The Author's POV

I am not outstanding

If we exclude the fact that I practiced a five-star manual, nothing about me was outstanding.

Not my stats

Not my physique

Not my skills

Compared to Kevin who had a system aiding him all the times, or the other main characters who had every resource they could ask for, I had nothing.

...I wasn't blessed by the 'plot armour' like the protagonists were

Everything I got was through shedding blood sweat and tears. I gained everything that I got by either putting my life on the line to get it or by sacrificing something important.

I had to make due with what I had.

When facing an opponent like Alex who had a lot more combat experience than I had, and moreover set a handicap to myself, I had to fight using everything that I had available at my disposal.

Thus I chose to fight a mental battle.

Since I knew that despite being weaker than me, Alex had more experience than me, I chose to beat him mentally.

Everything started with our first clash. Right when I broke his nose using the scabbard of my sword.

That's when the mental beatdown started...

By winning the very first clash, I had already started setting the tone of the battle.

The confidence he had since the beginning of the fight had now diminished, and what replaced it was both shock and anger.

It was always pride.

Having read many novels with arrogant young masters, I knew that for prideful individuals like him, just a small loss was enough to influence their actions.

...and I was right.

From that point on his attacks started becoming more predictable and his emotions started to influence his decisions.

I than preceded to block his every attack.

With every thrust or stab of his spear, one of my rings would continuously block his every attack.

The more he attacked the more he realised he couldn't do anything. He was helpless...

Once again, his confidence took another hit and self doubt started to set into his mind.

Frustration, annoyance, rage, impatience

As those emotions started to set into his mind, with every minute the fight continued, he became sloppier.

His weak mentality led to his loss.

The opening I created with my rings could've easily been spotted if he had thought about it carefully.

With him being someone who had fought many battles before, he should've easily spotted it.

However, because of how unstable his mental state was, he ignored that scenario and went for the win.

He fell for such an obvious trap and I capitalised on it.

Staring at Alex who was on the ground passed out, beneath my feet, a strange feeling surged from within me.

'So this is how it feels to win, huh?'

I wasn't outstanding

I didn't need to be outstanding.

I didn't need the plot armour to constantly follow me.

I didn't need to take all the cheat items for myself.

...All I needed to do was polish what I had, and make due with it.

-Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Engulfing the entire arena, boisterous cheers from the crowd resounded throughout the whole stadium.

"Fuuuuuu..."

Taking a deep breath, I basked in the moment.

'I don't dislike this feeling'

Entering the stage, the host looked at Alex who was passed out on the floor for a couple of seconds before looking at the crowd and announcing.

—...and the winner of the duel is Ren Dover!

-Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Once again, cheers resounded across the stadium as everyone started chanting my name

"Ren"

"Ren"

"Ren"

Under the barrage of cheers, I looked in the distance and saw my parents cheering with the crowd. Even my father, who was usually stoic, was cheering alongside everyone.

—Despite all odds, after having fought for 5:46 minutes, Ren Dover managed to defeat Alex Cloudburm. A renowned <B> ranked prospect brought by our very own Vice-guild master!

As the cameras pointed towards the stands and Martin's face was shown on the big screens of the arena, everyone saw Martin expresionesly staring at the arena. No one knew his thoughts.

He looked completely indifferent to everything. Almost as if what had happened had nothing to do with him.

Pointing the cameras back to me, the host continued

—Using some unknown technique, Ren created an impenetrable defence that created massive headaches for his opponent Alex. And through...

As the host continued speaking and replayed highlights of the match on the big screens, I left the arena and headed back towards the changing room.

Just as I set foot outside of the arena, my mother appeared on the pathway to the changing room

"Ren!"

Running in my direction, my mother lunged in my direction and hugged me tightly. Because she was running so fast, the moment she hugged me, it felt as if all the air had been knocked out of me and I took two steps back.

"okhhh..."

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Releasing me from her hug, my mother patted my body all over to check for any injuries.

To be honest, her hug hurt more than whatever Alex did throughout the whole fight.

"I'm fine"

Bitterly smiling, I flexed my arms and reassured her I was fine.

"That's good..."

Sighing in relief, my mother looked at me curiously before asking

"Ren, when did you get so strong?"

Listening to her question, my mouth twitched.

I couldn't just tell her that this world was based on a novel I created and that I took advantage of my knowledge as the author to take a couple of cheat items.

Fortunately, I had already come up with a good excuse beforehand.

"Mom did you forget what kind of place I attend?"

Frowning, my mother fell into deep through.

"I know that the Lock is the best academy in the human domain, but you suddenly went from G rank to F rank in less than 3 months! That's not something that can be achieved in such little time!"

What she said makes sense.

It usually took people half to a whole year to increase a rank. Me suddenly jumping a rank in as little as three months seems unnatural.

"Where's Nola?"

In the end, I could only pretend to be ignorant about her question and shift the topic towards a different topic.

"She's with you father in the stands"

Noticing the fact that I was avoiding the question, my mother played along with it. To which I was grateful.

Maybe one day I'll come clean and explain to her about what I went through to get as strong as I was now. But it still wasn't the time yet. Especially with everything that was going on with the guild.

I wouldn't want them to start worrying.

Maybe one day...

...

Ashton city, Northern district, 5:00 P.M.

Inside of a luxurious room, two individuals sat facing each other. Sitting on one of the sofas, Martin with his head held down, recounted the events of today.

"...and that's what happened"

After he finished speaking, Martin shut up. He didn't dare utter another word. This wasn't out of choice. it was out of the innate fear he had towards the man that was sitting before him.

"So Alex failed, huh"

Lightly smiling, an old man with light gray hair and light gray goat tee tapped on the arm rest of his chair.

-Tap! -Tap! -Tap!

With every tap of his fingers, Martin felt as if his heart was beating along with it. Cold sweat appeared on his back.

Knowing who the man before him was, he wouldn't be surprised if he was suddenly discarded and left for dead somewhere in Ashton city.

'No, I've already come this far, I can't fail here!'

Clenching his teeth, Martin lowered his head and tried to apologise.

However, before he could do that, glancing in Martin's direction, the old man's deep voice echoed across the room.

"Don't worry I'm not mad, it was something that even I didn't expect "

Sighing in relief, Martin raised his head and tried to thank the old man

"Thank you—khauuuu!"

—Spurt!

However, as soon as Martin raised his head a dagger pierced him in the right eye. Screaming in agony, Martin covered his eye with his hand as blood dripped on the ground.

"Kuuuaaah"

"Shut up"

Glaring in Martin's direction, an enormous pressure bore down on him causing him to shut up immediately.

"I've already forgiven you, if you continue screaming it won't just end at one eye..."

Wiping his hand with a white handkerchief, the old man spoke to which Martin nodded his head in understanding.

"Than-kh you for your generosity"

Satisfied, the old man sat back on his chair

"So, you're saying that the name of the kid who beat Alex was Ren?"

Hurriedly nodding his head, Martin answered

"Yes..."

"Ren Dover, Ren Dover..."

Repeating the name of the kid who beat Alex a couple of times, the old man thought for a while before turning his attention towards a middle-aged man standing at the entrance of the room.

"...Hmmm Tim, call Matthew here"

"As you wish master"

Politely nodding his head, the middle-aged man named Tim quietly left the room.

-Knock -Knock

Soon after, moments after Tim disappeared, someone knocked on the door.

"Father, did you call me?"

Slightly opening the door, a youth wearing a greyish-black suit entered the room. He appeared to be in his late teens or so. His face was handsome with a pair of unusually bright eyes that seemed to be able to see through one's heart.

The first impression that this youth gave was that he was a refined individual with a bright head on his shoulders. If this youth held a book in his hand, he would likely appear no different from a scholar.

Staring at the youth before him with keen interest, a hint of pride appeared in the old man's voice as he asked

"Yes, do you by chance know a kid around your age called Ren Dover?"

Taken aback by the question, the youth looked at the old man in confusion

"Ren Dover?"

"Yes, that's his name"

Smiling widely, Matthew nodded

"But of course, we were best friends in middle school."