Chapter 21: Mana User Stage And First Battle

"So having the six most powerful families get a hand on it is a synonym for having a monarchy, where they only have the right to power."

"Oh, so that's why."

"It's amazing to think they would do that."

"Well, I think it's stupid." Then Grant, who is the mayor's son, spoke disdainfully.

"Let me stop you there, Mr. Grant. Such words are blasphemy to our heroes, who saved us." The teacher then gave him a warning.

"Tch, so what? They should have let their family hold that power, upholding a long-standing tradition."

"Haaaa, You are still a child, and you don't know much. But Just as with the demon invasion that happened, there is still more danger outside our realm that we don't know about, and in the future, another demon invasion may happen. What do you think the civilians will do?"

Hearing that a lot of us thought carefully, a thought came to Jayven's mind. And this weighted heavily on him as he lived his life in others shadows.

"They will be powerless."A student said under their breath.

"That's right!" The teacher shouted, which startled everyone.

"We will be powerless and be left to die. The twelve pillars provide an environment to grow, but not to the point that it pampers us, just enough to fight for ourselves in the long run."

"And then everyone had a face of astonishment."

"That's right."

"If the six families held power for themselves, then we would be just disposable pawns for others."

"Who knew that seven heroes had such visions?"

"They did this for us."

The commotion and discussions continued, and the teacher just let them be until it was time to leave.

------------Jayven's Apartment----------

Not long after school ended, Jayven arrived at his apartment.

"Time to see if I can finally succeed." With his preparations ready, he dived into the Aether Realm.

As he got in there, he started his training, performing His battle techniques, followed by his movement techniques.

A weeks have passed, and he has memorized the first step of the Mountain Tiger Claw technique, so Orb let him train the Shadow Leopard stance.

Jayven continued to perform the techniques multiple times until a sound caught his attention.

[Master, congratulations! Just now, you were able to perform the fourth stage of mana guidance in eight out of ten performances.]

"Really, that means..."

[Yes, master, you have achieved the average performance of those who are at the Mana User stage.]

"Yes!"

Joy filled Jayven's face, knowing that he was one step closer to becoming a Professional hunter.

[Although you have reached the mana user stage, you are still a beginner. So please don't be conceited just yet, master.]

"Of course, but now I can go join the arena, right?"

[Yes, of course. Since you have met the requirements, you can now choose which Challenges in the arena will you dive into.]

Jayven felt fulfilled after all; it is said that hunting outside the Aether realm can help more in reaching a higher mastery than ever.

The effect might not be as great as doing it in real life, but it is relatively safe.

The AI assistant then showed him multiple categories, although not all of them were accessible.

[You can choose either one-on-one, group battles, monster challenges, or the Boss raid.]

Seeing the choices open to him, Jayven became quite eager to go in and join some battles.

[But master, please note that each has different functions.]

'I can see that, but I don't want to miss anything, so let's hear what Orb has to say first.'

"So what's the difference?"

[PVP fights need credits to initiate a fight; just bet yourself the minimum amount, and the winner takes all.]

"Oh, I see."

[For the group battle, it's roughly the same, so please be mindful, or you will compensate your teammates even if you win. Since the fight is about team performance, not just winning.]

"I understand." Hearing that Jayven was somewhat glad and felt a bit pressured since one wrong move can trigger a loss in battle,

[Then for the monster challenge and raid boss, it is roughly the same for the two. But you must also pay for participation, although you will only get prestige and items from defeating monsters, not credits.]

"Okay."

[For more details, please check the rules for each type of selection shown.]

Jayven then started analyzing things about each of the rules in the Arena. And there, he realized that there would be viewers present if he turned on the viewer function.

Also, from what he learned, he could earn credits if his content is liked or watched by many.

"This might not be so bad. Since I am not the only user of this skill, I could at least do this. The title shouldn't contain any of my names, though. Also, my identity in real life won't be disclosed, right?"

[Yes, all Identities here are quite well guarded, but there are some who deliberately show their identities here and IRL. Do you also want to discover your IRL self master?]

"No, I'd better pass on that one."

[Okay, now what is your choice, master?]

I already fought with NPCs here and in the game before this. I also fought monsters, so that's not appealing. There is also the time when I have to fight against multiple enemies at once. So-.

He raised his arm and pointed at one selection.

"I chose a one-on-one match."

[Affirmative.] With this confirmation, the set for the battles is now being prepared. And Jayven complied with the needed requests.

'I was able to play fine in the other game and somehow reached the top 100 of all gamers, but since this new platform came along, I also jumped ship. Only to realize that I have already been thrown overboard.'

Jayven reminisces about the time he first arrived here and the promise with his online friends, along with the adventures at their previous game.

'I was only able to fight in a single match during the tournament, so having to fight in a one-on-one battle will be a great debut.'

The reason Jayven can't do anything here is that the stats and abilities are based on real life. So his improvement was unlikely due to his stats, but now that they have grown, he can now challenge this new frontier.

[The opponent has been selected, and the bet of 100,000 credits is given to the judge. Once the battle is concluded, the winner will take all the rewards.]

"Oh, look at what we have here—fresh meat, and a dumb one at that. Thank you for the credentials in advance, idiot."

The first reaction of Jayven's opponent when seeing him was an amused tone full of disdain and mockery.

But Jayven didn't care and looked at him in silence, preparing for the battle.

[Fighters's ready?] The AI judge arrived and then proceeded to ask for their confirmation.

"Yes."

"Yeah, yeah, make it quick."

Jayven gave a short affirmation while his opponent gave an arrogant reply to the Judge.

[Well, then 3.]

"Let's see how well you will do, Mr. Imposter."

[2]

Not giving a reply, Jayven just looked at him strangely.

[1]

'Why is it that people think that? Seriously, who among those unyielding account names offended a big shot for this to happen?'

[Fight!]

While he is still complaining about the unusual reason his name is hated, the fight between him and his opponent has started.

"Take this! "

Instantly, his opponent attacked him. And with strong momentum, he hurled a fist at Jayven's face, which caused an explosive sound as the opponent hit him.

Following that, an explosion happened, blocking the vision of both fighters with smoke.

"Heh, so that's it, huh? What a waste. And here I thought I could have an interesting match with you? But getting hit with my attack is the same as being knocked out. After all, this is the Explosive Iron Fist."

He gave a somewhat disappointed tone, not fully concealing the pride he held in his attack. But things took a turn quickly.

"Well, then, I guess that's it. He then retracted his arms, but wasn't able to. Huh, eh, why can't I pull it back?"

"Because I caught it." The smoke subsided, and Jayven was fine.

While he was confused, Jayven explained the reason why he couldn't pull back his arm.

"Wait, that move, no way."

"Yes way."

Noticing the move, he was surprised and was not able to comprehend what was going on.

And with a twist, Jayven ended the fight as he hurled the enemy down to the ground, ending the fight.

[Winner Unyeilding_Fighter.]

Following that is the sound of the notification of his win.

"Good. "

[What are you gonna do next, master?]

"Well, the fight was not much, so I thought of going at it again. I mean, I didn't get to do much in that fight; the opponent is pretty weak, to be honest."

[That's to be expected, master. After all, this is just a low-rank match for Mana users.The one that you fought just now was not a fully mana user, and he could only barely achieve the passing mark.]