Ace seems to be extremely strong. He just took out a monster many levels higher than himself with ease, using only his swords and mana, no extra combat skills. However, I can tell he's breathing heavily. That divine speed buff he uses in a flash of blue light looks like it takes a lot of MP out of him.
"Please would you all begin placing your bets, the Royal Knights are preparing a level 672 Mutant Ghoul."
Just by hearing its level, my mind is running wild. On top of that, its name is like nothing I've ever heard before either. They really do have unique and powerful monsters here.
The crowd goes silent as they whisper to themselves and place their bets.
When I look down at the odds, the favor is against Ace many times over. I sit and wait, hoping to gauge the strength of what this creature would be that is about to be released into the ring.
Once the announcer closes the bets, a flash of white light welcomes the Ghoul into the fight. I get a glimpse of its tall humanoid frame, just a head or two taller than the swordsman across the ring. It wears ragged clothing and has pale white skin tinted almost yellow in color.
It has no hair on any part of its body. Its eyes glow orange and its teeth look rotted away. There's a light aura around it that matches its eyes, and the faint glow reflects off its two silver swords.
On its left wrist, I notice a shimmering platinum wristband, but can't make out what it says on it or figure out how or why a monster would have one of those on them.
In bare feet, the creature sprints forward at its opponent the instant it's teleported into the ring. Its body leaves the orange mist behind and Ace reacts by activating his divine speed buff without hesitating at all.
There's a loud clang less than half a second later as the two collide in the middle of the fight arena.
It's followed by flashing orange and blue lights as the two match each other's speed without a problem. Seconds pass, and the blue glow around the swordsman weakens while the orange mist around the Ghoul only grows denser.
I can see the grin and sparkling eyes of the swordsman grow with anticipation after every clash they exchange. His eyes track the monster's blade, but with his ranked-up buff slowly shutting down it's clear he doesn't have much time left.
Still, the swordsman is using every exchange as a learning opportunity. His reason for coming out to the ring makes a lot of sense to me now. He just wants to fight stronger swordsmen, monster or human I can only assume it doesn't matter. Right here is exactly where he can experience it every night. Win or lose, this is a successful match in his eyes.
The blue buff completely dissipates, and as a result, the swordsman's divine speed goes away with it.
In less than half a dozen more exchanges, the fighter is outclassed by the pure speed and battle IQ of this mysterious Ghoul Monster. Ace is transported back to the medical team once he hits 10% HP after a number of deadly hits.
It didn't make a sound, and only mimicked the swordsman's battle style.
Before I can study it anymore, a flash of white light brings the Ghoul away from the ring as well. This isn't the normal way they're usually taken out of the arena, but the only thing I can think of is its wristband that I spotted prior to the brawl. Maybe it would be too difficult or take too long for a guard squad to take a monster like this out. So, it must be standard procedure to teleport them to a save containment chamber after the match.
After this fight, there are a few cheers, but mostly whispers and small talk about the Red Ogre fight beforehand. Most people predicted the outcome of this match without a problem, and a lot of the audience couldn't even perceive what really happened.
While the audience continues to gossip about Ace, the next newbie fighter is brought on and clears the first 4 stages without much issue. He's able to defeat the 5th stage with a desperate move, but both him and the monster fall to the floor in the end.
He's unable to move on to the next round, but fights like this are what the crowd loves to see. The excitement is coursing through the ring once again. Especially in anticipation after the mention of the next fighter.
"Now, it's the moment you've all been waiting for. The main event of the night. Our longest standing legacy fighter. You all know who I'm talking about... let's make some noise!"
The crowd's regulars start cheering loudly and stomping their feet to make as much commotion as possible. The new watchers that have come into the city for the first time all join in on the fun and the energy in the air is ecstatic.
Underneath the ring in the training room, there's only one other person left other than me; the bald young man in the orange robe.
He steps onto the transport circle and is teleported in an instant.
"Welcome, Monk! With a standing win record of 316 Stage 5 Victories, 204 Stage 6 Wins, and 141 Stage 7 Clears, please make some noise for the champ!"
He appears in the center of the stage with his head down and his hands clasped.
The crowd only goes more wild, but is calmed down after a few minutes once the announcer brings in the first fight and everyone places their bets.
A single green hobgoblin with a pair of daggers at level 30 enters the ring and runs toward the man in the orange robe.
The crowd goes silent as the man steps forward to put his hands up in a fighting stance.
Still, there is no visible mana surrounding him or any sign of skills or magic being used. I'm thoroughly confused.
As the monster steps closer he does too, adjusting his hand positioning ever so slightly with every movement the hobgoblin makes.
Once they're close enough to clash, the young man throws a punch at the monster's side while narrowly dodging its incoming blades.
The punch sends the monster backward a few meters and it lets out a shriek, but to my utter shock, the beast isn't defeated.
It runs close with its blades at the ready again and all the man does is dodge them just barely and throw another punch back.
The monster is visibly hurt with some broken bones and much slower movements, but this doesn't make any sense at all.
Monk is nearly level 700, and he's not even able to one-shot a level 30 hobgoblin...
My eyes track the two opponents on the screen for another dozen exchanges until the monster's movements slow down more and more after every hit. After 16 attacks, the hobgoblin finally falls to the floor in a bloodied and bruised state.
The fighter is unscathed and the crowd erupts into cheers, I on the other hand have no idea what just happened.
I murmur to myself as the announcer begins hyping up the next stage.
"How is this guy the number 1 fighter in the arena?"
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Author's Note:
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