Weird Feeling

Standing in the midst of the contenders, Kael felt a repulsive feeling deep within. He had clenched his fist so tight in order to restrain himself from acting foolishly. Blood slowly dripped to the ground but wasn't noticed by anyone since they were focused on the task ahead.

One figure, though, had a smile on his face as he stared at the puddle of blood on the ground. "Is he afraid or what?" Duncan thought before staring at Kael. He noticed beads of sweat on his face, causing him to shake his head. "Here, I thought he would be a great opponent to fight, to think he's this scared when the fight hasn't begun. Truly pathetic."

"Let the match begin!" Queen Otrera declared, causing the crowd to cheer wildly. The rest of the contenders left the stage as the first match was about to begin.

Duncan, who appeared to look calm, smiled at his opponent. "Hope you can grant me an exciting match," he said slowly, brandishing his broadsword.

His opponent, Kendrick, a follower under the pantheon of Apollo, smiled back while brandishing his sabre. "May the strongest win!" He declared as a horn was blown, issuing the start of the match.

Kendrick was already charging forward with flames blazing behind his feet.

"Oh, you were blessed with fire ability. Then... Let's see whose flame is the strongest!" Duncan took just a step before skyrocketing forward. His weapon was high above his shoulder as he swung down.

Dark flames surged around the blade as it struck down, causing the ground to explode with debris of rocks shooting across the expanse. Kendrick quickly, in his movements, easily avoided the rocks while cutting down a few.

Kael, sitting in a special seat made for the contenders watch with keen eyes, ensuring to gain knowledge about their abilities in order to be prepared for whoever won. He stared at the system screen for a moment before focusing on the match.

[Chain Quest Active]

[Defeat the worshipper of Hera - Completed]

[Gain knowledge about the world - Completed]

[Participate and win the event coming up - Active]

[Rewards:???]

[Penalty: All your stats will regress to the beginning with an F rank talent]

"I need to win," Kael muttered, clenching his fist tightly. The competition was the last quest left for him to complete the chain quest.

The fight down below continued with a display that left the crowd cheering. The amazons were usually lovers of battles, and this was truly a nice recreation for some.

Kendrick was on the defence as he struggled in blocking the strikes of Duncan. Duncan's immense strength was amplified by the broadsword, which he swung down mercilessly.

His speed was also topnotch, causing him to easily control the match. Kendrick was being pushed back with no opening for a counterattack.

Shifting his legs, Duncan swung his sword down, which was once again covered in dark flames. Slamming down, Kendrick managed to block with his sabre, but things didn't end well. An explosion occurred dealing the final blow to the already cracked sabre.

The sword continued forward with the sabre shattering into fragments. Kendrick jumped back, barely evading the attack. A large gash was left on his shoulders with a searing pain, causing him to groan softly.

"You better give up now," Duncan muttered with a smile while clenching his sword tightly.

Tsk!

"Give up? So you think I came here for no purpose. The battle just started," he said, stomping the ground with his fist raised over his face. "Prepare yourself!" Bright red flames surged around his fist as he charged forward, releasing a flurry of strikes.

"Alright, I'll go easy on you." Keeping his sword, he easily countered each blow matching fist for fist. Both forms streaked across the platform with flames blazing brightly. Duncan easily countered each blow, continuously striking his sides.

"Ughh," Kendrick was the first to jump back, holding his sore ribs. Arghh, he groaned in frustration. Seeing he was no match in close combat, he decided to attack from afar.

He easily conjured fireballs, which he hurled towards Duncan. "You should know not to fight a dragon with fire. We are born from flames, after all!" Easily evading the attacks, he slowly closed in the gaps, leaving no room for escape.

"Let me show what a real flame is!" Leaping high, he allowed the countless fireballs to slam into him, leading to a dense smoke that covered his entire body.

Though, those at a higher stage would be able to know what was going on. The smoke slowly dispelled as the temperature rose within the platform. Duncan's body slowly came into view, revealing he hadn't been injured from his earlier attacks.

With both palms placed mere centimetres away from each other, a large red ball had formed in between emitting a fierce heat across the arena.

Raising his hands up, he let out a loud roar as he hurled it forward. "Take this!"

Kendrick turned pale just from the sheer size of the fireballs rapidly closing on him. "You're crazy!" He exclaimed as his body was covered in a bright flame. "I was sent by our head for a reason," he said as his aura surged. Raising his hands, he rapidly conjured a fireball of his own, although a lower quality to the one heading towards him.

Both balls clashed, leading to a massive release of heat and explosion. The barrier flickered and was unable to stop the storm of heat that blew over the arena. The cloud of dust formed slowly dispelled revealing a figure covered in blood with half of his body burnt.

Cough~ Cough~

Kendrick barely survived the attack, and admitting his inferior strength, he raised his hands up. "I give up," he muttered, causing the already charging Duncan to stop in his tracks.

"Oh, it seems I went too far," he muttered his aura, dying down as he stood in his spot with an expressionless face. "When I thought the battle was becoming fun," he mumbled with a sigh.

With the battle over and the winner clearly known by all, they left the stage with Kendrick carried to the medic room for treatment.

Kael slowly rose from his seat, knowing his match was next. Cracking his fists, he made his way to the platform with a serious expression. Even Queen Otrera was surprised by the sudden change.

"This guy…" she muttered with a wry smile. "Let's see how his first match will go. Not that I expect him to disappoint."

His opponent also made his way to the platform. Now, standing before each other, both observed themselves like a predator observing his prey.

His opponent had vibrant green hair, which was tied in a ponytail. His sea green eyes emitted a cold gaze as he stared down at Kael as if his presence was an insignificant ant standing before him.

With the horn blown, Kael readied himself for his first match in the competition. "You're from Poseidon Pantheon, right?" Kael asked with a strange smile on his face.

"And so what? Are you considering giving up?" Zerus replied, eyeing Kael.

"Give up? You're not expecting to advance easily, are you? Don't feed me that trap and prepare yourself!" Kael exclaimed, charging forward.

"This battle had already been concluded a while ago," Zerus said, stretching his hands outward. A wave of water exploded forward, completely submerging Kael in its tide.

"Like I said earlier, the battle is over," he said, standing boldly folding both hands across his chest.

The wave was only getting stronger with each second, causing everyone to go silent.

Sigh~

"It's quite clear it's over, right?" He said loudly as he made his way back to his seat after a minute of silence.

"You're truly an idiot to think the battle is over with just this attack," a voice echoed, causing Zerus to stop in his tracks.