MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Bang!

Though Valyr was able to put a decent fight against his opponent with the help of the spear, the lack of experience he had with it as his player self meant that obvious gaps in his defense gradually began to appear the longer the fight lasted.

With that, it was no surprise that his opponent eventually decided to make use of one of these gaps, rendering Valyr unable to fight any further with a simple swipe of the axe.

Crash!

“Urgh..!” Activating a series of Wind-based spells in order to quickly reduce momentum, a massive wave of pain began to radiate throughout Valyr’s body as he stabilized his footing.

Being reminded that a single attack from his opponent had brought him to such a pitiful state, the young man wondered if it was still possible to shift the tides even slightly to his favor if he were to continue with his current offensive.

In the end, Valyr came to the conclusion that the endeavor would ultimately be fruitless, eventually deciding to admit defeat for the second time in a row as he began to heal himself in preparation for the ninth round’s third part.

“To think this is as far as he goes…”

“Well, if you think about it, it’s not really that surprising. If anything, it’s a miracle that he’s part of the final 12 with how many monsters there are in the tournament.”

“It’s quite unfortunate that we won’t see him be part of the top 9. I genuinely liked how he fought against his opponents.”

“Honestly, same. In any case, whether he gets into the top 9 or not, there’s no doubt that most, if not all the people here would fondly remember his performance in this tournament.”

“Yeah.”

Listening to some of the conversations that were happening amidst the crowd’s raucous cheers, Valyr began to bitterly smile as he thought about his performance during the fight just now.

‘…I think I just reduced my odds of winning there,’ thought the young man after mulling over the fight for some time, sitting beside Nightingale and the other person that also waited for the announcement of the third part.

‘Using a spear to even out the playing field is definitely a great idea,’ muttered Valyr to himself inwardly, only to let out a sigh not long after.

‘If I were still practicing with the spear in my current identity, that is.’

Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Ever since he’d made up his mind to become a mage through Ataraxia, Valyr pretty much decided to abandon the combat style he’d become greatly proficient at in his past life.

Although he could still pull off all of the moves he’d refined and mastered while he was using his other identity, the young man didn’t really see any reason to hone his spearmanship while he was in his player identity.

After all, if he could defeat someone with a spear, then it would be far easier for him to defeat that same person with a powerful magic spell.

In the end, the decision to forgo even a bit of weapon training cost him greatly now that the need arose for it.

In fact, the only thing he did as ‘preparation’ for such a contingency was to pick up a spear on the side.

And that was only because he came up with the situation as a mere afterthought.

Though he was able to briefly stand his ground just by relying on his combat experience with the spear alone, it was there Valyr realized that the skills he’d obtained in his other self were as equally important, if not more important than the experience he already had.

‘I really shot myself in the foot with this one,’ thought the young man to himself, only to then shake his head.

Looking at the nine that won either the first or second part of the ninth round, Valyr took note of the pride and confidence they had toward themselves, all of them exuding auras that far surpassed what they’ve shown throughout the tournament so far.

Briefly glancing at Nightingale and the other person that experienced the same fate as them, the young man continued to look at the nine for a bit more as he briefly scratched the back of his head.

‘Now then… how the heck would I clinch a position in the top 9 just by relying on magic alone?’

‘My spells definitely pack a massive punch, that’s for sure,’ said the young man to himself, faintly nodding as he thought about the various fights he had where his spells fully showed their might.

‘It’s also not a problem for me to defend against their attacks with my shields and barriers.’ As this thought came to mind, Valyr briefly thought about the fights where he used both shields and barriers to his advantage.

However, even though he had the ability to dish out a lot of damage and the ability to tank a lot of damage in return, there was still one problem Valyr had to face.

‘I lack a method that would make sure my opponent would receive the brunt of my spells.’

As this thought came to mind, Valyr immediately let out a low sigh as he thought about how his journey in this tournament had finally come to a close.

Though, just as he was about to throw in the towel and admit defeat before third part even began, a random thought soon surfaced in his mind, reminding him of an ability he had yet to use in his current identity.

‘Wait a minute…’ Feeling as if a light bulb was turned on in his mind, Valyr quickly brought out a couple of screens before him, double checking with the system to make sure that the thought he had just now was at least doable.

Seeing that he did have the ability to do what he just thought, the young man’s previously forlorn expression immediately changed into that of excitement, allocating a great portion of his unused XP to max out the ability that he had in mind.

Whoosh!

Feeling that he now had a better grasp of the ability compared to before, Valyr eventually began to look at the stage with a grin, excited to see whether or not his plans could actually show a path for him to enter the top 9.

…

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve finally reached the climax of this tournament. The grand finale that would allow us to crown the nine prodigies of Astella!”

As the sun was only a couple hours away from setting, Clive’s voice echoed throughout the coliseum once more, waking up a great portion of the crowd from their stupor.

“Although the first and second part of the ninth round have given us our participants that could become the final top 9 of our tournament, only through the third round would we be able to finalize this ranking once and for all.”

“Of course, as I’ve mentioned before, since this is the grand finale of the tournament, the participants that lost in the first and second parts are also given three chances to obtain a spot on the ranking.”

“As a bit of courtesy to them, these participants shall also be the first to make their moves in this final part,” said Clive, causing the crowd to focus all of their attention on Valyr and the other two.

“Now then, for those in the temporary ranking, please arrange yourselves according the order I’ll be mentioning.”

As those words left the young man’s mouth, the nine other participants began to arrange themselves according to the order they won their battles.

After that, they then gave Valyr and the other two deathly stares, seemingly intimidating them from participating in the third part through both their body language and the aura they exuded.

Deciding to ignore what the nine were doing to the three, Clive looked at Valyr and the two and said with a smile, “Alright. Let’s begin this part by having Nightingale go first.”

“Now, who would you like to fight against among these nine before you?”

“Er…” At first, Nightingale looked at the nine closely, deeply thinking about who among them would give him the highest choice of actually entering the top 9.

However, when he felt how all of their auras decided to envelop him and crush him through sheer pressure alone, the young man immediately changed his mind as he gave Clive a wry smile.

“On second thought, I’d like to forfeit.”

“Is that so?” Amidst a mix of boos and cheers from the crowd, Clive briefly looked at Nightingale in the eyes before nodding in return. “If that’s the case, then let’s move onto our next participant.”

“Ataraxia.”

Hearing his name be called, Valyr moved forward and briefly met the gaze of the nine that would potentially become his opponent.

Whoosh!

Feeling the nine focus their auras on him as a means to dissuade him from fighting them, a slight smirk crept up on the edge of his lips as Clive asked him, “So, Ataraxia.”

“Using your first chance, who would you like to fight against among these nine before you?”

“Hmm…” Returning his gaze back to the nine in front of him, the smirk on the young man’s face grew wider the moment he felt the nine double down on pressing him down with their auras.

Continuing to look at them with a calm facade, Valyr eventually made his choice.

“I’ll choose… number 1.”

Now as to why he decided to choose the one at the top of the temporary ranking…

Well, that was because he was the assassin he first lost to in the tournament.