MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Though Valyr knew he was already catching some of the crowd’s attention by the time the second round ended, that attention immediately skyrocketed the moment he went all out against his opponent in the third round.

“A monstrous talent!” screamed an old man in a red robe as he stood up, his eyes gleaming as he focused more of his attention on the five suns Valyr conjured. “He’s definitely a monstrous talent in the making!”

“Throughout the three decades I’ve served as the head of the Blazing Arcanist Alliance, never have I seen someone so loved by the concept of flames!”

“P-Please calm yourself, Guild Leader,” replied the young man by his side, his face a deep cherry red from the secondhand embarrassment he felt. “C-Can’t you see how many people are looking at you right now?”

In response to that question, it was only then did the old man take a look at his surroundings, eventually realizing what kind of situation he’d gotten himself into.

Letting out a slightly awkward chuckle as he nodded at the people looking at him in apology, the old man quickly sat himself down, his face now the same shade of red as the young man beside him.

“I may have spoken out of turn, but my thoughts still remain the same,” muttered the old man after some time, committing every bit of Valyr’s overkill of an attack to his memory.

“He might just be the person the Blazing Arcanist Alliance needs to bring forth a new era for the alliance.”

“…Haah.” Knowing that the old man could not be dissuaded after becoming firm in his decision, the young man could only let out a sigh in response.

“…I’ll try to send an invitation to him when the opportunity arises.”

Of course, the attention Valyr’s attack received was not only limited to a single group.

“…Do we have any information on him?” At a spot directly opposite from the spot where the people from the Blazing Arcanist Alliance sat, a middle-aged man with a well-kept beard watched Valyr with interest.

“I’ll contact our information network,” replied the woman by his side, bringing up a screen in front of her before sending a plethora of messages to various people.

“…We were able to compile a basic level of information on him, sir. Would you like to impart the information to you.”

“Go.” The middle-aged man nodded, his eyes slightly widening in response to Valyr’s bombardment making contact with the ground.

“The man’s name is Ataraxia.” Nodding back at the answer, the woman quickly laid out all of the information she got to him. “He’s currently at the peak of Rank 2 and he’s classified by the system as a Player.”

“His class is unknown, but from the skills he’s shown thus far, it could be assumed that he has a magic-related class that’s at least Epic grade or higher.”

“Aside from that, it’s also assumed that he has a mana circuit skill that’s at least Rare grade or higher, as well as another skill that increases the potency of his magic. The latter is considered to be at least Legendary grade or higher.”

“…Is that so?” Taking a bit of time to process the information given to him, the middle-aged man eventually nodded in understanding the moment Valyr was declared the winner of his stage.

Then, as if he’d practiced such movements thousands of times before, he proceeded to take out a card from his pocket before giving it to the woman beside him. “Find an opportunity to give this card to him.”

“You are permitted to use any means available at your disposal.”

“As long as you are successful, the Dark Monarch shall promote you to Storm-level.”

“…Understood.” Receiving the card with both hands, the woman soon dissipated into a puff of smoke, causing some of the people around them to look at the man with both surprise and panic in their eyes.

Unfortunately for them, the man remained oblivious to their reactions, his gaze still focused on the young man walking out of the stage. Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire

…

Aside from those two groups, a large number of small and medium-scale organizations more or less did the same thing as them, using all of the connections they had in their arsenal to obtain as much as information on Valyr as possible.

Of course, some were more successful than others, with some of them even finding out that the young man they wanted to rope into their organization was already leading an organization of his own.

Though this information immediately deterred a huge number of these groups from recruiting him, the remaining minority found this information an additional benefit, gaining even more of a reason to rope him to their side.

At some point during the third round, these people were even able to figure out which people were part of Valyr’s guild, which unfortunately caused Thomas and the others to be bothered by some of the people.

Yet, the root of it all remained oblivious to all of it, his thoughts merely focused on the subsequent battles he had to participate in.

By the time an hour had passed since the third round began, the fourth round was announced throughout the entire coliseum, with each batch comprised of 20 battles happening at the same time.

To no surprise, Valyr was able to easily move onto the next round, utilizing a bombardment of magic spells to overwhelm all of his opponents at defense and attrition.

Naturally, the same outcome happened during the fifth round, being comprised of 10 battles per batch.

However, unlike the fourth round, the fifth round ended far quicker due to Valyr’s opponent admitting defeat from the very start.

At that point, Valyr had already gained the reputation of a dark horse in the tournament.

With almost everyone in the crowd curious as to how far he would go in the tournament, the young man went up on stage as the curtains to the sixth round were drawn open.

And it was there that Valyr was finally up against someone who could be considered his equal.

…

“Making up the 6th battle of our first 8 battles, we have number 17 and number 1,139!”

“17 and 1,139, please head to Stage 6 as soon as possible.”

Hearing the announcer call his number for the sixth time throughout the tournament, Valyr took in a deep breath as he walked out of the waiting area.

Making his way to the stage allotted for him and his opponent, the young man noticed that far more people in the crowd were cheering and rooting for him compared to the start of the tournament.

Looking at the crowd to see how many people were paying attention to him, he was immediately taken aback after noticing that almost half of the crowd was looking at him, making it seem like they were watching his every move.

Briefly glancing at Thomas and the others to catch a slight breather from the gazes, the young man waved at them with a slight grin before finally heading onto the stage.

“…Ataraxia, right?” By the time Valyr got to the stage, his opponent was already in position, his grayish-blue robe easily telling the young man what kind of opponent he was up against.

“And you are?” Faintly nodding in response to the question, the young man reminded himself not to let his preconceived notions get the better of him, recalling what had transpired during his second battle in the tournament.

“Doppel,” replied the man, giving Valyr a kind smile. “Neil Doppel.”

“You do notice that you’ve become famous throughout these past couple of rounds, right?”

“Not really.” Valyr awkwardly chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. “I know that I’ve gotten more attention, but I have no clue how far it extends.”

“Far greater than you’d think.” As those words left his mouth, Neil went ahead and gave Valyr a gray business card.

“As an acting representative of the Grand Arcanist Alliance, I, Neil Doppel, would like to formally invite you to the Tower of the Sages after this tournament is over.”

Hearing the name ‘Tower of the Sages’ leave his opponent’s mouth, Valyr briefly looked at the man with slightly widened eyes before eventually nodding in return.

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

As the man faintly grinned in response to his reply, the two proceeded to return to their previous positions, allowing the arbiter to tell them to activate all of their buff skills before the battle.

“Ready?” asked the arbiter after that, to which the two nodded back at the man in response.

Nodding at the two in return, the arbiter took a step back and gave the two free reign over their stage.

“Fight!”

“[Arcane Authority: Partial Sky].”

Whoosh!

Having learned to take the initiative whenever possible after the third round of battles, Valyr hastily boosted his offensive capabilities as he sent a trio of large fireballs heading Neil’s way.

“…[Orb of Apyrhan].”

Having each sun head towards the man from three out of four possible sides, the young man felt confident that it wouldn’t be long until his opponent admitted defeat against him.

Yet, just as the three suns were about to hit the man, Neil looked back at Valyr before giving him a slightly teasing smile.

“Quite the interesting concept…”

“But it’s not something I can’t replicate.”

At first, the young man did not understand what his opponent meant by those words.

However, when he saw a trio of similar-looking suns appear before the man, it was there that the pieces finally clicked into place.

“…”

“[Orb of Apyrhan].”