Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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/Later…/

Following his tenth victory in the Arena, Dale opted to continue striking while the iron was hot, immediately pulling for another fight rather than taking a moment to rest.

He could now understand why people said PvP could be addicting, it gave him a certain excitement he couldn't quite explain.

Maybe, the reason why he felt such thrill came from the feeling of getting stronger and not from the feeling of climbing over a higher wall as it would be for most players.

He fought for the sake of experiencing more, not for the ranks themselves, although he was also making quite a bit of real money, and Favor from the bets.

What he was fearful of, however, was the possibility of his quick progress coming to a complete halt now that he had a Rank, but that, in the end, was an unnecessary fear.

His next opponent was ranked 870, thirty ranks above the previous one, and the one after was ranked 840.

With this in mind, it meant that Dale would need 30 duels from the 900th Rank if he wished to become number 1, it wasn't exactly much but it wasn't a small amount either.

Still, Dale was willing to go through the challenge, because even if it took time, he wasn't being inefficient.

For each victory in the top 900, he was given a flat 20,000 Favor.

When added to the bets, each victory gave him close to a Million total after going through his Packages.

And even though the time he took in a fight was usually the time he took in an ordinary mission, the expectation was that as his Rank increased, the total amount of Favor he could bet would only increase, and eventually, he would be ranking in tens of Millions.

Not counting his original reasons for dueling.

Either way, Dale continued to fight, enjoying each encounter as he learned as much as he could from such a precious event…

Yet, he quickly came to an understanding, the fact he couldn't win solely through his abilities anymore.

That was something he already felt from the very start as each and every player in the top 10K knew what they were doing. They hadn't climbed to their positions by luck.

Dale may have trained and grown immensely, but until a year ago, he was just an above-average dedicated player, enough to be placed in the top 10,000 but 1000?... Maybe.

100? Now that was a bit of a stretch.

Every player in this demographic was composed of the main members of Major Guilds, Clans, Corporations, and other major groups, this was one of the ways those groups were now ranking themselves globally, especially where their Guild Masters stood in all of this.

Dale likely faced some of these Elite Members and Guild Masters himself, but due to his massive ignorance on the player celebrities and top Rankers, he didn't recognize anyone.

He trained greatly ever since he received the Green Box, pushing himself over the limit to increase the virtual numbers reflected by it, but in the end, he only had so much time.

So much talent…

As such, his skill level would eventually come short, it was inevitable, and he wouldn't cry about it, instead, he celebrated it.

He now knew where he actually stood, where to look for advice, and who to look up to.

An ordinary player may be unfit to seek advice from given what he had at stake, but it's not like being a Standard Player negated all of their sense of strategy and combat proficiency they accumulated over hundreds of fights.

He even wondered where Rodi and some of the other players he knew like his School friends would Rank if they were here...

But even with all of that in mind, Dale did not stop, he wouldn't jeopardize his own future and potential rewards just for the sake of remaining within a Rank and learning from the players around him.

He would certainly be very happy to add all of their Skill repertoires to his mind, but there was the need to understand when to draw the line and stop.

Besides, this was only a small glimpse into their futures.

This Event was only at the very start of Azimuth, and although it was unlikely that the top 10,000 players would change much, the future was unpredictable.

Further Events, tactics, changes in thinking, Meta, and so on could very well change how these players fight and behave.

As they develop, the top 100 of today could become the top 900 of tomorrow, Dale can follow and learn from them, but he should never stop looking at tomorrow.

Of course, it does not go well for anyone to live in the future, much less the past, but one cannot look only at their feet if they wish to walk, or else they may risk tripping.

Starting from Rank 800 upwards, Dale faced considerable difficulty in keeping up with his opponents' movements and way of thinking, and by the time he reached Rank 700, he could only win by brute forcing his way through them.

He wasn't super elegant, albeit his overwhelming Stats made it seem like so.

This was to show how competitive these Ranks were, no wonder they were constantly changing.

Yet, he still had to receive even a single ounce of damage, thanks to that, Dale continued to rake in Achievements, quicking his goal of accumulating 60+ Million Favor.

Following that, by Rank 500, Dale gave up trying to actually fight his opponent fairly as he understood he would just be played with.

By now, all of the lucky players had been driven out, leaving behind only the thickest of the bunch, the best of the best… With some exceptions.

He also started to see a greater density of HardCore players, and he had mixed feelings about them, since on one hand their greater strength meant that they were closer to him, but at the same time, they were easier to defeat as a single graze could lead them to loads of pain.

Even if they were seasoned warriors, when inflicted with pain, few could keep themselves steady.

Nonetheless, until now, Dale had yet to see any HardCore player make use of their true advantages, so aside from them being stronger than the average player, they weren't that impressive.

In any case, he focused mostly on defending and guarding, together with mild levels of provocation. .

Finally, upon seeing everything he wanted, he would end the fight in a single strike before moving on to the next one.

He maintained this way of thinking all the way to the top 100 when things changed. But because of this, people started to pay attention to him, all over the world.

The players he defeated would look for him, others found him by chance or through recommendations.

His meteoric rise in fame and notoriety, together with his unorthodox way of fighting… And lack of interaction with his chat.

Some believed him to be cool for that, others felt he was boorish, it was a matter of taste.

Either way, the heated debates over his true capabilities and how different he acted from the way he did in the PvE missions caused many arguments on his chat and forums.

People tried to figure out the source of his strength, but most eventually decided to bet on the fact he was merely holding himself and playing around.

Dale felt amused on seeing people theorize over himself, but he never tried to correct them, there was no point in trying.

He even felt some pressure, because the Dale they believed in and put their faith in wasn't entirely himself but his reflection.

He felt that his entire persona was built upon a lie, but when he thought about that he laughed.

When did he ever show himself with honesty?

He was a lie from the start, posing as something he wasn't in order to manipulate others into his bidding.

And when he realized that this was just an extension of that, he relaxed.

He would one day achieve that strength anyway, so what was now a lie would eventually be a truth, there was nothing to fear…

This Dale, or DareDevil as most knew would eventually vanish into darkness anyway, so there was no pressure to strengthen his 'persona' any further.

He focused on his own self-improvement, uncaring about the reaction of others, he trampled everyone now, some were prepared for him, others not.

That was how he rose to the top 100, facing his first enemy at Rank 90, the fourth last match he would have in these Duels.

Would he finally be pressured into using his Skills, of throwing the towel and invoking his perfect self?

Or would this be the end of what he could do with his own abilities?

All around him, the Guild Masters, Representatives of entire Nations, and Legends of their own circles stood.

To reach the top, he would have to climb all over them.

Could he do it on his own accord?

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Notes

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