Trio Battle League

Adventurer Guild - Chandola

I pushed open the doors of the guild and stepped in, but suddenly, a huge wave of excited noise hit my ears like a truck (it's too early in the morning for this, sigh). The entire guild was buzzing; it felt like I'd walked straight into the aftermath of a tavern brawl—minus the broken furniture but with ten times the noise.

People were running around, banners were being hung, and there was an excited chatter that made the whole building feel like it was about to take off into the sky.

And in the thick of it all—Arya, the red-haired menace—was jumping from one adventurer to another, distributing what looked like a thick catalogue, with a grin plastered on her face as if she'd just struck gold.

I barely had time to blink before she spotted me. Her eyes lit up as she waved and made a beeline toward me. Before I could even consider dodging, a hefty catalogue was shoved into my face.

"Junior! Great news!" Arya chirped, yanking the black cat off my shoulders and giving the furball a spine-crushing hug (Nyaaaa!) it screamed but we will ignore that.

"The Trio Battle League is starting in eight months! It's going to be so much fun!"

"Uh, the what now?" I mumbled, blinking at the catalogue still smushed against my nose.

"The Trio Battle League! It's a massive worldwide event that's held every five years!" Arya informed me while twirling with the cat. Of course, the cat wasn't happy to be treated like a ragdoll and immediately kicked her in the face with a huff before jumping back into my shirt.

"Ouch, that hurt! Tell your cat to be less mean to me, Junior!"

Of course, it hurt. What else was she expecting? You can't just treat a cat like a ragdoll. I shook my head at her brash behaviour and asked, "What's this Trio Battle League, and why is everyone so excited about it?"

Arya thought for a moment before saying, "It's a tournament where we can participate in many events and win a chance to request a gift directly from the king! Even requests like cancelling the bounty on wanted criminals can also be granted. Read the catalogue to find out more. Anyway, we're definitely entering, so prepare well."

With that, she finally let me have the catalogue and bolted away to do her own thing. I stared at the thick catalogue in my hand. 'Do I really need to read this?'

I half-heartedly opened the book and skimmed through the pages:

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The Trio Battle League begins in 8 months.

Registrations are open for international competitions.

Minimum requirement for entering: reaching Level 20 and obtaining an advanced class.

Registration fee: 5000 cents per event.

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That's ridiculous. I'm not wasting my hard-earned money on this predatory competition. (Who in their right mind would participate in this competition if the registration fee is so high?) Well, I got my answer after looking at the rewards for each event.

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Rewards:

Solo Event

- Winner: 100,000 cents

- Runner-up: 50,000 cents

- Top 4 finishers: 25,000 cents

- Top 8 finishers: 10,000 cents

- Top 16 finishers: 5,000 cents

Main Event

- Winner: 1,000,000 cents, access to all the dungeons of the Central Continent for 1 year, and an audience with the king of their country.

- Runner-up: 500,000 cents, and access to all the dungeons of the Central Continent for 6 months.

- Top 4 finishers: 250,000 cents

- Top 8 finishers: 100,000 cents

- Top 16 finishers: 50,000 cents

The top 8 will also become eligible to participate in intercontinental tournaments.

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"Okay, I see why everyone's losing their minds," I admitted. (That was some sweet, sweet money! It's mine.) I tried to keep my enthusiasm in check, but I most definitely wasn't doing a good job at it.

The tournament was a treasure for me. The events aside, a lot of people were going to gather to see the tournament, meaning I could 'borrow' a lot of (juicy) money. No matter how I spun it, this was a must-attend tournament!

I quickly skimmed through all the events, trying to find anywhere I had a chance to win the big prize.

There was a Junior Division (where only kids below 18 years old could participate) and a Senior Division (where people 18 or older could participate).

I ignored the Senior Division since I couldn't participate in it and focused on the Junior Division.

It had these events:

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Solo Events:

- Fetch Quest: A treasure is hidden in a designated area, and clues are provided to find it. Whoever finds it first wins. (Skills and ability usage allowed)

- Sniping: Participants must hit a target with long-range spells or arrows. Whoever hits the target most accurately wins. (Skills and ability usage allowed)

- Physical Power Flex: Participants must hit a target with strong physical attacks. Whoever causes the most damage wins. (Skills and ability usage allowed)

- Magic Power Flex: Participants must hit a target with strong magic attacks. Whoever causes the most damage wins. (Skills and ability usage allowed)

- Physical Endurance Battle: Participants are tasked with taking a moderately strong physical attack. Whoever takes the most hits without fainting wins. (Skill and ability usage allowed)

- Magic Endurance Battle: Participants are tasked with taking a moderately strong magic attack. Whoever takes the most hits without fainting wins. (Skill and ability usage allowed)

Main Event:

Team Battle Tournament: A team vs. team battle.

A minimum of 2 to a maximum of 4 individuals should form a team and register together to participate in this event. (The player's stats, skills, weapons, and abilities will be displayed to the opponents before the match starts)

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I had to admit, I had no chance in many of those events. My stats were too pathetic to take on any endurance events, and I had no attacking skills to speak of.

That left me with the Sniping Event and the Fetch Quest.

They weren't bad, but again, I had no sniping skills. I was a thief, not a sharpshooter, so that event was also a no-go, leaving me with only one choice: the Fetch Quest.

With my choice locked in, I moved toward the receptionist counter to register for the game. Along the way, my hands moved on their own and 'borrowed' some cents. I didn't actually have any use for that money. After all, I just got a huge reward of 80,000 after selling the rat parts, so money wasn't a problem. But hey—it's money; having more can never hurt.

After reaching the reception counter, I quickly paid 5,000 cents (my poor money!!) and finished registering. Now the only thing left to do was train and grow strong so I could win the tournament.

As I was formulating my training routine, Arya walked toward me while twiddling her thumbs. I had an inkling of what she wanted, but I still waited like a good boy to let her make her request.

"Um, Junior, want to team up with a cool fire mage and register in the team battle tournament?"

That's exactly what I wanted, but I didn't accept her proposal immediately. Instead, I put a hand on my chin and acted like I was thinking long and hard.

I could already see the redhead's anxiety growing. Her eyes were darting around, and she was starting to sweat. "Junior, nevermind—"

"I accept," I said before she could finish her statement. "But!" I added and then continued, "I want 70% of the reward money."

"You can take all the reward money," she immediately said, as if all that money was nothing to her. That's 1 million cents, woman! How could she give it up just like that? If she doesn't want money, then what is she after?

"If you're giving up all the money, what will you get?"

"Actually, I was hoping to meet the king to make a personal request. So you take the money, and I'll meet the king," she said, and I had no problem with that. Money was what I wanted.

Before I knew it, our team registration was done.

"If you want to register more teammates, you need to do it within a month. After that, no new registrations will be accepted," the receptionist warned before sending us away.

"Ideally, we need two more teammates, but at least one more person is a must," I explained, already forming a team strategy in my mind. Arya was a powerful mage, and I was good at sneak attacks. As long as we roped in a tank and a healer, our team would be ready to go.

We scanned the guild hall like hawks to see if anyone fit the bill, but with all the chaos going on, we couldn't find anyone interested in joining the team.

"Let's just leave a scouting post on the mission board and wait," Arya suggested, and we got down to writing it.

While writing the post, the redhead came up with this abomination:

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Scouting Post:

Join my newly formed party and participate in the main event of the Trio Battle League. Only people with strong physical attacks or those with healing skills apply. Hurry, or you will lose the chance to work with a beautiful mage and a cute Junior.

Reward: Working with me and Junior is the best reward you can have.

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I immediately tore it down. Can't she just offer a proper reward instead of sounding so obnoxious? And what does she mean by "cute junior"—I am not cute, I am handsome, damn it.

After much back and forth, we finally settled on one post:

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Scouting Post:

Join the newly formed party and enter the main event of the Trio Battle League! We are looking for people with strong physical attacks or those with healing skills. Having an advanced class is a must.

Reward: Free entry into the main event of the Trio Battle League.

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We hung the post on the mission board and called it a day. Now the only thing left was to train and grow.