A battle arena filled to the brim with tens of hundreds of spectators belonging to various Races waited patiently with eyes glued on the two entrances of the arena.
The battle arena was massive, built in the shape of a circle, having a radius of hundred and forty meters, with the ground being pitch dark soil, and all around it were raised steps like seating with a high ceiling that was closed like a dome.
After a few minutes of silence, a man walked from one of the entrances making some of the spectators roar out in cheers.
The man was an elf, and walking to the center of the arena, he snapped his finger once, making every spectator turn silent.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, As you might have heard that a new rookie who just joined the guild just a few hours ago, his strength being at the peak of third Rank, has decided to take the strength evaluation test for the C Rank promotion,"
"This scenario is everyday happenings in our guild with new rookies trying to run before they even learn to walk, but today's case is very special because the rookie opponent is one of the famed ones," The announcer said and went silent.
After a few seconds of building suspense, the announcer revealed the opponent's name in his calm yet booming voice.
"The Rookie has challenged *Molgrird, The Barbarian Price* one of our guild's famed mercenary standing on the cusp of the fourth Rank, and with his barbaric lineage, he wields the strength to rival any early fifth Rank warrior in a physical confrontation," The announcer said with his arms raised.
The spectators stayed silent for a few moments before exploding into cheers and roars as the whole arena thundered with chants of Molgrird, the ruthless and bloodbath for the rookie.
The announcer let the spectator express their feeling for a few seconds before snapping his fingers to silence the crowd.
"I also want to wholeheartedly believe that the Rookie will get ripped limb from limb with seconds for challenging someone like Molgrird, who knows no mercy,"
"The only reason why I am inclined not to completely believe my rational reasoning is because The Floor Manager Erasmus said that the Rookie has a chance to win the battle,"
"This is a wild statement, but anyone with a bit of knowledge knows that with Floor Manager Erasmus's reputation, he will never make such a statement unless he is certain,"
The announcer was doing his job of hyping up the crowd, but a few individuals of power were bored with his shenanigans.
"Hey, Long Ear, Get the damm battle started before I come down and hammer you into the ground for my entertainment," A dwarf seated in the VIPs section roared as he threw a bottle of unknown beverage toward the Elf announcer.
"Sir Dorafrid, Thanks for offering me a drink, but I only like to drink the Elven wine," The announcer said as he caught the bottle and made it disappear into red smoke.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, You have One minute to place your bets with the odds of doubling your money by placing it on Molgrird's win, and if you like the thrill of the unknown, then place it on the Rookie for his win and grow your money by ten times," The announcer said making the arena shake with the cheers from the spectators.
While the spectators were making bets on his loss, Alex stood at the left entrance of the arena with his eyes turned pitch dark, looking straight ahead at the hulking giant.
'Now that the stage is set, I just need to win my battle against this Barbarian Royalty, and one of the missions will be completed,' Alex thought, looking at the smiling brute in the distance.
The battle between Alex, a rookie, and Molgrird, one of the guild's most respected C Rank mercenaries, would never have attracted the attention it was receiving on any normal day because, with the vast strength gap, the result was obvious to anyone.
The battle was receiving such attention all because of the seventeenth-floor manager, and the manager made wild claims about Alex not because of his personal reasoning, but he did so because he was told to do it by Lady Margaret.
One of the three remaining Ruler's missions required Alex to earn the recognition of a thousand clan members, and he planned to complete it by achieving some significant achievements to spread his name.
Varon suggested to Alex to use the mercenary guild strength evaluation test to defeat a higher Rank opponent to spread his name, and even though there was no discussion of hyping the battle, Lady Margaret did it, saying it would save him the waiting time.
The one minute of betting time passed, and all bets were placed, with the barbarian prince being heavily favored as the winner for obvious reasons.
"Let's not waste any more time and see if the Rookie will show us a miracle by standing his ground or take his last breath in this prestigious arena,"
"Introducing, The Unknown Warrior, hailing from the Human Clan with no recorded achievements, Aeon," The Announcer said, and Alex entered the arena amidst the cheers of the spectators.
The Announcer gave Alex a look of intrigue before returning to doing his job grandly introducing the barbarian, and even before he finished the long introduction, the spectators were erupting with thunderous cheers.
"Now, The Famed One, The Ravage Butcherer, The Curator Of Rage and Blood, The Pride of the Krasvon Clan, *Molgrird, The Barbarian Price*," The Announcer said, pointing toward the right entrance.
Molgrird stood over nine feet tall with hulking muscles covered in veins, and he had dark red hairs reaching his shoulder and deep crimson eyes filled with bloodlust, staring at Alex like a predator watching his prey as he entered the arena.
The Barbarian chiseled frame was on full display, hidden under no armor, displaying his specimen of a body completely covered in shallow to deep scars.
The only armor the barbarian wore was a pair of red scaly gauntlets with long sharp claws and pants made from red scaly leathers that were ripped from the end, barely covering his monsters' quads.
'He is going to be an excellent candidate to test my newly improved strength,' Alex thought, as he felt the full brunt of blood lust and killing intent being thrown at him by Molgrird as he walked toward him.
The crowd shouted out loud chants and cheers few announcing the money they had bet on Molgrird, a few telling him not to kill Alex in the first few seconds.
The Announcer snapped his finger, and instantly a golden barrier started to manifest around the arena, which covered its entirety in just a few seconds, separating the battleground from the spectator stands.
"Your battle starts when I disappear, and it ends with one of you surrendering or being incapable of fighting," The announcer said, and seeing that both combatants looked ready, he vanished from his place like a ghost.
"Fight till the end, and I will consider not killing you and don't even think of surrendering because then death will be the last of your concern," Molgrird said in his deep voice as he slowly stepped toward Alex.
'Phantom Walk'
Alex vanished from his place, appearing before the barbarian swinging his fist covered in a raging storm of mana, punching him in the face and making him shoot back like a bullet.
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