Slow claps from Max, one of the legacy fighters, come my way as he speaks up in a cheerful voice.
"Another interesting show from you. Tonight was one of the biggest events I've ever seen, and as the closing act, you didn't disappoint. I was worried you'd end it in a single move like last time, but it seems you really do know how to put on a show."
I shrug, walking off the platform and replying.
"With the money they're throwing down tonight, I had to give them what they paid for."
Everyone in the training room glances down at their platinum-covered wristbands, agreeing with my statement, not knowing that stretching that final fight was not intentional by any means.
Max speaks up again.
"Round 2 at Elen's Place? What do you say? Ace bought last time, how about drinks and food on me tonight?"
I smile beneath my mask. I'm going there anyway, so there's no point in saying no.
"Why not, I'm down for another night out."
Both Ace and Sia congratulate me on my flashy victory too, and we make our way over to Mr. Wright in his bright white suit at the back of the room.
Many of the newbie fighters stare at us in awe and fear, not knowing how to properly react to fighters so far out of their league.
I can see many of them tremble in fear, and a few from the midday fights that stuck around in the training room actually faint as we walk by.
I've never seen such a reaction before, but maybe they're just still worn out from the match...
Their wristbands notice that their vitals have been altered, and a few are teleported out of the room to what I can only assume is a medical facility.
My eyebrows are scrunched and a confused look is plastered on my face beneath my mask, then I get a nudge in the side from Sia and a whisper.
"You know that match is over, turn off whatever ability you're using. The fighters that can't use mana control are having a hard time handling it."
I'm even more shocked at her comment, until I activate my perception skills to scan the room and sense that she's right. There's a very dense and menacing aura coming off of me. However, I'm not activating any skills on purpose...
I try to calm my breathing and turn off my mana, but despite that, the rippling aura striking fear into the newbie fighters won't stop. I conclude it must be a passive skill trait of some sort.
The only thing that heavily suppresses it is putting up a thin but very dense wall of mana shielding around my whole body. However, I decide to stop this as it drains my MP at a rapid rate.
I could take in energy from the shielding in the training room, but if anyone noticed that'd raise too many questions for my liking.
Ace laughs and speaks up too.
"Nah, keep it activated. Shows them that there's levels to this fight game."
I nod at Ace, keeping it activated because I still don't know how to turn it off. The pressure being sent out feels almost as intuitive as breathing. Now that I am aware of it though, I can tell it's using up MP at a very slow rate; about 1 point per minute.
I naturally regenerate MP at about the same rate, and with ambient mana in the atmosphere almost everywhere I go, I use Plunderer in small amounts to stay at full anyway, so it's not going to be a problem.
My best guess right now is it has something to do with my Intimidation skill upgrade. It feels like I'm sending out weak waves of intimidation without even trying, but I'll know for sure later when I'm in private.
For now, we focus on the shortening line in front of us as the rest of the fighters register for tomorrow's events. The Legacy Fighters do the same and step aside, as I put my name in for tomorrow's nighttime event. I can tell Mr. Wright is having a hard time handling the mental pressure I'm putting out, but he doesn't say a word and carries on business as usual.
Monk's voice sounds in a low tone behind me as he's waited for everyone else to get out of line before approaching.
"Here, a gift for you after a great match."
I turn to see him holding a small silver container in his hand.
I take it politely and reply.
"Thanks. It was... harder than I thought it'd be."
He shows me a thin smile, speaking in a low tone only I can hear.
"Yes, you've come far, but there is a long way to go. Come meet me in the platinum district tomorrow if you wish to continue what we started. I already gave you the key, so you can come in whenever you'd like. Enjoy your night out."
He bows, and I nod back, moving out of line back to the legacy fighters as he checks in with Mr. Wright for tomorrow's event too.
"Sounds good."
The crowds of people above us make their way out of the stadium, and we wait patiently by the stairs.
Out of curiosity, I open up the silver box Monk gave me with my back to the wall. It seems to be made of normal steel, not a special containment case, and inside, I can sense a large amount of Qi from within it.
Once my gaze reaches the inside of the small container, my suspicions are proven right. I see about a dozen Qi pills on one half of the box, on the other, a small bar of smooth black stone.
I didn't sense its presence before, but once I see it, I know what it is and place a finger on the bar.
In an instant, the world becomes dull, the wristband on my arm becomes transparent, and the aura around me ceases to emanate such a monstrous force.
A few sighs of relief follow around the room, but just to confirm what I've felt, I take my finger off and all of my mana senses come back. The aura returns too.
I smirk inwardly, then take the bar out from the case. Placing it in an inner pocket of my cloak and maintaining a small amount of contact on it to suppress my mana.
Sia stares at me with a half-annoyed stare and Ace struggles to keep in his laughter as another one of the new fighters faints from the small burst of aura I put out after he let down his guard when he thought it was finally over.
I guess I'll be holding onto this until I can figure out how to control this new passive Intimidation Buff.
Eventually, the crowds clear and we're brought up to the empty arena. Mr. Wright manually registers each one of us to get through the gate and happily sends us off on our way.
As we walk through the Gold district, the legacy fighters ask a few questions about how I beat the 7th Stage monster and also ask about what Monk gave me, but I dodge both questions and they decide not to pry. Soon, they forget all about it and the conversation then turns into what kind of gear they're going to buy with the massive winnings from the fights today.
Ace says he's looking to get a new sword, Max wants a set of bonded armor but needs to find a reliable ranked up craftsman to make it, and Sia is hoping to find enhancement crystals to raise her base stats by a few points to get past the 6th Stage more consistently.
I raise an eyebrow at her words, as she says sometimes they show up at the auction house, but very rarely and it'd cost her whole Platinum balance.
These crystals seem very interesting to me, and I'd like to know what she's talking about in the future. However, I don't interject as I have even more important things on my mind.
We enter the same red gates of the restaurant after Max pays for the premium service, costing 20 gold in total. The young white-haired woman leads us through the dimly lit tables over to the place setting with the large tree overhead we sat at last night.
Once within very close range of the tree, I release my finger from the piece of stone in my pocket, and put up a dense mana shielding around my entire body instantaneously. I activate my concealment skill to alter my face and take off my mask as well.
With the overflowing amount of mana in the air, it doesn't take much effort to keep my aura suppressed while rejuvenating my MP bar from the tree above our table. I still let out some pressure, but anyone over level 100 won't be affected.
It's nowhere near the same aura that made level 300-400 fighters faint just being nearby.
The moment we sit down, everyone begins to order, so I do too. Sinking my back into the soft seat cushions allows me to let out a sigh of relief and while typing in details to order a feast from my wristband.
Once our food comes and the first round of drinks are gulped down, the joyful laughs and shenanigans begin. My demeanor changes to fit in with the group, but inwardly I begin scanning the restaurant for my teammate. She told me to come here, but never specified where she'd be and when she'd arrive...
In the meantime I enjoy the good food and pure source of mana.
It takes well over 2 hours before I sense the presence of a level 612 Ice Magic user appear nearby.
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