second remaining…]

/BADDUM!/

[BATTLE START!]

/DASH!/

With the sound of a powerful drum, his opponent dashed forward as he closed in the distance, kicking dust into the air as he ran ahead with strength and speed far beyond the limits of a normal man.

In the blink of an eye, he would cross the entire stage, this was the level of a fight between High-Level players!

As a dagger user, he was at a disadvantage at medium range so he needed to close in the gap even further before his opponent could make use of it.

If he was thrown into a passive stance around the edge of his Spear's range, he would lose without a doubt.

He had already experienced how it felt to be grazed by a HardCore character, that was how he lost.

His only loss was being taken by surprise by a sword slash, and he bled to death over the following minutes.

/Shua…/

As such, Maroro activated his Skill, having his body covered in black smoke as he dashed forward, leaving a trail of smog in the air like a flaming car on a road!

"..."

Dale, on the other hand, stood silent and still as he stared at his opponent.

The smoke may be thick and obscuring, but he could easily hear and sense where his enemy was at all times.

For someone like this... He didn't even need to manifest his Reflection.

He would end this on his own terms without relying on a power that wasn't entirely his.

/Raise.../

Dale raised his spear, getting into a stance.

…

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Notes

[1] Maybe I'll release the Set Effect in the Notes later, but give me a few minutes first

[2] I'm actually adding images again, 10 images per day on Discord so we'll reach this chap... Eventually

[3] Sdm means -> Standard Mode

[4] 39 victories, 3 draws, 1 loss

[5] HcM -> HardCore Mode

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