Travis took a deep breath, today was the day. The fight against the other candidates. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. His future in A World's Legacy depended on his success.
Even though he was sent three years in the past, he didn't have anything else but A World's Legacy to prove it. For he had spent all those years playing only that. It was a somewhat easier way for him to make money, however he soon began to feel an addiction towards the game. He watched and read several posts about the theoretical strongest player could be, if they started from square one and knew the quests. He read so many information pages about powerful items, keeping notes on his personal thoughts.
He grew with the game and its popularity, up until he was backstabbed. Then he obtained the chance to be the strongest player and did it justice. However all of it was now teetering on the brink of being wiped away. All of it depended on his success.
A black crooked square appeared in front of Travis. With only a second to steady his breath, he walked in.
Dimitrin watched this from a distance away. When Travis walked in the square they sighed. The candidate was definitely a talented individual. Someone they genuinely enjoyed teaching. Seeing them walk into the area that could wipe their existence in the blink of an eye. . . it brought a little worry in their heart.
Dimitrin closed their eyes, "Do not fail. . ."
. . .
Travis found himself in a grand arena, despite the bland color of the Abyss. The arena was in the shape of a heptagon. Travis saw five other individuals at the various corners. Flinnder sat in a luxurious throne at the seventh corner, watching all his candidates.
Flinnder snapped his fingers and everyone's attention focused on him. With his voice enhanced by magic he began to speak, "Today is the day, you all will be fighting to the death. The remainder shall become my champion. The way this shall go is simple, by a roll of a die two candidates shall be chosen. They shall be the ones to fight. You only win if your opponent is unable to stop fighting. There is no giving up. There is no mercy. Fight like your lives are at risk. . . because they are."
Flinnder tossed a strange die. When it stopped at the top was two strange symbols, "Number two and five."
With a snap two candidates were transported to the center. Immediately they were on edge. One looked like a dark Minotaur, except their head was unable to be seen. The other was another humanoid Abyssal Creature. The humanoid was the candidate Travis was most worried about. Abyssal creatures that were able to take form extremely similar to a human usually had an extreme amount of strength. However Travis did not underestimate his other opponents.
He quickly calculated the positions of which the selected two were originally. With this he figured out that he was number four, he chuckled at the number. It was a little unlucky.
Flinnder waited for a moment before announcing, "Begin."
The Minotaur like creature roared and charged forward. It held no weapon, so it instead swung with its mighty fists. The humanoid one had a weapon, but chose not to use it.
The Minotaur swung wildly, yet each swing missed. The humanoid flowed through the swings like it was the wind. The humanoid slipped through another attack landed a blow with their fist.
The Minotaur didn't react, like the blow never existed. The humanoid was shocked and went to retreat, but found their fist stuck! The Minotaur grabbed them and tossed them into the sky. Before the humanoid could land the Minotaur punched them midair. Sending them crashing into the wall of the arena not even half a second later.
It is worth mentioning that the arena was the size of a football field. Not including the walls and stands. For the humanoid to fly across such a distance so fast? How strong is the Minotaur?
Travis immediately made mental notes on the two. The humanoid was a skilled yet overconfident opponent. The Minotaur lacked skill, but held monstrous strength and defense.
The humanoid freed themself from the rubble, seemingly unharmed. Dusting off their clothes they proclaimed, "You actually hurt me you beast. Then I shall punish you accordingly!"
The figure walked towards the Minotaur, but even though it looked like it was an ordinary walk. . . they were moving way faster!
It took only seconds for them to make it back to the Minotaur. The Minotaur threw a punch at the humanoid, yet it was stopped by the humanoid's own punch!
Travis was shocked, but didn't let it show. The humanoid. . . was definitely trouble!
The humanoid gripped the Minotaur's fist and spun them around. After three spins he tossed the beast into the sky, "I shall return the favor!"
The humanoid readied their fist. The moment before the Minotaur hit the ground. . . three holes appeared in its body. They weren't small either.
Travis' eyes narrowed. The attack was fast, too fast. He could just barely see it, even with his large amount of stats. The humanoid managed to hit three different points with so little time in between! Since the Minotaur was a monster Travis could see its HP bar. It dropped to zero with those three punches alone!
Flinnder made a playful grin, "Ending it so soon? I hardly got any enjoyment out of that one."
The arrogant humanoid immediately knelt to the ground, "My apologies, I let my emotions get the better of me."
Flinnder was definitely an individual to be feared. Even the powerful humanoid was afraid.
Flinnder waved his hand, "No big deal, we will just move on to the next round."
With a snap the arena was repaired and cleaned, nothing of the previous battle remained. The die rolled and Flinnder announced, "Three and four."
Travis was sent in the arena. The moment he did he drew his sword and adjusted his mask, which he had repaired. His opponent was strange, it looked like a humans shadow but it flickered.
Flinnder began the battle.
The shadow flickered and appeared in front of Travis. A fist traveled towards his face. Yet Travis did not move.
The shadow's fist passed through him and dissipated. Then, in the distance, the shadow stood with a bow. Drawn and aimed at Travis.
Travis spun and swung behind him, the shadow was also there with a dagger ready to stab him. Travis then assumed his opponents abilities, illusions and clones.
The bow fired and Travis knocked the arrow away. A swordsman shadow appeared next to him and swung. Travis parried the blade and stabbed the shadow. The shadow dissipated just like the others.
Several shadow archers appeared and fired. A volley of arrows descended towards Travis. With his extreme speed he knocked these away. He frowned, it looked like the only way to win was to attack every single shadow until none remained.
Fifteen seconds had passed, he wanted to finish in less than sixty. He needed to keep secret every ability he could, the more surprises he could bring out later, the easier the battles would be.
It looked like this particular candidate was set in mind to overwhelm the opponent with numbers. It was a decent plan, except Travis had the speed against it.
He moved through the shadows, claiming one every swing of his sword. His speed was incredible, yet this was only a moderate amount of effort. Dimitrin held more power than this, the shadows were only targets.
Shadow mages and soldiers were created, their numbers multiplying at a rapid pace. The numbers filled the arena. Yet Travis sword harvested them like a scythe.
Travis retreated and used [Depth's Beam] to clear out the remaining shadows. He hardly used this Skill so it didn't matter revealing it.
At the back of the now dead shadow army was a reforming shadow. Travis immediately put a [Mark of Revealing] on the shadow. Which was a great idea. The shadow created more soldiers and melted into the ground.
Travis continued to cut through the shadows while keeping tabs on the true body. The fight increased to fifty seconds and Travis grew a little impatient. He needed an opportunity soon.
Seven seconds later an opportunity arose, the main shadow rose from the ground. Travis put a lot more effort into his sprint and zoomed towards the shadow. He swung down and cleaved the shadow in half, he obtained a notification and some Exp for killing the shadow. Giving him all the proof he needed that he won.
Travis sheathed his sword and waited. Flinnder snapped his finger and Travis returned to his stand, "These fights are too quick, making me double guess my candidate choices. Are some of them really this weak?
No matter, it leaves one and six to battle now."
Flinnder snapped and the two candidates were sent to the arena. With swift preparation they readied their weapons. Flinnder then casually said, "Begin."