Back in reality, no it was better to say that they were in a VR space that was not Royal Road.

The group along with no one else was with Alexandra in a large room that closely resembled a dojo of some sort. Alexandra was wearing one of those karate outfits you see a lot in movies and media though the use of such things instead of higher tech suits increased to the point it was rare to see this even in media now.

“Where are the other students?” Maria asked looking around.

“There are no other students” Alexandra said.

Hina frowned and then asked, “Was there a problem with the enrolment then? Usually there were at least a dozen students a class.”

Alexandra smiled at her and then said, “You forget that this is a place where geniuses in one form or another gather. No else is here since they chose not to come, plus there are almost a hundred other classes running at the same time.”

“I see” Hina thought about it that way and indeed having all of them here was a lot for a class since talents stretch far and wide.

“I heard from Alena that you intend to go into that tournament later on. After this class you have around a day and a few hours to prefer otherwise” she said slightly shocking the group though they soon realised that someone must have told her...though Alexandra should be with Eden far away from them in the game right now...

“Anyway” she adjust her belt which was strange on her outfit since she was actually wearing one and then said, “This class is mainly for me to train you in the details of combat.”

Hearing this most of the group frowned and questioned such a need of this. They were strong enough and with their new gear, they were even stronger now.

Alexandra did not need to question them on their opinion since it was plastered over their faces. It was far easier to just teach them the hard way. She only had 2 hours to do this anyway. She let out an arrogant look and said one thing to them.

“Come.”

Maria was the first to charge in as always wanting to punch Alexandra. In this space, your body's specs are the same as in reality. This meant any advantage Alexandra has in the game was removed here.

With a single straight punch directed at her, Alexandra simply flipped Maria and threw her away with a single swing and started walking to the other five.

Next Peter, Mark and Ian all moved in at the same time nodding at each other to confirm. This person was still one of their guild-masters. How could she be weak?

The three did a pincher move to which Ian leaped to kick in the air while Peter and Mark aimed to attack from below.

Alexandra caught Ian's kick and threw him as well and at the same time jumping in the air, grabbing onto Peter and Mark and threw them as well.

“This is quite disappointing” Alexandra mumbled heading to Hina and Grace. Hina was getting cold sweat from Alexandra and Grace was shivering a bit.

Seeing that Grace wasn't about to do anything useful right now, Hina moved in and with her limited knowledge, mainly with theory tried to control the battle against Alexandra. It was met with complete dominance from Alexandra as she smashed throw Hina's stance with force and threw her with the others as well.

Finally there was only Grace. Alexandra dared not underestimate her since both Eden and Viv and she herself confirmed she probably had the greatest potential in the group.

Alexandra started off to attack since Grace was probably not going to attack. But at the same time Grace attacked leaving Alexandra a bit surprised. Alexandra dodged the punch which was faster than what Grace could do in Royal Road and went to strike.

Her hand coming down, another one of Grace's attacks, a kick came to her.

“Ho~”

Alexandra grabbed her leg and then with a single twist, flipped her in mid air. But Grace continued to attack and then went for a second kick to which Alexandra was very pleased.

“Good work” she said before controlling Grace's centre of gravity as well with a palm and throwing her to the others where Hina and Maria caught her.

Turning to the group Alexandra declared, “Grace is currently stronger than the rest of you. What do you have to say about that?”

“I don't understand” Ian said looking at Grace, “Such a small body and yet was able to handle more than us. Completely the opposite as in the game” he continued saying. He was quite interested when the rest of them failed instantly while Grace was the only one who could hold on for a while.

“Ah...that's b-because...it was a r-reaction to d-danger” Grace replied getting off Maria and Hina at once while shying looking away.

“Reaction to danger...” Peter muttered, “So this happens when you're in danger?”

“Y-Yes!” she replied with a high pitch tone that was a level higher than normal.

“That kind of thing is actually quite normal” Alexandra said, “Usually when people are in danger, their bodies react first. There are two ways of this, first is natural talent and the second is with experience. Now, come.”

For the next 10 minutes Alexandra had been throwing the group left and right easily without any effort. There was literally no progress at all within in this time span and Alexandra almost had enough of them.

“Why are you all so weak?!” she complained while stepping on Peter with her foot as he lied on the ground beaten. She twisted her foot in the place she kicked him moments before.

“Stop!” Maria suddenly said, “You might make him awaken something like that! It will be bad if he becomes a masochist” she was clearly worried about Peter who was being stepped on and yet was not moving to get her off of him. Did he 'awaken' that kind of taste right now?

“Who the hell will become a masochist Maria?” Peter groaned in pain as he got up. Even though this was a VR space, they could still feel pain.

“If anything it would be you who has been charging in first all the time” he added holding his side as he hurt like hell when Alexandra kicked him there.

“He does have a point” Ian agreed. He too got up after Alexandra pinned him down with one hand and twisted his body in a way he did not expect possible.

Lining up again with Maria grunting, Alexandra said bluntly to them.

“At this point I really can't see anything to teach you. You guys even lack some of the more basic combat skills you need. After you lose your weapon, your body is the only thing you can depend on” she sighed.

“But I can't really do anything with me throwing you left and right though I hoped you guys would quickly gain the skills that are required. I guess I have no choice.”

The group silent gulped thinking of what she was about to make them do next. First she only made them come at her to attack while she threw them around but now she was planning something else?

“More than attack you guys lack defence...though I can't say so myself but defending without a weapon is a useful skill!” she said with confidence, “Especially when you managed to piss off Eden and forgot to bring your sword while running away.”

“....”

“Anyway spread out a bit and I will go very...very easy on you all and you have to defend as long as possible. Attacking is not allowed~” she said thinking that this would be the best method for now.

The group did so and Alexandra attacked them one by one each time making them last at best 10 seconds on average. This was taking into account that Raven easily went over 20 seconds with Alexandra like this while Grace was instantly taken down.

After repeating this for another five times she stopped and said, “Looks like even with this, it's too hard...”

“That's because you use strange techniques to throw us around!” Ian complained, “The skill difference is too high! It's like a level 1 facing a level 100 here!”

“That's true” Alexandra agreed with Ian ignoring his rude tone once again.

“In that case, why don't we spar between each other” Hina suggested, “I can go with Maria, Ian with Mark and Peter with Grace.”

“Wait, why am I stuck with Mark?” Ian asked.

“I don't trust you with Grace” Hina said bluntly. Maria agreed and said, “She's been a bit too scared of you ever since that time...”

“That wasn't my fault!” Ian shouted back. Hearing his loud voice, Grace cowered away even more. Her impression of Ian decreased again wit his outburst.

“Annnnd your relationship stats with her decreased again. Really, it would be better for you to shut up while near her from now on” Maria suggested.

“....” Ian was about to shout again but stopped considering his relationship with the others would really break down at this rate. He had no intentions of being left out any time soon. Soon enough Alexandra split the group into three and had to spar with each other instead.

One side would attack while the other would try their best to defend. It was this way for the remainder of the lesson with Alexandra though bored sitting out of the action. But from time to time, she would give them hints and corrected their way of doing things.

Finally she said to them, “Good luck on that tournament. Remember if anything, don't let go of your weapon unless you have to.”

With that the lesson ended and the group left and went in the game.

xXx

In the infirmy that was too high speced to be considered one. It was more like a mini-hospital in there but still Alexandra sighed and lied on a bed wanting to rest.

“Teaching is really straining...why don't they understand the basics...?” she muttered wanting to sleep and not do anything for a while.

“That's because they lack the natural instincts for battle” a person replied. She turned her head to see that Eden entered the room and answered her question.

Alexandra then said, “That doesn't explain why all of them were so...weak even with the VR setting adjusted for everyone to have the same strength and speed. Grace, that Grace was the best at attacking and Mark was naturally the best at defending. The rest were meh.”

“That's kinda harsh. Most of them haven't even been in a fight outside the game.”

“But at the same time that knowledge from the game should have at least allowed them to perform better. They are separating the skills they gained on the other side from the ones on this side. Quite stupid if you ask me” she made an uncaring expressing and turned to get some sleep.

However Eden would not have that and asked, “So what did they learn today?”

“Nothing” Alexandra said, “Aside from that they are really weak. Even when against each other only Mark and Grace performed well in their areas. Hina and Maria were fine except that they lacked realism while the other two, Peter and Ian were holding back for some reason.”

“Why would they hold back?” Eden wondered.

“Who knows...either way I just want to ask what will happen to them if they're aren't useful...like some of the others we picked up” Alexandra had a worried tone.

Eden became serious and said, “If they really aren't useful in any way than we will throw them away like the others.”

“....”

Seeing Alexandra's extremely worried expression Eden chuckled and said, “Looks like you really care about them.”

“How can I not? Their future is based off how they perform. Bringing them here, feeding them, housing them and educating them isn't free! The moment that they can't prove themselves all of this will be taken away!” Alexandra said quickly.

“But at the same time, they currently have good potential at least” Eden reminded her.

“Really now? Remember when we were their level? Viv just joined us as well...”

“And we were facing monsters that were twice our level and still won. Yes I remember and it was those first 8 years that llyfr was still with us” Eden replied like that causing Alexandra to stop talking.

“Are you okay?” Eden asked seeing that Alexandra wasn't herself right now.

“No” she simply replied though with a soft smile on her face. Eden sighed and said, “Don't worry, we will get through all of this...one way or another. Though in the end...”

“Is that still an option to use?” Alexandra asked not wanting Eden to use that in the end.

“Perhaps...as a last resort of course” Eden left Alexandra a smile as he said, “We better get back in the game as well. We need to stop that Ghost Army in time for a proper response to come to deal with it.”

“Doubt that would work...but-” Alexandra looked at the back of Eden and wanted for that to not disappear again.

xXx

Back in the game now, Alena greeted the group again and they left to do some business elsewhere. To be precise, the girls did while the boys had nothing else to do.

“You guys can't come” Lyndis said bluntly.

“Why?” Shadow raised his eyebrow not understanding for a moment and then realised it, “A girl's day out now?”

“Yep” Lyndis nodded with a smile. Thus the three of them left the other three behind as they went to do some window shopping on their own.

“I guess we can get something to eat first” Sain said with a sigh going the opposite direction. Shadow and Raven followed behind Sain as he did.

xXx

“So...with the boys gone, we can finally have some heart to heart talks to each other!” Lyndis said a bit too excited though Serena was the same and Miriel could not help but to smile a bit to this.

This was something that both Serena and Miriel have rarely experienced before though Lyndis had a lot more experience it did not mean that it was any better.

“Okay but where should we go? But first...Muffletone!” Miriel chanted and used that spell that prevented others from listening in on them.

Nodding to her use of that spell Lyndis said, “Hmm...first I would like to look at some clothing stores...but I'm hungry so should we go eat?”

“Sure!” Serena said energetically. With the boys gone she was much less shy and anxious. Her original personality was of a bright child after all, even if it was clouded many times in the past.

“Then let us go” Miriel said, “I know of a good cafe down this road judging by the reviews it had, the deserts are quite good.”

“So they have cake and sweats? Yes!” Lyndis made an exaggerated gesture and the three went to that place which was only partly full. Miriel dis-spell her spell for a bit to order some food but used it again when they sat down to eat.

After a minute of enjoying this, Lyndis suddenly said, “So you like Sain eh.”

“Pffffffffffffffffffft!!!” Miriel spat out the cake she was eating which caused many people to look over as Miriel flustered tried to clean herself up in a panic.

“What the hell was that for?!” she shouted though no one could hear her other than Lyndis and Serena and she hit Lyndis on the head.

“What? it was a question~” Lyndis lazily said finding Miriel's current face funny.

“You said no question! Just a statement!” Miriel retorted.

Serena at this point poured more oil on the fire and said, “How long has it been since you started liking him.”

“Around a ye-that's not the point!” Miriel once more retorted. It was like she was the straight man in a comedy act.

Angry at the two who were definitely doing this on purpose Miriel asked, “What about you two?! Do you have anyone you like?!”

The two looked at each other and smiled and then said at the same time.

“What if it was Sain as well?”

It was at that moment, something inside Miriel cracked. Lots of emotions that she thought she didn't have flowed out until...

“Just kidding. Sain is fine but not my type~” Lyndis said with a smile grinning at Miriel, “Plus Serena here can barely manage to stay calm in front of boys without running away. How can she fall in love so easily?”

“....”

Lyndis continued to say, “On the other hand Raven is my type appearance wise but his no talk and expressionless trait is a complete turn off. And in no way in hell am I going to end up with that bad mouth Shadow.”

Miriel agreed to those points and then said, “What if Shadow shut his mouth and Raven started talking?”

“Hmm...” Lyndis thought about it and then said, “Still no. I rather not get love in the way of our teamwork. That would mean I would prefer to save one of them instead of you two and I rather not have that” she smiled and then looked at Serena.

“What about you? Does looking at either Raven or Shadow make your heart beat wildly?” she asked.

Serena shook her head and then said in a small voice, “Raven is nice but he's like a good big brother...Shadow is a bad person.”

“Hahaha” Lyndis let out a loud laugh and if not for Miriel's spell everyone would have heard that, “You have that right. It was a good choice coming here to talk about this.”

Miriel sighed and then said, “I thought we were going to talk about something else...like clothes.”

“We are” Lyndis replied, “But at the same time talking about who we like is also something super interesting as long as the boys you like don't like me. Then it becomes super awkward haha....”

Lyndis looked down and Miriel said in an astonished tone, “Don't tell me...”

“Girls are real bitches sometimes you know” she said, “If you can get them the first time, try again until you win them over. Don't blame the other person...” she looked at Miriel with a sad face but then changed it saying, “But you have nothing to worry about. Sain is completely smitten by you.”

“Huuuuh?”

“He had that look when he saw you after the change in outfit. He was completely stunned by you” Serena said nodding her head.

“Completely fell for you or close to it when he saw you then” she continued to say, “Though he might have had some feelings before that.”

“Or is could be the super dense type and doesn't know it yet. You have to be aggressive to get him at once before someone else steals him away” Lyndis advised.

In Miriel's mind, she was 'aggressively attacking' Sain and making him her...what the hell was she thinking about?! She couldn't possibly do that especially when they had other matters to do.

“I won't do anything since we have other things to do. A relationship as you said would only bring trouble right now” Miriel said calmly.

“Though you did think about pushing him down and making him yours” Lyndis unnecessarily added in as well which caused Miriel to glare at her.

“ANYWAY” Miriel said loudly to stop the conversation steering into that direction and immediately found another topic to talk about, “Serena I just want to ask why you started stuttering after a while with boys. I mean before you didn't talk that much you still didn't stutter as well.”

“Yeah I want to know as well!” Lyndis agreed with what Miriel was thinking of and put away her talks of Miriel's infatuation of Sain for later.

“Well...” Serena started to talk to explain this to them, “Before when we met...”

“Yes I remember that. Quite funny how difference some people were” Lyndis interrupted mid way.

“Yes, some people like you never changed. Anyway continue Serena before this idiot talks again” Miriel said to both of them.

“Okay, I only saw everyone else as strangers-”

“Like the rest of us” Lyndis interrupted again.

“Lyndis!” Miriel said furious.

“Sorry...” she replied dejected. This time she kept her mouth shut as Serena continued speaking. ]

“As I was saying, I saw everyone else as strangers and we all weren't as friendly as now. At that time I didn't even see the other three as males per say and it was only when we started hunting and interacting for longer that I realised it since I was focusing more on my spell training” she said in one go without Lyndis interrupting her this time.

Both Lyndis and Miriel were taken a bit back by her statement. If those three heard of this, their spirits would be crushed...or would they be relieved. Either way, this wasn't going to get into their heads from them at least.

The three girls continued to chatter along and then went to shop for dressed and other cute clothes. Much to the surprise to Miriel and Serena, Lyndis had a preference for plainer clothes on off occasions. Likewise the other two also had this same taste though they amounted it to the fact that they lived most of their lives conversing money due to being orphans.

They sent the rest of the day like this.

xXx

Meanwhile on the other side of the team. The boys late at night were waiting for the three girls to come back to their new base of operations.

The Independent Guild Administration Centre and also Alena's home. While the girls were chatting, the boys mostly looked around at the weapons, armours and other stuff that may be useful for them later on.

Shadow brought some rope and other minor things while Sain and Raven spent most of the time reading up on the latest news. Much to their surprise there was nothing on a ghost army invading but the clip Eden and the other two shown them proved.

Not thinking that Eden and the others would lie to them and also not wanting to talk about a ghost army to other people, the three have searched up informations on ghosts and previous armies that were formed from them.

Their search...

“There's nothing here at all!!!” Shadow shouted at the top of his voice. He had just spent the entire day for nothing.

The cry of a baby awakened by his shout was heard as Sain and Raven quickly moved away from Shadow, the area where it would be dangerous to be near.

“My my” Alena said trying to calm her child down, “Please don't shout so loud...else I might have to put you down.”

While there was still that everlasting smile on her face, her tone and eyes were dead serious on killing Shadow if he did this again. The same applied to the other two. It was at this moment, the door opened and the girls came in.

“We heard a shout. Is everything all right?” Miriel asked concern that such a loud voice was heard from this building. It was possible something happened.

“Just Shadow shouting and venting his frustration” Sain replied though trying not to stare at her. He was complaining in his heart that her current outfit was too revealing...he had no idea where to look. The plain robes were better for his eyes and heart.

“Oh, so nothing bad” Lyndis replied not caring much for Shadow right now. While he was fine most of the time, it was those small moment where he wasn't...as long as he keeps his mouth shut he's fine.

“Why do I feel that you are slowly ignoring my existence...” Shadow muttered in a low voice.

“Well you were the one who wanted to do so a while back!” Lyndis said remembering that Shadow said that his abilities in stealth was decreasing and he wanted to change it back in order to not be useless.

“I kinda want to change my mind on that” Shadow said somewhat unsure of that action now.

“Oh you don't need to worry about that. According to Viv, that was only because the power of your 'Mark' was leaking out a bit. He said that in the passing as he left somewhere” Alena said while going to her bedroom to place her child there to sleep.

“What?! That was why?!” Shadow unintentionally shouted out. Alena's child started crying again when he did.

“....”

Sain and Raven immediately grabbed the three girls and force them out of the building along with themselves for their own safety. That day...Shadow was unheard of until the next day where they met again at the tournament.

xXx

Approximately 3 hours before the start of the tournament...

“When did this city have this large arena like building?” Sain wondered seeing that this large structure looked almost exactly like the Roman Colosseum in real life. It was however half the size of the real one though.

“Hmm...this place was actually empty when we came here...did they build this in such a short amount of time?” Miriel looked quite impressed at the building and the speed it was built.

However Raven looked around and then asked the rest of the group, “Where's Shadow?”

“....”

The rest of the group was silent and was praying for his life. Ever since last night they had not heard from him at all even while sending messages to him via PMing. Any hope of seeing him again amounted to Alena.

The five entered the arena and moved to the participation area where there was really hundreds of other people, players there competing as well. There, a person that looked like an old mercenary character spoke to everyone at once.

“Welcome to the quarter tournament for Lily City!” the voice was clearly heard from all corners of the arena and the crowd cheered at the announcement.

“How noisy” Miriel muttered a complaint.

“Today we have some good news and some bad news to you all!” everyone was listening in on these words.

“The bad news is that the number of participants number over a thousand this time which means there will be a need for a preliminary round to lower than number of participants quickly! The good news however is that the reward for this tournament has been tripled! The grand prize is now a total of 3000 gold!”

Every person whether it was the participants or the audience cheered for this. The higher the stake the better the reward and the audience loved people struggling whether they won or not. At this time the arena changed and twelve platforms appeared a little higher than the ground.

“The rules of getting through the preliminary round is simple. Out of 8 groups and 12 platforms you must survive and be the last one. Only then will you advance to the first round! I hope for you to split from your team mates here else be forced to fight them early!” the announcer said.

“He's right” Miriel said quickly to the others, “Better split up and hope we are all in different groups.”

The others nodded and then separated and went in different groups. Sain was in group 3, Miriel was in group 4, Raven in group 1, Lyndis in group 8 and Serena was in group 6. All of them were separated as they waited for the preliminary rounds to begin.

xXx

There was a small group of people gathered a bit away from the crowd of audience waiting to get a good view. These people were those who betted on these kinds of things to make quick money. Whether they manipulate the results of the tournaments for their own gain is questionable.

“Have we decided on who to bet on now?” one person asked. This was the question that they all had.

While betting later on remained a certain level of profit. The most profit you could gain is via betting from the very beginning where everything is unknown. The gamble and risk you would take would result in the gain to be easily tens or hundred times higher than normal.

Another person responded, “Yes, there are some good candidates. We need to get them at least through to the finals. All of them are near level 150 and are quite strong. Some of them may be soon part of an Independent Guild if they keep it up. Or used to be isn't that right.”

“....”

The third person stayed silent but then the second person continued to mock him.

“To be kicked out of an Independent Guild at your level. It was a miracle you got in one but when you get kicked out your reputation fell to the ground hahaha, proves you right to be so arrogant to the rest of us before.”

The third person spoke as in response to this, “That was a mistake. One mistake, for someone like me to be...”

“Yeah yeah we heard that too many times” the second person rudely replied. He had heard this too many times to care anymore. But then the first person suddenly said, “Oh, this is interesting. There are some people from an Independent Guild in here this time.”

There was some shock as the other people quickly looked at the information on them. Details on their appearance, age, class and certain abilities that was researched a bit was shown. More to the point was Independent Guild they are a part of.

“This is...” the third person was surprised.

“Hahahaha this is too funny” the second person laughed, “To think they are members of the one that kicked you out!”

Several people decided to bet on these six immediately since it was likely they would win. However some didn't and one of those was the third person. There was a flash of anger as the second person reminded him, “Remember not to go against these brats. If you do then even we will be your enemy.”

“....I know” the second person replied though was lying through his teeth now. What better chance for him to prove that he was better, right than to make this guild suffer.

“....”

In total there was a few dozen players that this group bet on in small amounts. It was nothing much, only a few gold, a small investment. However they could not help themselves betting a bit more for the six that were in an Independent Guild.

But at the same time...

“That guild, that guild, that guild, that Eden's guild....” a certain person was biting into his fingers thinking about the pass.

“I'm not useless, I'm strong, I can prove that” he continued to mutter while sinking his eyes into those who were participating.

xXx

Character Name: Raven

Group 1, Platform 7 participant

Current Round: Preliminary Round

As the groups were fighting in order, Raven was the first to had to go. He got onto one of the twelve platforms with other players that numbered to nine other than himself. Before coming, there were people moved from groups to even the numbers out.

However at the same time there were many complaints to this. They naturally wanted a better chance at winning and were doing their best not disobey the decision to move them in another group.

These people were immediately kicked out which lowered the number of people participating by b it. Thankfully none of the group was sent to another and if things went well they all would meet in the final rounds.

In the platform, Raven was naturally quiet though this was the first time for those around him to be naturally quiet as well.

The atmosphere was tense as they all decided to which person to fight first.

'No need to take them all out by myself. I can just wait a bit to let them weaken themselves and finish off the rest...though I doubt on that happening. There are a few staring at me.'

Raven noticed that his appearance attracted a lot of attention. Perhaps he should have worn his other equipment which while a bit flashy wasn't as attention attracting as this. However Raven did not notice that it wasn't because of his equipment, the other players has the same level or high flashiness, but his face that caused the attraction to attention.

Several male players decided to attack Raven while they had the chance and several female players decided to take those male players out. But in the end they will win, they all thought.

Raven observed the other players while he had the chance. Most of them were melee characters, swordsmen and a few with shields as well. There was a thief character mixed in as well but no magic characters.

'Well these kinds of tournaments would make it hard for magic users to win'

Raven held his spear and shield a bit tighter as the countdown to the start of the fight began.

“Let the first set of fights in this tournament begin!” the announcer said which caused a set of loud cries to resound from the audience and the participants.

“Die pretty boy!”

Immediately when the fight began, three people out of nine opponents went for Raven. He had expected this but for them to assault him like this not caring for anything else was unexpected. Their hate for those like Raven who looked better than them allowed them to at least not kill each other first.

“Twisted Blow!” one of the players against Raven shouted, his blade moved in one direction and the next but Raven could still see it and determine it's path in the end.

He raised his shield and moved forward not back as he was near the edge of the platform already. The three players did not even hide the fact that they were targeting Raven at all with them coordinating to take him out first.

“Ohhhhh three players have already started to gang on on a single person in this tournament!” the announcer said in an excited voice. He then started to commentate on other interesting scenes that the audience could draw their eyes to.

“Shield Bash” Raven knocked away one of the players like this while using the rest of his armour to take the blows from the other two. Next he spun his spear into one of the other players killing him in one shot which was surprising at least.

Raven moved in on the third and said, “Double Strike” hitting the arm and stomach of the third player and injuring him quite a bit. It was at this point that the first player was back to normal and was attacking Raven again.

“Impact Blow!”

“Sword Strike!”

He was forced to move back a bit before using 'Spear Parry' and 'Shield Parry' to get some more hits in and finishing them off at the same time. Looking over to the rest of the platform, there were now only two more players left to defeat.

One of them was a shield and sword user while the other was a normal swordsman. As Raven moved to attack the two the one with the shield killed the other one and went for Raven as well.

Clang!

Raven blocked the attack while passing by with his shield and turned to attack with a stab.

Clang!

The attack the blocked and the two continued to exchange blows like that. Raven in the mean time while fighting this way checked his health and it barely fell from 90%. The enemies were really just too weak at this stage.

However the one in front of him seemed more powerful than the rest at least.

“Footwork” Raven used this skill to quickly get closer to the player and then used 'Shield Bash' to knock him back. Further charging ensured that the opponent was pressured enough to not attack and only block.

“Spin Strike!” the player shouted spinning around and dealing a heavy blow as Raven blocked it. The force was enough to unbalance him for a second as the enemy went in to attack.

“Shield Parry” Raven simply said using his shield and timed his block so that the strike would be deflected away and finally stabbed his spear deeply into the body of the enemy killing him only after pushing through a few more times.

When he did the following message appeared in front of him showing his updated details to the tournament

Character Name: Raven

Group 1, Platform 7 winner

Current Round: To be set

“Victor of Platform 7 has been crowned!” the announcer said with the crowd giving a follow up cheer.

At the same time as this Raven heard a voice announcing that he had won in his platform, how he performed and instructed him to leave the platform. Raven did so silently not paying attention to the crowd as he left.

He moved to an area where the others were waiting.

“Good work” Sain said immediately when he appeared. Raven noticed that Sain looked a little bit nervous. He didn't say anything since he thought Sain would perform well enough on his own. The others aside from Shadow who was not there at the moment said the same words as all of them watched the the other players finished up.

xXx

Character Name: Sain

Group 3, Platform 2 Participant

Current Round: Preliminary Round

Moving onto the third group of players, it was Sain's turn to perform. Moving onto the platform he had quickly realised that being magic user was bad for two reasons. The first was that of the time used for chanting spells and the second was that all magic users were immediately targeted.

Magic was the most destructive power in the game and anyone who would let this power be used was a fool.

As such to not be targeted from then and on, it was better to not use magic this round...else he would be forced to fight everyone else on the platform at the same time. Standing on the platform on the edge would mean that it was likely that he would be knocked off.

Being knocked off the platform would mean that you would lose but at the same time killing another player was much easier so not many would do that.

'I have to make sure I win in the end no matter the cost!' he thought though he did not understand that he as strong as the rest of the nine players on the platform even without magic already. With Raven not discussing anything with the others, he did not know that Raven only lost a little over 10% of his health in his battle.

As Sain's defence was half of Raven's he could expect to lose around 20% or more health at the very least without a shield to use.

“Let this round begin!”

With these words every player on his platform including himself moved to fight. Unlike with Raven, no one particularly targeted him and as such Sain was able to take in a few hits on some of the enemies.

Generally not going fully aggressive and not fully running away as well. Sain left it for the other players to take each other first and help one side to victory with a small strike here and there. Without any skills invested into physical attacks and only spells to use from, Sain didn't have much of a choice.

He had seen how everyone ganged up on magic users even with the smallest spells used.

“Flame Strike!” one player who noticed that Sain wasn't really fighting much attacked him. At this point there were only were five more opponents left for Sain. And the other four were attacking each other as well.

Sain dodged the attack that was wrapped in flames noticing that the area of the attack was a bit larger than the sword strike itself. It took off some health from him even though he dodged it.

With his sword still on fire the opponent continued to attack Sain and only Sain. Sain tried blocking with his spear and attacking but this opponent was too aggressive at the very least. In the end he had to use magic.

“Mana Bolts!” he chanted firing off all of the attacks into the opponent that used flames.

Bang Bang Bang...!

Every last attack hit and some of them were even critical hits as well as the opponent hit with magic died from that one spell.

'Now I kinda get why they target magic users...most players are weak to magic' he thought as the other four opponents stopped what they were doing.

“Minor Heal...” he chanted quickly to restore some health before the other players started to move in to kill him.

“Magic User! Kill him!” one of them shouted.

“Annnd another magic user is being attacked by all of the other participants! So far none of the magic users have made it through these battles. Will this one be the same or will it be different?” the announcer said.

There were two sword users, one spear user and one shield user among the four opponents. Seeing that he was now going to be ganged up on four opponents at once, he decided it was best to buff himself a bit.

“Let strength gather and become the wind! Swift Legs!”

You have been buffed by the spell 'Swift Legs'

With his agility stat being boosted by 50 points at this point, Sain quickly ran away from the enemies.

“Wait! Stand and fight!” one of the enemies shouted.

“The contestant is running away! The other players are struggling to keep up with this magic user!” the announcer said excitingly causing the cheers from the audience to increase.

'Who would want to face four opponents at once? I'm a magic user and all of you are ganging up on me!'

Continuing to chant while running he used 'Mana Bolts' once more on each of them which caused them to back away for a while so he could use another spell.

“Paralyse Shot!” Sain chanted several hitting the players several times. Even though the spell was at Beginner Level 5, it only had a 14% chance of causing paralyse and the damage was really low. However some luck was with him as one of the players, one of the sword users was paralysed thanks to this.

Sain continued to firing 'Paralyse Shot' since he had a rather large mana pool compared to normal mages and also benefited from the fact that the chanting time of the spell was near zero.

After doing several loops with the rest of the players even splitting up to block both sides, Sain managed to paralyse another player, the one with the spear this time.

“You can't run now” said the shield user along with the other sword user as Sain was backed to the corner of the platform right now.

At this point, the user that was first paralysed would soon be relieved from that state and it would mean the end for Sain. However at this point thanks to the enemies wasting time and believing that Sain only had weak spells to use on them, he finished chanting this spell that he would otherwise never been able to use right now.

“Wolf Summoning!” he chanted summoning Luna.

[Master]

“Luna no time to talk, attack the one on the right” he ordered.

[Right!]

Having a large wolf being summoned was a shocker but it was another thing for that very same wolf to be large and powerful at the same time. The shield user was easily pushed back by Luna was only level 100 at best.

Running to the other player Sain started to take down the other enemy. He quickly stabbed three times in a row where the sword user could barely block one and then killed him. Looking to the right, Luna was on top of the shield user and killed him.

“Now only two left” Sain muttered looking at the last two. He at least wished to save some spells to be hidden for later so he and Luna went to kill them both together to lower the risk.

When he killed the last opponent, a certain window updated in front of Sain's eyes.

Character Name: Sain

Group 3, Platform 2 Winner

Current Round: To be set

“Victor of Platform 2 has been crowned!” the announcer said with the crowd cheering once again. Sain felt a slight tingling feeling from his chest hearing this roar of applause.

“Good” he said leaving the platform, “That wasn't so bad.” Luna followed behind quietly as Sain went to where the others were.

Seeing Luna with Sain, Serena went over and started patting Luna to which Luna did not reject. Meanwhile the others said some words of congratulations and then Miriel asked, “Why didn't you use magic from the start?”

Sain replied with, “Oh I wanted to see how far I could go without it for a bit. Better to hide the fact I could use it as long as possible. You've seen what happened when I and anyone else used it. Miriel, Serena, both of you need to be careful than they will be targeting you first.”

“I know” Miriel replied nodding. Serena did the same as well.

Next was Lyndis' comments on his performance.

“Yeah the rest of your opponents chased after you and you ran. We all saw that and it was quite an embarrassing performance” she said, “You looked completely ridiculous until the very end where they finished everyone else off quickly. Why didn't you do so immediately to attract less attention? The announcer was all over you.”

“Umm...” Sain couldn't say that he forgot he could do that without everyone else....therefore he made up an excuse on the spot.

“I wanted see how strong the other players were so I held back” he said with a laugh that no one believed.

'He forgot.'

'He forgot didn't he...'

The other four thoughts were quite in line with this.

xXx

Character Name: Miriel

Group 4, Platform 10 Participant

Current Round: Preliminary Round

It was Miriel's turn to fight now. Like the other two that came before her since they couldn't find Shadow at all anywhere...which was troubling at the very least, she went on the platform and there were many eyes on her for good reason.

'Bring it on' she thought seeing that it seemed that Sain warned about was truth. It was a completely different matter to experience it herself.

She needed to be a place that didn't result in her being attacked from all sides and therefore the best place was near the middle of the edge of the platform no matter how close it is to her being pushed off.

“Let group four start fighting!” the announcer shouted which caused all twelve platforms to start fight with all the noise.

'How troublesome...' she thought not minding that four players were coming at her at once. Seeing that she was a mage and yet at the edge made it easier for them to think they could take her out fast.

“Too bad” she said while taking out her whip and immediately used it to attack.

Snap!

A loud sound came from the four people at once.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!

Miriel used her whip to hit them several times with one hand while in the other hand used her staff to aim at once of the enemies.

“Ice Bolt” she chanted firing several ice projectiles into the body of one of the players. That player being pierced by ice turned grey and died.

“That's one down...” she muttered moving to the next target. However it seemed that the other player had noticed this and went to strike Miriel down at once.

“How sad for eight people to gang up on one girl” she said provoking them.

“Damn shut that damn bitch!”

“Kill her!”

“Don't let her cast magic!”

They all seemed to shout many things at once but Miriel wasn't paying attention. When several of them got near she immediately chanted, “Ice Burst!” firing off a shotgun like blast of ice which instantly killed three of the players.

BANG!

Shocked by this, the other players backed off for a split second but then continued on moving in since such a spell would need a long cast time and especially cool down.

Seeing this Miriel decided she needed some actual defence since Raven, Lyndis or anyone else wasn't here to take the hits for her.

“Ice Barrier!” she then chanted causing a physical barrier of ice to appear in front of her protecting her. She had moved to the corner of the platform and was trapped.

“Take that barrier down!”

“Double Impact!”

With the combine force of several players the 'Ice Barrier' she made was easily crushed and they went through. But at the same time the 3 second cool down for 'Ice Burst' had passed.

“Ice Burst!” she chanted for a second time.

BANG!

The blast once again took out several players at once. It was as such from a mage that had Intermediate Levels in both 'Magic Mastery' and 'Ice Magic Mastery'.

Usually only mages of around level 150 or higher could get to that point even when using ice magic all the time. With the very few players left to oppose her, she easily dispatched them using 'Ice Bolt' and using her whip when they got near.

Character Name: Miriel

Group 4, Platform 10 Winner

Current Round: To be set

“Victor of Platform 10 has been crowned!” the announcer said with the cheer that was getting onto her nerves at this point.

She walked with a slight smile to where the others were...unknown to the dark eyes that watched them.

xXx

At the same time as the tournament...

“Yo, it's been a while” Eden said with a happy go tone that completely did not go to his eyes and smile that looked like he wanted to torment and torture the person he was looking at.

“You again” said the King of Ghosts. Both of them were standing in open plains once again. However this time there were some form of life around them. They were slowly pushing east into the Western Continent.

“Prepare to die” he said simply to Eden.

This time he did not try to recruit Eden as it was clear he was an enemy. Next to the King was that swordsman that managed to cut down Eden and the other one that Eden did not confirm before.

“You ran last time before meeting me” the third one said. He was covered in a cloak but revealed himself now. It was a young man with blonde hair and golden eyes and looked no older than Eden himself...though aging wasn't an issue for him.

He had no weapon at hand but something felt off about him.

“And you are?” Eden asked with a smile. It was at this time Alexandra appeared and stood next to him. He could see her waving to the swordsman from before as well.

“I am the ruler of 72 Demons, King Solomon” he introduced himself to Eden and Alexandra with a slight bow. The two were a bit shocked since there was another legendary person here.

“Call of the Kingdom!” the King Arthur shouted calling onto his ghost knights. The unnamed swordsman also drew his black Katana and aimed at Eden and Alexandra.

“Before we start, who are you?” Eden pointed at the swordsman.

“....”

There was a brief silence as Alexandra who was also in battle that person said, “I didn't tell you?”

“....”

Eden glared at Alexandra for leaving this information out and then looked at the swordsman and asked, “And you are?” in a kind voice that was concealing the fact that Eden wanted to torture and rip off the limbs of this man.

Did he know how painful it was to have his wings cut off?

“I am Kyoshiro. Ghost God Mibu Kyoshiro” he said introducing himself to Eden. Eden looked at Kyoshiro with some interest as he was no ordinary person. Pushing Alexandra back so much with that thin long sword was something that only so few can boast about.

But more to the point that he called himself a God.

“Hmm.....a God but I can't feel any divinity from you at all....no it's better to call you a fake God then?” Eden wondered aloud. There was a self deprived smile on Kyoshiro's face.

“My clan was one created by Gods in their image. I am the last one as the others stopped functioning” he explained to Eden in a cold voice but then Eden noticed that there was blood on his Katana....and he was in a stance already.

“Shit!”

Eden knew it was too late but still leaped away and at the same time a giant wound appeared on his chest.

You have taken 153 516 damage

“Battle Aura!” Eden shouted as Alexandra used her 'Holy Aura' as well and charged into the three enemy.

“Come Demon of Lightning, Baal!” Solomon shouted summoning a giant demon that generated black lightning everywhere.

It was the size of a around half a giant and yet could kill a hundred of them with the power it holds.

At that moment against a swordsman that he couldn't see attacks from, a King of a ghost army and another King of Demons, Eden thought, 'I really have my work cut off for me' as he sighed.

Onwards?PreviousExitNext

Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 9100~

- Well the beginning of a new arch and the second half of the volume as well. I was thinking of what to write about and there were a few ideas but having one major event after another would be too...predictable. Therefore I made them enter a tournament since that seemed to be the only worthwhile idea that popped up in my head.

- Anyway I wrote more on Eden since he's actually doing something important and introducing the rest of the villains for the rest of this arc.