8 Finals

It was the finals next. Hanzo had patiently sat inside his waiting room for more than ten minutes now. The reason for the long wait, was because the finals will be broadcast throughout Yggdrasil, thus the screen that previously only showed battles in Helheim, allowed Hanzo to switch to other champion battles.

Much like before, Hanzo did not prepare anything any other what he did beforehand, the reason being that there was nothing he could do. Despite his prior research, his opponent had not shown anything noteworthy when playing, whilst during the tournament their matches finished at roughly the same time.

"This is it. At times like this, I wish I had a motivating quote, like 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee'"

As Hanzo was becoming inspired by a certain individuals quote, he heard the mechanical countdown once more. Therefore, he stood up and equipped his weapon.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Come forth Champion!"

The next time Hanzos vision was restored, he was face to face with a terrifying looking creature. He almost recoiled at the sight of its pale skin and large mouth. Luckily, Hanzo had acquaintances who were the same Race, a vampire.

"That is not a sight you want to see after closing your eyes"

Hanzo chuckled, intentionally speaking loud enough for the vampire to hear.

"I'm glad it worked, it was worth not changing my appearance until after the tournament"

A tinge of respect bloomed in Hanzos heart as he heard the vampire talk. After all, it was common knowledge that uglier character avatars were prosecuted more at the moment.

"Good job man, though it wouldn't nearly be as effective if you were a female"

Hanzo mumbled the last section of his sentence since he realised how dirty it might make him sound. His thoughts flashed to an image of a certain NPC he was eager to meet in the future.

The opponent nodded and didn't speak anymore.

Eventually, the boxes holding them faded meaning the start of the fight. Hanzo jumped to the left and kept his distance.

Against a vampire, he had to wary. They were skilled at Life Draining and restoring themselves, while Hanzo did not have access to any healing spells at the moment. Of course, he could use an accessory or wand, but his Guild did not see the point in farming for them as they had healers. A small grudge against his current guild resurfaced only to be forcefully shoved down by Hanzo again.

"I don't see any 'Dragons Bane' enchantment but I should probably start as a Magic Caster"

Hanzo quickly used his ability 'Style Change' and started to formulate his next move.

Meanwhile, the vampire was fiercely watching Hanzos next moves. He was not confident in winning, however he knew that if he could corner Hanzo, it would be his win.

"This Dragonoid is going to play like a bitch I guess"

He grabbed his sword that was engraved with runes and dashed towards his opponent.

Hanzo saw the mad rush of his foe and was inwardly shocked by the speed. Much like the elf, the speed of the vampire was terrifying. Additionally, the vampire seemed to be running light armour that covered its weaknesses over the typical heavy armoured build vampires fight with.

Despite the charge, Hanzo did not panic. He held out his hand and chanted.

"Boost Extend Magic: Hellfire Wall"

A flaming wall immediately sprouted surrounding the vampire, halting his movements temporarily. This fire was one that did no physical damage to the enemy, however should they traverse the flames, it would destroy their 'soul'. While in the New World it may be different, Hanzo found that the 'soul' correlates to the players stats, thus by damaging their soul, it will cause the affected player to have all of their stats lowered aside from their Health Points.

Using the time he had gained with his wall, Hanzo prepared his next moves. Using Silent Magic, Hanzo cast his magic.

"Triplet Maximize Magic: Explosive Land Mine"

"Greater Magic Seal! Boost Maximize Magic: Purifying Cauldron"

Unfortunately, his preparations were cut short as the flame wall finally died out, revealing an annoyed looking Vampire.

"Stall tactics? Really? Casting enchantments won't do much mate"

After saying his piece, the Vampire launched himself towards Hanzo, his scimitars glowing a toxic green colour.

Immediately, Hanzos avatar moved into a defensive posture, bracing himself to avoid the attack.

"Maybe vampire was the way to go..."

Hanzos small contemplation was interrupted by the blade of the vampires scimitars slicing the air in front of him. Without any though, Hanzo leapt backwards and pushed his hand outwards.

"Maximize Magic: Reality Slash"

A fracture in space travelled towards the approaching Vampire, causing him to dodge to the side. The vampire adjusted his posture and went to take a step forward, however, a bright light appeared in front of him, then another and then another. The vampires instincts screamed, thus he retreated backwards.

Unfortunately, he was too late. Without any further delay, the bright lights exploded sending the vampire tumbling backwards.

Hanzo did not miss this opportunity, he activated another spell aimed directly at the Vampire.

"Maximize Magic: Silver Lance"

A magical Silver Lance that reflected the light floated in front of Hanzos hand. With a natural familiarity, Hanzo gripped the Lance, drew his arms back before launching it directly at the recovering vampire.

The Lance travelled across the arena, crashing directly into the Vampires chest.

From across the arena, Hanzo heard a scream of rage and confusion as the Lance made contact with his opponent.

Just as Hanzo was about to cast once more, the vampire stood up and aggressively charged with reckless abandon.

Clicking his tongue, Hanzo started to backstep in an attempt to avoid the wild slashes. Unfortunately, his Caster Style could not keep up with the reaction times of the vampire. His physical abilities were currently inhibited by his style, thus only choice was to try and deny the Vampire a chance to recover.

The Vampire closed the distance easily since they had abandoned their defense, appearing right before Hanzo.

The vampire sliced from both directions, cutting across Hanzos chest. He staggered due to the impact, as he forced his avatar to retreat to the side. Hanzos eyes squinted in frustration as a toxic green aura briefly swirled around his opponent.

"Tch... He got some of his health back"

Following this, Hanzo looked at his own health and saw that he had taken roughly 20% of his health already. A sense of urgency dawned on him as he noticed this. While it was not uncommon for Vampires to hit hard, his opponent had not yet gotten a critical hit, meaning he had to be even more wary of receiving any attacks from now on. Hanzo felt his mind becoming more fatigued due to the constant pressure of the tournament finally taking its toll alas he grit his teeth and carried on with his plan.

"Fly"

Hanzo activated the Tier 3 spell 'Fly' and glided his way towards the corner furthest away from his original area. Intent on ending the battle, the vampire followed Hanzo, his scimitars now had a red glow on them.

"Body of Effulgent Heliodor!"

Hanzos body glowed white slightly before the aura quickly disappeared. This would reduce the effectiveness of slashing attacks and negate a single instance of slashing damage. As he watched his opponent closed in, he noticed the vampire click his tongue in annoyance, likely due to the battle being prolonged.

Eventually, Hanzo found himself backed up against the wall of the arena. His options to evade were now limited to up as the vampire had positioned himself directly in front of him, giving him easy access to any escape route Hanzo would use.

"Well, well, well. It comes down to you cornering yourself huh? I can't believe I even let someone like you hit me"

The vampire spat out as he approached Hanzo.

Disgust filled Hanzos face as he listened to the words of his foe. Originally, Hanzo had a favorable impression of the Vamp, yet it seemed his real personality had surfaced after getting overwhelmed in the first half.

"Well, what can I say? I am good at my job"

Confusion overwhelmed the Vampire as he tried to work out the meaning of Hanzos words. Taking this opportunity, Hanzo used silent magic once more.

"Greater Magic Seal, Release!"

Suddenly, a magic circle formed beneath the still puzzled vampire startling him further. With no time to react, Hanzos foe was engulfed by a crimson inferno. The flames were not tall however they were fierce as they clutched onto the Vampire, stopping him from running. Additionally, the flames contained a purifying element similar to the Holy element, dealing massive damage against those with negative karma.

The flames ate away at the Vampires health, demolishing it within minutes. In order to add insult to injury, Hanzo launched another silent 'Silver Lance'.

The burning Vampire stared into Hanzos eyes with pure hatred as his Health points finally dwindled away, signalling the end of the fight.

He stood alone in the arena, relief flooding his body as he thought back to that final move. Despite planning it ahead of time, he was not sure whether it would work. Luckily for him, his opponent was evil aligned and had already abandoned any form of defense, making it easy for his trap to work.

"I really need to find people to practice fighting against, the people of my guild are irritating."

Since Hanzo did not trust his guild well enough, he would only do basic mock battles against anyone who asked. This meant that in scenarios like that where most of his main abilities were unusable, he was limited in the ways he could win. While he only lost 25% of his health in the entire fight, that was purely because the opponent fell for that trap. Had they seen through it, Hanzo would have undoubtedly lost within the next few minutes.

As he stood alone in the arena reflecting on his battle, Hanzo suddenly felt his vision turning black once more. He had grown slightly concerned that he had already gotten used to being forcefully teleported from locations. After all, it's always a good idea to be vigilant when something like that happens.

The black surroundings soon converted into a high class looking room, a large monitor hung down from the ceiling with a stage at the front. Scanning his eyes around the room, he saw 8 others, each one looking powerful.

"I see this is the final ceremony I suppose"

Hanzo mumbled to himself as he crossed his arms. While scanning his eyes around the room, his gaze fell upon a familiar looking individual. He did not know this individual, however it was an individual Hanzo would not forget. A Heteromorphic man stood tall with a full suit of silver armour, this man was Touch Me. Despite not adorning his World Champion armour yet, Touch Me still dressed like the ideal image of a "Knight in Shining Armour".

As Hanzos gaze remained on Touch Me for a bit too long, a commotion arose upon the stage. Turning his sight to the stage, Hanzo noticed a blank faced figure in a suit standing on the stage.

"Welcome Champions of the Nine Worlds! I would like to congratulate you all for proving your worth and making your way to the top!"

Smiles arose on everyone's face as they heard the praise from the well dressed man. Simultaneously, Hanzo realised the identity of the avatar in front of him. It was a developer Avatar, they are often used as test accounts or when there is an in-game issue that cannot be solved from the outside.

"As some may have guessed, I represent all of the developers of Yggdrasil, it was a very thrilling tournament, full of many varieties of battles. Without further ado, I would like to begin the conferment of Classes and equipment. First of all, you will all receive the 'World Champion' Class, however you must remain the strongest otherwise someone may steal your title as Champion."

The Developer spoke with a slightly teasing tone. It seemed he really enjoyed playing this role.

"Additionally! You will all receive a randomised piece of unique equipment! This equipment will forever be unique as a sign of your strength in this World Tournament!"

The Champions cheered at this news, the Class itself was enough to be satisfied, but with the addition of unique equipment, it made all of the fighting worth it.

"Now that is all from me, the moment you teleport from this room, you will receive your rewards. On the other hand, you can remain here for up to an hour to get acquainted with your fellow Champions, if you so choose!"

Hanzo nodded at this option, it was a good opportunity to get to know Touch Me in particular. He is a founding father of Ainz Ooal Gown, thus this is the best opportunity Hanzo had to get associated at the very least.

The developer left after saying what he needed, leaving only the champions in the room. As soon as they were free, the majority of the champions immediately teleported away, the allure of the rewards overshadowed the social aspect of this opportunity.

Searching around the room, Hanzo locked eyes with the Man of Silver. Without delay, Hanzo made his way over to Touch Me with a friendly smile. Waving his hand slightly, Hanzo started the conversation.

"Hey Congrats on Champion"

"You too! It seems you made it through without issue"

Hanzo tilted his head curiously, he wondered how Touch Me knew about his matches.

"It was not easy, but I made it through. May I ask your name by the way?"

Touch Me straightened out his posture and stuck his hand out.

"That was rude of me! My name is Touch Me! It is a pleasure"

Hanzo shook Touch Mes hand and returned his greeting.

"My name is Zelphyr, it's nice to meet you"

"As you said earlier, may I ask how you knew about my matches?"

Touch Me nodded his head and answered.

"My friend is an analysis geek, he likes to collect information and was watching your matches live. Whenever we had those small intermissions, he would keep me posted using the 'Call' function."

Hanzo nodded his head in realisation. He had a hunch that this friend was Momonga.

"I see, well I hope he enjoyed it. I would like to meet your friend at some point, comparing notes is invaluable, especially since I am going to be leaving my guild soon"

This time is was Touch Me who tilted his head curiously.

"A World Champion does not like his guild? May I ask what Guild you're a part of?"

"I am a part of the Number 4 Guild, I just don't get along with them. They're too restrictive and generally are untrustworthy, well except for the occasional few"

Touch Me nodded in understanding at Hanzos reasons. He himself had gotten bored of Guild Politics, thus choosing to remain until he met up with his current group.

"Well if you want, we can go meet him now. We intend to go farming after testing out my new equipment. I am sure my friend would be more than pleased to find out about your gains"

Hearing Touch Mes offer, Hanzo inwardly celebrated. It seemed he would become acquainted much earlier than expected.

After accepting his offer, the two formed a party and teleported away.