Chapter 23 : The Underdog

(A/N : Its been a while hasn't it? Let's just say I got stuck midway through the chapter for a couple of weeks. It didn't help that I got busy irl as well.)

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After almost an entire day, the flight was finally over. All the airships that were coming from different directions had converged and landed in a large clearing in the middle of a forest. As they disembarked, all the regulars were filled with awe at the sight that welcomed them. Three huge pyramid-like structures towered over them, bathing in golden rays of light that fell from the sky. The golden hue contrasted sharply with the greenery of the surrounding forest. 

"There are a lot more regulars gathered here than I thought there would be." Jinwoo said, walking towards the pyramids. "I don't think I've seen this many regulars gathered since passing the second floor."

"There is a good reason for that." Sam replied, walking behind him. "Apparently, the workshop is said to have a heavy influence in forming this test. Unlike the normal floor tests, the regulation of this test is done entirely by the workshop. The floor director has almost no say in it. Hell, most of the examiners involved in the test will be their employees as well."

"So in a way, it's similar to the workshop battle on the 30th floor?" Len asked him.

"I suppose so." Sam confirmed. "But unlike the workshop battle which only happens every five years, this test is conducted every year."

"You sure seem to know a lot about this." Jinwoo commented. But Sam merely chuckled in response.

"Of course. I participated in the test four years ago after all. Sadly, I failed in the preliminaries."

Jinwoo was surprised by this revelation. He knew first hand how capable Sam was, and for him to lose in the preliminaries spoke volumes about the upcoming test. 

'Looks like I should be taking this a bit more seriously…' Jinwoo reaffirmed. By the time he passed the second floor, Jinwoo was already leagues above  an average regular on the same floor. And that gap only widened day by day, as he simply kept getting stronger and stronger. Eventually, it came to a point where he didn't even have to try in order to pass a test. But from the looks of things, it seemed as if this test wouldn't be like the others before. 

"Regulars, welcome!" Everyone's attention was then brought to a man standing near the entrance to the closest Pyramid. The man was dressed in a black tuxedo and matching pants. A green lighthouse floated around him, signifying his position as a light-bearer. Most importantly, the man had wavy light-blue hair that was tied in a ponytail. With a wide smile plastered on his face, he continued. 

"My name is Khun Holten Reeves. And I am one of the many rankers in charge of the preliminaries tests. That being said…" His eyes scanned through the regulars in front of him. "... There are a lot more of you here than we anticipated. I guess this calls for a bit of… culling." He spoke in a cold tone, sending shivers down everyone's spine.

"Oh ho ho, don't worry. I was simply joking." He chuckled, as most of the regulars heaved a sigh of relief. "But still, I wasn't kidding when I said there are a lot of you. So let's conduct a simple test to narrow down the numbers, shall we?" 

Clearing his throat, he continued. "For this test, we are going to pick a random member of each team and pair them up against each other in a one-on-one fight. To win, you have to either kill your opponent, have them concede defeat, or push them out of the boundaries of the arena. Simple enough, right?" He pointed to the side at what appeared to be an elevated circular platform. "That should suffice as the temporary arena. Now I will display the regulars who will take part in this round and whom they'll be up against." 

Taking out a device from his pocket, Reeves pressed a button. The lighthouse projected a hologram in the air, showing the brackets for this round. Murmurs were soon heard around the area as the regulars started looking for their names in the list and whom they were up against. But in the midst of this, Jinwoo, Sam and Len were silent as they found what they were looking for rather quickly. 

[Len (Team Midnight) vs Macelar The Butcher(Team Ironside)] 

And if that wasn't enough, theirs was the first match. 

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"Did you consider something like this happening, Nocturne?" Sam questioned Jinwoo, as they looked at the screen. Len stood on one side of the arena taking deep breaths. On his opposite side stood someone, or rather something, that looked like a cross between a pig and a human. He was enormous in size, roughly around eight feet tall. His head was that of a boar while his torso was that of a pot bellied human. Wielding two large cleavers, he made it abundantly clear on why his nickname was what it was. 

As soon as both of them had gotten on the stage, the platform began rising from the ground, much to the surprise of the combatants and everyone around them. Now if anyone were to be pushed out of the arena, they'd inevitably plummet to their death unless they could fly. 

"... I'll admit, I didn't." Jinwoo answered honestly, staring at the examiner who was looking at the screen with a smile. 

"Then, I suppose this is it for us." Sam said, rubbing his temple. "Luck simply isn't on our side today." 

"What do you mean?" Jinwoo turned around to look at Sam. 

"That Macelar, I know of him." Sam replied, pointing at the screen. "He maybe a bit of a dumb brute. But he is still far stronger than your average regular. But most importantly, he is from a barbaric tribe where it is customary to kill and feed on the entrails of your opponents. That is how he got that nickname of his. This fight … it won't end till one of them is dead."

"... You talk as if you have never killed anyone before." Jinwoo deadpanned at him. 

"This isn't the time for jokes, Nocturne!" Sam shouted at him angrily. "I'm telling you that your teammate is going to die! Macelar won't stop until he kills Len, even if he concedes defeat! If it was you or me, it wouldn't be a problem. But for him-" 

"And why do you think Len will lose?" Jinwoo interrupted him. 

"What?" Sam was baffled. "But you said-" 

"Of course, I was hoping it was either you or me in his position." Jinwoo replied "But I never said anything about Len losing." 

"Are you telling me he has some kind of hidden power and that he is secretly the strongest member of our team?" Sam asked in a sarcastic tone. 

"... I don't know if he has any hidden powers or not. They wouldn't be 'hidden' if I knew about them, now would they?" Jinwoo retorted. "And while I'm pretty sure he isn't the strongest member of our team, let's just say he has something else that makes him a force to be reckoned with." 

"And what might that be?" Sam asked him. 

"You'll see." Jinwoo didn't explain much, and brought his attention back to the screen. 

"Now then, are both the combatants ready?" The examiner asked them loudly. Len simply nodded while Macelar merely grunted in response. "Then the match begins, now!" 

As soon as he spoke those words, Macelar slowly walked towards Len, dragging both his weapons on the platform. Len on the other hand didn't move an inch, and merely kept watching his opponent's actions. Eventually, Macelar came to a stop as he stood right in front of Len, staring at his opponent with a smirk on his face. It was obvious that he didn't have high opinions on his opponent - a sentiment shared by most of the crowd who were watching the fight. In their eyes, Len was simply a regular who ended up being lucky enough to be on the same team as two powerhouses.

"Die." Macelar grunted, raising his cleaver high into the air before bringing it down on his enemy. 

*CLANG*

But Macelar was confused when he felt his weapon hitting something metallic. He didn't see Len carrying any kind of weapon with him. Then, something slowly became visible in front of eyes - A bronze colored disc, which had apparently blocked his attack. 

"Didn't see that, big guy?" Len taunted him. But without replying , Macelar swung his other cleaver horizontally. 

*CLANG*

But once again, he found his attack blocked by yet another floating disc. Beginning to feel frustrated, Macelar began wildly swinging both his cleavers. But the two discs freely and swiftly moved around Len, blocking any and all attacks that were aimed at him. The other regulars watching the match were surprised by this turn of events. Jinwoo slightly smiled under his mask, having known about this beforehand.

While the discs continued to block Macelar's attacks, Len's inventory became visible as he took out something from it. Macelar's eyes widened before he jumped back, narrowly avoiding a beam of shinsu that grazed his cheek.

"..." Lightly touching the small wound his opponent left on him, Macelar shot a murderous gaze at him. But Len had a calm look on his face, as he pointed a handgun at Macelar while holding another in his left hand.

"Just to be sure, you won't back out now, would you?" Len asked him. But Macelar simply roared in reply, before running straight for him. With surprising agility, Len leapt upwards before shooting a shinsu beam at Macelar, who blocked it with the broad side of his weapon. But this came at a price, as the cleaver was visibly damaged from the attack. But Len was not done. Using the discs as footholds, Len kept manoeuvering around Macelar all the while shooting him with his guns. While Macelar managed to block some of the attacks, others got past his defences.

'He wasn't lying.' Sam was now seeing Len in a new light. While he initially thought Len was simply a support-type regular, that view was now completely shattered thanks to the show he was putting on. But at the same time, two blue-heads - One who was taking the test while the other who was conducting it - weren't so happy. While outwardly they appeared calm, inside they were having a mixture of thoughts.

"Huff.. Huff…" After a few more minutes passed, Macelar was down on one knee, panting and trying to catch his breath. Both his weapons laid on the ground, broken and beyond repair. And in front of him stood the regular who had bested him, pointing a gun straight at his head. Compared to him, there wasn't a single scratch visible anywhere across Len's body. In other words, Macelar couldn't touch him. Not even once.

"Last chance." Len asked him once more. "Do you yield?"

But Macelar, staying true to his nature, swung his fist at him in reply. For him, a battle meant either victory or death. There was no middle ground. And in the end, that was exactly what he received.

*BANG*

With a loud thud, Macelar's body fell forward, as a large gaping hole was left in his skull. The silence of the crowd was only broken by the announcement that came from the examiner.

"The winner of this round is the regular Len. Team Midnight passes to the next round."

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