The arena’s mood peaked with joy and excitement as the last of the contenders took their positions, summoning their elemental weapons.
Lassim’s heart raced with joy, his focus jumping between the different fighters, each displaying their unique weapons.
He saw some fairly interesting and unique ones too, like one person wielding a two handed weapon that looked like a giant palm leaf.
Another person didn’t have any weapons, but a fiery red cat was sitting on their shoulder. They gently stroked it’s fur as it purred and rubbed it’s whiskers against their face.
Next to that person was someone playing a light and energetic tune on a harmonica, like they were just enjoying the moment. There was no mana infusion being channeled through the instrument at all. They were happy to play this random ditty to set the mood, it seemed.
With moments to go before the battle commenced, Hallen tapped a hologram projected by the esoteric technological array embedded in the arms of his seat.
A translucent display shimmered to life, showing a detailed overview of the betting system and a list of every competitor for the Spirit Growth Stage matches.
"This is where the real excitement begins, if you’re willing to risk your wallet, Young Master," Hallen explained, his finger pointing out towards the competitors before then gesturing to different sections of the holographic interface.
"You see those numbers on each fighter’s fabric? Those are their identities in the system. The betting odds are based on their initial cultivation level and how well they fared in previous tournaments. Also, some special factors like if they’re a more famous figure are taken into account as well. All of these together add up and are calculated by the gambling system."
Lassim leaned in, intrigued by the display. "So, we can place bets on who we think will win each match through this?"
"Exactly," Hallen confirmed. "The system updates their odds live in the moment and dynamically based on various factors; like active performance and betting trends from other audience members. It’s a complex system array, but it makes the betting experience more engaging if you want to place a bet at the last minute. Like, when you predict an upset is about to happen!"
Lassim nodded, his eyes scanning the holographic interface. "Do we place bets on multiple matches or is it limited to one bet per round?"
Hallen replied, "You can place all kinds of bets, like on individual matches, overall winners, or even specific outcomes. For example, knockout victories or anything really. It adds an extra layer of excitement to all of the gambling aficionados present."
As Lassim familiarized himself with the betting options, he surveyed the competitors for the fabric displaying their assigned number. He especially paid attention to the water elemental woman with the fans, her number 16, and placed a bet of 1000 high-grade ESS on her being a Top 10 winner. He had a good feeling about her upcoming performance.
The announcer called out once more, "Fighters!!... Patrons!!... Are you ready?!" Hyping up the crowd for the imminent start of the matches, his voice carried outwards.
Lassim and Hallen quickly finished placing their initial bets just in time as it was then, the announcer’s voice boomed across the arena. Signaling the start of the match, they roared, "Let the Battle Royal begin!"
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With that declaration, chaos erupted on the stage as the competitors unleashed a flurry of elemental attacks in every direction.
A breathtaking spectacle of power and colors erupted immediately as nearly everyone attacked those closest to them, trying to take out the competition with surprise attacks.
Lassim’s eyes darted from one fight to another, taking in the various battles unfolding simultaneously.
He witnessed a fierce clash between the man with the cat, a fire spirit warrior, and a nature elemental warrior that seemed to specialize as an earth manipulator.
Their elemental energies collided in explosive bursts of heat as the earth manipulator sent our giant boulders of rock towards him. The heat was so intense from the cat’s reply, giant flame claws that it launched outwards that melted the rock into lava directly, splattering onto other fights adjacent to them.
Nearby and in the air, Lassim caught sight of a pair of wind elementalists engaged in a graceful dance of aerial combat with each other. Carefully dodging the splattering lava while their movements showcased their fluid and aerodynamic prowess.
They aimed relentlessly at each other with giant wind blades that shot out a thousand times a second... or at least, that was so until one blade caught the opponent at the neck. Blood splattered towards the ground while that individual quickly disappeared in a flash of light, safely teleported to the medical quarters below the venue.
Amidst the flurry of that action, Lassim’s eyes redirected towards the mysterious and strong water elemental girl, #16.
She stood out within the chaos by being inside of a barrier of swirling water. Protected from all angles, her fans sliced through the edges of the inside of the barrier before launching water blades forward through the air with lethal precision.
She moved cautiously and slowly, taking different martial stances. One at a time with quick snapping movements from stance to stance, her attacks combined water manipulation with martial arts finesse.
She wielded such a torrential force in each snap that every blade would cut through two or three opponents at a time if not blocked properly; many of which were unable to do.
This led to her opponents struggling to keep up with her constant, relentless flow and might. Some already yielded or were being knocked out within every moment.
Nearly fifty people, as tracked and displayed by the armrest betting system, had already been ejected! It was still the beginning minute of the match!
The stage was a chaotic battlefield, with fighters being teleported away as they surrendered or were incapacitated every second.
Some areas of the checkered marble stage were stained with splatters of blood, showcasing the intensity of the competition. The fights raged on, the competitors fueled by determination and desire to earn big. The crowd was electric and the sounds of beeping from many people typing into their betting systems on their chairs could be heard.
Lassim couldn’t tear his eyes away from the unfolding spectacle, his senses heightened as he absorbed every detail of the fierce clashes and elemental displays. It was a mesmerizing symphony of combat, one where he really had a hard time focusing on where to point his eyes. Each fighter was showcasing their unique abilities and fighting styles in ways he’d never seen before.
He’d been able to witness nascent fighters, the students of the academy, showcase their martial arts before, but it was nothing compared to these more mature warriors. These warriors were actually confident in their techniques and had such amazing battle instinct coursing through their veins.
He’d also seen the guards training in his Vanthar estate from the time he was 5 years old, when he’d join them for military training, but it was never at this level of combat.
It was really a wonderful insight into what he needed to focus on training next. He recognized what he was lacked and was determined that he wanted to build the kind of raw, predatory style aggression and sense of battle-focus he was witnessing.
He had already decided that that was his next goal, other than continuing to go up in cultivation ranks through the Spirit Growth stage.
Returning back to the action, A sun infused warrior, a woman with a day elemental spirit, was wielding a large chakram wreathed in bright light. She hurled the radiant projectile at a different earth manipulator than the one Lassim had seen before.
This earth manipulator responded by conjuring rock barriers, deflecting the bouncing chakram with calculated precision.
With a powerful stomp, the earth manipulator sent a shockwave towards their opponent, forcing them to leap back to avoid being knocked off balance.
From behind one of the conjured rock barriers, a night infused elementalist quickly appeared. Using the shadow of the earth manipulating nature elementalist, he sent a razor-sharp dagger slicing through the air towards their spine with deadly accuracy.
Unable to react in time, he received the full blow and slumped to the ground before disappearing in a flash of light.
Curiously, the night elementalist boy with the dagger gave the girl with the sun-infused chakram a smile, which the other returned with a cheeky grin of their own. Lassim noticed they seemed to actually look incredibly similar. He was tempted to make a bet on those two as well, thinking they might make it into the top 10.
In the midst of the chaos, physical confrontations erupted as well. A burly metal user with fists wrapped in thick chains charged forward. He aimed a powerful punch at the shield of #16, the water elementalist girl Lassim had bet on.
She countered by swiftly evading the blow, letting that portion of the swirling water barrier to disperse before retaliating with that same water that was now falling to the ground. She turned that water into a torrential wave that swept the metal elementalist off their feet, leaving them vulnerable to a crushing follow-up attack that nearly drowned him before he was teleported away.
Meanwhile, a rare lightning spirit warrior, similar to Lassim, darted between opponents; striking them with lightning-fast needles infused with crackling electricity. He struck at unique points across their bodies which partially or fully paralyzed them.
Some lost the ability to utilize their limbs and his victims struggled to keep up with the rapid onslaught.
With their movements hindered by the disruptive nature of the lightning strikes, he was able to quickly leave towards other victims. Meanwhile, those paralyzed could only stand there motionlessly or hobbling with limps as others capitalized on the chance to eliminate these new easy targets.
Lassim recognized that this lightning user seemed to have a unique strategy in letting others finish off his targets.
Lassim found that the arena was like a canvas of elemental clashes and martial prowess; similar to a painting of a scene he recalled in the mission hall of the academy. Instead of spirit warriors banding together against the Dragal, it was like the wars between elementalists from two aggressive kingdoms fighting along their borders.
Lassim watched as the fighters pushed themselves to their limits, unleashing their full arsenal of techniques and skills in a bid to last until the top 10.
Yet, the majority fell to the relentless onslaught, teleported away as they surrendered or succumbed to their injuries.
Despite the occasional splatter of blood, the fights continued unabated, fueling the growing roar of the crowd as the total number of competitors fell to under 100 left.
In only 9 minutes, over 400 individuals had already lost their chance at glory.