Varis eyed Gamble with a smug grin, confidence oozing in every syllable. "I can see it in your eyes… You're not as tough as you look. Just a pussy dressed up in animal skin."
Gamble didn't respond, his gaze calm, unbothered. Silence filled the space between them, adding tension to the moment.
"Oh, playing the quiet game, huh? Let's see how silent you are when you're writhing in pain." Varis chuckled darkly, preparing himself.
"Fight!" Thalorin's voice cut through, announcing the start of the match.
With a wild grin, Varis gathered a swirling, violet energy in his fist. "Star Crusher… Punch!" he shouted, launching himself toward Gamble with raw energy.
Gamble took a single, calculated step back, his eyes never leaving Varis. Just before Varis closed in, Gamble muttered, "Expand."
In an instant, his fist grew larger, muscles bulging with intensified power. His punch met Varis's with a force that sent a shockwave across the arena.
"AHH!!" Varis's scream of pain echoed as Gamble's massive fist collided with him, blasting him out of the ring. He flew backward, crashing into a large tree, knocked out cold.
The crowd gasped, stunned by the sheer power on display. Gamble's fist and arm shrank back to their original size as he turned calmly to Thalorin, who raised his hand, signaling the victory.
"Words are just words," Gamble said, voice steady. "If there's no action to back it up… you might as well have stayed quiet."
"Gamble wins!" Thalorin's announcement was met with a roar of cheers and applause.
Gamble collected the A-ranked gauntlets Varis had wagered, tucking them under his arm. As he walked away, Sketch met him with a grin, raising a fist.
"Nice one, Gam!" Sketch said, fist-bumping him.
"And that one-liner was smooth as hell!" Speedy giggled, sidling up.
"You did great!" Spam added, nodding approvingly.
Nythra watched Varis's unconscious form with faint amusement. "So… is anyone going to get him?"
Sketch shrugged, laughing. "Forget it. That's what he gets for being an ass." His eyes lit up with anticipation. "Anyway, Key's up next."
The four of them fell silent, waiting eagerly for Key's match. Meanwhile, in the preparation room, Key glanced at the Game interface.
[Sketch has leveled up!]
[Sketch's rank has increased to B Rank.]
[Gamble has leveled up!]
[Their rewards can be viewed later.]
Key's face softened with pride as he saw the updates. "They did good out there." he murmured, smiling. The thought of showing them the Game someday crossed his mind—a way to recognize their progress and see what they'd earned.
Just then, a new quest notification popped up.
[ /!\ Secret Bonus Quest /!\ ]
Win the match without using your powers, relying only on your base abilities.
[Reward: 1 unique skill of your choosing.]
[If Failure: Humiliation and loss of Reputation points with The Ascended Dominion.]
[Accept?] [Yes] or [No]
Key chuckled to himself. "Oh, so this is your way of nerfing me, huh?" He accepted the quest. "Guess you forgot my stats are still Ascended."
With a shrug, he stretched and headed toward the arena. Stepping out, he locked eyes with Mori, who smirked, eyes glinting with malice.
"Took you long enough.." Mori sneered. "Thought maybe you ran off with your tail tucked."
Key snorted, unfazed. "Too much of a real nigga for that. Thought you'd learned the first time when I tossed your ass to the side like fake money."
Mori sneered. "Smartass huh? I'd gladly wipe that smirk from your face in a second."
"Bet that Edward from Twilight..now usually I'd ask 'Do you want the Debo ass whooping or the Baby Boy ass whooping' but since I don't fuck with you since you put your hand on Nythra, you're getting both." Key chuckled. In the background he could hear the others cheering for him.
The crowd roared with laughter, and Thalorin grinned. "Now this is a fight! Let's get it started! Fight!"
"Let's see you handle this!" Mori raised his arms, a twisted grin on his face. "Solar Exposure!"
The space around them warped, and a massive white star appeared, pulsing with scorching energy. Beams of heat shot toward Key.
"Well, dam-"
BOOOM.
The blast filled the arena with smoke, and silence fell over the crowd. Mori's laughter echoed as he turned to the audience.
"Now you see, everyone! This is what happens when—"
cough cough
A familiar voice cut through the smoke. "Smells like burnt ass and camel toes."
The smoke cleared, and there stood Key, mostly naked, scorched but grinning.
"What? That's it?" Key asked, oblivious to his wardrobe malfunction.
Mori's face went pale, eyes widening before he collapsed, fainting on the spot.
Key looked around, confused. "What?"
Speedy's voice rang out first, whistling. "Damn, Key! Got some mustard with that sausage?" She giggled mischievously.
'What's she talking about?' Key glanced down, eyes widening as he realized his situation. Around him, some onlookers turned away, blushing, while others watched, clearly entertained.
Without a word, Key vanished in a dust cloud, retreating as quickly as possible.
Thalorin, attempting to regain his composure, coughed and glanced down at Mori's unconscious form. "Uh… Key wins?"
One woman in the audience clapped, and soon, a ripple of applause spread, turning into enthusiastic cheers.
"Well, look at that," Spam teased. "Our dear Key's got himself a fan club."
"That was… something else." Sketch muttered, using a quick spell to erase the image from his memory. Gamble, beside him, did the same.
Speedy, meanwhile, nudged Spam, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Hey, look—Key's got Nythra dickmatized."
Spam stifled a laugh as they glanced over at Nythra, who was staring into space, her face flushed and slightly dazed.
The two friends burst into laughter, their giggles echoing through the crowd as the victory celebration carried on.
.
.
[You have won the match!]
[Now you can choose between 3 unique skills.]
"More concerned about what happened out there. Can't believe I got caught lacking like that.." Key said with a shake of his head. It's not like he was embarrassed or anything, far from it, it's just things like that can cause..problems.
Ahem Fangirls Ahem
Right now he had on a long dark purple shirt, matching his eyes. Black athletic pants and this world's equivalent of 'Tim's'. Not as drippy as Jin Woo yet, but this'll do for now.
He suddenly heard the ding of a notification.
[Choose wisely.]
[Neverness Manipulation]
User can manipulate neverness, or remove things and events from time. They can cause things to never happen or can also manipulate things that never happened, but could have happened.
Cooldown: 1 Month
[Soul Devour]
The user can consume the souls of others, absorbing their powers, memories, and skills while becoming more powerful with each soul devoured.
Cooldown: 10 souls a week
[Absolute Zero]
The power to freeze anything, including concepts like time or energy, to the point of absolute stasis.
Cooldown: Once every 10 hours
"Now as badass as Soul Devour and Absolute Zero sound, Neverness Manipulation sounds..like it's just waiting on me to choose it." Key said with a smirk and that's exactly what he did.
[Neverness Manipulation LV. 1 has been acquired!]
"Hm it has a one month cooldown so I have to think of something good. How about..I never stop Ascending?" Key questioned to the Game.
[Neverness Manipulation has been activated.]
Ascended——->True Omnipotence
This is the next Ranking, considering your overall strength. (Even Locked)
"Gone be a long time before I reach that..I haven't even cleared my right hand abilities yet..damn." Key said.
He loved the others with all his heart, but was they holding him back?
Usually within times like this MCs go through a training arc, hell even his older self had to go through a long and hard one, considering the overpowered ass Gods.
He had two choices to make..
One, to go on this journey alone and focused, get as strong and powerful as fast as possible and reunite back with the others.
Two, continue on with the others, be more focused and grow stronger together, while bonding and going up levels.
He then thought for a second.
If there's one thing watching Naruto and Sasuke since childhood taught him, it is there's a different strength that comes with bonds and people by your side rather than doing things alone.
Naruto created multiple bonds and that created strength through togetherness
Sasuke rather did things on his own and that led to him being alone and hateful.
Plus when he met his Future Self he was alone. So focused and driven to be above, he disregarded anybody else.
Yeah..he didn't want to go down that type of path.
His mind was made up as he stood up and glanced one last time at the horizon.
"Let's see what the other's are up t-"
Suddenly he heard a loud and blaring alarm noise.
He immediately remembered what Spam told him when they first came here.
"It's a place where outcast sorcerers and mercenaries gather. Whenever there's trouble, an 'Echo' sounds to warn everyone."
"Activate Reality Rend." Key said with seriousness and narrowed eyes. He already trusted that the others had everything under control but who knows The Abyss could be unpredictable at times..
And that was coming from the one who created it.
[Reality Rend LV.1 has activated.]
Like last time, a dark purple portal tore into existence and Key immediately stepped in. Once he did, it dispersed in sparkles.