THE SKILL BUSTER

Aildrin's eyebrows furrowed while the unseen casters started their welcome remark. "We're seated far from the stage, right?" he said to Jack.

He looked around and assumed that they were in the middle ring of the coliseum. But it seemed like the oval stage was just a few meters away from him.

"Yup, quite far. We're in the upper-middle ring. But the magic of this place...it tricks your eyes," Jack said. He loved giving trivia. "God's Eyeview, they call it. No matter where you sit, you'll have an omniscient view of the stage. Too bad, the tickets for the lower rings were sold out. We could have sat with the other hotshots!" He then placed a hand on the empty seat beside him that he had reserved for Pat.

Aildrin finally understood how it worked. He tried manipulating the stage with his mind, and it rotated in different angles—zooming in and panning out.

The grand stage flickered to different scenes depending on the preference of the viewer, ranging from the station of the casters to a crash of humanoid rhinoceroses handling the drums. One could also replay the previous matches, but the booth where the players huddled was not available.

After a minute, Ringo and Lark finally appeared in the middle with their signature coat and tie. But their appearances were a mixture of feathers and skin.

Blue feathers covered Ringo like a parrot. Meanwhile, Lark lived up to his name. He was exactly the replica of the bird's horned version, except for his nose line and mouth. The two of them preferred not to have beaks and kept their lips and pearly white teeth.

"Our players are now ready!" Ringo said. "But how about our audience here in the coliseum? Set our hearts ablaze! Make some noise!"

The magnitude of the cheers and hollers coming from different races shook the entire coliseum. Overwhelmed, Aildrin almost covered his ears.

He observed that human players occupied most of the seats in their ring. And around the coliseum, there were clusters of other races too.

Meanwhile, Jack was having the time of his life. He even stood up and shouted from the top of his lungs. "This is what we live for, Aildrin! This is why we play!"

Aildrin barely heard him, but looking at the goblin's face, he could only grin. He missed moments like this back when he was in the limelight and not in the background.

"Are you alright?" Aildrin said to Harvy, who was motionless on his seat.

"I'm not feeling well with noises like this. It reminds me of war...But don't worry about it, I'm learning to heal," Harvy said. "Scarred souls take time."

"Alright, you tell me if you need something," Aildrin said. He then returned his focus on the stage.

It was then that a dwarf in silver chainmail and sabaton appeared beside Jack.

"Pat! I knew it! I knew you'd come! Just in time!" Jack said.

Aildrin glanced at Pat's character but did not linger. Just a moment to check his details.

[Roro, Level 28, Silver Rank—Tier V, Dwarf Battle Healer (Guild Leader of WisDoom).]

"You've leveled quickly for a newbie, rook," Pat said via the CommCenter because of the ongoing ruckus upon his arrival. The first list on his agenda was to check on Aildrin.

Aildrin's blood boiled. He felt like the devil was whispering to his very ears. "Have you been told that WisDoom's tactics never involved healers?" The two then stared daggers at each other with Jack in between.

"Can you please not spoil today's match? Please?" Jack said. He sat with force when the cheers waned, and the two harrumphed before focusing on the match.

The rowdy crowd fell into silence when the stadium dimmed. A bright beam of light shone on the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the quarterfinals begin!" Ringo said with arms spread wide. Even if there was no visible microphone around him, his voice was still loud and clear.

The crowd cheered, but it was not as intense as the previous one. They just wanted the match to start as soon as possible.

"For today's first match, let's all welcome the defending champion, Titans, and their opponent, Burning Orient!" Lark said.

An ultrawide rectangular screen hovered over the two casters. It displayed a faceoff between a golden gauntlet in a purple aura and a blue pearl in white flames.

After a short battle cry and chants from the fans of each team, Ringo and Lark vanished from the stage. They then reappeared on the floating screen back at their stations. The spotlight disappeared for a second, and when it returned, spectators watched over a floating mini-island.

It was a small circular plane of dirt with no barriers to prevent one's fall to the abyss. A label hovered and displayed the map's name—Abandoned Sky Island.

"The teams already finished their coin toss and Titans won. They've opted to choose the map for the team stage and left the group stage under Burning Orient's care. And we can now see that Burning Orient made the most of it by surely picking an advantageous terrain for their race," Ringo said.

Two figures appeared on the floating island opposite each other—a human in a black cuirass and a divine in sky blue samurai armor.

"And as usual, Titans sent their strongest player immediately—Lidar!" Lark said. "As for Burning Orient, their first player is Zeru, the Sky Samurai! It's a contest of swordsmanship, Ringo!"

"Let's see how Zeru will make the most of the map advantage," Ringo said.

"It's an honor to exchange swords with you," Zeru said with a bow. Sky blue metal plates covered his chest and shoulders. And in both hands were blue-blade katanas. His broad wings were like the white flames and his body the shining pearl.

"Your politeness bores me! I'm coming!" Lidar said. He brandished his black-blade buster sword with one hand. It was enormous, measuring at least six feet. He then dashed to battle.

Sky Cutter! Zeru crossed both of his katanas and then slashed the air. Two blue sword waves shot out to meet Lidar.

Lidar did not evade. He continued his charge. When the sword waves neared him, he slashed them off with a full swing. It was just like cutting paper.

Zeru did not mind; he was just testing the waters. He stood still in a dual-arm stance—seemingly open, but purely defensive.

Lidar was quick. In just a blink, he arrived before Zeru. Their swords then danced with each other in a flurry.

They contested at the same speed, and it seemed like a fair fight, but after a minute of sparks and quick exchanges, Zeru lost his ground. Lidar's heavy blows pushed him every time he parried. His back was now near the edge of the island.

Zeru broke away from the clash. He dashed to the side to activate a skill, leaving a small gap in his defense. He thought it was a calculated risk, but he miscalculated. Lidar pursued him with unprecedented speed. Their previous exchanges seemed like a joke.

Lidar had trained like hell for these kinds of scenarios. His experiences against someone who liked to back off and bring out surprises almost cost him a championship. And because of that, Lidar worked hard to fill that gap, earning himself the infamous title as "The Skill Buster" in the game.

Zeru learned it the hard way: you can't activate a skill near Lidar.

Two wings fell on the ground, followed by a rolling head straight to the abyss. "Next!"