“And with that, our participants are allowed to take off from their preparation zones. But it seems none of them is too keen on leaving behind the safety of the outer parts of the arena.

You have to remember, this is very much unlike the one-versus-one challenges were making the first move and taking the initiative is king. In free-for-all, patience is the name of the game. The one to make the first move draws the attention of nine other bloodthirsty fighters. But don’t worry folks, once the equili… There he goes!

It seems the champion has already had enough of this! He activated his [Quick Steps] and almost immediately closed the gap towards Briss the [Chainwhirler]! What confidence! Does he think he can finish her off before the others reach them? But either way, it seems this will be a quick one! Everyone is are already on the move as Briss wrapped herself in her chains hoping to withstand Richard’s first onslaught.

But where are his remaining swords? If he wants to finish this quickly, then…

Ah! There they are! Do you see that? He uses them to stake off a small area around them. He is trying to isolate the [Chainwhirler] and himself from the remaining eight combatants! But is this really enough to force the one-vs-one?” The commentator apparently didn’t need to breathe and continued without pause.

“Well, for the moment, it almost looks that way! For the remaining fighters, it’s as if nothing has changed. There is just nothing they can do. They just keep circling each other; the occasional probing attack here and there, but that’s it.

I can only guess that no one wants to expose themselves while trying to breakthrough Richard’s sword minions, as I like to call them. Too high risk for too little gain.

That being said, his main focus still lies on Briss, who keeps on struggling, so just how much attention can he really put towards controlling these swords? Isn’t he underestimating his fellow challengers a bit too much? If only one of the mages would…

No!

[Stonefist]!

It is Brad the [Stonefist] who’s looking for the breakthrough. He’s charging forward! His small [Earth Shield] at the front to deflect the swords, and the large one on his back to defend against any opportunists who might want to take a stab at him.

And looks like he almost made it through! Only a few…

What...? What just...? First blood?”

For the first time since the beginning of the fight, it seemed, the commentator was at a loss for words. But only for short.

“First blood!” he finally confirmed.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is First blood! The first fighter is down! And down for good he is. Just out of nowhere, another five swords suddenly appeared.

Brad basically impaled himself!

The first responders are already moving, but I doubt there is much they can do for him.

Just how much did the champion improve his control since last time!? This truly is unexpected and will serve as a warning for the other!

And just look at them. Look at the remaining fighters. Look how sloppy their exchanges have become! They still can’t believe their eyes!

All but Briss, that is. She has no time to worry about anything else, as… AS SHE GOES DOWN AS WELL! And what a mess.

Barely a minute in, and already down to eight.” Jake’s voice cracked. The crowd went wild.

“And now his blades are on the prowl again! Searching for their next potential victim to isolate! So very much unlike his last couple of performances! It seems like Richard wants to end this quickly, not even pausing to regenerate some of that [Energy] he just expended. But no luck this time!

The remaining competitors have finally remembered this ain’t one of the duelist events;

these people don’t excel at single combat.

As if reading each other’s minds, the melee fighters all rush towards Richard before his blades can reach them. Haha, soon this will turn into the slugfest we all have been waiting for!”

…

“You managed to defend your title yet again. And what an exciting fight that was! Congratulations!” The star-struck woman could barely hide her excitement.

“Thanks.”

“But say. It appears your fighting style has seen a drastic change since the last time we saw you fight. Previously, your swords almost resembled a second armor; always close to you and ready to deflect any incoming hits.

But this time, it was almost the complete opposite! This time, you sent them out to actively fight your opponents. So fierce!

And then, of course, your more frequent use of your active abilities.

What happened? What caused these changes? “

“Well. I get that from the outside it must look as if my style has changed. But in reality, that is not really the case. It might have evolved, true, but the fundamental philosophy is still the same; don’t let anyone touch me. And to that extend preventing anyone from getting close to me is simply just the most effective method. Wouldn’t you agree? It’s just that previously I didn’t have the... means… to achieve this feat.”

As his previous curt answer has indicated, Richard wasn’t usually known to give any extensive answers. The interviewer could hardly believe her luck, even if he didn’t directly answer her question. She immediately pressed.

“But now you haven gotten ahold of these means, as you call it? Care to explain more?

“I’m glad you asked.” Richard seemed to have expected her follow-up question, and yet to the trained eye it was obvious he wasn’t really all that glad at all.

In fact, the [Sword Dancer’s] hesitation was rather un-champion-like. Only with reluctance did he continue.

“It is all thanks to my new sponsor,” Richard said, turned to the green-clad mage, who was observing the exchange from the side, and suddenly all but shoved one of his many patches with the initials S.E. in the man’s face.

“Severin’s Emporium.

Be it the temporary weapon enchants known as weapon oils or the stat increasing elixirs-only their exclusive products allowed me to perform like I did today.

So if you too want to fight like a champion, go and come visit Severin’s Emporium.

But where can I find this Emporium you might ask?” he paused. Whether for effect or out of embarrassment was unclear, but if it wasn’t for his scales, his face would have been bright red by now.

When he continued, a sheet of paper, or more precisely a map, had appeared in his hand.

In its center was a single floating mountain, marked with a red blinking circle enchanted onto the parchment and accompanied by the words Severin’s Emporium.

Despite its location on the comparatively overlooked eastern side of the Golden Mountains, since the map section was still large enough to include some of the more well-known landmarks, even a lot of the present non-classbearers could tell the general location.

Dutiful as well as grateful for every second the camera wasn’t turned on him, Richard kept pushing the map in the mage’s face, ensuring everyone could get a good look at it.

But in the end, the attention did turn back to him.

Not to mention a red face, by now Richard’s whole body had already lost all of its color. This wasn’t over yet.

“As for your other point,” Richard said, as if addressing the dumbstruck interviewer, but instead looked directly into the distressed mage’s eyes.

“The reason I could use more abilities than usual are Severin’s groundbreaking potions. Like this Resource Potion.”

He put on a grimace of smile-his mouth unnaturally wide open.

Then a small, purplish colored cube appeared between his teeth.

The [Slaughter King] forced himself to a wink and swallowed the jelly whole.

“Well. That certainly was something,” Samuel remarked to a smug Severin.