Ray and Jirin sit down in the waiting area after signing up for the Duels. As they are there they hear a manager yell out over the other fighters.
"Now, tonight we have a special type of match set up. It is called the gauntlet. The longer you last the more you earn, but the more tired you will get. For more incentives, there is a flat 10 silver bonus for going first, and a 10 silver bonus for victory in the gauntlet. To do this you must win 10 fights, you then reset as if it is a new round, with another 10 silver bonus for starting if you choose to continue. Every fight earns you 5 silver."
The manager continues to list the rules of the matches and after everyone signs another waiver for legal reasons, he asks. "Now, which of you would like to go first?"
Everyone looks hesitant with this, but Ray stands up, 'I need money, to spread my name, and entertainment so this seems like a triple win.'
"I'll go." Ray says.
Jirin looks confused by this, but doesn't say anything.
Then, a guy with yellow irises and long blonde hair stands up and says, "I will go as well."
Ray and the man go off to their entry ways and wait to be called.
"Alright! We have an amazing night for you all! It is the Gauntlet! Now, on the right, coming all the way from Alfuris College, we have Ray Kaine! Now, in the other, we have a true treat for you all! Coming from our great city, we have Vilor Tyralen, Demigod of our divine sponsor!" An announcer shouts.
'Wait… Did he just say demigod?!' Ray thinks in shock as he enters the ring.
Vilor stands with a large smile on his face as the match begins.
Without saying anything, Vilor releases a large beam of condensed energy from around him.
[Accelerated Scheming Activated!]
The beam strikes Ray in the shoulder as he moves out of the way.
"Ugh…" Ray grunts as he throws out a wind scythe.
Vilor grabs the scythe and it disperses while he absorbs the mana from it.
'What the hell?!' Ray dashes over and spins around kicking Vilor in the side of the neck.
[Weighted Impact]
Vilor again absorbs the mana from the spell, but the kick still lands, but with little effect.
"Hmph! I am sorry, but it is quite hard to hurt my divine body." Vilor chuckles as he places his palm sending a massive energy blast into his chest.
"Arghhh!!!" Ray shouts in pain as he slams into the wall, cracking the magical shell.
A bit of blood splatters out of his mouth and chest.
'Fuck…' Ray stumbles his way up, alright… I have a way of hitting him but it'll be risky…
[Rapid Step!]
Ray sprints at full speed spinning rapidly swinging his leg out towards Vilor's neck again.
[Weighted Impact!]
[Mana Infusion! 10 mana!]
Vilor again attempts to absorb the mana, but before he does, Ray smiles.
'Time to test the spell I made.'
[Mind Affinity: Time Slip]
[Cost: 20 mana]
[Effect: Temporarily causes a target to perceive time as if it is going by extremely fast, causing them to be unable to react in time.]
Vilor feels as if everything happened in an instant and as Ray kicks him in his neck, he is shot back into the wall with such force that he slams into it and bounces back forward, to which Ray lands, and does a back kick right into his stomach.
Vilor, coughs a bit the chuckles. "That was a decent hit, I'll give you that!"
[Mana 115/175]
[Mana Infusion lvl 2!]
[Less mana is wasted during infusion!]
'Not too helpful right now… Alright… think, I have 20 attribute points saved up due to my worshippers… With that I could bump one of my stats to 50 which will hopefully grant me an affinity or an ability…' Using accelerated scheming he thinks for a bit trying to figure out which stat to boost
[Vitality: 35]
[Strength: 35]
[Stamina: 30]
[Celestial Force: 35]
'Ok, strength won't make too big of a difference, I doubt I can use celestial Force out of my territory, and I don't want to take that risk… Stamina could be helpful for lengthening how long I can last in this ring, but not for this fight…'
[15 points spent!]
[Vitality: 25(50)!]
[Vitality reached 50!]
[Vitality Affinity gained, 1st circle!]
[Third attribute affinity gained! Requirement increased to 60 for others.]
[Vitality passive gained!]
[Passive Regeneration lvl 1!]
Ray begins to heal, due to the passive and the boost.
Ray smiles as he looks at Vilor. "Alright, let's continue."
Vilor looks shocked at Ray. 'Gravity, speed, mind, Vitality, and wind?!'
'I may be able to handle this more now with the regeneration, plus divine body'
[Strike Armor!]
[Rapid Step!]
[Warning! You have gone past your limit! You shall begin to disintegrate!]
[Divine Body Activated! Disintegration lessened!]
Ray sprints faster than Vilor can react to, casting weighted impact on his body, as well as infusing 20 mana into himself for mana infusion.
With the force of a train, Ray rams Vilor into the wall, causing a massive crack in the wall, as Vilor spews blood out of his mouth.
Vilor stumbles a bit, before smiling weakly.
"You show a lot of promise, and I respect you for that. But sadly, you can't best me."
Vilor causes a massive explosion below Ray, powerful enough to shake the earth in the stadium.
Standing there, bleeding heavily, Ray tries to steady himself, barely standing.
His body regenerates slowly, but not fast enough to keep him standing. Ray coughs a bit, stumbling to one knee.
[Mana 70/175]
'Damn… I doubt I can win this, he is far too powerful…' Ray struggles to think of a way to win. He gets up, before they finish the count.
'Might as well try my best.' Ray casts Time slip, then releases 3 wind scythes, two infused with 20 mana, and one with 10.
The blades of wind cut into Vilor, not deep enough to cause any long lasting damage, but does phase him.
Ray dashes over, slamming his leg into Vilor's knee, then the side of the head, then he jumps and does a spin kick into his face.
"Urgh.." Vilor grunts, before releasing a beam into Ray's chest again.
As Ray's vision begins to fade, as he is trying to fight to stay awake, he sees a spectral card appear.
[A God Never Kneels!]
[Congratulations, you didn't surrender when you knew you couldn't win!]
[Reward: Celestial Force enhanced by 5!]
[Celestial Force reached 40!]
[Title/Rank gained!]
[Congratulations, while outside your territory, you are no longer a mortal.]
[Rank outside of Territory: Demigod]