Yi Qiang stared at the katana inches away from his throat, noting that even its power seemed incapable of even biting into the light blue shield that, as of right then, had saved Yi Qiang's life in this fight.

The marksman accepted his loss - she was not Chosen, after all, and strength was no accurate sign of potential.

Most likely, Maria had already reached the peak of her power, and if she was already so strong despite her status as an NPC, it seemed inevitable that she would only decline from there. Yi Qiang, on the other hand, was only just embarked on his long journey to strengthen himself. It was with that logic that the bow wielder had long accepted that there would be Chosen far above him for a while, at least several months until his advantages began to reveal themselves fully.

What the young man was less enthused about was the fact that he missed out on the first-place prize, the Divine Reformation Elixir. If his guess was right, and the elixir was able to increase the speed of either training stats or skills, perhaps both, then it would be incredibly precious to him, crucial, even.

All things considered, though, the battle wasn't as close as it could be, even if Yi Qiang did not grow in stats or skills at all. Though the problem faded quickly and had all but disappeared after Yi Qiang's intense battle, the fact remained that the archer was still not entirely acquainted with his strength. This seemingly small fact was something that could, in a future fight with Maria, tip the scales in his favor, or at least more so. It was unlikely he would manage to win if his stats didn't progress at all, no matter how much time the archer had to practice, but it would be a far closer duel.

In contrast to Yi Qiang, however, Shenyu wasn't handling the loss well. It was the first time he had seen his brother lose, and that was something for which the young, pure mind of the Empyrean Dragon wasn't prepared.

Shenyu hadn't broken down into tears or thrown an angry fit, but he was deeply affected. While the hatchling didn't say anything, Yi Qiang could vividly feel the disappointment and anger at Maria present in the young dragon. Surprisingly, Shenyu's disappointment was not at his partner - it was at himself, instead, for not being strong or tough enough to aid Yi Qiang in his battle.

Utterly nonsensical from the archer's point of view, but Yi Qiang knew enough not to interfere with Shenyu's internal turmoil. They were too tightly bonded for Yi Qiang not to know such an act would have lasting consequences, which were most likely not positive - emotional reliance, mental instability, and other weaknesses would form in the hatchling's mind.

Unfortunately, Yi Qiang noted to himself; it seems all creatures, even dragons, are subjected to the same curse - the relationship between struggle and growth. One must first experience strife before they experience relaxation, and so it is with all things. If Shenyu's going to be mature, he'll need to overcome this himself. But it's so difficult not to try to help him...

Yi Qiang, though certainly emotionally underdeveloped, did not suffer from a complete lack of human feelings - Shenyu's struggle pulled at his heart. Still, the archer steeled himself and turned a blind eye. He brought his gaze back to his surroundings, looking over to his left to ascertain whether or not the two other duelists - the mage and the orc warrior - had concluded their battle.

They had not done so, but Yi Qiang's keen eyes picked up on the signs that they soon would.

It was a closer match than he expected - the magic-wielding Chosen was able to keep the green-skinned warrior at bay, but she was clearly straining more and more, and the man was holding on steadfastly. The slight tremble in his shoulders as he resisted yet another blasting ball of fire gave away his struggle, but the more obvious sign of strain were the beads of sweat rolling down Maria's temple.

It was a battle of attrition, and Yi Qiang suspected the Chosen would fall first.

He was surprised, however, when, sporting a grim look on her face, the mage slammed her staff on the ground, eyes closing in concentration as all other spells stopped. The green0skinned warrior took this as a golden opportunity to rush in, hoisting his massive hammer and tower shield as he ran to the best of his abilities, heading directly at her.

That was a mistake.

The mage girl was more experienced than Yi Qiang had given her credit for - she expected the orc's charge, and the spell she took so long to cast relied on that. Impossibly large spikes of earth rose from the ground, intimidatingly numerous and chillingly sharp. All of them were pointed directly at the green-skinned warrior.

The attack was just as strong as it looked, ending the match as multiple light-blue screens appeared, stopping the magically-conjured spikes in their tracks before they pierced through the warrior's armor and reached the weaker body underneath.

The effort, however, seemed barely worth the result, as the Chosen collapsed from the strain of the powerful spell she had cast. Yi Qiang, though, remained appreciative of the potential magic held in Ascend. That's impressive, especially given how long we've been in the game. Who knew there would be other Chosen, close to catching up to me? I wonder if she's integrated or an ordinary player.

Yi Qiang took the time to inspect her once more, intent on seeing if any new details popped up in her exhausted state, or if there were any clues he missed the first time he Analyzed her that would hint as to whether she was an integrated player or not.

Yushia Ji

Level: ???

Chosen

The closest thing Yi Qiang noticed was the name. Strangely, as the marksman found out when Analyzing Chosen on the streets of the city, for information-gathering purposes, he found that many of the Chosen had strange names, with numbers and symbols in strange places.

It wasn't anything near a steadfast rule, though, so the fact that Yushia had a legitimate name only served as something that increased the chances of her being an integrated Chosen, and even with that, only slightly.

The archer was knocked out of his thinking, though, when the judges signaled for all the competitors to go back to the central stage.

Of course, the main judge was already waiting for the four and began to speak when, with a jump or magically-enhanced hope, in Yushia's case, the four contestants arrived. He was audibly relieved to be near the end of the tournament, despite how much he clearly craved its excitement, and spoke much more relaxedly than normal.

"Only one more battle left, this one's to find out who's really in second and who's really in third," he glanced at the audience and then looked at Yi Qiang and Yushia in turn. "The young mage or the golden archer?"

The crowd, for what Yi Qiang hoped would be the final time, erupted into applause and cheers.

The main judge continued. "Since this is the last battle, why don't we just have it on this stage? I'm sure nobody else minds?"

At no one else's rejection, the judge smiled and, beckoning for everyone except the two combatants to follow him, easily hopped onto another platform.

His ease of movement reaffirmed Yi Qiang's hypothesis that the judge was really a hidden expert, but he tore his thoughts from the mysterious yet annoying man, and back to the fight.

Yushia was someone Yi Qiang envisioned as more of a learning experience than a threat. She was a mage, but a relatively weak one - at least too weak to threaten him. He was relatively confident in his assessment, too, as he had seen the mage near her limit fighting the green-skinned warrior. Though that final spell was powerful, Yi Qiang had faith in his ability to avoid it.

It was a fair point that he had thought the same about Maria, though, so Yi Qiang didn't dare hold back at all. As such, he summoned a golden Qi bow with a full 400 points, an above-average amount.

That principle of not holding back also, regrettably, meant Yi Qiang wouldn't be able to fully experience magic in combat, as he would likely have to end everything as quickly as possible.

The main judge hopped back from the platform where Maria and the green-skinned warrior now stood. Since this was the last match of the tournament, it appeared he would be the one to judge.

Yi Qiang was slightly curious to see what skills the lazy, gaudily-dressed man had in judging as opposed to the only proficiencies he'd seen so far - crowd-pandering and insight.

The sensation of a taut bowstring being pulled and an arrow being nocked would always be profoundly satisfying to Yi Qiang; given how much he'd felt it, it would almost have to be. And the feeling of a Qi-conjured bow was among the best Yi Qiang had ever experienced, something the archer attributed to its composition of Qi.

As he pointed his arrow at Yushia, Yi Qiang also watched the judge whose hand was lazily raised in the air. Yushia was also supremely focused on her opponent, wary of the golden-armament-wielding archer.

That wariness would serve her well.

In future fights.

The instant the main judge dropped his hand, Yi Qiang's hand let go of his arrow, letting the golden bringer of death sail forth, on a direct path to Yushia's left eye.

A twin quickly joined it in its path as in less than a second, YI Qiang loosed another arrow, aimed for the mage's right eye.

His first attack was blocked with a hurried wave of the hand, the gesture resulting in the formation of an earthy shield in front of her head. The arrow that she sought to block, however, had too much strength behind it to be stopped by that one, hastily-erected shield. Luckily for Yushia, it bought her enough time to construct another shield, this time managing to stop that first arrow in its tracks.

Unfortunately, the same thing couldn't be said about the second arrow.

And, just like that, the match was over.

The moment that life-saving shield appeared, Yi Qiang felt Shenyu notice his easy victory. He could also sense that the effortlessness of that "battle" served as some consolation to the young dragon, but Shenyu still kept quiet while trying to pretend nothing was wrong.

He was glad to see, though, that Shenyu was recovering.

The judge, slightly raising his eyebrow at the quick victory, waved the two contestants spectating over to the main platform once again and cleared his throat, straightening his back.

"That concludes the tournament! And now, it's time to distribute rewards!"

He paused for the crowd to begin its cheering, something Yi Qiang had already expected but irked him nonetheless.

Nodding towards the green-skinned warrior, the judge continued. "Mister Akh, if you would stand to the side while I bestow the rewards upon the top three."

The fighter grimaced slightly in disappointment and self-blame, but gave a frustrated shrug and walked off to the side of the stage.

The main judge turned his attention back to the three and retrieved three boxes from the inner folds of his ostentatious robe.

"To the valiant mage Yushia, the contestant in third place and Chosen, the crown bestows a Spatial Stone. May you find it useful, miss."

"To the prodigious marksman, Yi Qiang, the contestant in second place and Chosen, the crown bestows a Spatial Stone and a ticket to the royal treasury, where the possessor is to turn in the ticket for their choice of the crown's items. May they serve you well, sir."

"To the sanguine warrior, Maria, the contestant in first place and paladin of the Church of Hema, the crown bestows a Spatial Stone and a Divine Reformation Elixir. May our gifts lead you to greater heights, miss."

As expected, when Yi Qiang opened his box, he found both a golden ticket and a mysteriously glowing, deep-blue stone. The treasury voucher and the Spatial Stone.

Let's see what I can do with these...