Chapter 222 - Round One (3)
Janine and Susan could only look at each other after what Kingsley told them. The man was the ninth strongest Adventurer in the entire in the kingdom. And when he said that those three had faster reaction time than him, it was saying something.
"Or maybe equal," Kingsley immediately took his words back. "Yeah. It could be equal."
Their other guild members could only feel worried about what's going to happen next. In the Adventurers, one's reaction time says a lot about them.
How they perceive energy and magic is equal to how much one's own power is. The higher an Adventurers power is, the more they're sensitive to mana around them.
And with Kingsley's experiment, he had known that the Azure Scorch Guild members he saw just a few days ago weren't the members now. In such a short amount of time, they have increased their power by almost half.
"Keep an eye on them," Kingsley said with a wide smile. "They're probably going to be in the final round."
"But they're the current Top 100 guild," one of his teammates scoffed. "Do we have to?"
Kingsley chuckled and turned to him, "Stealth Knights rely on speed and damage output, sacrificing their defense and HP for it. Tanks are the complete opposite."
The larger man walked over to his teammate, "And right now, even their main tank could beat you."
This took Janine by surprise. She had been working with Kingsley for a long time and she had never seen him admit that someone else was powerful. Yet, the man she saw now complimented the entire enemy's team.
Looking closely at Kinglsey's hand, Janine had to stop her gasp when he saw his hand shake. A thought was running through her mind as she looked up and down on Kingsley.
He's scared.
–
"They ceased attacking," Midnight said. "That consumed a lot of time. Come on."
With one last look at Kinglsey who was still waving his arm at them, the trio leaped to the first island.
"Why isn't Galaxia with them?" Elliot asked. "Was he banned too?"
"Yeah," Midnight said. "Lucky for us, Galaxia was banned along with Jester and a lot of others in the top ten. If they were here, it'll be harder for us to continue."
They were immediately greeted with a series of attacks. George had to use his skill and absorb the attacks, grinning when they could not even dent his HP.
"We come in peace!" Elliot yelled and leaped to the other island.
It had just dawned them how many things have been going on on the higher end of the arena. There were different elements blasting to one another there. A lot of light, spheres, beams and all the attacks they could think off.
The strongest teams stayed at the bottom, not bothering to go up and try to strategize since they can easily counter their enemies. The weaker the team is, the higher they would climb.
But not for their team. They needed to play safe even when they could fight against other teams. There were a lot at risk here and one mistake could ruin everything.
"Morph!" They heard a woman say when they got to their fourth island. "Winged Archer!"
Her body morphed into a humanoid bird. Her legs became talons and her nose and mouth formed a beak. A pair of wings also grew from her back, lifting herself up and pointing her bow at them.
"We come in peace!" Elliot yelled raised his hand. He looked to see another island they could hop on to, seeing it he was about to leap when the woman shot him with an arrow.
No one saw his hand trail to the handle of his sword, brandishing it and blocking the incoming arrow. He turned to the woman and chuckled.
"I told you we come in peace," Elliot said. "But since you want this, I think it's time to test my attack then. Hasty Aspire!"
Elliot vanished from the woman's vision. Her allies behind her gasped when the boy appeared behind her, using the handle of his sword to hack the woman in the back.
"Good night."
The woman's morphed form was deactivated, her body falling into the ground in unconsciousness.
This was an attack Elliot invented. It consisted of Hasty Aspire and a blast of power through his enemy's back, knocking them out.
"Anyone else wants to fight?" Elliot glared at her allies. They all dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender. Elliot nodded, "Thought so."
"Elliot, let's go!" Midnight said. George was already on the next island and Midnight just leaped to it. Their travels finally got smoother, leaping from one island to the other. They even saw their friends going there, only a few more islands from their target.
"Almost there!" Midnight yelled.
A few more leaps and Elliot was the first one on the island. He was giggling when he saw that no one else was there too. Just like what the quest said.
'Kid,' the voice spoke. 'You were tricked.'
"It seems like we have a Contender!" Irv said. "The top island is called the Boss Island. The guild members will have to defeat the occupant of that island to stay."
"What? Occupant?" Midnight gasped. "Elliot, what does this mean?"
"Are you kidding me?!" Elliot wanted to scream the words out. It seemed like The Manual wanted to entertain itself after all.
'Quest [ The Highest ] completed.'
'New quest [ The Highest (2) ] available.'
[ The Highest (2)
Reward: Twilight Brew
// In the highest island lies a formidable opponent. Defeat the opponent. ]
'I'm sorry kid,' the voice said.
"What's your name?" Elliot asked the voice.
"Midnight. You already know that," Midnight answered. Their teammates had gotten on the island now, waiting for the Boss to spawn.
'My name is Irus,' the voice replied.
Elliot looked around and decided to whisper, "Okay, Irus. Help me defeat this beast."
The island they got on shook, it looked like it was about to fall to the ground by the intensity of its shaking. When the shaking stopped, vines started to grow from the ground. The vines formed a large beast that looked like a golem.
'From now on, I'll always lend you my strength,' Irus said. 'But it won't be free.'
"I don't care," Elliot said. "I'll always pay.. Just lend me your power."