time

Watching Liam's surprised expression, Shen Yue bit her lips slightly. She then hesitantly spoke. "So this is the next quest I got after that woman died, but I am not sure if I should accept it or not."

"Oh? Why?"

Shen Yue bit her lips some more as this was going to make her look like an idiot. "Ummm. Sorry, this is really silly, because this is just a game. I understand that."

"But knowing how that person killed so many people to obtain power, I don't want to inherit whatever she left behind."

"It feels wrong. Like I am becoming an evil person or something."

Shen Yue explained her thoughts as best as she could but when she looked at Liam he was still staring at her as if there was spinach stuck in her teeth.

She felt very embarrassed.

Especially after speaking out her thoughts, even she felt as if they were stupid.

"Ah. I know. I am being too prissy. This is just a game, right? This is a good thing and will help me become more powerful. I should accept it?"

"But what if it's not a game?" Liam suddenly smiled.

"Huh?" Shen Yue was shocked and did not know how to respond.

"I mean. You have to play this game as if it is not a game. Think of it as your second life or something. Then only you will be able to make proper decisions."

"Oh." Shen Yue nodded with a vague look on her face.

Liam smiled and explained more. "At the end of the day, I cannot tell you what decision to make. This is your life, so it is up to you to make a decision."

"But I can tell you this. Accepting this will definitely make you more powerful. That witch Ruth whom you killed." He chuckled, shaking his head, and then continued. "She was probably doing something extreme to take revenge on the kingdom."

"You probably don't have to play your cards in the same way."

"Besides, if there is a class that made me more powerful with every kill I made, I would accept it in a heartbeat."

"That's just me. Ha Ha. You should do whatever you want. Don't think too much."

"You guys did seem to be having a lot of fun tricking everyone with your charm attribute, so don't tell me that you don't enjoy using your power. Heh."

Shen Yue instantly became bright red. She couldn't believe that this person would outright just point out the obvious. It was as if he saw through everything.

Just as she was struggling to figure out what to say next, suddenly a group of people jumped in front of the carriage, forcing the vehicle to come to a complete stop.

Bandits!

"Lord! Please run! These guys are cruel and merciless", the driver shouted loudly. It looked like he had personally faced them before or at least heard of them before.

So he immediately warned Liam about their savage nature.

However, Liam showed no intention of heading his advice. He simply smiled and hopped out of the carriage.

Shen Yue was at the back with Mei Mei so she did not see what exactly was happening at the front. All she heard were cries of pain and blood-curdling screams.

She let out a long sigh and then opened her system interface to quickly accept the inheritance. She did not want to think about this anymore. This was just a game after all.

[Ding. Ruthenia Alzaeria's dying wish is to pass on her heritage to you. Do you wish to accept it? Y/ N]

"Yes"

[Ding. You are now able to select the hidden class ENCHANTRESS]

[Ding. Do you wish to accept? Y/ N]

"Yes"

Instantly, a warm glow surrounded her body, and something tickled her. Before she realized it, Shen Yue received another set of notifications.

[Ding. Congratulations. Your class has now successfully upgraded]

[Ding. You have learned a new skill]

[Beguile - Charm an enemy to fight for you for 10 seconds; Cooldown 5 seconds; Limited to one target at a time]

[Ding. You have learned a new skill]

[Mesmerize - Charm an enemy to a stunned state for 5 seconds; Cooldown 1 minute; The target becomes vulnerable after 5 casts]

[Ding. You have learned a new skill]

[Distract - Charm an enemy to warp his time by 1 second; The slowing effect lasts for 30 seconds; Cooldown 3 minutes]

With her lips parted, Shen Yue gasped lightly, looking at the several new skills that she obtained. These were indeed powerful!

More importantly, nothing she had learned so far had changed and it looked like she could still use all of her warrior combat skills.

As she was looking at everything, she also noticed something different about her system interface.

The charm attribute which was previously greyed out was now looking just like every other attribute. "Does this mean I can add stat points to this one also?"

Shen Yue tried allocating her extra stat points from her recent level up and it indeed worked. "So maybe these skills can become more powerful if I increase my charm attribute more."

"You should make sure you balance your other stats also." Shen Yue jumped as she was caught surprised by Liam's sudden presence near her.

"Did you accept the class?" Liam chuckled and asked.

"Ah. Yes. I did." Shen Yue nodded like a thief caught in the act. "It's called enchantress."

"Oh! Sounds powerful. Can you show me your skills?"

She quickly shared her skills with him in the party chat.

This was the first time Liam saw special skills like these.

In his previous time around, he did not have any memory of such a class existing.

He wondered why Shen Yue received this class now? Did she not play this game before? What exactly changed? Nevertheless, it was good to have her as an ally.

"Ummm… Thanks." Shen Yue mumbled. "Just like you said, the class was not anything evil."

Liam smiled. He wanted to tell her that these were just starting skills, but he decided to leave it for her to find out eventually.

There was also the other thing. This was a very bold class and from what he knew, Shen Yue's nature was different. So he didn't know how well she would adapt.

But these were things that did not require his immediate attention, so Liam put it aside for later, asking her the only thing that might matter now.

"Is there any other chain quest after this? Or it's all done?"

"No. That was it." Shen Yue replied. "And the bandits?"

"Already taken care of."

Shen Yue had originally wanted to help him out but now it looked like that was no longer necessary.

Liam got back in and the carriage once again started moving. They now only had a couple more hours before arriving back at the center of the kingdom.

"You should also sleep like this one," Liam mumbled, closing his own eyes to adjust his state.

Inwardly, he made a note to do some research about mental attacks and special skills and how to prepare for these.

For instance, if he was to fight against Shen Yue, even he would be highly disadvantaged. Putting aside [Beguile], [Mesmerize] and [Distract] were also equally over-powered.

Especially with [Distract], all of his sword moves and spell attacks would look like they were moving in slow motion and Shen Yue would only need to casually move to avoid them.

In return, her own attacks would become that much more difficult to evade and block. Just thinking about this and trying a mental shadow fight was very tiring.

Liam had a lot of experience from his last life, but for high-level skills and specialized classes, he was as clueless as anyone else. "I need to increase my pace." He reminded himself.

The next few hours went by without any incident and the carriage smoothly arrived at Yleka city. Liam woke up the two women who had fallen asleep.

"You both should log out and take a rest. Get some sleep and eat, okay?" Mei Mei yawned and nodded, drool leaking from the edge of her mouth, while Shen Yue also reluctantly agreed.

She was excited to try her new class and skills but as Liam pointed out, she was indeed tired. So the two of them readily accepted his suggestion and did the same.

Liam, on the other hand, sent a quick message to Derek. He had some more errands to run, like submitting the Kingdom quest but he first wanted to check on the guy's progress.

And as soon as he sent the message, he received an immediate reply. Liam was surprised by this. "I guess it's been a while now. He must also be tired."

He was about to ask Derek as well to log out and rest when his eyes fell on the actual reply he had sent. "I am on the 90th floor right now, Sir."

Liam almost did a double-take on seeing this ridiculous number. 90th floor?!

The PVP tower in Yleka city was a mysterious place filled with treasures. The tower master of the building is even rumored to be a legendary figure.

One could gain profound insights and improve by leaps and bounds if they ever got a chance to spar with this tower master.

The player did not have to win. Just the experience of fighting with him and learning from him was reward enough.

Not to mention, if someone actually managed to win that fight, the reward wouldn't be anything less than a legendary grade item or an over-powered skill or perhaps even an inheritance.

This was why everyone at the beginning had gone crazy about this tower. But slowly, something became apparent.

The tower might be filled with treasures, but the thing was… it was near impossible to obtain those treasures!

This was why after a while, another rumor had surfaced about the tower master. He was a legendary figure but he was also very eccentric.

Everyone who managed to climb to the top and face him failed miserably before even getting a chance to exchange a single move.

He never sparred with them, never giving them any insights or any rewards.

This eccentric master only liked to tease and play around with the rankers, showing off his prized possessions and how he was head and shoulders above all of them.

So after spending weeks and weeks grinding the levels in the tower, the final hurdle was literally impossible to overcome.

This was why no one had bothered to struggle with this tower in Liam's last lifetime, and he as well never took it into his plans.

He simply intended to use it as a training tool for his sister and Shen Yue to learn some combat, and for Derek as a means to earn some quick money.

But now… Derek had managed to climb so far in such a short time!

Not that Liam doubted his battle prowess.

However, even after taking that into consideration, the sheer time required for the grind was colossal.

The first floor required a single victory to clear, the second floor required two, the third floor required three, and until the first hundred floors, it increased incrementally in the same pattern.

This meant that Derek had obtained 89 victories to clear the 89th floor and was currently on the 90th floor.

And since they had registered together as a team, Liam would now be able to directly go to the 90th floor!

He did not have to waste a single second fighting with the lower-level small fries. Derek had saved him a tremendous amount of time and effort.

The decision to recruit him was already paying off, and Liam knew that this would only keep exponentially increasing in the future.

He hastily opened the interface and sent Derek another message. "Don't participate in fights anymore. On the 90th floor, there will be a few rooms for players."

"Book one of the rooms on the floor and take a break. I will be there soon. I will tell you the next plan when I get there."

Derek did not question him and quickly replied with a simple 'yes.'

Liam as well grinned and hurried over to the PVP tower. "Perfect. Now all that is left is for trouble to start brewing."

After reaching the tower, he quickly arrived at the 90th floor and booked a room. However, he didn't book a standard recuperating room but a special forging room.

This was also one of the advantages of the tower.

After the 50th floor, some of the floors had unique shops that sold rare items, and these floors also had various exceptional amenities.

The recuperating rooms had mana arrays that had denser mana than the other surroundings.

The forging and alchemy rooms also had this array and other excellent benefits that could rival a top-tier room in the association.

The important part was that this room was cheaper than the association facilities. So one was able to use them for more extended periods.

Usually, these were fully booked, but it was not as busy since everyone was currently focused on the grind.

Liam went into the forging room and let Luna down on the ground. "I promise. The next stop is the beast hall, okay?" He patted her head and smiled.

The small fox nodded obediently and returned his smile with an even sweeter heart-melting smile. Liam couldn't help but be amused by this newfound maturity.

"Why don't you keep this with you until I am done with my work?" He gave the fox the rainbow-colored gem to reward her patience.

He was not worried that she would break it as the little thing valued it more than he did.

Her eyes instantly lit up on seeing the gem, and she quietly sat in a corner, hugging the treasure with her tail and looking at it lovingly.

Liam chuckled and finally got to the work he had postponed for a while now.

He stood in front of the anvil and took out all the required materials from his inventory space. One by one, each item he took out was more dazzling than the previous one.

So much so that the fox had to peel her eyes away from her prized gemstone and pay attention to what Liam was doing.

Thanks to the harvest he had obtained from Shen Yue and Mei Mei, who were running around and grinding rare elites, he now had a lot of precious materials in his possession.

This couldn't have come at a better time as most of his gear was outdated, and it was time to rectify it.

Liam had also achieved more than he had imagined in terms of mana control and spell casting these past several days.

He was itching to apply these to his forging techniques and see how much he had improved. This way, he could also hone in on all the weak points and adequately focus on the training.

Taking a look at all the materials, he separated them into the appropriate ratios and fired up the furnace in the corner of the room.

It was not a large furnace, but the flames inside were roaring aloud as if they were alive. The intensity of the fire was also higher.

"I wonder what sort of mana array can bring out such an effect!" Liam felt amazed. He cautiously melted all the ores first and then started the work.

Soon the rhythmic chimes of the hammer hitting the metal started ringing loudly in the huge spacious room. But this time, his movements were completely different.

His hands danced smoothly and everything that had been raw and unrefined earlier now looked like an actual forging master commanding the ore into submission.

The dense wafts of mana in the room circled around the hammer and the first forged item thrummed with energy as it slowly came to life.

Ding. Forging successfully completed]

Liam stared at the huge shield lying inconspicuously on the anvil. After spending several hours in the forging room, the first item was finally ready.

[Ding. Dazzling Daybreak Shield]

[Ding. Rating: Rare]

Defense: 250

Block Rate: 10%

Strength: 30

Agility: 30

Intelligence: 30

Passive Skill:? For every attack blocked, there is a chance to deflect the damage back to the attacker

Only a handful of Master forgers were capable of producing rare-grade equipment. On top of that, this rare-grade equipment could be considered a piece of top-tier equipment.

True to its name, the shield's appearance was dazzling with a brilliant luster and its attributes were higher than typical rare-grade equipment. Not to mention it also had an additional skill attached.

Liam had selected this particular forging design for exactly this specific reason, it's extremely useful passive skill that enabled a tank to sometimes redirect the damage taken.

Under Level 50 and even above that, this was already the best equipment average players would be able to get their hands on.

However, looking at this exceptional piece of shield, Liam only had a frown on his face. Though he might be staring at the shield, his thoughts were entirely elsewhere.

He did not even bother to take a look at the stats of the shield and just quietly eyed it, while running through the various steps of the forging process in his mind once again.

"Something was not right. What did I do?"

The last time Liam had forged, the set of metals he had used was completely different from the ones that he was using right now.

When compared to those iron and copper ores, the brilliantly shining shield in front of him contained ores that were at an entirely different level.

Mellinium and Etharium were rare high-grade ores that were impossible to mine in this world.

They could only be obtained as drops from the various elites scattered around the lands, that too at an abysmal drop rate.

More importantly, even if a player managed to somehow obtain these precious ores, refining them and forging them was an entirely different beast altogether.

The difficulty was nothing short of astounding.

However, only these precious metals could be used in forging equipment and weapons higher than the uncommon grade.

If one were to add iron and copper to this mixture, to bring down the difficulty level, then it would also bring down the grade of the final forged item along with it.

Using such unforgiving starting materials, not only did Liam manage to craft the item but he was also not satisfied with it.

If another forger from the blacksmith association comes to learn about this situation, he would personally hunt down Liam and give him a piece of his mind.

Achieving such a feat required talent in forging and more importantly an excellent control of mana. Without it, it was impossible to handle the high-grade mineral ores.

In reality, Liam had dared to start forging with these difficult precious materials without even as much as a warm-up because of all the time he had spent training his mana control.

This was the only thing he had been consistently doing ever since he logged into the game. So it was only natural that such dedicated training showed results.

He was able to handle the unruly high-grade ores and bring them under his control, resulting in the forging of this fine weapon.

However, Liam was truly not satisfied with the item. He looked at the shield, knitting his brows together, and murmured to himself.

"The ratio is off."

"Something is missing."

"There needs to be more equilibrium between the metal and the energy flow."

Making Luna jump up in a scare, he tossed the rare-grade Shield in a corner of the room as if it was no different than trash.

He then took out another set of ores to start the forging process all over again.

This time he also took out something else to add as an additive modifying the formula for the shield on his own.

"This should do it."

For the second time, Liam started repeating all the steps right from the scratch.

Thanks to the higher mana density in the room, he was able to recuperate his condition much faster and he was almost immediately able to start again.

He first used the furnace to melt all the metals to form the primary mixture, but before adding this to the cast of the shield, he added a few stalks of herbs to this amalgam.

Just like when he was forging the crimson blade, he also tweaked the ratio by throwing in these extra ingredients this time as well.

Among all the knowledge he had about the game, his knowledge about herbs was something that could be called his own.

He had spent most of his previous life doing menial tasks like herb picking, taking care and tending to the guild herb farms, and basic tier ingredients preparation for the guild in huge batches.

These were the lowest menial chores that no one would be happy with doing as they yielded no benefit.

However, Liam still managed to get some benefit from doing these chores by studying every little detail about every herb that he came into contact with.

This had been one of his futile attempts to break free from his miserable plight and now finally it was coming to use.

Using this knowledge he had, he somewhat had an idea of what could further help harmonize and what could disintegrate this particular amalgam of metals.

So even if it might result in a couple of failures, Liam still decided to waste that amount of ingredients and follow his intuition.

While he was spending the time for forging, he wanted to give it his all and not do a half-assed job.

He continued to keep his attention on the task, and carefully performed all the tasks one after the other, paying attention to every single detail.

This time his forging speed had increased and he only took a couple of hours to bring the metal to completion but the end product was unexpected… a failure.

"Ok. This needs something more." Liam began to patiently try another set of modifications. He had enough materials for seven attempts so he did not stop just yet.

A couple more hours passed and one more item was finished to completion. However, it was once again a failure.

Liam continued tweaking the components little by little and every time he tried his mana forging technique improved by leaps and bounds.

We are 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝗺, find us 𝐨n google.

On his fifth attempt, he finally got the notification for another success.

[Ding. Forging successfully completed]

[Ding. Dazzling Daybreak Shield]

[Ding. Rating: Calculating…]

"Hmmm?" Liam was confused, but the next second he received another notification that cleared all of his doubts.

As it had already been several hours since they had last spoken, Liam did not want to make Derek wait any longer and immediately messaged him to arrive on the arena grounds.

Derek as well did not question him and promptly arrived at the battleground. He stood in the short line and registered with the referee and not long after his name was called.

However, as soon as Derek moved to the center, he couldn't help but notice something strange going on this time around.

Groups of people started gathering around together and were huddled up here and there. The entire atmosphere around the arena had changed.

Derek searched for Liam's face in the crowd and looked at him with confusion but the latter did not explain anything. He simply waved his hand, asking him to fight.

Derek blinked in confusion but then shrugged and went back to his business. He jumped into the ring, his feet landing with a loud thud that reverberated inside the stadium.

Almost at the same time, his opponent as well arrived and the fight soon started.

Derek instantly zoned out everything that was happening around him and his entire focus was only on the fight and his opponent.

His brown eyes that contained a raw vigor and ferocity tracked each and every move of his opponent and his muscles responded accordingly.

This time, both of them were tanks clashing against each other so it was a special sight for all the spectators.

"Pound him down, bro!"

"Show him who is the boss!"

"DEREK! DEREK! DEREK!"

"RYKER! RYKER! RYKER!"

The crowd started chanting loudly in unison. One of the players who had arrived at the floor just now did not understand what was going on and asked his friend.

"Hey, how do we know the players' names? Isn't it supposed to be anonymous? Are they famous or something?

"What? You don't know! What a lucky bastard! You just arrived on time."

"Quick quick. Open your system interface. There will be a prompt for betting. Someone has placed a 1000 gold coins bet on the player named Derek."

"You only need 1 silver to participate, then you can also get a piece of that pie. Fast. Place your bets."

"Wait, I only need to place 1 silver bet?"

"Yup, think about it. Even if a thousand players place the bet, we will each get 1 gold coin at least."

"And there definitely aren't a thousand players here. So we will get more than 1 gold coin for sure."

The player instantly felt his heart rate quicken after hearing the word gold coin and hurriedly placed something as a bet.

Most players gathered on the floor did the same as well, even if they were there simply for spectating or planned to participate.

Chances like this to earn money without breaking a sweat were really hard to come by.

Some rich idiot was willing to throw away so much money. How could they miss this precious opportunity?

So all the players hurriedly placed their bets with whatever money they had on their hands.

If they lost, then they would only lose a penny but if they won, they would be raking in gold coins.

This news quickly spread like wildfire.

But unfortunately, the fight between Derek and Ryker ended in a heartbeat and the result was a shock to everyone who had placed their bets.

Both the tanks were bulky men and both of them were somewhat skilled and yet the one who won the fight was the tank with the shoddy equipment, Derek.

This went against common sense but the players only had their bad luck to curse.

To lose even when the opponent was wearing only a pathetic set of equipment that looked like it was going to break and fall apart at any given instant, everyone spat on Ryker and lamented their loss of the golden opportunity.

They had one chance to win an easy gold coin and now that chance will never come back again.

Maybe once the tycoon was whimsical enough to bet 1000 gold coins but will he be betting such an insane amount of wealth every single time?

As everyone looked longingly at the two fighters getting out of the ring, one in pain and the other with a blank expression, the referee stood up to call the next pair of fighters.

With this everyone's heart sank as their gold ship officially sailed.

No one even paid attention to the next couple of fights. Some people tried betting on these fights but without the enticing 1000 gold coins to sweeten the pot, no one was interested.

They were still busy discussing the earlier fight between Derek and Ryker and how they would have done things differently.

Suddenly everyone became an expert and cursed the poor guy for losing badly. If only they had another chance…

And unexpectedly, their wish soon came true…

Since everyone was quite distracted by the whole betting situation, not many players were currently grinding the fights on the 90th floor.

Because of this, Derek's turn arrived sooner than expected and his name was once again called on the stage.

Almost instantly, one of the female players in the arena shouted at the top of her voice.

"Look! Look! The betting is on again! Someone again placed a 1k gold coin bet on this guy! OH MY GOD!"

The other players who were also in the middle of checking their system interface noticed the same thing and immediately became excited again, hurriedly placing their bets.

But after this initial shock from the goddess of wealth knocking on their door a second time wore off, another obviously glaring fact surfaced.

Sure, the 1000 gold coins were available but was this opponent capable of winning?

As everyone looked at the fighting ring with great expectation, once again it was Derek who won the fight and not their horse.

Another opportunity missed!

"Damn it, will this tycoon again place a bet or what? Just one more chance. Fuck it, I will personally get in the ring and fight!" Someone shouted.

But no one believed that such a thing could happen…

After all, 1000 gold coins was not a laughing matter. It was an astronomical amount that only guilds could afford, that too probably only rated guilds.

However… against all odds and logic… when Derek's number was once more called onto the stage for the third time… the pot was again instantly filled with 1000 gold coins!

In fact, making everyone's heart do flip-flops, every single time Derek stepped into the fighting ring, the same person kept wagering 1000 gold coins!

Hey, don't you know what's happening right now? Why are you still standing here?"

"I am on my way. I am on my way."

Currently, in Yleka city, a huge commotion was spreading on all corners.

The crowd that was usually hovering around the auction house seemed to be now concentrated in the PVP tower.

Even everyone who earlier dreaded the horrendous grind of the PVP tower was suddenly energized to try and climb the tower as best as they could.

However, this was mostly related to individual players and some lower level members of the various guilds.

The higher-ups and the actual powerhouses still went about their own business. This was, of course, with the exception of a single guild, Stormtroopers.

Unexpectedly, many members of that guild were littered all over the PVP tower of Gresh Kingdom.

When the other guilds didn't seem to care too much about this 1000 gold coins betting fever, this guild alone paid extra attention to the whole affair.

They quickly rose in ranking by taking advantage of the fact that one was able to register in huge groups and climbed the tower more quickly.

Some of their guild members were also already on higher levels.

So while the others were still arriving, these people gathered on the 90th floor to actually check if the rumors that were spreading were true or false.

And on this same floor, sitting quietly in a corner of the arena was the perpetrator of this entire chaos.

"Oh! Finally, the bait has arrived!" Liam grinned, sitting back and relaxing. After forging for several hours continuously, he was very tired.

So all of this ruckus gave him a lot of entertainment. Though it was not the same as sleeping and taking a good night's rest, it came pretty close to it.

"Heh… time to up the ante."

A couple of seconds later, it was Derek's turn to once again fight and this time, he placed a bet of 5000 gold coins instead of 1000 gold coins, instantly causing a wave of gasps and shrieks in the arena.

The Stormtroopers guild members as well started discussing amongst themselves in hushed voices but they did not make any move yet. It was almost as if they were waiting for someone.

And soon this someone or rather a full team arrived.

This team instantly caught the attention of everyone present on the 90th floor as they clearly stood up among the sea of average players.

They were decked from top to bottom in dazzling gear, some of them even having gemstones studded on them and their guild emblem shone brightly and proudly at front and center.

Derek, who was beginning his fight on the ring, did not pay attention to any of this. He was in his own world only focussing on the fight in front of him.

Liam, on the other hand, observed everything and his grin widened. "Now everyone is here. Time to start the party." He pulled his cloak further down as he saw several familiar faces.

Liam knew them because he had slaughtered a lot of them, not personally rather indirectly using the golems.

This guild was none other than Derek's ex-guild and these players were none other than his teammates.

These were also the people Liam was patiently waiting for. And now that they were here, it was time for a good show.

On the other end of the arena…

The entire section sparkled as the elite team of a guild was very eye-catching. All the Stormtroopers guild members were sitting together.

"Ke Ke Ke. So this bitch actually ran over here." Victor, the main tank of the Stormtroopers guild spat on the ground.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. I thought that the idiot was a dumb doormat but he seems to have a bit of brain."

"Creating all of this commotion just by himself and managing to come this far is really not bad."

Hearing Victor's words that sounded like praise but was not really, another member of the guild pointed out something important.

"Victor, how do you think he got that much money? Wasn't that idiot begging us for money for his mother or sister or someone?"

"Ya, 1000 gold coins is a lot. I mean we can gather that much money in the snap of a finger, but where did that idiot get that much?"

"Maybe he found a rich backer?"

"Haaa… That might really be true. He is actually not that bad a player. Maybe he joined some other big guild and got a bonus or something?"

Hearing this, Victor who was silent all this time, immediately snorted in contempt. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"That guy only knows how to screw up! How could he compare to the elite teams of big guilds? Why would they recruit a nobody like him? Did you leave your brain before signing in?"

"Ah. Sorry. Sorry."

The person immediately shut his mouth and looked down, though he seemed to be rolling his eyes. He wanted to say something but he decided that it was best to keep his mouth shut.

Victor removed his angry gaze from the so-called 'idiot' and paid his attention to the fight in the arena. Everyone standing around was cheering and shouting at the top of their lungs

1000 gold coins in itself was a huge amount and now that the prize pool became 5000 gold coins, everyone acted as if they had dunked in barrels of Redbull.

And the person who was the center of all of this fame and fervor was none other than DEREK!

Victor clenched his fist as he looked at the towering figure of the person whom he loathed and hated deeply.

He was a professionally trained fighter until his knees gave out. So when this game appeared out of nowhere, he thought that his chance to shine brightly had finally arrived.

This was his comeback and the opportunity that he had been waiting so long for. His stupid knees would no longer be able to hold him back.

However, smashing all of these expectations he had, right from the day this person had signed in, he had casually beaten him at everything.

Heck! He even had a mana affinity that Victor was not lucky enough to have.

But unfortunately, he had joined the game too late, and that too when Victor had already made a name for himself.

Grabbing hold of this single advantage, Victor had managed to keep the guy under his foot all these days and now, he had slipped away!

Even though he had personally made the effort to bad mouth the guy to all the major guilds, he still somehow managed to get somebody's backing and come this far.

Just this thought made Victor feel angry.

"I should have never let him go!" He ground his teeth silently.

All of this spotlight and this fame should have belonged to him and not to this spineless idiot who was only fit to be his punching bag!

"Ok. We have let this go on for too long. It's time to take action! Go submit my name for the next round. I will teach this bitch a good lesson."

One of the lower-rung guild members quickly hurried to submit his name. Not long after, Victor's number was promptly called.

Victor sneered, his lips twisting in contempt. "Don't forget to place the bet. Match that rich retard's 5k with another 5k from our guild. I will explain it later to the guild leader."

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The healer who was the next in command, slightly hesitated but he didn't have the authority to question Victor's actions so he quickly obliged.

With both sides adding 5k each, the prize pool instantly shot up again, now totaling a whopping 10000 gold coins.

The crowd instantly became even crazier!

This was no longer just 1000 gold coins! These were 10000 gold coins! This was an amount that even the big guilds would stop and take a look at!

This immediately made everyone fervently bet.

Also, this time many of the long-time gamblers who had been witnessing Derek's abilities for a while now, started betting on him rather than the opposition.

But Stormtroopers was a decently famous guild with a considerable amount of achievements so half of the crowd still bet on the person participating from the guild.

And of course, there was also a portion of the crowd who announced loudly that they were supporting Stormtroopers but they secretly were betting on Derek.

In this way, the entire arena was almost split half-half and everyone chewed on their nails, eagerly waiting for the upcoming fight.

In this festive atmosphere, one that could rival a coked-up rock concert crowd, Victor smiled, calmly and casually walking over to the fighting ring at the center.

He had the air of the expert who was seemingly untouched by all these endless praises and cheers showering down on him.

On the other end, Derek as usual walked over with a blank and indifferent face. He obviously noticed Victor and yet there was no expression on his face.

But suddenly this indifferent facade of his cracked. Derek halted his footsteps and looked at his system interface in confusion.

Of course, everyone else as well noticed this small change on his face and they held their heart in their hands wondering just what the hell was this fighting machine thinking.

He was obviously looking at some message or notification and it was driving everyone crazy to not be able to know just what he was looking at.

Perhaps he was throwing this game? Some backroom deal to intentionally lose?

Or was he going to use some secret move or technique specifically prepared for this fight?

Did he get some new gear?

In general, these things were nothing earth-shattering but something like this could make or break this fight, so the crowd was on the edge of their seats.

They badly wanted to know this top-secret information.

As opposed to their nervous plight, not knowing what was going to happen, Derek had only looked confused for a second.

His expression then turned to his normal calm and composed look as he continued walking to ring.

Seeing all the attention Derek was getting, Victor couldn't help but scoff.

He looked at him casually getting into the ring and sneered. "So you are a bigshot now?"

Derek did not say anything and quietly waited for the referee to commence the fight.

He had received special instructions for this fight, so he was even more focused than usual.

"Heh. Acting all meek and humble but behind the scenes, you seem to be very talented at finding rich masters?"

"Or did you find someone else richer than me to pimp your fat sister?"

Along with Victor, the crowd as well jeered hearing these loaded ridicules.

These words didn't seem like ordinary insults meant for psyching out an opponent before the fight?

Did the two already know each other?

No one knew who started this gossip, but soon everyone came to know that Derek was someone who was kicked out of the stormtroopers guild.

This was big news and many started looking down on Derek. The people who were cheering for him instantly quieted down, all of them now more anxious about the coins they had gambled.

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This sudden change in the tide made Victor happy and satisfied. He decided to keep pressing on this wave and push the guy even further.

"What? Nothing to say? He He. I know all your skills and weaknesses, Derek. Your gear is also trash and you still expect to win against me?"

"You should just give up now. How about it? If you give up and walk away, I will forgive your little outburst and take you back into the guild?"

"Think about it. Your sister's knees must be hurting from giving out so many blowjobs. This way, she can take some rest. He He."

With everyone now cheering loudly for him, his own guildmates drowning the noise of others in the arena, Victor grinned ear to ear.

Perhaps it was because of the mood, he felt that this victory was already in the bag. However, it still irritated him that the dumb ape was not responding to his taunts.

He wanted to see him squirm and beg. But from the beginning, Derek did not give in to any of his taunts and kept standing like a statue.

Finally, the multiple rounds of betting ended and the final call for the battle arrived. The referee stood up and loudly announced the rules for the fight and the gongs as well thundered.

Almost instantly, Victor reacted and activated his [War Call] skill which reduced Derek's movement speed by 20% and gave him another 20% boost.

He started with this skill instead of [Charge] because while [Charge] was easy to avoid and block, [War Call] could not be escaped.

And in a close combat fight like this, movement speed was everything.

A debuff like this might as well be a complete stun as Derek's maneuvering looked extremely sluggish.

On the other hand, Victor did not plan to waste this chance and lunged at the big dude.

[Mortal Slash], [Punish], [Cleave]

He started hitting Derek as if he was a training dummy incapable of responding.

He unleashed a barrage of skills on the man so that the fight would already be over before the debuff ran out.

Derek as well seemed to be really struggling to respond.

As opposed to his usual skillful evasive movements, this time he was very sluggish and received a lot of hits.

Everyone watching this fight gasped in shock. Both were warrior tanks but clearly one was superior to the other.

Be it skills, talent, technique, one person held the upper hand from the start and the match as well looked like it was about to finish in no time.

"Fuck! What a waste of money!"

"Screw this! I am out!"

So many people had placed their bets on Derek after witnessing his undefeated streak but they were all extremely disappointed at the moment.

Victor also had a big grin on his face beneath the metallic head guard. He could almost feel the sweet taste of victory in his mouth.

However, just as he was about to activate his [Charge] to finish this fight once and for all, Derek no longer looked sluggish.

"Fuck! The 20% debuff wore off already?" Victor was confused but he did not have any time to think.

He just needed a couple more hits to secure his victory so he preserved and parried with the opponent.

But unfortunately, the sluggish and slow person who seemed as if he was an extremely easy target until the last second, was suddenly as slippery as an eel.

Not only did Victor have the initial advantage in pummeling down the attacks, he also clearly had the better gear.

As if this wasn't enough, the air was practically thrumming with his name with everyone cheering for him. It was deafening.

In this kind of atmosphere, anyone would get demoralized and motivated.

Coupled with the fact that there was only a fraction of health left in Derek's bar, Victor roared loudly and kept lunging forward without retreating.

He madly swung his war blade in a frenzy. His speed also seemed unusually faster. But still, every single one of his moves was skillfully parried or blocked.

He was slowly but surely being pushed back. In the midst of all this, he was also taking some attacks that were chipping away at his health bit by bit.

"FUCK!" Victor shouted in anger. He could see that the fight was slowly slipping out of his hands, but he couldn't do anything to prevent it.

Even the moves that he considered as Derek's weaknesses were perfectly countered without a single error.

And just like that, right in front of his eyes, the rest of his health also dropped and before long, the gong once again sounded.

The entire arena became deathly silent. What just happened? Wasn't the other person winning?

Everyone looked dumbfounded, trying to understand the heads or tails of it. There were no special skills used. There was no cheating or some secret shortcut.

They were just exchanging blows which was how typical warrior fights progressed but how did the losing party manage to somehow gain an upper hand and suddenly win?

Victor was as equally shocked as the crowd as he dumbly stared at the person in front of him. It took him a second to even realize that the fight was already over.

What happened?

And adding to his dismay, the other party, Derek calmly and casually stepped out of the ring as if it was just another warm sunny day.

Victor's eyes trailed his figure, still standing dumbly at the same spot. Finally, the referee had to warn him. "The fight is over. Step out of the ring."

Victor looked up and saw the referee's stern gaze on him. He didn't know why but there was a hint of ridicule contained within them.

He could feel the hundreds of eyes on him, all of them either cursing him or laughing at his loss. Without any other choice, he gritted his teeth and silently stepped out of the ring.

He walked over to his teammates and then finally erupted. "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

Sounds of heavy equipment clanging on the ground resounded throughout the arena.

Victor bashed his hand on the floor and shouted in anger. "What happened? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" He was so close and yet he had somehow lost!

"He did something! He did something for sure. You guys saw right? He was almost dead! I had this fight! I just needed one more second. FUCK! I could have won this easily!"

His other guildmates blankly looked at each other, not knowing how to respond. In reality, they as well felt the same.

Victor's fighting techniques had been superior from the start to finish. The other party looked like he was scrambling just to get a grip. But somehow the result was different!

"It must be a fluke! This is definitely a fluke!" Victor repeated like a maniac.

"I agree. I think he triggered some sort of low probability critical attack." Another person spoke up, agreeing with him.

"Ya, I also thought something changed mid-fight. Otherwise, this would have been your win."

"I know! I know! FUCK! Don't I know it!" Victor was furious.

"This is not over. I won't let him leave with this dumb fluke. One more match! Sign me up for one more match with that fucker!"

"But leader… that…" The person hesitated.

If someone wanted to challenge a particular opponent, it required a gamble to be placed upfront, and… they had just now lost 5000 gold coins…

When everything was said and done, this was not a small amount for their guild. Even first-rate guilds would feel this pinch.

How could they once again place a bet?

But seeing his actions only made Victor more furious. He was the main tank and the VIP player of their guild and here this lackey was questioning his moves?

"WHAT the fuck are you looking at? Go and register for the fight. Place the same amount again. 5000 gold coins. No make it double."

"I want that retard to lose everything he has earned so far. He wants to make some quick cash? I will see how he wins against me one more time! Hmph!"

"He might have gotten lucky that once, but even he can't get lucky every single time!"

"Leader… that…"

"What the heck are you still standing here for! Go and place the bet! Wait till I win. I will fuck his fat sister right in front of him!"

A couple of minutes later…

"Next fight!" The referee called out aloud and everyone's eyes bulged in surprise as they once again watched the same pair of fighters who had rocked their world just now.

They did not get much profit from the gambling as the mysterious rich tycoon had placed the biggest bet so he would have reaped the most rewards but even one or two silvers was still good pocket change.

Moreover, the fight itself was extremely exciting with lots of unpredictable twists and turns.

This made everyone's blood boil and the crowd erupted into a huge uproar as the two players once again jumped into the fighting ring.

The betting also started and the pot quickly rose to 20000 gold coins! Double the previous amount!

"Crap! The tycoon is betting again!"

"The stormtroopers guild is also matching his bet!"

"What is happening here? Is this a guild enmity or something? How is an individual player standing against a big guild like this?"

Only just now someone had lost 5000 gold coins but without missing a beat, they were betting the same amount again!

This made everyone unsure of which side to support. While one was a reputed guild, the other was a stable player with a strong win streak.

However, they did not have too long to decide and quickly placed the bets.

As opposed to the last battle, this was far more exciting and nerve-wracking, even for the spectators.

Victor also looked very serious. The last time he was happily bad-mouthing the opponent, but this time, right from the get-go, he was like a fierce tiger locked onto his enemy.

Everyone could tell that he was serious while Derek was still the same as usual. He just simply stood there without any emotions.

The referee soon stood up and started reading the rules and the gongs loudly sounded!

DANG! DANG! DANG!

Victor roared instantly rushing forward like a crazed bull. Just like last time, he activated [War Call] but now he no longer underestimated Derek.

Trash with luck could still win and he had learned that rather painfully. So he did not want to look like a fool and lose all over again.

This time he was determined to end the fight before the debuff even wore off!

Victor waved his war blade and swung it furiously, aiming for all the weak points of the person most familiar to him.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. This was exactly what he had done.

Victor had kept this person under his thumb for so long.

He had been constantly watching his fights, his moves so he knew everything about this person and where to attack to get the most damage across.

So targeting these sites, and using the attacks that Derek struggled the most to counter, he slammed his blade repeatedly on the simple-looking metallic guard Derek wore.

He could even feel the metal creaking and groaning under his assaults. He wouldn't be surprised if it actually broke!

This fight was definitely in his hands!

He was not alone in thinking this. The crowd was no longer cheering loudly. Everyone was watching the fight chewing their nails. The only thing that was missing was popcorn.

Half the crowd silently hoped for a comeback, but that did not seem like it was going to happen this time around.

Victor kept thrashing the guy without any chance for leeway or a mistake, continuously grinding him down, not leaving a single opportunity to take advantage of.

He was beating him like he was beating a dead snake. Derek was completely pushed back. This result was definitely a no-brainer!

However… in the midst of this flurry of attacks, a loud clanging noise resounded. Victor's war blade hung mid-air as he was not able to land the next attack.

He roared in anger and moved back, again lunging forward with full force to fight back. However, all of a sudden all his moves started to get countered.

What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck? Victor screamed inwardly, unable to digest what was happening to him.

One second he was in control and the next second, he was no longer in control! What happened the last time was repeating all over again.

A small bud of fear sprouted inside his mind and his gaze wandered over to Derek's health bar in shock and astonishment.

"This… this…" Victor could no longer remain calm and started stuttering in the middle of the fight. The guy's health was the same as last match.

How was it possible for him to have dealt the exact same amount of damage both times? Just what was his secret? How was he winning like this?

Something felt off and before Victor could recover from this shock, the gong loudly resounded, indicating the end of the match.

And just like that, he had lost again!

Just like before he started with an intimidating bang but the next second, this bang fizzled and he was completely demolished.

Without even waiting for the referee to announce the results, he silently started walking away, the pride and his arrogance on his face completely replaced with confusion.

The crowd was equally confused and everyone began murmuring and whispering among themselves.

Only Derek had the same blank face as he calmly stepped out and sat in his seat, patiently waiting for the call of the next match.

A couple of players tried talking to him but he did not respond to anyone and sat like a statue.

Coincidentally, Victor was also sitting like a statue at the moment. He also couldn't respond to anything his guildmates were saying.

Once was a fluke, but twice? And the health bar that looked extremely similar?

A frightening possibility arose in his mind but he didn't want to think about that, because if it was true… then…

At this time, his system interface chimed loudly and a familiar name appeared on the screen. "Guild master?" Victor gulped nervously.

Suddenly, the weight of all the gold coins he had lost weighed heavily on him.