Chapter 136: Joshua Shocks the Crowd

It was getting close to Joshua's turn to go up to the scanner with only about ten or so people in front of him and he was thinking about what he wanted to display when it was his turn to go up. Joshua used the system to bring up his information to look through it a bit. He hadn't checked it out since before the prairie expedition so they had changed since the last time he had checked.

Level 84

Job – Aura User

Soul Beast – Fenrir

Stats (parenthesis number is the bonus stats from levels and Job) [Bracket numbers are skill modifiers]

Strength: 2370 (231) = 2601 x [1.3] = 3381.3

Vitality: 2370 (231) = 2601 x [1.3] = 3381.3 (7282.8 with aura hardening)

Dexterity: 2370(231) = 2601 x [1.3] = 3381.3

Intelligence: 2370 (231) = 2601 x [1.3] = 3381.3

Wisdom: 2370 (231) = 2601 x [1.3] = 3381.3

Will: 3850 (379) = 4229 x [1.3] = 5497.7

Luck 109 (0) = 111

Scanning through his information Joshua was happy with what he saw, but he immediately decided not to show his stats since it would give away some of the passive abilities from his soul beast and job. He even had his stats when in the aura hardening state displayed on his window which would tell everyone about one of his key abilities and how strong it actually is. That was something Joshua wanted to avoid at all cost. Joshua also decided not to show his job or soul beast as well. The soul beast was for obvious reasons, but his job was simply so that people couldn't try to read into his style of combat. They wouldn't be able to figure out much from the simple name of aura user, but it would still allow them to know he was an aura based combat role which could give away a few things.

In the end Joshua decided the only things he planned to show were his name, his guild, his position as guild leader, and his level. It would help bring even more attention to the Fenrir Guild and would put a lot of focus on him throughout the entire tournament which could only be a good thing since Joshua didn't plan on loosing. At some point he'd have to face some tough opponent and likely people from the Alliance that he had fought alongside if most of them advanced far into the tournament, so the more he and the rest of his group gained attention the better it would be for the alliance as a whole.

Now that he had decided on what he was going to do Joshua just waited for his turn to go. When it got to the point where there were only five people left ahead of him in his scanner line something silly happened. A man decided to display all of his stats when he went up there as some kind of joke or something. He was only level forty, but he was able to participate in the tournament because he had already participated in the battle arena several times before. The guy knew that he didn't stand a chance in the tournament with some of the people he had seen get scanned before so he was just having fun with it. The way he was acting by posing as if he was a body lifter or something got some chuckles out of the people that were watching.

After the little comedy skit two women that were both clearly mages just from how small their aura was in comparison to their mana went up and got scanned and while Joshua was looking forward to getting it over with the man standing next to him poked his shoulder to get his attention. Joshua turned the radio off from the system so that he could hear what he was saying as he turned around to look at the guy. They were both standing in separate lines for two different scanners, but because the lines were right next to each other is was easy for them to talk to each other if they wanted to.

The man seemed like your average explorer from Joshua's perspective after giving him a quick glance over. He was a little over six foot which meant he still had to crane his neck a bit to look up at Joshua, but he seemed to be in great shape so it was likely that he had a close combat job. He didn't have the body type of a mage or an archer, but at the same time he didn't carry himself like a martial artist which had already narrowed down what the man's specialty was in Joshua's mind. After Joshua closed his system down and gave the man a look to let him know that he was listening he was greeted with a big grin as the man pointed towards the scanners.

"Looks like our turns coming up next. How about we have a little bet between the two of us to see whose level is higher." The man said with a grin. He seemed extremely confidant in himself even when making such a foolish bet. Some people around them seemed to be listening in and Joshua could tell who was actually experienced explorers and who were the type that just tended to coast by depending on how they reacted to the man's words. Experienced explorers could tell that Joshua was on another level with just a glance. Even though Joshua wasn't exactly exuding his aura it was hard to miss how he carried himself and was always ready to react at any time even within the hub city. That was something you gained from spending so much time in dangerous situations.

"Are you sure? I don't mind but I don't think you will like the results." Joshua said with a shrug getting a few chuckles from the people waiting in line that were paying attention to the little interaction.

Before the man could be respond one of his apparent friends waiting in line with him elbowed him in the side and tried to get him to quit while he was ahead. Joshua could tell that this person knew who he was and was trying his best to keep his friend from looking like an idiot, but that didn't seem to be working out at all. "Alright how about a thousand system points to whoever has the higher level. A friendly little wager." The man said with a big smile, but the way he stumbled a bit while putting out his hand for a hand shake told Joshua that he was probably a bit drunk at the moment and wasn't in the right frame of mind.

"Sure, no harm in taking some easy money." Joshua said as he shook the man's hand. A thousand system points was basically groceries for a week so Joshua was happy with it since he wasn't taking the bet seriously in the first place. If the man wasn't drunk he would have realized that Joshua was out of his league in the first place. Everyone around could tell just by the fact that Joshua gave off a pressure that someone a tier above you would give off and that was if you were at least level seventy. If you were lower level than that then the pressure would be even more difficult to ignore. In the hub city this type of pressure was restrained for the most part, but the only place that allowed it to take form in the hub city was the battle arena.

"Why do you have to be so stupid sometimes?" The man's friend murmured under his breath, but he didn't seem to respond at all as he happily marched forward as the next person in front of him went up to the scanner. At this point Joshua was also the next person up to get scanned in his line, but he was a bit behind the man since someone decided to pose and wink at all the woman in the room after showing off their stats in his line. Joshua didn't understand why people made such fools of themselves especially when any one of those women could probably kick his ass judging by the looks of distain he was getting.

After a few seconds it was time for the drunken man to step up and get scanned. He stumbled a bit before walking up to the scanner with a grin on his face. The scanner got to work and soon enough most of his information was shown outside of his actual stats. Apparently he wasn't drunk enough to make the stupid decision of showing off everything when he planned on taking the tournament seriously. The man was level seventy-two which wasn't half bad but still nowhere near the level of Joshua. He was a high ranking member of a mid-sized guild that he was showing off for and apparently was one of the leading members along with the rest of his friends that had come to get registered with him. His name was Ben, but Joshua didn't really pay attention to it and he was a berserker which explained his bulkier build.

"Well how about that you overgrown pansy. I bet that'll show ya!" The man nearly shouted as he laughed afterwards and walked down from his scanner. It was clear that he was pleased with himself as the crowd seemed to cheer him on a bit at his foolish actions, but it seemed to all be with a bit of fun in mind. The man stood off to the side so he could see what Joshua's results would be.

Joshua just shook his head before stepping up to his scanner and letting it start the scanning process. The system immediately popped up a message that was asking him if he wanted to display his status and if so which parts of it did he want to keep hidden. Joshua quickly made it so that only his name, guild, guild ranking, and level would be displayed with everything else remaining hidden. Ten seconds later his status was displayed only for an uproar to happen in the crowded building as they all saw it. Joshua's level was at eighty-four which was the highest level that had been displayed up to this point and would likely remain that way since Joshua had caught up in level to Adrian and the others.

The fact that he was the guild leader of one of the big upcoming guilds also stood out as everyone continued to stare at his display until he stepped down and walked over to the two friends that were both looking at him in wonder. Even the drunk had enough sense left to be shocked by the scene as he kind of mindlessly opened his system and sent a message to Joshua that was trading him a thousand system points. Joshua accepted it and gave the man a pat on the shoulder before he was about to leave, but his friend seemed to have something to say.

"Do you think I could get an autograph?" Joshua stared at the man with a bit of bewilderment as he wondered if this was what it was like being a celebrity.