The Ancients World

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~~~(POV: Marcus Adamo)~~~ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ _Fire

~~~(Location: The City Of Jaerey, The Kingdom Of Laasir, The Islands Of Haestar)~~~

~~~(Time: 10:03 AM)~~~

The first match is about to start, and two Players from different guilds step forward. One of the Players is from The Steel Legion, and the other is from Flaming Skull. Hailey and Rianna are on either side of me, and they're both engrossed in the upcoming fight.

I'm not as excited as they are, but I'm still looking forward to the fight. We've learned that the system will send us a message two matches before our own that we must prepare before our own matches. Apparently, General Daenal Roane has organized a System Event.

System Events are a special way for a large number of Players to compete or participate in activities. The system handles the entire event making it go as fast as possible. That way, there won't be any logistical errors.

What's making this fun for everyone watching is not just the fights we get to watch, but we can also bet on winners, time it takes for the match to end, and other things through the system.

"C'MON!! I'VE GOT 4,000 GOLD ON YOU, STEEL LEGION!!"

"WOOOOO!! LET'S GOOOO!! FLAMING SKULL IS GOING TO MAKE ME A SHIT TON OF GOLD!!!"

"DON'T MAKE THE MATCH LAST LONGER THAN 2 MINUTES!! I'VE GOT 2,000 GOLD RIDING ON THIS!!!"

There are rabid Players and gambling addicts shouting from every part of the Arena. Either trying to support the Player they just bet on or discourage the Player they're betting against.

I can't help rolling my eyes a little. It could be that I'm just young and don't see the fun in betting, but I don't think it's something that's worth time and money unless you're good at it. Hoping on luck when you're betting is a sure way to lose everything.

Dad has told me so many sad stories about his factory buddies... They'd take their paychecks straight to the casinos and lose it all... They were hoping to win big and get out of poverty, but that's making my point.

Luckily, Dad never did things like that. Sure, we struggled with money. So bad that we almost lost everything, but Dad did his best to provide for us. You can't ask more from a man.

"Who do you think is going to win?"

Rianna is asking this question to my sister. I'm stuck between them, which means I'll be forced to listen to whatever they decide to talk about.

"The Steel Legion is winning most of its match-ups. Their gear is some of the best you can get grafted. They have a Legendary Smith and a Legendary Scout in their guild. That allows them to craft some of the best things you can think of."

Yes, The Steel Legion has a definite Armor, weapons, and gear advantage over everyone. But I hear their Players aren't good at PVP at all, and that's going to cost them. After all, this is a leveled-out combat PVP tryout.

That means any advantages you get from levels, tiers, and mana aura are disabled. All that leaves is skills and personal talent. While Hailey and I have yet to get our Mana Aura's, that doesn't mean we're not strong without them.

In fact, many Players don't have their Mana Aura yet. Less than 1 percent of Players do, and none of them are here. I know Cera has a Mana Aura, but he's the only one I know.

"I hope the average match length doesn't take longer than 5 minutes, or these tryouts will take longer than 3 days..."

Rianna didn't read the system notification closely enough. The system is ensuring the matches don't go longer than 5 minutes. It'll determine the winner by that time by who has dealt the most damage to their opponent.

"It's about to start."

Hailey shushes Rianna, and everyone watches as the countdown to the first match slowly goes down from 10.

9...

8...

There is a shift in the air within the Arena, and Players everywhere start to quiet down. Everyone's focus is on the Players about to do battle. I can see their names shown below the timer, but I'm not going to bother saying such stupid names.

7...

6...

5...

Each Player in the Arena has a visible change in their mood and stance. Slowly drawing their weapons in preparation for the first clash.

4...

3...

2...

Neither of them is looking nervous or worried. I look more closely at their Player information, and they both have Epic Grade Classes. Meaning this fight is going to be a close one. The levels, tiers, and mana aura are disabled.

Leveled-out combat is definitely the fairest way to fight another Player, and I guess that's why General Daenal Roane decided to do this for the tryouts.

1...

0...

As the timer hits 0, both Players lunge at each other with great speed and power. Clashing their weapons together. The Steel Legion member goes for a quick finish with a Skill. But The Flaming Skull member is proving to be more than capable of dodging.

I'm convinced that most of the matches will go on for about 3 to 4 minutes if Players are going to be fighting each other like this.

After the first minute, each Player has done some decent damage to the other. No Player has a distinct advantage yet. It's going to come down to who's better in the end.

I can see The Flaming Skull Player has just a bit more experience and skill in terms of PVP fighting, but not by much.

"This fight is ending soon."

Hailey surprises me with her observation. I don't see what she sees. I think this match is close. A few seconds after I think that, I watch The Flaming Skull member leap forward and, after a couple of steps, blows up.

"YEAAAAAH!!! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!! GIVE ME MY MONEY!!"

"NOOOOO!! STUPID FUCKING STEEL LEGION!!! FUCKING CHEATERS WITH ALL THAT GREAT GEAR!!!"

"I'VE JUST DOUBLED MY LIFETIME GOLD COUNT!!"

There are cheers all around the Arena, and I'm confused. I thought the match would be closer than that.

"What happened?"

Hailey smiles as she turns to me.

"When they were moving around the Arena during their fight, The Steel Legion member was placing magical traps around the place. They're pretty hard to spot, but if you use Inspect, you can see them."

Before I can check, the PVP ends, and all traps or damage to the Arena is repaired and removed. I sigh and start thinking about The Steel Legion. If that's a Class Skill, then I suppose there is nothing you can do.

But if that's something their gear and armor is capable of doing, a lot of The Steel Legion will be making it into The Ruins Of Tasdir.

"Do you think this is what Wilted Rose wanted to talk to you about? Ganging up on The Steel Legion?"

Rianna brings up a great point. If this is what Wilted Rose wanted to talk to Hailey and me about, it would've been wiser to agree to something. Since it's leveled-out combat, that means those types of traps will be devastating.

The good news for me is I'll only be fighting other magic Classes. It's the way the system is handling the event. Magic castors against magic castors, and physical Players against physical Players. If your class can do both, then you know what that means.

You're only going to face Players that can do both.

This works; while it's not perfectly balanced, it's how the system is handling it.

"I'm betting Wilted Rose has already made a deal with other Guilds to gang up on The Steel Legion, and The Steel Legion isn't our biggest concern."

Now I'm confused again. Yeah, I'm smart. But that doesn't mean I know and see everything. Time to ask more questions. As much as it'll annoy my sister.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Below this line, I'll be keeping Cera's player information. That way, I won't have to place it into the story above anymore. It takes about 180 words up.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.237][Tier-4]

[Exp: 72/100%]

[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden)]

[Stats] [Strength - 7095][Endurance - 7045][Dexterity - 7215][Speed - 8240][Focus - 19,660]

[Mana aura control: 6/100%]

[Health: 76,560,000,000/76,560,000,000] [Mana: 216,600,000,000/216,600,000,000]

[Stat Points: 440] [Armor rating: 500]

[Inventory] [Dice of Wayland (Divine)] [The Witness (Legendary Sword)] [Fenrir's Whistle (Divine)] [Camping gear] [Fishing poles 2x] [Festival Garbs 2x] [4x EXP Boosts] [Princess Saliandra's Panties (Black Lace)] [Desert Warrior Nomad Set (Rare)]

[Passive Perks]

[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver] [An Overachiever]

[Active Skills]

[Heaven's light Lvl.74 325/7400] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.74 225/7400] [Slash Lvl.92 4600/21000] [Parry Lvl.68 85/6800] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A] [Winged Glory] [Angelic Flight] [Divine Pressure Exertion] [Divinity Pulse] [Controlled Fun] [Aspect of Transportation (Legendary)]