Chapter 41: Tournament of skill (Part 2)
Sky was peacefully eating a sliced sandwich with ham and cheese peacefully.
It has been about an hour since he and Jay have entered the colosseum and only recently did the number of fighters stop increasing. Sky estimated the number of fighters to be over a thousand.
They were not all inside the giant hall as there are more multiple large halls around the colosseum.
Sky had identified most of them and did not find anyone talented or that dropped another weapon like that woman in red.
{This is embarrassing for me to say}
'Hm?' Sky was surprised to see that. What did the system mean?
{I have made a grave mathematical error and I am adjusting your mana and HP accordingly}
'Wait, what?'
{Vig: 300 + 50 = 3,500 HP + 100 + 200 + 500 + 1000(from the vig benefits) = 5,300}
{HP: 5330 → 5,400/5,400} (The reason he has an extra 100 HP is because most living things, such as humans, start with 100 HP even if their vigor stat is at 0}
{Int: 301 + 50 = 1755 + 100 + 200 + 500 + 1000} {Mana: 4650→ 3,555/3,555}
'Wut?'
{It seems I made an error in your stats and I have adjusted them accordingly. Although I must warn you I might make this mistake again, but hopefully not}
'Dude… come on. Couldn't you have waited till after the tournament?'
{I could but I won't}
'I just lost more than 1000 mana from this. I need all the mana I can use to win this tournament.'
{But your HP did increase just a tiny bit}
'This just feels a little bit unfair for me.'
{It is not unfair as your mana was higher than it should have been}
'Wait, does this mean you can increase my mana and HP as much as you want?'
{It does seem that way. Anyways good luck with your tournament. I promise I won't mess up again… maybe… who can tell?}
'Wait, don't I get something in return for you screwing me over?'
There was no response.
Sky slouched back to see his mana decrease significantly.
'This is bullshit.'
"You okay, Captain?" Jay asked while eating a salad with ranch dressing. Inside the colosseum they even served food to the fighters.
"Fine."
"Good because I think they're gonna announce something." Jay pointed to the man walking up to the pedestal.
It was a short obese man wearing only pants for some reason. He was bald except on the sides of his head.
"EVERYONE!" He yelled.
"WE ARE SPLITTING YOU UP IN GROUPS. IF YOUR WRISTBAND HAS AN 'A' YOU STAY! EVERYONE ELSE LOOK FOR YOUR ROOM THAT MATCHES YOUR WRISTBAND! IF YOU ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO MESS UP YOUR OWN GROUP YOU WILL BE KICKED OUT! YOU HAVE FORTY MINUTES!" Everyone started to move but some stayed.
"Guess that's my cue. Bye, Captain." Jay stood up and left.
"Good luck!"
Sky looked around still identifying the people around him. He wanted to see which one would give him the most trouble and gathered as much information as he could.
During the time Sky noticed some of the people were strategizing by teaming up. Most guessed that it would be a battle royale like in the past.
No one bothered Sky as he never stood out. He was just sitting motionlessly and observing, planning, and thinking.
After an hour another man stood on the pedestal. It was an older man but with a solid build and great hair.
"EVERYONE! ATTENTION!" Everyone stood still and quiet to hear the old man.
"I WILL BE GOING OVER THE RULES! YES, IT IS A BATTLE ROYALE! YOUR STATS HAVE BEEN LIMITED FOR A FAIR FIGHT! ONLY ONE OF YOU FROM EACH GROUP WILL MAKE IT TO THE FINAL ROUND! YOU HAVE FORTY-FIVE MINUTES TO BE THE LAST ONE STANDING! IF THERE ARE STILL MANY OF YOU LEFT BY THE TIME THE TIMER ENDS NO ONE WILL PROCEED!
KILLING IS ALLOWED! IF YOU FALL OFF THE FIGHTING PLATFORM YOU LOSE! IF YOU WANT TO GIVE UP FALL OFF THE PLATFORM, AND IF YOU DON'T MAKE IT IN TIME TOO BAD! IF YOU KILL SOMEONE OUTSIDE OF THE PLATFORM YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY DISQUALIFIED! IF YOU HAVE SNEAKED IN ANY OUTSIDE ITEMS EXCEPT FOR THE CLOTHES YOU'RE WEARING YOU'RE DISQUALIFIED! ANY AND ALL ABILITIES ARE ALLOWED! AND LASTLY: SINCE YOU ARE GROUP 'A' YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO START. THE FIGHT STARTS IN TEN MINUTES!"
The old man left and there was a lot of noise ensuing in the hall.
Sky breathed in and breathed out. He was nervous. Apart from Jay he hadn't seen anyone else with stats less than 400.
When the time was up everyone marched outside of the hall and towards a grand entrance. The reason nobody started any fights in secret is because there were guards keeping an eye on everyone like eagles.
These guards were continuously using {search} on everybody to make sure they did not have any outside items on them. Sky was glad no one could see the inside of his inventory.
As Sky got closer to the grand entrance he could hear the sound of thousands of people cheering and yelling and the sounds only got stronger and louder as he got closer.
There he saw a giant square fighting platform big enough to hold three hundred people. And the entire colosseum was filled with people sitting down and watching, everyone was expecting to see blood.
The number of people he saw was in the tens of thousands.
"Sky, behind you." He heard Jericho's voice inside his head. Turning around he saw Jericho waving at him, she was sitting in the front row.
"Good luck!"
Sky waved back and set foot on the platform.
{Skill level up}
{Sense bloodlust: lvl 4 → 6: Detect the bloodlust of others by 225 meters}
Sky hadn't seen a single skill of his jump two levels. Sense bloodlust did not just mean he could only detect the bloodlust directed at him.
Everyone was gripping tightly onto their weapons. Some were scared, others were excited. Sky had to admit that their level of self control was great. And the number of people on the platform was about 180.
There is one spot that stood out from the colosseum. It was a seating area meant only for someone important. The seating area was split apart from the rest of the people and had the finest seats, view, and security.
Sky saw a man in his late twenties full of facial hair that made him look dirty. His eyes were bloodshot as if he hadn't slept or had seen unimaginable things not meant for human eyes. He stood tall and proud while looking down on everyone.
Beside him was a young woman with giant breasts and golden bright hair holding a baby in her bosom.
Sky identified the man and woman.
{Edgar Rolland}
{HP: 10,100/10,100}
{Mana: 1,050/1,050}
{Str: 200 Dex: 310 Spd: 666 Int: 210 Mind: 150 Vig: 1,000}
{Personality: Angry, cruel, violent, vengeful, lustful}
{Loot drop: 12,000 exp, 18,000 shells, gown of the dictator}
Sky was surprised to see his stats so low and yet he had an item drop upon death. One would think that someone like him would be outstanding. He did not even have a single skill.
The woman beside him had her stats between 10-20 each.
{Gown of the dictator: Red+}
{100+ HP when worn. 100+ Mana when worn}
{People who are in your party/crew will follow your every command without fail. Does not work on people with higher intelligence than you}
As great as that item looked, Sky could not afford to kill someone as important as him.
Edgar looked at the person beside him and gestured to him with his stand to start the fight. The man signaled to the other man who was holding a hammer and standing near a giant bell.
The man swung his hammer and the sound echoed through the entire stadium.
The tournament had started.
In no time people started swinging their weapons. Blood was spewing everywhere, body parts were flying everywhere, people were shooting fireballs, lightning, and flying.
Sky didn't even have to do anything but watch. The violent massacre happening in front of him reminded him of the time those fishmen were massacring everyone on the Warlord's island.
The entire colosseum was erupting into cheering and yelling.
'Why is everyone so eager to kill each other? It's just ten million shells and some red scrolls. I mean I've killed for less but still.' Sky thought.
A big burly man noticed Sky standing still. He charged at Sky thinking he's another easy target.
Swinging his giant war ax over his head Sky took this chance to penetrate his face with his trident.
There was a gust that followed Sky. Wind-runner, which is his evolved air manipulation skill, increases his speed by 50% when using it.
'Idiot. You're wide open.' Sky thought as he killed the man.
{You have killed Sebastian Ruiz}
{Received: 600,000 exp, 880,000 shells}
"Hmm… I should give the exp to Jay since he needs it more than I do." With some light modifications Sky set it so that Jay received all the exp until the tournament ended.
Sky took this chance to level up his un-evolved curse skills.
'Weakness. Curse of strength. Blindness. Hearing. Touch. Healing. Speaking. Death.'
Every person who was cursed then killed by someone else Sky would receive a bit of money and exp for contributing.
As more people died more people looked at Sky as an easy target. Sky managed to kill everyone charging at him. Most did not have abilities meant for combat, and those who did were getting killed.
After all this wasn't a battle of stats but a battle of skill. Only the most skilled fighters would survive.
Sometimes he would sneakily kill others by using his telekinesis and flinging nearby weapons on their neck, or making them trip for an easy kill.
Sky saw some people were knocked out or had jumped out of the platform. All he could think was 'smart' for making the right choice.
After a violent twenty minutes had passed only the strongest were left, meaning Sky and three others were the only ones left remaining. They were standing in corners of the platform, the only thing between were the bodies, blood, and weapons of the people who had died.
One of them charged at Sky while the other two were fighting.
The one charging at Sky had a shield but no weapon on his hand. Instead he threw fireballs at Sky.
Sky dodged the fireballs and even changed their trajectories slightly. Sky has the ability [Pyrokinesis} at max level, he could control any flame even the flames of others.
The man noticed he could not hit Sky and he was getting closer. As he was thinking of something
Sky threw his trident at him.
"Absolute shot!"
{Accuracy and range has increased by 100% for one shot}
The trident flew and it pierced the man's neck. In a few moments he would die while suffering.
Looking at the other two men one of them had been slashed by the other in half.
"Sloth."
{Target has been slowed by 70%}
The man felt really heavy. He realized he had been cursed but smiled as he had the dispel ability at level 9.
"Dispel."
The man still felt heavy. He was getting worried, he had been practicing dispel for so many years so no other curse could affect him. For the first time in a long time he could not dispel a curse.
Sky threw a few fireballs at him. The man realized he could not dodge those attacks, instead he grabbed a large shield and blocked the fireballs.
Sky got closer every time he threw fireballs with another plan in mind.
As the man blocked all the fireballs he noticed hit sleeves were on fire.
He quickly dropped his sword to get rid of the fire with his hand but the fire continued to spread and it wouldn't go out. Soon his arms were enveloped in fire. And when the fire wouldn't be put out he dropped his shield and began running like a crazed maniac screaming in pain.
Soon his entire body was enveloped in fire.
It was a horrible and painful death followed by painful screams. He even jumped off the stage to roll around in the ground but the fire was still spreading.
Sky used his pyrokinesis to burn the man because fireballs would simply not be enough to go around the shield.
'Didn't even need to use my dagger, shield, and sword for this match.'
*DING* The bell was rung. Not once did the cheering from the spectators stop. They came to see violence and that's what they got, pure unadulterated violence.
Jericho was slowly clapping for Sky.
'I knew he would win but his methods are always so violent.'
"This way, please." The one who talked to him was a woman wearing a skimpy outfit. Sky followed her back to the colosseum.
Edgar looked at Sky closely. He signaled to the other man beside him to talk to him.
"Did we always have a prisoner like him? He looks young to be one."
"No, sir, he's not one of the prisoners. He willingly signed up."
"Hmm…"
Sky followed the woman to a room filled with weapons as well as good food set up for him. There is even a clear view for him to watch the tournament.
As of now there were many people cleaning up the bodies and blood.
"As one of the winners you get to enjoy the food while you wait. Enjoy." Sky had to admit this was a great day for him.
'How many times did Jay level up from that?' Sky took a look at Jay's stats.
{Jay Press}
{Level 123}
{HP: 1,920/1,920}
{Mana: 825/825}
{Str: 148 Dex: 119 Spd: 89 Int: 165 Mind: 80 Vig: 182}
'Woah, he leveled up 70 times from that? That's great but… his stats are still too low.'
Sky could decrease the gap between his stats and the stats of others because of his skills. But Jay doesn't have that.
As he was about to call Jay he stopped when he saw three people looking at him. Those three men were there to make sure Sky or anyone else in the room fought or cheated.
There were also hundreds of people keeping a close watch on anybody in the stadium to make sure no one does anything to the fighters. Apparently it was common for others to use curses on the fighters just to mess with them for the sake of their bets.
"I need to use the bathroom." One of the men pointed Sky to a room and he eagerly went inside locking the door behind him.
"Access chat: Jay Press. Jay, can you hear me?" Sky whispered.
"I can. Good job out there, Captain." Jay also whispered back.
"Jay, I know this is selfish but I want you to give up immediately. Jump off the arena the second the bell rings."
"Why? Did you see something?"
"Not particularly. Jay, I'm sorry to say this but you're just too weak. Everyone in your group is at least several times faster and stronger than you. If you fight any of them even with your talent you'll die."
There was a moment of silence before Jay responded, "I know that, Captain. I know I am weak but I know you are also weak, we are all weak. Seeing those people fight and kill each other was something else and they all had their power restricted severely."
Jay wanted to win second prize at least to help out Jericho's family. But the reality was he would not be able to do that. It did pain him to see how weak he is but that made him eager to get stronger. And lucky for him he was in a crew that can do that.
"Good luck, Jay."
"You, too, Captain."
Sky ended the call, left the bathroom and enjoyed the food.
In about twenty minutes the entire stadium was semi-cleaned. There were still traces of blood and battle marks on the arena.
Soon another 180 people marched to the arena, they were group 'B' but Sky noticed someone due to their clothes standing out as well as their appearance.
It was the woman in red, the only one who dropped a weapon upon her death. She was carrying a trident on her left hand.
Now that he looked at her face she was really beautiful. But Sky knew her personality all too well to be fooled by a pretty face.
'System, if I kill this woman can you make sure her weapon is stashed directly into my inventory? It'll be suspicious if I kill her and suddenly a trident appears in front of me and all those people.'
Sky has a feeling she will win her group.
{That can be arranged}
'Thanks.'
Once the bell rang a familiar scene unfolded before everyone's eyes.
{Skill level up}
{Sense bloodlust: lvl 6 → lvl 7: Detect the bloodlust of others from 250 meters}
'Wow, even from here?'
Sky could not increase any of his other skills during the round, it went too fast and was easy.
During the fight not once were the survivors treated for their wounds which is something Sky did not expect. No one checked on Sky's condition when he could have been injured.
He wasn't going to complain due to the good service they provided(to the winner only) and the fact that he could heal himself anytime.
Sky observed the woman and she was brutal. Almost everyone wanted to fight her because her looks stood out. Despite having no talent she used her trident skillfully and even electrocuted many people with lightning bolts.
Of course having no talent does not mean they are weak. Hard work will always prevail over talent.
'I knew she would be powerful. What was her name again? Rosa.'
Rosa was dead tired and managed to make it to the final five fighters. Everyone in the stadium knew Rosa was the best fighter in group 'B' and they all cheered for her, except the fighters.
Seeing her tired and nearly out of mana all four charged at her.
Rosa used her surroundings to her advantage. She flung the body parts, weapons, and corpses at three of them and even threw a single lightning bolt at them.
The man swung his sword at Rosa, but she skillfully parried his sword, threw it away, stabbed him in the stomach and grabbed his arm.
In a matter of seconds the man died as all the mana had been stolen from him. His corpse went limb under her grip.
Rosa had the ability {mana pilfer} which can steal the mana of others by touching them.
As her mana had been restored she threw more lightning bolts at the other three fighters. In no time she was the last one standing.
'I knew she would win. And I'm glad.' Sky smiled because if she had died he would not be able to get that trident he wanted from her.
Rosa left the stadium tired and covered in blood.
"Woah, Captain, she is good. Be careful of her." Sky heard Jay's voice but didn't say anything.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone