Chapter 10 - Entrance Exam(Part 4)

You know, what?

Suddenly, I don't care about the poison smoke grenade that I wasted in my previous match anymore. At least, not as much as I did before. Because, with that last kill, I've finally done it...I've reached Level 2 of my Item Box!

And it was worth the wait, I've gained a few more-than-useful new abilities that I can use with my Item Box. If I'm being honest, I was hoping I'd gain the ability to open multiple Slots at the same time, but unfortunately, no such luck.

But, one of my new abilities, called Instant Open Slot, now lets me open a Slot, well, as the name suggests, instantly. At Level 1, it took one second for a Slot to open after chanting, it may not sound like a lot, but it's a pretty big deal, a second is no insignificant amount of time in a life or death situation.

Next, there's Slot Restructure, which lets me change the shape of the inside of any of the Slots in my Item Box.

By default, the space inside each Slot is cubic, but now I can make it rectangular or spherical or triangular, whatever shape I can imagine. I can't increase the area though, but that's fine, each Slot is plenty spacious.

And the other ability I gained is pretty damn useful too, probably the most significant new ability I've gained upon leveling up, and my next opponent will be perfect for giving it a test drive.

I have to say, this is going pretty well.

I finally leveled up my Item Box Skill, and I've made it through half the tournament and only used a single bullet so far. And if things work out, I won't need to use any guns in my next match either. Yes, everything's going perf-...

"Hey, I've got a question for you, shithead...why did you buy that shield, anyway? I mean, you had it custom made for you, and that wasn't at all cheap, and then you never used it in your previous life. Yeah, it came it super handy in your last match, but I never understood why you had it made it the first place," Remarked Arkiela curiously.

Actually, the shield itself was more a means to an end...there was a specific feature I wanted implemented in it, because I thought it'd be cool. I didn't get to use that feature during my last fight, but I'm here to win, not to experiment with my weapons.

Anyway, I'd been expecting the shield to be a lot smaller, more like a wide armguard than a proper shield, but implementing the special feature I wanted resulted in it ending up being almost six feet long, so I could never use it on any of my old jobs.

I mean, it'd be insanely tough to remain covert while lugging such a large object around on my back, regardless of the fact that it isn't particularly heavy.

The guy who did the custom job charged a whole lot of money for it, and when I voiced my complaints over the size, he said he'd try to make a smaller version but demanded a second large sum of money for it.

I just decided to cut my losses at that point, and the shield sort of ended up collecting dust in a closet. I sure am glad it carried over into this world through my Item Box though, I definitely would've gotten some pretty bad injuries, at best, if it wasn't for that.

Anyway, I was currently in the bathroom of the stadium, I headed here as soon as I noticed that I'd leveled up my Item Box and then saw what my new abilities are.

In addition to the three new abilities I've gained, the level up also came with an additional upgrade. Specifically, I now have a total of forty Slots at my command, double the number I had before.

Yeah, I know, I could organize it after the tournament, but it would've bothered me if I had. Knowing that I can now better organize my weapons inside my Item Box, I just couldn't wait.

I decided to go to the bathroom so that I'd be able to reorganize my Item Box in private, don't want anyone seeing any of the weapons that I haven't used yet, after all.

"Uh, hello? Hey, stop ignoring me, shithead!" Frowned Arkiela, tugging on my earlobe before I swatted her away with an irritated sigh.

"Just go wait for me outside, bitch, I'm almost done organizing my stuff, let me get this done in peace. So fuck off until then, or better yet, forever," I muttered quietly.

"Hmph, whatever! Asshole."

Grr, she's so annoying.

Alright, focus up, I need to get this done quickly, don't want to end up late for the next round and get disqualified or whatever. I'm sure the Guild would jump on an opportunity to get me kicked out of the competition, and I'd rather not give them that opportunity.

"Okay, just a few more Slots to go...[Open Slot 36]," I chanted quietly, opening the next empty Slot and putting some objects into it.

Have to say, not a fan of this chanting thing. Unfortunately, it's kinda necessary. In the case of Magic users, which includes literally every single person in this world excluding me, they activate their Spells by chanting the name of the Spell out loud.

However, as they sharpen and increase the intensity of their Mystic Pressure, which is done by improving your control over your Mana and Spellcasting, they can gain the ability to cast their Spells without chanting.

My previous opponent, that Wind Magic user, was able to cast his smaller-scale Spells without chanting, but he still needed to chant in order to launch that powerful Wind Dragon Spell.

According to Arkiela, chanting gives the caster a near-guarantee that their Spell will succeed. Casting without chanting apparently comes with the risk of the Spell misfiring if the caster's focus wavers or weakens, especially with the more powerful Spells.

Of course, an inexperienced or below-average caster trying to cast a powerful Spell that's beyond their current limits, regardless of whether they chant or not, is almost certain to fail and misfire.

In other words, chanting makes Spellcasting easier and more stable, while chantless Spellcasting is riskier but a hell of a lot more efficient if you master it.

To put it in more modern terms, casting a Spell while chanting is like playing a shooting game with aim-assist enabled but the downside is that there's a slight delay, while casting a Spell without chanting is like playing without aim-assist but there's no delay. There's much less of a margin for error when casting a Spell without chanting.

Continuing with that analogy, playing a shooting game without aim-assist will sharpen your skills much better than playing with it would, it'll naturally be more difficult in the short term, but in the long term, it can make a huge difference.

Of course, none of this applies to me, seeing that I don't have any Magic at all.

However, it turns out, there is a way to use a Skill without chanting. Or, at the very least, it's possible with my Mercenary's Item Box.

Unfortunately, it's insanely difficult, and I'm a long way from even coming close to mastering it, it requires immensely detailed visualization and memorization of the feel of using the Skill.

It's especially difficult to master with how my Skill works, it now has forty Slots, each of which can be further compartmentalized. Just opening a Slot at all without chanting takes a lot of focus, and opening a specific Slot without chanting is beyond what I'm currently capable of, let alone opening a specific compartment within a given Slot.

So, instead, I've been working on chanting as quietly and quickly as I possibly can. It wasn't easy, I got tongue-tied several times trying to speak that fast, and even bit my tongue a few times. But I've gotten the hang of it, and I can now chant quickly and, for the most part, inaudibly.

Alright, that should do it, I've finished reorganizing my Item Box. Time to get out of here...I've been breathing through my mouth this whole time since I don't want to smell the nasty odor in here, but I'm starting to feel kinda nauseated.

Plumbing doesn't exist in this world, so the bathrooms are pretty fucking nasty.

I didn't have time to look for another spot where I'd be able to safely do this without being seen, so I had no choice but to come here to get some privacy.

Well, now that I'm done reorganizing my weapons, I have no reason to stay in here for any longer. It shouldn't be too much longer before the quarter final round begins, so I shouldn't waste any more time...

...

Whew, close one.

I returned to the waiting room right as the last match of round three finished up, and the five minute break before the next round began.

The break just ended as of right now, and my next opponent and I are both down at the arena, getting ready to fight as we waited for the ref to start counting down.

My opponent for this match is a woman who looks like she's about in her late-twenties or so, and she'd won all her previous matches pretty easily.

She uses Plasma Magic, the same as that pretty boy I killed yesterday. It's a Magic Class with powerful, destructive attack Spells, and my current opponent got through each of the previous three rounds by immediately unleashing large scale Spells at her opponents the instant the matches begins.

It's certainly not the worst strategy, I suppose, spamming your most powerful attacks over and over. I might even respect it...but she's got an arrogant attitude that pisses me off.

"This'll be over before you can even take a single step, you won't even get the chance to dodge, you fucking loser," She smirked cockily, already having raised her arms in my direction, ready to unleash a Spell the instant the match starts.

One thing about people like her, they tend to be super easy to provoke if you know which buttons to press, let's see if I can find those buttons...

"Oh, that's okay...because I'll defeat you without taking a single step away from this spot. Sure, the Spells you used in your previous matches were impressive, but even the most powerful Spells become significantly less effective in the hands of an unoriginal, one-trick pony like you," I scoffed tauntingly.

"Huh? Don't go getting a big head just because you made it this far...a Magicless nobody like you, you won't make it any further in this competition, I'll make sure of that. You're gonna regret calling me a one-trick pony, asshole...there won't be so much as a hair left of you by the time I'm done, I'll destroy you with my most powerful Spell. You may have a shield strong enough to block even the most powerful Wind Spell, but I'd like to see how it holds up against the most powerful Plasma Spell," She growled, seething as she glared at me.

Her Magic may be powerful, but that's all she's got going for her...I can tell from her build and the way she moves that she isn't the most athletic or agile, hence the over reliance on Magic.

"She does have a pretty immense Mana Pool, but her Mystic Pressure is really rough. So her Spells would be a lot weaker than any Plasma Magic user with a more refined Mystic Pressure. That said, Plasma Magic is still one of the most destructive Advanced Attack Classes, it'll almost definitely kill you if it hits you on the full, so I'd try to dodge this if I were you," Remarked Arkiela, as the ref began counting down.

Oh, there's no need for that. Besides the increased number of Slots, and the abilities to change the shape of the space inside a Slot and to instantly open a Slot upon chanting, she doesn't know what the other ability I've gained is.

If it works like I hope it will, then I've already won this fight.

Honestly, I'm kinda annoyed at myself for never thinking of using my Item Box in this manner. It would've made my previous fight a whole lot easier if it had crossed my mind. You'll see what I mean soon enough.

"Three! Two! One!"

"Now, die! [Plasma Dragon]!" Exclaimed my opponent, as a tremendous mass of glowing, blue energy burst out from her hands and rapidly took shape in the form of a dragon's head, before shooting towards me with immense speed.

The mass of destructive energy carved out a trail along the middle of the arena as it roared towards me rapidly, the entire arena lit up with an ominous, bright blue hue.

"U-uh, shithead!? Fucking dodge!" Exclaimed Arkiela in alarm, as I stood my ground, the massive Spell closing in on me.

Chill out, bitch, there's no need to dodge.

"[Open Slot 40, Preservation Mode]," I chanted, a slight smile spreading out across my face as a portal into an empty Slot opened up in front of me, facing away from me...before the large-scale Spell flew right into it.

I reconstructed the space inside the Slot to become longer, and subsequently narrower, in order to fit the Spell inside it, before swiftly shutting the portal as the Spell completely flew into it.

"H-huh? What just-...what the hell did you do to my Spell...?" Stuttered my opponent in shock, as I met her gaze with a calm, relaxed smile on my face.

She's completely stunned, a look of confusion and disbelief on her face...this is my chance, I'll finish this before she snaps out of it.

"Oh, my bad, stealing isn't cool, I apologise for that. Here...you can have it back," I replied, unable to contain myself as my effort to keep my composure shattered and a wide, malicious smirk spread out across my lips, as I swiftly chanted to open the Slot I'd just closed...and fired her Spell right back at her.

"N-no, wait-...!" She began in horror, but her voice was drowned out as the Spell hit and engulfed her in the blink of an eye.

The Spell hardly even slowed down as it hit her, continuing to barrel forward along the arena before crashing onto the wall of the barrier, several cracks spreading out across the barrier from the point of impact, clouds of dust bursting out and filling the space inside the barrier.

I took out my gas mask and put it on as the dust clouds filled the arena and flowed over towards me, a sense of giddy satisfaction starting to well up inside me.

This is the other ability I gained upon leveling up...Preservation Mode.

It's pretty self-explanatory, it preserves the condition of the item or items placed in the Slot that it's applied to. The first use that comes to mind is using it to preserve food that's easily perishable, which is most food in this world.

But I had a better idea in how to use it...using it to preserve momentum and speed.

I just had to test it out to make sure it would work, which I did right after Arkiela left the bathroom, I tossed a dagger into a Slot after applying Preservation Mode onto it, and then swiftly shut the portal. And when I opened that Slot again, the dagger flew out with the same amount of momentum it had when it tossed it in.

That's exactly what I did here.

I took her Spell into a Slot that I'd applied Preservation Mode onto, freezing the Spell in place the instant I closed the Slot, and then firing it back out at her with all the momentum it had generated by the time it reached and flew into my Item Box Slot.

I should've thought of this sooner...even without Preservation Mode, I could have used the portals into my Item Box Slots as a defensive option. Like with that Wind Magic user, instead of using my shield to block his Spell, I could've instead opened a portal into an empty Slot in front of myself and let the Spell shoot right into it.

I wouldn't have been able to fire it back, but I would've been able to block it, and almost certainly a lot more easily that I did with my shield. This Item Box Skill is proving to be a lot more useful and versatile than I'd initially thought...

Ah, the barrier has been taken down, the dust is starting to disperse.

As the dust cleared, my opponent came into sight, or at least what was left of her. Her body had been reduced to a charred corpse, several inches of the front of her face and body having been completely scorched off, the front of her skeleton visible, her bones charred black as smoke billowed out of her burnt corpse.

This is...this is so fucking awesome!

Hahaha, that idiot's face when she saw her own attack coming right back at her, she sheer bewilderment, confusion and shock on her face, before morphing into terror and despair, that was...that was the fucking best!

That arrogant look she'd had completely faded, I bet she didn't think she'd be killed by her own fucking Spell today!

A chill ran down my spine as I felt an euphoric rush washing over me, my entire body was tingling as I soaked in my surroundings...the stunned silence of the ref and the crowd, the shocked, horrified stares being directed my way, I love it, I fucking love it.

At that start of this tournament, I was apprehensive about having to fight with a massive audience present, but you know what?

This is great! I should've kept an open mind, because I'm really fucking enjoying myself right now!

I have no Magic whatsoever and just the single Skill, I bet there wasn't a single person in this audience who didn't write me off right from the start.

So, this reaction, the pindrop silence that I've brought about...ahh, this is bliss. Pure, ecstatic bliss!

Before I even realized it, I found myself laughing out loud, several unsettled murmurs echoing out around the stadium as I began laughing louder and louder, unable to contain this giddy, amped up feeling, the sound of my laughter chillingly distorted by the gas mask as it echoed out across the stadium...

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