World Tournament - 1

Standing on the Eternal Ember Plane, Lucian focused on his console, currently in the process of registering for the World Tournament.

Small specks of embers whirled around him, a natural occurrence in this land. The Eternal Ember Plane was located at the edge of Muspelheim and had a hazardous environment. Lucian was able to stand here without taking damage from the flying specks of ember thanks to the abilities provided by his [Eldurhildr] Valkyrae.

No other players were near him. After all, he was at one of the edges of Muspelheim, a place where most players wouldn't even consider going unless they were seeking specific drops from particular monsters found only there. Even then, they would be equipped with gear specifically suited for this location, including fire-resistant and ember-resistant gears.

"This should do it. But the fact that they're offering 10 million coins for everyone who registers is quite surprising. However, I suppose since only players at level 90 and above can join, it's not a life-changing amount, but it's still a substantial sum." Ten million coins were indeed a substantial amount. For regular level 90 to 100 players, the coins earned from registering in the tournament could certainly make a significant difference.

One of the reasons why the World Tournament was so popular was its extensive advertising. It could be found almost everywhere, from TV to Teatube. The promotion for the Yggdrasil World Tournament was widespread. Additionally, the event was broadcasted across multiple platforms, and even players who participated and lost would have the opportunity to witness the final battles in person.

"Man, I'm really tired after hearing all those lectures from Chagama-san," Lucian said as he slumped down on the red rocky bed on the ground. He had received quite an earful from his new 'friend,' although she later apologized for her rude behavior. Apparently, she had a brother who spent money on gachas, which is why she thought of Lucian as a brother for a moment and lectured him.

"A sibling, huh? It must be nice to have a sister, wouldn't it?" Lucian mumbled to himself, wondering what it would be like to have a sister.

After collecting his thoughts, Lucian stood up and glanced at the timer.

[22:54] - 22 minutes remained before the tournament was set to begin.

Once the tournament started, every player would be transported to a private PvP arena to battle a randomly chosen opponent who had also registered for that world. They would continue to battle unless they lost or won all the rounds for the day. The event spanned three days, with the third day featuring the main fights of all the worlds, where only the semi-finalists would remain.

For the most part, players were focused on and eagerly awaited the battles for the rank 3 and 1 positions. Both of these players were from the same guild and had gained significant popularity in the virtual world. Furthermore, they were both endorsed by the same brand, a VR software security company.

Lucian, on the other hand, wasn't particularly interested in claiming the #1 or #2 spot, as he was already powerful enough and didn't require anyone's approval to maintain his strength. However, he wouldn't mind taking on the first and second rankers if they sought a challenge and attempting to claim their positions.

Unfortunately for Lucian, both of those highly-ranked players were participating in the Niflheim world and not in Muspelheim. In Muspelheim, he could only find players ranked 7 to 12. This limited selection of high-ranked opponents might be why Muspelheim didn't generate as much excitement among players.

Lucian patiently waited for the remaining 22 minutes, passing the time by exploring the cash shop and buying all the new items he could find. Since he hadn't checked the cash shop earlier in the day, there were plenty of new items to catch up on.

As the timer finally reached 0, Lucian vanished from the red rock bed he was sitting on, reappearing inside a massive hall that was packed to the brim with players.

Lucian observed some players chatting with each other and forming groups. It appeared that the players in the vicinity had been transported in such a way that they ended up together with their friends if their friends had also signed up. Lucian, however, found himself alone, likely because he had no friends in the Muspelheim world's vicinity. This might be due to his relatively small number of friends, with most of them being members of the largest guilds or friends of Touch Me, whom Lucian also considered his friend.

[Total players registered - World - Muspellsheim: 7,118]

[Player: LuciLuci - Round 1 - Opponent : SigmaMale69]

[Fight starts in 10 minutes]

[Please choose your gears and equip them]

[Warning! You won't be allowed to change gears during PVP]

[Warning! You won't be allowed to use recovery items during PvP]

Lucian looked at the screen. He had already reviewed the details and rules of the world tournament after registering. Essentially, each player would engage in random battles against others who had registered from the same world in a standard PvP format. These battles would continue until only four semi-finalists remained.

Then, the remaining four contestants would battle in a new arena specially designed for the world championship, which had yet to be revealed. Each of the nine worlds had its unique arena. It was said that the world championship wasn't solely about sheer power but also required wits, as the arena itself would attempt to devour the participants. These details had been hinted at in the trailers and promotional materials released so far.

Lucian wasn't overly concerned about the challenges ahead. After all, he was at level 90, and his stats were already enough to solo raid bosses, an impossible accomplishment in itself.

Lucian examined his inventory and equipped his gear. Everything remained the same, including his armor, except for his hands, which now bore two purple gauntlets. They resembled devilish hands with sharp, burning red claws that seemed to melt, and each gauntlet featured a red gem at its center emitting a subtle glow. Symbolic wings surrounded the gems, indicating their devilish nature.

Lucian had decided not to fight with a lance, scythe, or any other weapon this time. Instead, he would rely on his bare hands. After all, why not? He had no reason to worry about losing; he was already overwhelmingly powerful. Moreover, in Muspelheim, most of the players were relatively weak, with the top players participating in Alfheim, Asgard, and Niflheim.

Lucian inspected his gauntlets:

[Cursed Claw of the First Devil]

Description: A weapon forged from the dying hands of the first Devil(a raid boss). The deity only dropped one pair of such gauntlets, each holding the power and essence of the first first Devil.

Data Capacity: 1.8 Million

Type: Weapon

Class: Divine

Skills/Abilities: |Two Aspects of First Devil| |Cursed Touch| |Infernal Grasp| |Devil's Mark| |Maleficent Aura|

This weapon had been dropped by a devil boss that Lucian had defeated at the edge of Muspelheim, where the most powerful monsters resided. Lucian was able to go through that dangerous route thanks to his [Eldurhildr] Valkyrae, which granted him absolute fire immunity and endless firepower. These attributes were essential for traversing the route and defeating the boss monster, a feat Lucian had achieved first. This achievement explained why the boss had dropped five divine-class items, with the pair of gauntlets being the most powerful among them.

Before equipping the gear, Lucian decided to switch one of his rings.

His slender and long fingers were adorned with ten rings, each a work of art in itself. These rings were either rare divine-class artifacts or, in the case of one exceptional item, a world-class item known as Draupnir.

Normally, a player wouldn't be able to equip five rings on each hand, totaling ten, and can only equip one ring at most. However, through cash shop items, one can bypass this limitation, allowing them to have the ability to equip more than one ring. In Lucian's case, he can equip a total of ten.

Lucian carefully examined his inventory and selected a special ring he had created. This ring was designed to convert his stats into data, enabling him to restrict his strength during normal gameplay without sealing or erasing it entirely. Essentially, it allowed Lucian to compress his stats into small bits of data, granting him the ability to seal them temporarily.

The ring was a marvel of craftsmanship, a full-finger ring with a beautiful design. Its body resembled a delicate cobweb net, adorned with small gems at its corners. At its heart, a stunning gem radiated with the intensity and colors of a galaxy, exuding a serene, calm, and breathtaking beauty.

[Restraint on Divinity]

Data capacity: 3.5 million

Type: Accessory

Class: Artifact/Divine

Description: An item created by the player [Luci Luci]. This item have restraining qualities of unprecedented degrees.

Skills/abilities: |Divine Chains| |Shackle of Infinite| |Nether Pulse| |Data Control| |Data Compression| |Data Conversion| |Data Management|

- This Artifact has the ability to seal the stats of any player by compressing the data.

- The seal can be released at any time, as long as the player knows the password.

-Enter Password [_____________]

Lucian immediately entered the password as a keyboard appeared.

[Password: MeimeiCantEatCarrot] – a choice of password that was sure to annoy his self-proclaimed perfect maid. Nevertheless, he proceeded with it.

[Access Granted]

After entering the password and seeing the ring's effects taking place, Lucian wore the ring. Although he could easily one-shot everything if he wanted to, where's the fun in that?

(Don't worry, just because he has sealed his Stats, doesn't mean shit! Just his natural abilities makes him a monster. And his stats can be unsealed anytime.)

He unequipped his world-class ring, [Draupnir], and equipped the [Restraint on Divinity]. After all, Lucian couldn't equip a world-class item in this tournament, as they were banned.

After that, he immediately put on the two gauntlets, transforming his hands to look like those of a devil. However, his armor remained immaculate, creating a striking contrast with his handsome, pretty boy avatar.

A couple of minutes later, Lucian saw a new screen in front of him, with a huge timer counting down. As the timer reached zero, Lucian suddenly found himself teleported to a new location.

The place he found himself in was a normal PVP arena the most typical one one could battle in. A rocky terrain, and what looked like a gladiator arena.

Lucian looked ahead and he was greeted by his first opponent.

Lucian glanced at the humanoid player, who was adorned in a full-body armor that, while visually impressive, Lucian could tell was likely no more than Legendary class..

Lucian observed the player's appearance, instantly recognizing him as humanoid just by his avatar's look. The character had a sky-blue body with the appearance of floating clouds. A sword at his hip indicated his role as a warrior, and his overall build confirmed it.

[IGN]

SigmaMale69

[Humanoid]

[Race]

Jinn Albashara / Sky

[Level]

100

HP - 89/89

MP - 53/53

"Lol, bro thinks he's Prince Charming. You're ugly inside, lil' bud. No amount of cosmetics can hide your vampire appearance. Yuck, you disgust me!"

As the one-minute timer counted down, Lucian could clearly hear the player's comments through the PVP voice chat.

Lucian didn't react to the player's words; he was accustomed to hearing such comments from other players, mainly humanoids who apparently found heteromorphic avatars repulsive. However, the player's remark didn't apply to Lucian anymore. He no longer had the lamprey-like appearance from before; this was his new normal appearance. After acquiring the Transcendent Vampire class, his appearance had transformed into a holy and divine one, influenced by his Greatest Einherjar class.

Lucian knew the rules well; players were allowed to engage in verbal fights without the risk of getting banned, as long as it occurred before the semi-finals and finals.

"So, can you fight, or is it all just talk?" Lucian asked as he adjusted his gauntlets, which were eager to showcase their power.

"Bud, you shouldn't be asking anything yet. Wait for the battle to start, and I'll be the one doing the questioning." The player tried to appear cool, but it came off as childish.

"Fine with me." Lucian smirked, eagerly awaiting the timer to reach 0 so he could give this kid a little beatdown.

______________________________________________________________

2000+ words.

Was it another boring chapter? Don't worry, once the World Tournament Arc is over, everything will get excited and fast.

Give some Power Stones for motivation.

Drop a review for eternal blessing.

Guy's, those of you, who think I'm gonna drop this fanfic, please, don't worry, I'm not gonna drop this Fanfic. It's a passion project of mine. Even if none of you guy's supported it, I would've still written it. And will continue to do so.

Also, don't worry, I haven't ran out of idea. My brain is filled with them, but it's a total different thing to have an idea and to put it into paper as writing. And I'm doing my best to put it as naturally and as best as possible. I don't wanna come off as cringe, or something similar.

Anyway, to those of you, who are planning stay till the New World. I'll make sure it's worth it for you.