A new window opens up to me, and in it, I can see all 16 groups. The 2356 tournament participants have been separated into groups of either 147 or 148. I belong to a 148-member group, and after searching, I don’t find any of the other members of group 4 in it. There isn’t anyone from Beyond in my group either.

However, I do find one interesting face in my group: BenDover.

That reminds me that I forgot about him again, so it’s nice to see him here.

Then there’s Brainiac, Adam from WhiteWing, and Samuel in another group. Miwa is in their group too, along with a few others from Hell difficulty. Otherwise, it seems like a boring group. The more interesting one is the one containing Tess and Lily, the two of them will probably find themselves jostling for a place in the top 16.

Tacita’s group has both Sophie and Isabella in its ranks. Savant got a few people from WhiteWing, Channeler, and Maya. Biscuit’s group has Aaron and Ghast, the lightning guy from WhiteWing.

Min-Jae meanwhile has found himself in a group with a few people from Hell difficulty I don't know.

I spend my time focusing my attention on the others from Hell difficulty and ignore the rest, it should be fairly obvious who’s going to be coming out on top of their respective groups.

Instead of returning to the house, I lay on the grass and stare at the sky. It’s nice to have some quiet after all these busy days full of people. But overall, it was my decision, so it’s obvious who I have to blame. Past Nathaniel of course, screw that guy.

Even so, I’m glad I summoned Vega. Sure, we just said goodbye to each other less than a week ago, and I could have used the token later. But knowing the tutorial, there’s no telling when I’d have found a safe enough time to do so? It just seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I stretch and yawn. The grass is thick and nicely soft, the ground embracing me in a comfortable chill. Lying there, I feel myself start to calm down. The need to move and fight I felt since the moment the duel’s countdown was displayed begins to fade.

While I wait for the countdown to start ticking down. I sit on the ground and watch the window.

To win your group, you will need to win 8 duels! Your mana and stamina will be restored after every duel.

When there are 8 participants remaining in each group, you will be moved to a common area where you may choose to watch the remaining group matches.

Good luck!

I feel a pull on my body, and as always, I try to follow along watching how and what the system is doing, and yet, I still find myself unable to do so.

After being moved, I open my eyes and find myself in the middle of a huge clearing. The floor is made out of gray stone, and the weather is clear, without a single cloud to mar the clear blue sky.

There is even a soft breeze, and other than the two of us, there is no one to be seen.

“Fuck’s sake. Fuck’s sake. Fuck’s sake. What the fuck have I done,” my opponent curses.

Such a beautiful day.

“Wanna forfeit?” I ask BenDover.

He doesn’t answer, but before he can use any of his skills, I reach through my domain and place an anchor on him.

Sensing it, he tries to remove it, but he is too slow, and I send kinetic energy through. Just a little to throw him to the ground.

I raise a barrier deflecting his ranged attacks.

His wounds aren’t healing, though I shouldn’t be surprised given the state of current events, and I can’t think of anything else I would want to examine, so I just send much more energy through, emptying half of my Vortex Core. It explodes a huge chunk of the floor, sending debris flying through the air.

Congratulations, you have won your 1st duel!

After that, I appear outside and observe my Vortex Core. It seems to have been refilled. So it seems like the system has no problem replenishing the more obscure reserves as well.

My second round is against a young woman from Normal difficulty.

“So that’s it,” she sighs. “I forfeit!”

Congratulations, you have won your 2nd duel!

I appear back outside, and soon after, I get summoned back in.

“I forfeit!” The man, feeling like a member of Hard difficulty, shouts.

Congratulations, you have won your 3rd duel!

Another match.

“Fuck, not him! I forfeit!”

Congratulations, you have won your 4th duel!

Standing back outside, I feel the calm mood I had before slowly eroding away.

Another round starts.

“Don’t just immediately forfeit, damn it,” I say before the woman can say anything.

“W-why?” she asks. She’s from Hard difficulty for sure.

“I mean, at least try to fight,” I beg.

“Will you hunt me outside in the common area if I don’t?” She asks while taking a few steps away from me.

“Not really, but…”Stolen novel; please report.

“I forfeit!” She shouts and disappears.

Congratulations, you have won your 5th duel!

Appearing outside, I release a chunk of kinetic energy from my Vortex Core and stomp, detonating the soft grassy ground I laid on before.

Congratulations on your placement in the top 8 of your group! You will now be moved to the common area.

The scenery changes again, and I find myself in the common area surrounded by a few hundred people, with more appearing as their groups work their way into the top 8 as well. Being surrounded by the noise of so many people only serves to add to my already sour mood.

Stepping away to catch a break, I boost myself into the air and land on the roof of the tall house we used to watch the other events. As if we had planned the meeting, the remaining members of group 4 follow over the next few minutes.

“Has everyone made it into the top 8 of their groups?” Tess asks.

And everyone responds, issuing their affirmations.

“Good job, I guess we were lucky to not get strong ones right away.”

“Or it was planned,” Maya sighs. “But why did I have to get into the group with a member of the weirdo trio.”

“You can do it, Maya! Just imagine how shocked Nat would be if you beat Savant. So give it your all and don't be such a scaredy cat,” Dennis says with a smirk.

“You can do it too! Maybe Sophie will do you and your brother a favor and squish you between her thighs if you take first in your respective groups.”

What a terrifying counterattack. It seems to cause a lot of damage. The result is immediate impenetrable silence from the twins and Min-Jae as well.

“Oh, come on, Dennis, why don’t you say anything?” Maya seems to be enjoying every moment. “Aaron, why don’t you help your brother? And you, Kim? We don’t know anything about what you said, so why are you so worried? Are you hiding something?”

Nice combo indeed and the boys, smartly I might add, decide to keep quiet.

In the end, Maya sighs, “Boring.”

The first out of us to get summoned inside is me.

Finally, I’m facing another person from Hell. Someone from group 8, TheGuild. A man I haven’t met before.

The area we find ourselves in is different this time too. A floating island high in the sky, and I move to the edge of it and look down in an attempt to sate my curiosity and find myself gazing into a never-ending blue sky as far as I can see. A few clouds move lazily through the sky beneath us, and yet the floating island doesn’t seem to have any inscriptions that I can find, nor is there any mana powering it. It just floats, probably to make the event more interesting to watch.

I wonder if it’s for participants only or maybe even the Rulers themselves, should they decide to watch. Or maybe it’s possible for other beings to watch. Should I wave my middle fingers at the sky?

Creating a barrier in front of me, I block a barrage of invisible slashes. The attack feels like an extremely sharp breeze, invisible to the eye, leaving me to rely on the movement of its mana to betray its trajectory. It’s not bad at all, though it’s lacking in oomph.

Above my palm, I create a single mana orb and compress it until it turns dark blue.

More attacks surround me, swirling like a tornado, slashing, trying to tear through, but to no avail.

Reaching into my Vortex Core, I use a stream of kinetic energy, boosting the orb such that it disappears in the blink of an eye.

Even though he was surely expecting my response and after creating some sort of wind barrier, the man is unable to defend himself, and the orb, moving at high speed, pierces through his chest.

Congratulations, you have won your 6th duel!

Back on the roof, Tess sighs, “You could be more considerate. I know the guy, trust me, he’s a really nice person.”

That makes me snort, “Maybe to the women. He attacked me while I was examining the arena.”

“Did you consider that ignoring them and examining the arena during a duel might piss them off?”

“Not really.”

The screen lights up before Tess can say anything else that makes no sense, and two figures appear on the display: Samuel and Brainiac. The redheaded Brainiac that our boys have befriended and some other military guy from Hard difficulty. The result seems to have already been decided.

On the screen, a few sentences are exchanged, the sound enveloping the common area from all sides, making it possible to hear even over the noise of two thousand people.

Brainiac teases the man. In much the same way I do, he seems to dislike uptight military men who are good at organizing, but to some of the more free-spirited Hell difficulty attendees, it all feels too stuffy.

The projectiles Brainiac likes to use shoot from his body are invisible, and Samuel barely manages to deflect the attacks with his giant sword.

From below, the sound of the crowds cheering explodes, as people hype each other up in support of their personal favorites.

“A few groups have started going around and setting up bets. Mana stones, magical items, food, and items from Earth. They take and write down anything. They bet on winners of groups, winners of duels overall, and a few other things,” Sophie clarifies, reading my expression, as she follows the path of my gaze.

“Damn, they act quick.”

“Yes, and some have started selling snacks too. I think Adam’s been helping them quite a lot. Even here, he is trying to make as many shards as possible. But I guess that’s why he is in the top 5 of the crafter rankings.”

“Who has the best odds of winning the duels?”

Sophie falls silent for a bit, a stiff expression taking over her face as she concentrates.

“There are four people with a few small differences between them. But Tacita comes just slightly ahead. They say that her speed is the biggest advantage when it comes to fighting humans versus humans. You seem to be a bit ahead of Savant, who is third, and they’ve placed Tess in 4th.”

“Poor Gareth and Lily didn’t even get on the list,” I say, being sure Lily is listening.

“I will beat Tess, and they will see! I bet they only picked her because she goes around zapping people, the guys from Hard difficulty are just more scared of her. If I did that too, they would place me there instead!” Lily complains.

“So what’s your plan for fighting Tess? She’s probably going to keep a distance and pick you off from afar,” I become a bit curious.

I wonder how I would fight Tess if I were Lily. Using [Sacrifice] to get as close as possible in an attempt to end it all in a single [Disintegration] attack. But Tess then again would be expecting that, and unlike Lily, she can fly.

Sure, Lily can use some ranged attacks, but they can’t compare to Tess’s range.

“As if I’d say any of that to her face,” Lily snorts much to Tess’s amusement.

“I’m already excited for the fight, Lily,” Tess smiles at her.

With that, the duel between Brainiac and Samuel comes to an end, Samuel loses, unable to get too close even after using his body strengthening and some sort of movement skill that caused his feet to glow and slide across the ground like an ice rink.

Brainiac displayed a great sense of positioning and managed such a massive and consistent barrage of attacks that he seems to have been able to launch almost infinitely.

The next match takes place between a couple of people from Lily’s group. It’s a mixed gender pair from Hell difficulty. Their arena turns out the same as mine and Brainiac’s. A great floating island where they fight for over 10 minutes, trying to tire each other out. Both of them are extremely careful and swift to dodge. A woman with a bow, using projectiles created out of pale blue mana, that move almost as if they have a mind of their own.

The man uses his skill with mana to compress the orb into a disc shape with sharp edges. He then proceeds to move it with the power of his mind alone, the disc easily cutting through trees and stones, and tilting at times to block the arrows.

Yet, in the end, the man loses. An arrow that missed him and got stuck in the tree moves out of nowhere and takes the man in the back. The ordeal proves just enough to distract him, and causing him to take a hit by a few more attacks. The woman then takes the opportunity to attack more aggressively, wearing him down quickly and winning the duel.

“That wasn’t that bad,” Tess says. “Sophie, what’s her name?”

“I think it was Alaine from TheGuild. I think she and Swordmaster are married.”

“Swordmaster is a nice guy too. They fit well together.”

Sophie nods, “Yes, TheGuild so far seems to consist of quite the number of decent people.”

Petting Biscuit, I listen with one ear and nibble on some snacks I stole from Maya. Surprisingly, she doesn’t complain too much. Maybe she still harbors the hope that I will sell her my ax one day.

This isn’t really all that bad. How could a football or hockey match compare to this? Watching people use interesting skills, fighting, and giving their all. Truly, not bad at all.

Soon after, Isabella disappears, a thin figure appears alongside her on the screen, facing her down.

Sophie, who’s been speaking with Tess up until now, grows quiet, and I see her clench her teeth, her eyes becoming much colder.

Tacita on the screen tilts her head in surprise and looks at Izzy opposite her.