Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"That was quite the splendid match indeed. That young man if I dare say, will be the next star for their Sea God's Trident"

"Truly, after the Connor—Vs—Ivan match, I didn't think that there would any more enthralling match for the day, but it seems that I was wrong. If I was the guild master of the Sea god's trident, I would nurture that young man to be the pillar of the guild".

Talks like that, was going around everywhere. The audience was filled with hubbub after the match.

"Park Garrett… Sea God's trident. They are a guild that cannot be underestimated. That fellow, although he made it seem like he achieved a victory after a difficult battle, I can see that he is hiding much of his strength".

"To create a setting like that while in between his battle, he must have an insane control over his mana and skills. Having raised someone like him, it's no wonder their guild is the head of the top five guilds" Simon acknowledged.

Park Garrett on the stage was one thing, but he was also curious about the person named Godwin, the crowd was comparing with Denzel.

That boy by far was the most dazzling and talented human that Simon had met in his opinion. For the crowd to be comparing the two of them, it was natural that he was curious. After the stage was repaired by a mage capable of using intermediate tier tremor magic, the next set of battles continued on.

"The next participants will decide who will be the one to grab the last of the top ten spots. Each of them have two victories in their score and have gone through one tough battle after another to reach this place. Participant Gallio Stallard from the Assassin's guild—Vs—Lucas Blackwood from Castledor City".

The spectators cheered in welcome of the participants, they all had their eyes on the one wearing a normal looking leather armour and carrying two short swords. He was someone from the top five guild, his mere presence attracted eyes from all around.

In contrast, Simon was more interested in observing Lucas who he was somewhat acquainted with during his trip from Castledor city to here in the Air Engine. Even though he had said acquainted, the both of them had only exchanged a few words.

Simon was curious to see what the youngest branch manager of the adventurer's association was capable of.

After the two participants got on the stage, they exchanged a few words of greeting.

"I didn't think that the Castledor city from the remote north-western region, would be able to produce someone like you. Nevertheless, it seems your luck ends here for you to end up being my opponent" Gallio Stallard said measuring his opponent.

Lucas on the other hand, did not comment much and only narrowed his brows. He knew that the participants from the top five guilds would be arrogant; however, he didn't think that they would be this overconfident.

Perhaps in his opponents eyes, he didn't even see Lucas as his opponent. Lucas was a level 400 [Pyroblitz Magus] with a high potential. Compared to that, his opponent Gallio Stallard was level 397 with a rare class and a high potential just like him.

Though he was a few levels above his opponent, if one factored their age then the same cannot be said any longer. Plus, one cannot judge a participant from the top five guilds simply based on their levels.

Lucas bent his head and looked at the audience stands were the royal family was seated. There in one of the seats, sitting prettily was Cynthia whose appearance was enough to beguile the crowd.

The princess of the Ellesmere kingdom, the first time he laid his eyes on her when he came to the capital for the first time, he was instantly smitten. He knew the vast status quo between them and his one-sided infatuation for her.

Thus he worked hard to get where he was right now and earned her recognition. During their trip to the capital city, he was fortunate enough to travel and familiarise himself with her. And now he was here participating in the 'Battle of the Finest' tournament where she can clearly see him.

"I'll show you the results of my years of hard work" Lucas silently mumbled.

The moment the referee started the battle, a fierce clash that blew away the crowd's preconception of the top five guilds, began. After an arduous long battle where the barrier was rocked again and again and where the stage was completely destroyed, the final results that shocked the spectators came out.

The one to remain standing even while looking haggard and tattered was Lucas Blackwood from the Castledor city while his opponent was knocked out cold. The entire coliseum was silent for a while and only woke up when the referee declared the winner.

"Lucas Blackwood from the castledor city with his powerful performance defeated Galliio Stallard and earned the last spot for the top ten. With that, the top ten participants for the final day had been chosen".

The crowd was set into an uproar; this was the first time in history that amongst the participants who had moved up to the final day of the tournament, one of the top five guilds was missing.

Lucas Blackwood managed to create an upset and defeated the participant from the Assassin's guild who was one of the favoured candidates for the top ten spots. With the defeat of Gallio Stallard, the Assassin's guild also failed to get into the top ten, something that had never occurred before.

It was a common pattern, immutable even that the top five guilds always entered the final stage. However, that custom has been broken today and had been achieved by none other a participant from the remote north-western corner of a region.

By defeating a star participant of one of the top five guilds, he had proven his skills and qualification to rightfully be in the top ten. The audience was reeling in shock but the ones more shocked than them were the members of the assassin's guild who did not expect such an outcome.

"Sigh… it was unexpected that there was still such a rough diamond hidden within the participants. Go and bring Gallio back, he has done a good job coming this far".

The guild master of the Assassin's guild did not look too upset or mortified by the result and simply accepted the fact as it is.

"But guild master the top ten spot…" before the member could say any further, he shut his mouth feeling the sharp glare of his guild master.

The fourth day battles have concluded with numerous surprises and epic battles where the top fifty participants fought nail and tooth against each other.

The audience that had come to see today's battles, left satisfied. The events that they have witnessed would be passed onto with their mouths and circulate across the whole kingdom.

Simon exited the coliseum; on his way out, he unwittingly bumped into someone. Since it was his fault for being lost in his thoughts, he felt it appropriate to apologise to the other party; however, when he turned around, they were nowhere to be seen.

Befuddled, he scratched his hair "Strange, why do I feel a sense of incongruity from that person?". Shaking his head off the thought, he left the scene.

Simon was lying on top of his bed after coming back to the inn. His eyes were closed and he was in deep contemplation. The battles that had been fought today, was something that was very instructive and gave Simon a far clear image of what humans with their class system were capable off.

Their battle strategies and how they used their skills to counter each other. Simon was currently going through a simulated battle with each of the participants in his mind based on what he had witnessed today.

It would be a lie if he said that he wasn't interested in some of the class-specific skills that they had, like the roar skill that participant from the savannah beast guild had or the Rare Superior skill [Concurrent Chant] Irene had told him about.

There were also battles that told others that one shouldn't just overly rely on their weapons and artifacts to become strong. At the end, they are just secondary items that augment your powers and not the real representation of your strength.

Simon got up from his bed and sighed, his body was itching to fight all those geniuses of this kingdom. Fighting them in a simulated battle in his mind was different than actually facing them. Only when one goes through numerous difficult battles, was when one truly grows stronger.

Simon who knew the way to become stronger, couldn't help having his blood boil after seeing so many strong opponents. The battle of the Finest standing up to its name truly brought only the best ones onto the stage.

As Simon was having these thoughts, Adalinda's voice sounded inside his head once again.

"Hey did you miss me? Hehe, my disciple and I are coming to the capital. Wait for us tomorrow.". Just as always she ended the transmission right after saying her piece.

Simon frowned, from her words he could interpret that they were still far from the capital.

"How far did she run?" he thought internally. For Adalinda who could cut space and travels dozens of kilometres at once to be travelling for more than three days to get back? Simon could only wonder.

Shaking his head off the unnecessary thought, he got out of the inn to go roaming around the city.

-----

Northern part of the city, many luxurious mansions lined up around this corner. The place was used to hold and receive the foreign delegates and was only a few kilometres away from the coliseum. The security around here was extremely tight with many high level knights and soldiers patrolling the area from time to time.

Inside one of the rooms of said mansions.

"Hehe, this is starting to become more fun. Sadly, I have some other place to be so I won't be able to witness it" a being whose appearance gave others a chill, and whose aura was so fiendish that they could cower anyone with just their glare, said.

The being had a wicked smile plastered on his face, Crimson eyes and pale white skin. The being was none other than Avrox.

"Hehe, [Imitate Presence] release. With that I wonder how long you can stay hidden Demon Viscount. Hmm? So that old man has noticed huh. Let us meet again if you are still alive by then".

Right after saying that, he took out a [Scroll of return] and quickly started conjuring the spell. A pool of blood could be seen behind him.

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