ch72- Global Showdown
It seemed that Alex's monster-clearing speed was too fast. Though the next few resource points had been overrun by monsters, they hadn't yet fully turned into monster nests, and the group was able to wipe them out easily.
When Alex returned to the third resource point, which had already become a monster nest, only a dozen or so people were with him. The others, like Don, initially wanted to tag along to earn more points but ultimately decided to stick to the original plan of occupying the other resource points, knowing there would be more opportunities in the future.
The newly formed monster nest radiated an eerie, ominous energy. The monsters that had taken over the resource point hadn't seen any combat and were in perfect condition, though their numbers were only around two thousand. For Alex, it made no difference whether there were a few elite monsters or a boss enhanced by the Belos Crystal inside.
Just to test the power of his **Belos Star**, Alex decided not to rely on his usual "Blazing Explosion" technique to clear the monsters. The **Belos Star** lived up to its name as the ultimate weapon against Belos creatures. With one punch, a silver-blue shockwave surged forth, instantly obliterating every monster within a 90-meter straight line.
Dealing over ten thousand damage, no creature stood a chance. In less than ten minutes, Alex and his team wiped out the entire nest of two thousand monsters. After leaving a group behind to complete the occupation, Alex moved on to the next point.
At the second resource point they had attacked, they encountered another group fighting monsters. The area was littered with bodies, suggesting the battle had been raging for a while. The constant influx of Belos monsters from the surroundings had prevented them from completing the occupation.
With Alex's team joining in, the battle would have ended quickly. However, to avoid drawing unnecessary attention, Alex and Daniel, both equipped with their full divine gear, stayed back. Instead, Lucas and the others, who were only wearing their flying gear, went down to assist. Alex and Daniel quietly returned to East Sea City.
By the time they arrived back at the city lord's mansion, it was already past 7 PM. Since occupying the resource points would take another two or three hours, Alex greeted Daniel before returning to his room to tally up the day's spoils.
Although the final rewards hadn't been calculated, Alex's biggest gain from the day was undoubtedly his increased level.
While Belos monsters no longer gave him much experience, the resource point guardian monsters still provided a significant amount. Killing just one low-level guardian monster gave him 2% experience, with elites granting 20%, and taking down a boss shot him up by three full levels.
After wiping out nearly 70% of the guardian monsters across eight resource points, Alex had gained a massive amount of experience, leveling up 125 times in one afternoon.
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**Level: 95 (77% progress)**
**(HP increase: +4,750 points)**
**Level Bonus: +1,000% Damage Output**
**Level Bonus: +1,000 Bonus Damage per attack**
**Potential: SR**
**HP: 15,387**
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Not only did Alex max out his second-level bonus, but his third bonus, which increased his HP by 50 points per level, was now at level 95—just five levels shy of maxing out.
Even with only two resource points accounted for, Alex earned a staggering 1.9 million merit points from killing the majority of monsters, averaging 950,000 merit points per resource point! Considering that in the current **Merit Pioneer** event, merit points had ten times the purchasing power of regular points, his 1.9 million merits were equivalent to 19 million points.
However, while the merit points were a substantial haul, the actual points he earned were far fewer—just under 200,000. This was nowhere near the astronomical sums he had gained from monster nests, but it was understandable given that nests were far harder to conquer.
Alex recognized that they had timed things perfectly when they attacked the monster nests at their weakest and most abundant. In a typical scenario, it was unlikely others would prioritize attacking nests when the main task was to occupy resource points. Even if they did, with so many participants, the points distributed from nest attacks would seem far more modest.
After a busy afternoon buying and upgrading equipment, Alex hadn't had a chance to level up his skills. Just as he was about to dive into that task, a game announcement interrupted him:
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**Earth's First 'Global Combat Arena' Has Officially Begun!**
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**Arena Rules:**
1. All awakened players and high-level Belos monsters are eligible to participate.
2. The current participant pool consists of 1,849,756 players.
3. The tournament follows a single-elimination format.
4. Each player can compete in three matches per day. Any player who loses or forfeits a match will be eliminated.
5. During same-faction battles (players vs. players or Belos monsters vs. Belos monsters), no deaths will occur.
6. After 10 seconds into a match, participants may choose to forfeit.
7. The tournament lasts 7 days, from 8 PM to 11 PM each night.
8. Rewards for rankings are as follows:
1. Top 1,000,000: 100,000 points, 3 skill points.
2. Top 100,000: 1,000,000 points, 5 skill points.
3. Top 10,000: 10,000,000 points, 10 skill points.
4. Top 1,000: 20,000,000 points, 15 skill points, 1 super skill point.
5. Top 100: 30,000,000 points, 25 skill points, 2 super skill points.
6. Top 10: 50,000,000 points, 50 skill points, 4 super skill points.
7. First place: 100,000,000 points, 100 skill points, 8 super skill points.
*Note: Rewards do not stack. Participants will only receive rewards corresponding to their final rank.*
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The **Global Combat Arena** was brutal. Only three matches were held per day, but the single-elimination format meant nearly 90% of participants would be eliminated after the first day. With 1.84 million participants, only about 200,000 would make it to the second day.
This suited Alex just fine. The idea of facing increasingly strong opponents intrigued him. The prospect of high-level combat had him itching to start. Without hesitation, he signed up for the arena and initiated the matchmaking process.
Given that the event had just started, plenty of people were online, so it didn't take long for Alex to be matched with an opponent. He found himself transported to an arena space similar to what he'd seen in previous competitions.
However, the global arena was far larger and grander, with no walls or ceiling, creating a wide-open environment.
"May I know your name? It's unfortunate that you're up against me, but luck wasn't on your side," said Alex's opponent, a tall, blonde man with deep blue eyes, speaking in a foreign language. From his appearance, it was clear he wasn't from the Eastern Federation.
Standing ten meters apart, Alex could hear the man clearly, but his foreign language skills weren't the best. Noting that his opponent seemed in no rush to attack, Alex shrugged and casually replied, "Sorry, I don't understand a word you're saying."