The battle arena, filled with hundreds of spectators, echoed with thundering cheers of the spectators for the two combatants engaged in a bloody battle in the arena before them.
Alex stood drenched in blood, some belonging to himself but the majority belonging to his opponent, while firmly griping his sword, ready to engage in the battle.
Alex's armor was covered with claw marks, some even deep enough to show his injured body oozing with blood, but he stood firm, looking toward his opponent, whose physical condition was much worse than his, as swords cuts littered his massive frame making him drenched in vibrant red.
Alex and Molgrird, the barbarian, started each other down while their injuries visibly healing with every passing moment while the spectators cheered at the top of their lungs, enjoying the thrilling strapdown after the last few minutes of the intense brawl.
'Things went better than I expected,' Alex thought as he reenvisioned the last few minutes of the battle.
The battle started with Alex punching Molgrird in the face and sending him crashing into the arena barrier, shocking his opponent and the spectators to their core.
The single punch made Alex's image of being a lamb in a cage with a lion to an opponent that should be respected, but still, a majority, if not all, of the spectators never even consider him winning the battle against the barbarian prince.
In the following moments, the battle to death turned into a contest of strength as the single punch damaged the pride of the barbarian more than it damaged him physically.
Alex welcomed the physical brawl to test his strength, speed, and reflexes after the third Rank promotion, and with Molgrird not holding his strength back, it only pushed Alex to adjust to his strength faster.
The brawl continued for a few minutes, with Molgrird having the clear upper hand with his brute strength and monstres defense, but Alex wasn't getting dominated because of his heightened senses and phantom walk skill.
After a few minutes, Alex decided to wield his sword and start using skills because now, with every exchange, he received deep injuries hindering his ability to defend and attack.
Alex used the phantom sword flash to deliver tens of shallow and deep sword slashes to Molgrird buying himself a well-needed breather to heal his injuries.
'He has much sharper instincts than I thought,' Alex thought, seeing Molgrird standing in the distance with a broad smile.
Alex aimed to cut down at least one of Molgrird's Limbs while doing crippling damage that could delay his regeneration, but he failed to cut down any limbs or even put a scratch on the neck.
'Darkness Heal' Alex used his new healing skill to recover some of his health and physical injuries.
"I came to this arena expecting to squash a bug, but I didn't expect to find a Ghost Mantis ready to claim my head," Molgrird said with a broad smile.
"I will take this as a compliment," Alex replied, relaxing a bit, seeing Molgrird had no intention of charging at him but still keeping his mana sense active.
The staredown continued as their bodies healed while the crowd continued with their cheers, with a sizeable number of spectators rooting for Alex to win.
After a few seconds, Alex was mostly healed, with the larger injuries on him having stopped bleeding, and the same was true for Molgrird.
"Let's decide the victor," Molgrird said, as his aura turned chaotic while his body started to experience physical changes.
Molgrird closed his eyes while his body got shrouded in the chaotic aura as his muscle grew and his veins bulged out, and after a moment, he opened his eyes, and they were filled with nothing but rage.
'Let's end this battle,' Alex thought, using the Ruler Pride skill to elevate his Rank to the peak of the fourth Rank.
Alex used the Ruler Pride skill with his conscious link with the system as he did with every skill, but he received a few notifications he wasn't expecting.
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[Ruler Pride Skill Activated]
[One Intelligence Stat used Permanently](Every Minute)
[Level Increased to 300] [For the duration the skill is in effect]
[1000 Available Stat points distributed equally]
[Ten Intelligence Stat used Permanently for the Major Rank Advancement.] (One Time)
[Advancement to the Fourth Rank]
[Rank Advancement Failed]
[Strength Limited to peak Third Rank]
[All Skills Upgraded by One Rank]
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Alex felt his strength get boosted, which relieved all his fatigue from the brawl, but he still felt like he was being hammered in the head looking at the transparent window with system notification floating before him.
'What does the system mean by Rank advancement failure?' Alex questioned, his head filling with possibilities that he didn't like one bit.
Alex regretted not being able to advance to the fourth Rank in his past life and seeing the failed advancement of the fourth Rank, even though an artificial and temporary one gave him quite the scare.
'My skills were upgraded to fourth Rank, which is a partial success, while 10 points of intelligence were used for the major Rank advancement, which is different from what I know, meaning there are some changes that happened to the skill after Rank promotion,' Alex thought as he quickly checked the system description.
??????????
Name: Ruler Pride
Quality: Mythical Unique
Grade: Third Rank [Growth Type]
Effect: Permanently use one point of intelligence stat (every minute) to increase User strength by One Rank. [Cooldown: None]
Description: A Ruler's Pride is more important than his life, and to defend it, he should have the willpower to go to any limits.
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[Important note: Ten points of Intelligence will get permanently used (Once) for the Fourth Rank Promotion.]
??????????
Alex checked the skill details, and to his dismay, he found the answer to why ten points were used, but even opening and closing it tens of times and checking it repeatedly, he could not find the reason for the Rank promotion failure.
Alex's mind was clouded with the sudden shock, making him forget he was in a deadly battle against a barbarian fueled by pure rage, ready to rip him apart.
Alex heard a primal roar making him come to his senses, but he was a tad bit too late to avoid the incoming attack, and before he could even get ready for the impact, he was struck in the chest with the scaled claws throwing him back.
Alex crashed into the ground head first, making him winded from the impact, but he plunged his legs into the ground as his body flipped.
But before Alex could regain his balance, he was struck in the chest again, throwing him back, and moments later, he crashed into the arena barrier with a solid impact.
Alex took a moment to calm his emotions and return his focus to his current priority of winning the death battle.
'Let's end this battle, and then I can peacefully find why the Rank promotion failed,' Alex thought, putting aside his tension.
Alex jumped back to his feet and met the incoming sharp claws with darkness slash, simultaneously using the newly promoted [Death Illusion] skill at its strongest, halting Molgrird in his steps.
Alex instantly used the phantom walk to change his location before using the [Dark Vortex] skill on Molgrird to keep him in place.
Alex then used the [Internal Corrosion] skill manifesting grayish-dark energy on his palm, molding it into a solid spear before launching it on Molgrird, who had just regained his sense and was struggling to escape the swirling pool of corrosive darkness.
'Three normal bolts of lightning should be enough to make his health reach a critical point,' Alex thought as he used his most destructive elemental skill Dark Lightning.
Alex wasn't using the newly promoted skills at their full potential because he didn't want to damage Molgrird body to an unrecoverable state that could result in his permanent death.
Alex used the Dark Lightning skill, selecting Molgrird as the target, whose body was turning dark like being eaten by poison from the inside as he struggled to free himself from the revolving pool of darkness.
After a few moments of struggle, Molgrird freed himself from the center of the vortex with the highest gravity using brute force and made his way right toward Alex roaring like a madman, with his skin turning darker as his organs were being eroded with every passing moment, making him experience hellish pain.
Molgrird had just escaped from the vortex area when the sky above the arena turned pitch dark for an instant, and with a loud rumble, a pitch dark serpent-like bolt of lighting stuck him right on his head, pinning him into the ground while demolishing tens of feet of the area around him into rubble.
The first bolt of lightning was followed by two more in quick succession, leaving behind tens of meters of the area in a pile of rubble and dust filled with lightning sparks.
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