Ranking

"I won't do anything..." Ray assured Bryan. Bryan turned around and he felt a gust of wind hit behind him.

"He's not behind me, is he?"

"Nope." Ash smiled.

*Sigh*

Bryan sighed and saw Ray zoom past the other participants before reaching the white furred creatures. He prayed inside that Ray won't do anything reckless.

"Which master do you serve, dogs?" Ray asked with scorn.

"You're...part of that team called Planet Earth." One of the white furred creatures said.

"Haha, the one your teammate fought was the weakest one amongst us. Compared to the rest of us, he's nothing." Another one mockingly said.

"And who the fuck are you? A bunch of dickheads?" Ray said rudely

"We're the Vrogs. We accept, humiliate and conquer. That's what is going to happen to your planet, dog!"

*Boom*

After hearing what the Vrog said, Ray felt an unstoppable anger rising up and he let loose. He launched himself forward with speed incomparable to before and punched towards the Vrog who spoke last.

His fist was mere inches away before Ray felt his whole body being immobilized. He couldn't move a single inch as if he wasn't in control of his body anymore. He looked straight ahead and saw dense fear filling the eyes of the Vrog in front of him.

"Please refrain from causing any kind of trouble. Any participant who violates will have their points deducted to their overall score at the end of the first round." An ethereal voice sounded out.

The voice travelled everywhere and some of the participants were curious to know who was causing trouble this time.

After the voice faded away, Ray gained back control of his body. At this time, his group arrived behind him.

"You dumbass!" Bryan shouted.

"That was risky, Ray." Asif said.

"You know, I can't believe you didn't call me to join you." Ash mocked his betrayal.

"Shut up!" Bryan scolded him.

"Are you okay, Ray?" Algo asked in concern.

"I'm not angry now. Sorry for being impulsive but if I wasn't stopped by whoever it was, he wouldn't be standing there." Ray shook his head and pointed at the Vrog at the front.

"Vrogs?" Khai called out. "What are a bunch of shameless losers doing here?"

"It's none of your concern, Prince Khai." The Vrog at the front assumed to be the leader spoke up.

"We should head back, there are curious eyes everywhere." Lobian reminded them.

"One minute!" Ray said.

He walked and stood right before the leader and said, "I saw your eyes. I know that emotion and I could sense what you were feeling when you saw my fist. Remember that because that is nothing compared to what we'll do to you and your group if we ever do cross paths again."

The leader of the Vrogs stood still with a dark expression as he still could feel the fear in his body. He stared menacingly at Ray and said, "We're not the only ones here to take you out!"

"We know and we're counting on that." Ray smiled before leaving with the group back to their place.

One of the Vrogs came forward and pensively said, "This is bad, Captain. They know what we're up to now."

"It will be fine because we're not the only ones." The captain assured them. "I heard the Black Devils are on it as well."

"T-The Black Devils? That wandering merciless gang?" One of the Vrogs asked in fear.

The captain smiled, "This is going to be exciting!"

Back with the group, the rest were scolding Ray on being impulsive and he should be more careful with his actions and his life.

"Relax, guys. I had everything under control." Ray nonchalantly said.

"You big dumbass!" Bryan shook his head.

"Alright alright, I won't do anything stupid. I promise!" Ray helplessly promised them.

"Now that's a good boy."

"Fuck off!"

"Hahahaha!"

Kaya came forward and pulled Ray away from them and asked, "So, are you going to tell me what was all of that about?"

"Haha, I'm sorry, Kaya. I would tell you but it's something that concerns me and my brothers. I wouldn't want you to be a part of it. Don't worry though, we can easily handle it." Ray rubbed his head.

"How very gentlemanly of you." Kaya smiled.

"Only for you." Ray cheekily said eliciting a chuckle from Kaya.

"There's something that bothers me." Kaya said in a thinking pose.

'Cute...' Ray thought and asked, "What is it?"

"Your world isn't exactly advanced to a degree to hone and nurture powerful mages. Oh, I meant no disrespect." Kaya carefully said.

Ray simply smiled and said, "No worries. Continue."

"So how exactly are you and your brothers powerful to this extent?" Kaya was extremely curious. She was always a battle maniac and loved to fight. So she'd research anything related to cultivation, elements, elemental energy, battle techniques and so forth. She knew that a planet's overall elemental energy level determines the level and quality of elemental mages it produces. So, the band of brothers are like an anomaly to her and this intrigues her.

"I see you're very curious about us. It would be rude of me to ruin the suspense. You'll find out at the end of the tournament." Ray answered her.

"Why the end of the tournament?" Kaya was confused.

"You'll see." Ray smiled.

'Don't tell me they're aiming for 1st place just like me?' Kaya incredulously thought but soon shook her head. 'No one can stop me!'

-After a few hours-

The intense atmosphere of the arena hasn't lowered despite the passage of time. Battles have been more intense and there has been a few unfortunate severe injuries amongst the fighters but this hasn't shaken any of the participant's heart or mind, especially to the five brothers. They have an important mission to complete and they'll let nothing stop them from doing so.

There's a holographic leaderboard on a floating scroll right above the arena mentioning the participants name, their current points and their ranks.

Rank 273,485th - Algo Killian, 47 Points.

Rank 268,912nd - Asif Vizier, 47 Points.

Rank 275,109th - Bryan Pine, 47 Points.

Rank 270,371st - Ash Frudae, 47 Points.

Rank 271,793rd - Ray Angelo, 47 Points.

These were the current ranks of the brothers. They were surprised to know that there are a lot of other participants above them in the leaderboard. But soon the tide will change as the participants with unbeatable records will match with the same to ensure fairness and overall excitement to the audience.

From the progression speed of the battles, it would take another day to complete the first round of Phase 1 of the tournament.

*Kurgh*

A fighter laid painfully on the ground with his hand on his chest. He felt his core being shattered as a result of a powerful attack from his opponent.

"Y-You did that i-intentionally....!" The fighter coughed out blood and fell unconscious.

On the other side of the platform, a figure stood wearing a full black robe covering every single inch of his body and black bandages covering his face apart from his glaring reddish eyes. He looked very dangerous and soon was teleported out of the platform.

-In the waiting lobby-

"Another one huh..." Lobian frowned.

"I don't like that guy!" Khai said with furrowed eyebrows.

"He's doing it intentionally. As if to send a message or something..." Asif pondered lightly.

Bryan muttered loud enough for his brothers to hear him, "Another one hired to knock us out?"

"It does seem like it." Algo said.

"I can't say I have a good feeling about this." Ash massaged his forehead. Ray looked around to see if he can spot the black robed creature.

"Interesting tactic though." Asif said.

"What do you mean?" Lobian tilted his head.

"He's sending a message to everyone. Either his opponent should surrender quickly or face the consequences." Asif speculated.

"It does sound like an intimidating message to everyone." Lobian nodded.

-In the audience stands of the arena-

"I'm glad to know they're doing well." Old man Reid happily said.

"And I know for a fact that they barely used their true strength." Zac nodded in appreciation.

"Although they're doing well, I'm pretty sure there are plays being done in the shadows unaware to us." Alexander said with a frigid tone.

"It's a possibility but you know them. They can easily handle anything thrown at them. That's how they were raised anyways." Old man Reid gently smiled.

Alexander slightly relaxed and said, "You're right. They should be able to handle it."

"We'll handle the ones above their capabilities." Zac confidently said.

"That reminds me, we have to visit a world." Alexander deviously smiled.

"Oh, which one?" Zac was curious.

"The one that houses the Vrogs!" Alexander answered.

"The Vrogs? But wh-" Zac stopped his sentence midway as he realized why.

"Those fuckers are after them huh. They've made a huge mistake." Zac threateningly said.

"*Sigh*" Old man Reid sighed in discontentment.

"I've heard recently that the Vrogs have received an unknown visitor right before the tournament." Abhura butted in and informed them.

"How accurate is that information?" Alexander asked.

"100% accurate. I have my reliable sources." Abhura smiled.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"It seems there is something bigger at play here..." Old man Reid frowned.

"We have to extremely alert!" Zac said.

"For now, let's wait for the tournament to end, then we make our move." Alexander said.

-Back at the waiting lobby-

"So, what rank are you three at?" Algo asked Lobian, Khai and Kaya.

"Rank 89,627th!" Lobian proudly stated his rank.

"Rank 67,513rd!" Khai said with a smile.

"Rank 47,541st!" Kaya said annoyingly.

"Uhhhhh, what the fuck!" Ash said in disbelief.

"Are you guys being serious?" Bryan asked in shock.

"Hahaha! Yeah, we are. Why, what happened?" Khai curiously asked.

"No, nothing happened." Bryan turned around.

*Whistle whistle*

Ash and Ray started whistling to avoid being asked about their ranks but it didn't do much for them.

"Soo, what's your rank?" Kaya asked Ray with curious eyes.

"It's not a big deal." Ray waved his hands.

"Why won't you tell me..." Kaya was extremely curious now.

"We are ranked somewhere around the 270,000s." Asif suddenly spoke up.

"Oh, so you guys were worried about that?" Lobian smiled.

"Shouldn't we be worried about our ranks?" Bryan said with dismay.

"Haha, no need to worry. We are all at the same points so there is no difference in your ranks and Rank 1. Soon, the participants who have an undefeated record will match with others having the same record to even the playing field and weed out the lucky ones." Lobian explained.

"Ah right, makes sense." Bryan facepalmed.

"So that will ensure only the top elites will qualify to the next round." Algo observed.

"Yes, this tournament is basically like a recruitment event for the Aeron Empire. They want the best of the best, not the weak and lucky fighters. Am I right, Prince Khai?" Lobian smiled.

"You are. That's why our Empire was generous enough to put the Dragon Elixir as one of the rewards for the 1st place winner of Phase 1." Khai revealed one of the prizes.

"This idiot brother of mine...!" Kaya facepalmed. "You're supposed to keep that a secret."

"Oh was I? Hahahah! Sorry sorry!" Khai laughed nonchalantly.

"W-Wait...THE DRA-" Lobian almost screamed out lout before his mouth was clamped shut by Khai.

"Shhh! Keep it low. We don't want others hearing it." Khai urged him and the others to speak softly about it.

"So, what's the dragon elixir?" Ray asked.

"You guys really know nothing do you?" Lobian looked at them with wide eyes.

"As we said before, we're new to this whole magical world stuff." Ash grumbled.

"Hahaha, that's fine. Let me explain. The Dragon Elixir is very rare and I mean extremely rare such that we get two or three elixirs every decade or so. The elixir can help a mage strengthen their body to an extent rivalling a few stages above their opponent and as such, many civilizations in the universe covet it." Khai explained in detail.

"Damn!" Ash was surprised to know something like that existed.

"That's very generous of your empire." Asif said.

"Even I, the Prince of the Aeron Empire don't know why we put that up as a prize." Khai shook his head.

"Match - Bryan Pine vs Garr Volker!"