"Ken.....I couldn't catch a glimpse of how he looks....he's wearing a mask that covers his mouth and nose...even in-game...how'd he get that?"

"Doesn't matter to be honest, what matters is skill, and I can say that he's definitely better than me at using the Tachi, just in that match I didn't see anything special but I'm sure he's hiding something..."

'Naturally, you've never touched a Tachi...' Nate thought.

"Anyways putting that aside. Are you ready? you're up man, I know you got this but still, Aurora and Ken have both won their first match, Jet Sky as well. Win this one and the next and you're facing Jet Sky," Nate said as he patted Luke's back.

"Calm down, you know me, this should be easy, besides, your league is up next so if anything you should be worried," Luke said as he walked down to the capsule. He had the skill to back his confidence, how many people could actually say something that bold and at the same time, have the skill to back it? perhaps the number would be in the lower single digits, perhaps a single hand is enough to count them.

"Night! Night! Night!"

"You got this! you're the best!!"

"No! Kira is way better! Night won by luck! the level race was all a sham! how could someone level up more than 10 times in a single second??? it is impossible!! there is some kind of scam going on here! Kira is the one that truly deserves the first place!"

"Shut up you squid-faced donkey! It was clear that Night isn't cheating, didn't you watch the feed from the other events? it was live! or are you perhaps accusing Jet Sky of cheating as well?"

There was some kind of truth in both the sides, one side expressed the superficial truth while the other understood that there isn't any sort of cheating going on but at the same time no one had an answer for the instant level-ups. Even if Night was skilled, were people ready to believe he killed a Guardian alone? and that was with him being bound by a curse. Of course, there isn't much of a solution to this curse until the general public discovers the existence of Divine and Forbidden Grade beings. Until then, Night just had to listen to all the conspiracies and false accusations without doing anything.

Luke walked forward and stopped exactly 6 feet away from Kira, this was his first time meeting him, regardless of the fact that they've never met or never even spoken to each other, they shared some sort of history. At one point in time, Kira was ranked first in the world of Genesis, but after he was utterly beaten by not only Night but some random player as well, he couldn't show his face to the public, at least not as much as he used to.

"Night," Kira spoke with a serious tone. Despite his background, Kira carried himself very well. He was around 5'10 with blonde hair that fell over his face. He didn't particularly look like a villain from an anime but the vibes he gave off definitely indicated to him hiding a magical book. Kira had black-rimmed circular glasses that made him look nerdy but at the same time, a little cute. He wasn't 'ugly' for sure but at the same time, calling him beautiful was a stretch. Perhaps if he were to get a haircut? or change his hairstyle a little, then maybe he could be called attractive.

"I lost multiples times...you may not know it but we have always been competing, you are my rival, it has been decided and nothing can take it back, I've worked hard, pushed myself, put in multiple hours, let me prove to you, let me show you what your rival is capable of!!"

"First off, wouldn't it be cooler if we faced in the finals? you know because of the whole rival thingy, I'm sure even the crowd would enjoy that, second, you shouldn't push yourself too hard, value your health and safety more than anything....hopefully as a rival you can do that much for me..." Luke expressed his concern. It was genuinely a surprise to hear some put in so much effort just to overtake him, all this time he was just messing around and never took Genesis seriously, maybe it had a lot to do with the World view but seeing Kira so determined, ignited an old spark in him, a spark he thought he had long lost.

"...Night....." Kira muttered, "I accept. Thank you for your concern, I can't say anything but "as expected of my rival!", hmph, then let's get on with it!" Kira said as he held out his hand.

"Good luck," Luke smiled and accepted the gesture.

A touching scene, two individuals dubbed as rivals, they even saw each other as rivals but it wasn't hatred they shared. It was respect, Kira was constantly, slapped across the face, he was humiliated when he lost to Night, he was humiliated when he was killed by some random player, he couldn't even save his group let alone secure the boss. After putting in so much work and only receiving failure, anyone would go mad, in some ways he was a lot like Luke. Kira didn't back away, he held his ground and faced the circumstances, he worked harder, harder than before.

"Waaah Night and Kira!"

"Truly respectable!"

"This....does put a smile on my face"

"Amazing! this is the true face of E-sports!"

"Real role models!"

"He's wearing a hentai mask, you might want to take that back,"

The crowd was roaring, it resembled a gladiator's arena when someone is killed or executed, except in this situation, it wasn't anything inhumane, it was the most humane thing possible.

A similar scene, Night was in the same arena he saw Aurora and the others fight in. A colosseum-like map, the broken down roman pillars, the smell of blood, very faint but it was still lingering around. The weather was quite pleasant, it was windy and tranquil. There was no sound, no sound at all, other than the distant waves crashing into the shore.

"You ready?" Luke asked as he equipped his double-edged sword, Glacial Balance.

'There it is again, that weapon, I should be more careful,' Kira thought before answering, "Obviously, here I come!"

Kira was an Arcane Knight, just like Zane except he was probably more skilled in combat. Two fireballs, one on each side, to trap Night and leave only the centre open but that was what Kira aimed for, without any hesitation he swung his sword right down Night's face. It was clear that he had no hopes this attack would work but he had learnt to be an optimist lately, unfortunately, this had less to do with his mindset and more to do with the fact that Night's weapon was simply greater than Kira's.

"Do all Arcane Knights enjoy using fire? or is that the only element you guys can control?" Night teased as he and Kira were going back and forth. Every step Night took forward, Kira took one back. The latter was visibly struggling but he was doing better than Zane, he made sure he had no wide spots and all his vitals were covered.

"Hah! Isn't that weapon of yours an ice element? that's quite rare you know? especially this early in the game, but yes, fire against ice works like a charm most of the time," Kira said as he jumped to the side.

"Ah the rigid dichotomy between fire and ice," Night said as he backed away, "wanna see something fun? I've been wanting to show everyone but I could not decide when..."

"Now sounds alright, you know? so I can shatter your hopes of countering me with fire," Luke further added.

Indeed, the general public was neither aware of his nor Nate's Primordial powers, in fact, he hasn't even shown what his primary class was. Not that it mattered, considering he had crossed level 100.

"Hah? a bluff, sure I'll bite, go ahead," Kira said as he pointed his weapon to the ground.

The audience was curious, what was going on? why did Kira and Night stop fighting? what was Night planning to show them? was it truly a bluff?

The never-ending questions finally stopped when they saw Night unequip his double-edged sword, before anyone could say anything else, they saw another weapon in his hand. It was bright, the string shone, it was as if it was waiting to be plucked, and when Night aimed at Kira, everyone noticed the lack of a quiver and arrows but nobody said a word, they quietly watched as a dark aura began forming at Night's feet. Slowly the dark clouds rose up and mixed into the bow.

*𝘛𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨*

An arrow made of darkness shot itself right into Kira's right shoulder, slowly burning away the armour as well as the skin underneath it. The only sound that was heard, was the agonizing screams of Kira, echoing throughout the stadium.