15 Ranker Tournament (1)
Huh.
I blinked, and I was teleported into another dimension within the literal blink of an eye.
The whole place seems to be an amphitheater. There are many other people around, all inspecting their surroundings as I did.
These people does not seem to have any pattern except for the fact all of us are most likely Rankers. From children to teenagers to full-blown adults. However, there does not seem to be anyone who has gone into their fifties. I suppose there is an age criterion for being a Ranker, lax as it seems to be.
However, their faces are… Distorted.
[This is a function of the Ranker Arena, so everyone may remain hidden in anonymity and no one will take advantage the identity of one another]
Thinking back his memory was removed thanks to Ranker Arena. Their dissapearance should be related to this function.
[Announcement: All first-generation Rankers are officially at Ranker Arena. Combat Tournament will soon start; do not worry about getting hurt or hurting others as all damage will be fully healed after each battle. If you still do not wish to participate please tell the system and you will be teleported back to earth.]
Combat Tournament. It sounds like a fun time if you were to ask me. And obviously, there would be allusive rewards for the finalist wouldn't there?
[Affirmative]
Then count me in. It should be fun to test my mettle against other Rankers. They announced that even the weakest of these people is Rank 5 previously, and I am currently sitting comfortably at Rank 11. That should be good enough to at least carry me to the quarterfinals or maybe semifinals depending on how many Rankers there are out there. They never stated the amount so there might be hundreds of us around.
[38 of 100 Rankers have resigned. Two Rankers will skip their first fight while others must fight for the qualifier.]
So there are a hundred of us Rankers right now. There is the possibility of a second or even more wave of Ranker though, considering the system called us first-generation Rankers. I wonder how things are going on earth what with suddenly having a hundred people awakening superpowers.
Well, none of my business to pry. I have no excuse for pretending to care about the earth- my original earth- after I most likely abandoned it without a second thought. That much I still remember.
Anyway.
HG: I will luckily pass through the qualifiers without fighting.
There we go.
[Through luck, you have gotten the privilege of skipping the qualifier round of the Ranker Tournament +5SP]
So just winning one round gives me 5SP and it still counts though I did not fight at all, nice. The rest of the participants were still fighting though. Whenever a Ranker is called they would be immediately teleported towards the center of the amphitheater. As expected there is quite a variety of people here. Everyone looks like normal citizens of earth, except for me and a few others who were wearing cosplay outfits.
Mine is the Beacon school uniform, and there is a girl dressed in yukata, another in a maid uniform, a Miko outfit, and one in a Chinese cheongsam among others. There are a few guys who look ridiculous as well, but let us be honest here why should I care about other dudes.
Since there is nothing to do I might as well spend my SPs and get ready for my matches.
[???
Rank 11
SP: 78
EVO: 4
EXTRA: 1
[Planeswalker]: [Dimensional Travel(2)] [Hundred Gauntlet(6+)] [Dimensional Shooter(4+)] [Teleport(2)]
[Limitless]: [OverLoad++(6+)] [Energy Replenishment++(6)]
[Underdog]: [Triumph(EX)]
[Egocentric]: [One's Own Justice(EX)]
[Vigilante]: [Guider(4)]
[Berserker]: [Juggernaut(2)]
[Murderer]: [Human Search(2)]
[Hunter++]: [Aura(6)] [Unknown Existence(6)] [Vicious Hidden Throw(6)]
[Rank Quest: Reach Rank 14]
[Limit Quest 8: have six Rank(8) Skills.]
There are a whole lot of points stockpiled from achieving Rank 11. Let us see which Skill I should raise…
Upgrading DT is unneeded. HG is an option. I cannot use DS without people asking why I have multiple semblances while on RWBY so low priority on that. Overload and Energy Replenishment are too costly to upgrade, so not worth it. Triumph and OOJ should be left for later as they are special. Guider is useful.
Juggernaut is a Skill that makes me lose my sanity when activated so it is dangerous and currently not worth investing in. Human Search helps me read people so there is that. Aura cannot be evolved yet since it will most likely change after being evolved and I do not want people asking how I lost my Aura while still in RWBY, but I can upgrade it as well. Unknown Existence is great and Vicious Hidden Throw is even better.
So my current options are Hundred Gauntlets, Dimensional Shooter, Guider, Human Search, Unknown Existence and Vicious Hidden Throw.
There are still way too many Skills to upgrade, I need to narrow it down even more.
Dimensional Shooter is still a good choice. Guider might turn into some kind of Instinct-based Skill so it might be worth a try to evolve it. Human Search might be useful for combat in evolved and it is a cheap cost considering its Rank(2) state. Both Unknown Existence and Vicious Hidden Throw are strong enough as it is and there is no need to upgrade them considering they are useless in close combat like this Ranker Tournament.
So the finalist is Hundred Gauntlets, Guider and Human Search.
[6-12SP have been spent to upgrade HG(6+) twofold into HG++(6+)]
Now the effect of HG doubled with that 18SP. I noticed upgrading a Skill twice is much more cost-efficient rather than fully upgrading it four times. Upgrade it twice and the effect doubles. Upgrade it two more times and the effect increase by another 50% from its double + version, but its cost multiplies by four. From now on I should leave skills at ++ rather than leave them entirely after upgrading them.
[4-8-16SP and 1EVO have been spent to upgrade and evolve G(4)]
[Please choose its evolution result]
[Clairvoyance(6+)] [Third Eye(6)]
Clairvoyance. I do not care what Third Eye is there is no way I am skipping on having Clairvoyance as a Skill.
[Guider(4) has evolved into Clairvoyance(6+)]
Informations came into my brain. Clairvoyance is apparently currently a Skill that merely 'answer your question' rather than 'gives you a sight of the future'. Not as great but still a very nice Skill. And as I have explained before I upgraded it two more times.
[6-12SP have been spent to upgrade C(6+) twofold into C++(6+)]
Then finally Human Search.
[2-4-8SP and 1EVO have been spent to upgrade and evolve HS(2)]
[Please choose its evolution result]
[Human Anatomy(4)] [Human Identification(4+)]
The first seems to be a combat skill while the second is a utility Skill so I will take the first option in this case. I am sorely lacking in terms of Skills that could be used in frontal combat. And once again a double upgrade afterwards.
[Human Search(2) has evolved into Human Anatomy(4)]
It turn out to be a combat Skill as expected. This Skill lets me read the body movement of a human being. I am now officially a Mentalist.
[4-8SP have been spent to upgrade HA(4) twofold into HA++(4)]
Now finally the Rank(EX) Skills.
Triumph I figured out has the effect of giving me one EXTRA point whenever I kill the enemy in a disadvantageous situation as an underdog. While on the other hand One's Own Justice has the effect of reviving me for ten minutes when I die, giving me a second chance to defeat my enemy and revive myself, with the penalty of temporarily lowering all Skill Rank by one while also giving me unlimited stamina.
However what does upgrading them do when their effects are so varied?
[Unlike normal Skills you may choose to upgrade an aspect of a Rank(EX) Skill when you upgrade them]
…I see?
Well, try upgrading my money-making Skill Triumph then.
[Please choose how you would like to upgrade T(EX)]
[Lessen Restraint] [Increase Power]
I assume increasing the power means I will get 2 EXTRA points each time Triumph is activated. But lessening the restraint… that is something very alluring. I decided to choose the first option.
[T(EX) has turned into T+(EX). Its restraints have been lessened. You may now activate T+(EX) by defeating enemies rather than killing them]
…That was a mistake on my part.
This upgrade was near-useless. The only way it would help is if I did not want to kill a stronger enemy I should by no means be capable of beating… Wait, does that mean I can gain EXTRA points from winning spars?
[Affirmative. But only if you are held in a far disadvantageous situation.]
Then it's not the worst upgrade I suppose. Maybe I can earn an EXTRA point by beating Pyrrha or someone even stronger one on one. Alright, that was a good choice then. Hopefully, I can utilize it within this Tournament as well.
The fight continues on and I was left dying to boredom. Maybe it was not the best idea to skip my own first fight by cheating with HG usage. What's done is done though and I can only wait in patience for the next round to commence.
Meanwhile, I decided to scout the competition. There are lots of interesting fighters with unique skills and fighting styles. There are sixty-two of us here with sixty of them fighting, but thankfully the fights are taken in turn and not simultaneously, so I could watch on without missing any of them.
It seems the tournament is put into the normal brackets system, like any tournament arc in any animes. I was set on the 32nd spot of the tournament, with my enemy on the 31st spot being another person who skipped his fight just like me.
So I have information on all enemies except the one I will be facing first. Nice. Then again that also applies to everyone else. They will know the capabilities of all enemies to some extent discounting their first fight where both they and their enemies have yet to fight at all.
Considering the fact everyone can see my match and vice versa, the thing to do in the early match is not only to win but winning while hiding a trump card of sorts. The less the next enemy knows about you the better it is.
Thus I continued to watch the rest fight until the second round started. And afterwards, I still need to wait for fifteen more fights to commence before my own fight starts. Therefore I decided to use HG for once.
HG: Time will pass me by very quickly until my first fight starts.
This means I lost some information on my enemies, but I think I had most of them pegged down anyway. Besides, there are still four more fights after this one for me, so there are still times aplenty for me to learn more about my enemies once the weaker ones among us are cropped out.
Finally, there was my turn. With HG usage it felt like only a minute or so have passed, even though in reality it was certainly multiple times that.
For the first time, I was teleported onto the center of this amphitheater. It sure looks grand from here, makes me feel small as well. However, enough looking around, my attention was thrown onto the enemy who was right in front of me.
He was a brown-haired man with a nonchalant smile on his face. Looking at his lean body he does not seems to be a fighter, but his baggy clothes hide his form so I would not know whether he had any muscle hidden around. His limbs certainly look skinny though.
I took a fighting stance against him, instantly rushing onto his unsuspecting form. This youth did not react at all as if he does not care about whatever I do. Considering he managed to pass through the first round without fighting the youth most likely has a luck-based skill like my HG. However—
HG: This punch will connect and knock him unconscious
"Gah!"
He might have a luck-cased Skill, but I have the same in the form of my HG. It seems my HG has a higher Rank than his though since I won the clash just now, though it seems the effectiveness was reduced since the enemy was not unconscious.
Thinking back these people are still on the Earth, so it must be hard for them to earn points compared to me whose life is packed with plot events. which gives me more opportunities to earn more Rank and SP than they do. This could easily be attested by the fact the lowes of the Rankers are only at Rank 5 while I am sitting at Rank 11.
"How! How did you hit me!"
It seems he is surprised his own luck-based skill did not work. Ah well, time to end this.
Overload 4%
(+500% Temporary Physical Strength)
HG: This punch will connect and knock him unconscious.
[You have won the second round of Ranker Tournament +10SP]
And like so I won the second round.
Also it seems the reward increases the more fights I win, considering I got 10SP rather than 5 his time around. That was a nice touch. Wonder if the next one will be 15 or 20 though. My bet is on 15 since otherwise, the rewards for later fights will be too large. The system gives some leeway in certain aspects, but it is certainly not that kind.
[How rude]
It is now time for the third round to commence. There are fifteen other Rankers left. At this point taking note of your enemies from their matches against one another becomes a critical part of deciding the battle result. The saying knowledge is power exists for a reason.
The first fight was between a slime and a mage according to my memories of both contestant's previous fights. I kid you not, there is someone out there who has a Skill that lets them turn into slimes. A lecherous skill if I ever saw any.
On a more practical note though, the slime body of his means he can completely no-sell any physical attacks. Sadly his enemy this time around is capable of using magic. Some burst of fire appeared in the middle of the arena, exploding outwards with smoke and dust. That was all it took for the first battle of the round to end.
Second fight. A girl wielding a sword and another man wielding a pair of daggers. How a woman could get a large seemingly custom-made sword in these days and age I have next to no idea. Is there even any place that accepts bulky custom-made design left these days?
When the fight started the man instantly rushed towards his opponents. From what I could see he should be a rogue with extremely high damage output at the cost of being very weak in defense, so he has to end the fight quickly or he will lose out his advantage. Facing that relentless attack the woman merely swung her sword once. That was how the second battle ended.
The girl defeated her enemy in one attack. No question asked. Seems like we have a strong competitor around here.
The third fight is between two women. One was a buxom girl with alluring looks while the other was a woman made out of stone. Seems like someone chose 'golem' for their first trait because otherwise, I have no idea how someone could stumble upon that kind of trait in their own Ranker Journey. Meanwhile, her opponent seems to be the type to use her feminine wiles to her advantage.
The thing here is the fact they are both women, so apparently the effect does not work on Golem girl. Or maybe it was because mental status effects cannot work on golems. Who knows honestly?
Anyway, the golem girl won the fight.
Fourth fight is one between a strong bulky man wearing a latex suit and a thug-looking woman with a metal bat. Both participants only used physical prowess to fight, but the muscular man far outclassed the woman in terms of strength, ridiculous as his get-up is.
The thug-looking woman attacked and attacked with his bat, but none of them went past the man's guard. In the end, the man finished the match with one punch. One attack. That was all it took to defeat his enemy. So extreme strength is his foremost ability. I will watch out for it.
The next fight starts with a man with bear fur, ears, tails, and face. Honestly, it was practically a bear walking on two feet rather than a human with animal traits. His enemy was coincidentally another person with bird traits. This one is a girl with birds features i.e. a harpy.
I wonder whether those kinds of things were getting popular on my original earth after I left, because this will certainly be an amusing fight to watch. Would not lie, I was actually hoping for a zebra-bear rather than a normal bear here. That would have made this fight much more enjoyable on the soul in my opinion.
On a more serious note though, it seems the bird girl is from a bird-of-prey species, considering her small stature and lightning-quick flying speed. Those are usually solid existence in the animal food chains of its bodyweight.
Of course, a bird-of-prey would never win against a bear if those two animals were to fight in real life, but these are not those animals, but merely humans who attained their physical traits. Therefore the biggest difference is intelligence. Humanity lies at the top of the food chain even though we are weaker than other animals physically by using our brains.
Now there are two people here whose physical strength has been elevated thanks to their Traits and Skills, so it is a matter of who can use their animal traits to their advantage, rather than which animal is better.
It is very easy to read this fight. One is a powerhouse tank while the other is a hit-and-run build that can fly. The question here is whether the Bear man can get a good hit onto the bird girl before she tires and outlast him through her weak attacks.
And in the end, the Bear did manage to win by placing a well-timed hit against the harpy girl who seems to have overextended. I suppose with this the bear managed to maintain itself as a solid powerhouse in the land animal category.
Next is a fight between a pair of teenage boy and girl against a lady in yukata. I do not know why but the two teenagers were considered as one Ranker. Maybe they were siblings and one of them decided to share their powers with the other one? That would be interesting. Maybe it was a case like a BroCon sister and a SisCon brother sharing one trait like Synchronize or something.
When the fight started yukata lady suddenly created many, many strings surrounding the arena through some means I cannot see through, and I could bet those strings were razor sharp as well. Interesting Skill if I ever saw any.
The Ranker pair seems to have some form of telepathy going on, but their excellent teamwork was useless in the face of a solid AoE attack like those strings. In the end, Strings won the fight without much trouble.
Next was a battle between two men. One was a handsome tall man with a blade held in his hand, while the other one looked like an abomination. It was like meeting Noumu-junior or something. Clearly it there was a contrast between a hero and his villain theme going around here.
Cliché as it is I must give them props since the fight was actually an exciting one. The abomination attacked relentlessly while blade-man defended and counterattacked skillfully. In the end our protagonist triumphed by cutting the abomination cleanly in half. Of course, said abomination was revived perfectly by the system the moment said the match was done though.
Nice match.
Then it was time for the last of third-round battles. I was summoned onto the stage once more. My enemy was someone who could create clones of himself…
Though that was not the main focus here.
I could have fought a harem anime protagonist, a female Shinto priestess, a Chinese martial artist or so many other possibilities. I would even be fine with fighting an abomination like the handsome man in the previous round. However what I fought was none of those, but rather…
No, this man has a good trait. The ability to create clones is nothing to snuff at, and it has many uses depending on certain factors. It is worthy of gaining the approval of badassery stamp.
But my only question is why the hell are they all dressed like power rangers!?
There are five enemies in front of me. They all wore a power ranger skinny armor like in in those kids superhero shows where those stupid idiotic protagonists can't even think of using their giant robot form to defeat the enemies while said enemies are still in their human-sized form, skipping one phase of a battle entirely.
They even had five explosion at the beginning of the battle, all color-coded to match them in terms of coloring and flamboyance. Red, blue, green white and black. There was neither yellow nor pink assumedly because my enemy is a male and therefore not fitting for such a role.
As a wise person has said in the past, Pinks are my second favorite rangers because they are sexy girls, while Yellow is my most favorite ranger because of the same reason, but Asian.
Enough playing around though, the enemies have finally stopped their ridiculous poses and started taking a fighting stance instead. Good, there is nothing more troublesome than the unpredictable, so if he intends to go for a generic beatdown method then I welcome him with open arms.
HG: My attackers will slip and fall as they rush towards me
And so they did.
Through using Clairvoyance, I managed to know which body was the real one.
HG: My punch will hit the Green Ranger
Overload 4%
[+400% temporary physical strength]
I punched forward without even looking at the enemy. There is no need as HG will guide my punch towards my target. When I opened my eyes the four clones of the enemy Ranker started to disappear while making theatrical acts.
"…Why is the Green Ranger the real one?"
"Because I am the true hero!"
The man responded instantly with certainty that could be felt in his voice, even though his voice was distorted. This must be another effect of Ranker Arena. Plus he was down on the ground. What, if you still had enough power to speak then why not spend it on waking up and struggling some more. How idiotic, and how boring.
For someone who has literally died in battle, this tournament is merely a sick joke.
Overload 4%
[+400% temporary physical strength]
Stomp. His head hit the ground jaw-first, which caused him to lose his consciousness.
[You have won the third round of Ranker Tournament +15SP]
There we go. Back to spectating others fight then.
