Dong—! Dong—!

As time passed and the arena grounds began to fill, a loud toll spread throughout the whole surroundings.

Once the bell tolled, all chattering stopped and everyone raised their head.

Standing in the middle of the platform was an enchanting elven figure with silver hair. From the color of her hair, it was clear that she was of pure elven blood.

"There are many of you here, and all of you already know what this tournament is about and what it represents; therefore, I'll make this quick.

"

The sound of her voice was crisp and pleasant to the ears as it smoothly lingered in the air like the note of a fine-tuned instrument.

"For the preliminaries, contestants will be paired with a random opponent until the top 128 participants are selected. The real tournament will begin once the top 128 contestants are selected.

"

Pausing for a brief moment of time so that everyone in the square understood her words, the elf continued.

"...For the preliminaries, the opponents will be decided randomly. Each and every one of you has already been assigned a number, and when you're called up it will be your turn. It's that simple.

"

Lowering their heads, the contestants stared at the bracelet that was resting on their wrists. On it was their alias and number.

"That will be all.

"

The elven presenter wasn't a woman of many words. Once she said what she wanted to say, she directly left.

Once her figure disappeared from the arena grounds, the place instantly became bustling as an air of excitement and anticipation shrouded the surroundings.

The upper echelon of the four races was gathered on a viewing platform near the square. Amongst them, seated at its very center was the elven queen.

Seated on her right was Gervis, the dwarven Metropoliskeeper.

Keen interest flashed across his eyes as he swept his gaze throughout the grounds.

"Not going to lie, I'm actually quite curious about the upcoming battles.

"

"Khhrrr..

"

Next to him was a towering figure that emanated a terrifying pressure that could cause anyone below rank to quake in their boots.

He was Brutus, the orcen leader and one of the most powerful beings on earth.

Brutus's face was wide and he had deep green eyes, making him look thoughtful. His face was expressionless as he stared at the orcen resting area. Whenever he took a breath, the air around him trembled.

"Khrrr...Khrr...

"

Lastly, seated on the left of the elven queen was Octavious Hall.

The strongest human.

Amongst everyone present, he was by far the weakest. Despite his strength being at the pinnacle of the human domain, with a simple gaze, everyone could tell that there was a strength difference between the three representatives and him.

Everyone regardless of rank could sense the gap.

Not minding the stares, Octavious expressionlessly stared at the human side. His dull eyes never once rippled despite being in the presence of such big shots.

He may have not been the strongest, but the way he carried himself left a good impression on the three other representatives.

It was then that the elven queen finally opened her mouth.

"Should we initiate the tournament?

"

Her airy yet faint voice easily traveled through the ears of each individual present.

"Indeed we shall.

"

Gervis replied while stroking his beard. Next to him Brutus silently nodded his head.

"Khrrr..

"

"…yes.

"

The last to reply was Octavious. His voice contained heavy hints of solemness as his eyes were currently locked on a black-haired male with crimson red eyes in the stands.

The male was none other than, Kevin Voss.

Although he didn't say anything, it was clear that Octavious had some expectations regarding the individual over there.

Sensing the solemness behind Octavious's voice, the other representatives remained expressionless.

They understood very well what this contest meant to him, and even for them in some sense.

"Very well then.

"

Standing up, the elven queen waved her hand at once.

Bang— Bang—

Following her movement, loud explosions rang in the air, signaling the start of the preliminaries.

***

Overhearing the loud explosions in the air that marked the beginning of the tournament, I focused my attention on the arena grounds where the referees had already ascended.

They stood there motionless, waiting for everyone to stop speaking.

Once silence finally descended, the referees finally called up the first few contestants.

"Number 021, Dugream Broadgut vs Number 696, Ostinach

"

"...

"

"...

"

"Number 1876, Arnold Kane vs Number 984, Korak

"

"Number 271, Han Yufei vs Number 535, Eslan.

"

Among the names called up, two, in particular, attracted my attention, and that was because I knew who the two individuals were. Of course, I knew them. They were people whom I had gone to the academy with.

The first one to leap onto the stage was Arnold.

Compared to when I last saw him, he looked to have put on even more muscle as his towering figure stood out from the other humans.

What was mind-boggling about his transformation was the fact that his physique almost rivaled that of his opponent, Korok, an orc.

On the other hand, calmly walking up the stage was Han Yufei. With a calm and composed look on his face, he briefly analyzed his opponent, an elven male with pure golden air. An air of indifference spread from his body.

The atmosphere of the entire place suddenly began to boil as everyone focused their attention on one of the platforms.

Watching the scene from afar, I crossed my arms with a solemn look. Next to me were Kevin and the others.

"Who do you think is going to win?

"

Kevin asked. Compared to when I first saw him he looked to be in a much better mood as his eyes cleared up a little.

Stroking my chin, I replied.

"Arnold and Han Yufei should have no problem winning their current matches. They got lucky with their picks.

"

Han Yufei and Arnold were the creams of the crop of the human domain while their opponents weren't. And my words proved to be correct as their matches did not last for long.

Han Yufei's match lasted for only two minutes while Arnold's lasted for five minutes. It sounded like a lot, but by the time their fight ended, the other matches were still in progress not even close to their climax.

The way they quickly disposed of their opponents instantly gathered the stares and attention of the many participant and spectators. With solemn and composed looks, they both calmly walked back to their places.

As time passed, the matches on the platforms quickly came to a close. Members from each race were eliminated at once, be it orc, elf, or dwarf, none were spared as they were all eliminated.

However, it became clear to everyone present that among the contestants the ones that were being eliminated the most were the members coming from the human side.

It had gotten to the point where whenever a human got paired up with a member from another race, they would show excitement on their face. Clearly rejoining at the fact that they got an 'easy pick.'

"Number 2543, Caeruleum vs Number 369, Estiandor

"

Amidst the fierce fighting, my name, or to be more precise alias was finally called up.

Massaging my neck, I stood up.

"Guess it's my turn.

"

As I stood up, Kevin and the others wished me luck.

"Good luck.

"

Smiling at them, I headed down towards the platforms. Arriving at the platform, tensing my muscles, I jumped up.

Thud—!

Softly landing on the platform, I looked to my front where my opponent stood. He was an elven male and he had a calm and composed look on his face.

Despite the fact that he wasn't speaking, I could tell with just one look that he was looking down on me. The indifference in his eyes as he looked at me was clear for me to see.

Not minding it, staring at my opponent, I thought, 'Should I go hard or easy on him?'

I could tell from a glance that my opponent was weaker than me.

The aura that spread from his body was that of a rank, a whole rank below me.

As such, I wasn't worried about losing one bit.

That aside, If I went hard right now I would leave a powerful impression on my opponents and perhaps gain the 'fear' factor, but that would also put a lot of attention on myself.

Was gaining attention really worth it? Mhhh, actually, I didn't really care about the attention.

'…I'll see how things go.'

It wasn't so much for the fact that I didn't want others to pay attention to me, but it was because I didn't want to reveal all of my cards just yet, a.k.a. the Keiki style.

In a way, I wanted to gain the attention of the Union. I had a little surprise for them in-store.

My lips twisted upwards as I thought about the future.

Just as I had made up my mind on how to approach the situation, the referee suddenly cried out.

"Begin.

"

The moment the referee's voice rang, my opponent's eyes changed.

Following this, raising his hand in a lightning-fast manner, two complex magic circles materialized before him. From where I was I could see that he was not holding back at all as the mana in the atmosphere vividly converged towards the magic circles.

Within a couple of seconds, the magic circles fully lit up. Raising his head, Estiandor, my opponent muttered before releasing the attack.

"Get out of the stage.

"

TWIIING—!

Like a tsunami, a powerful wave of mana quickly headed in my direction at a frightening speed. A complicated look appeared on my face as I stared at the attack.

'Now, how should I dodge this without giving away too much?'

This really was a troublesome problem. Fortunately, it didn't take me too long to figure out the solution to this problem.

Extending my hand, I took out three blue cards from my dimensional space. I then proceeded to channel my mana into them.

Stomping my foot on the ground to gain some distance, I flicked the cards forwards.

SHIIIING—! SHIIIING—!

The moment the cards left my hand, to the shock of everyone present, three towering ice pillars rose from the ground. Not a second after the pillars came into contact with the attack, a terrifying explosion rang throughout the square.

BOOOOM—!

Broken ice fell everywhere and a mist suddenly engulfed the entire stage. Taking advantage of this moment, lightly pressing my foot onto the ground, my body shot in the direction of where I had last seen my opponent.

Raising my fist, mana started to converge towards it. It wasn't long before my fist was fully coated in mana.

Bang—!

Arriving before my opponent, pressing my foot on the ground, cracks formed underneath the sole of my foot as I swung my fist above my head.

Thump—!

A muffled sound was heard as my fist connected with my opponent's face. As my fist connected with his face, I made sure to keep my strength in check and only hit him with one-quarter of my true strength.

"Uekh!

"

But, despite holding back, the force of my fist still caused the elf significant damage as he took three steps back. Raising my left hand, I channeled my mana towards another magic card and quickly flung it in my opponent's direction.

FUAAAA—!

A powerful flame suddenly sprang out from the card, engulfing my opponent. Just as the flame was about to engulf my opponent entirely, a fierce wind blew and the flame disappeared.

"Number 2543, Caeruleum.

"

What followed after was the sound of the referee's vice announcing my victory.

The moment the referee announced my victory, I felt countless eyes direct their attention towards me, or to be more precise, towards the cards in my hands.

Lifting my head, my eyes soon met with Melissa's in the distance. An idea suddenly struck me as a smirk emerged on my face. Noticing my smirk, Melissa's face changed.

'I'm sorry,'

I softly mouthed.

If there was a chance to publicize the cards, then what better place than now? Since her father knew and the product was ready, there was no longer any need to keep it a secret.

Raising my hand and staring at everyone present, I pointed it in her direction.

"If you want to know more about these, you can ask her. She made them.

"