Chapter 124: Plan Back Fires
"A slime?"
"Is he kidding?"
"That’s the summon of a Golden Secret Realm survivor?"
"Hahaha, I thought it would be some kind of monster!"
"He’s using a slime in the preliminaries?"
The opponent on the arena platform immediately looked even more unpleasant.
"Are you insulting me?"
Zich looked down at Slimy.
Slimy’s body puffed up slightly, clearly not liking the laughter around it.
"No," Zich said. "It’s enough."
In the judges’ area, Cole covered his face with his hand.
’Kid, what are you up to again?’ he muttered under his breath.
Mira’s eyes fell on Slimy, and there was finally a bit of obvious interest in her gaze.
Jaden did not laugh. After watching Zich in action a few times, he knew that slime was not normal. If anything, he was concerned for Zich’s opponent.
After the host confirmed the summon registration, he immediately announced the start of the match.
"Begin!"
The opponent rushed out almost instantly.
He was fast. The heavy armor did not slow him down. The broad bladed longsword came crashing down from above, clearly intending to end the fight before Slimy could make any move.
Zich nodded, and Slimy moved first.
PSSHHH!
A mass of green poison splashed onto the ground in front of the opponent.
The man sneered and shifted his steps, easily avoiding it.
"You think something like that can touch me?"
Zich did not answer. Instead, Slimy continued spitting poison. Not at the man himself, but at the routes he would most likely take.
One mass landed on the left.
Another splashed onto the right.
A thin line spread across the front.
Soon, several areas of poison, faintly steaming, appeared on the arena floor. They were not large, but they were placed in the most annoying spots, just enough to block the smoothest charge routes.
At first, the opponent did not care.
He kept dodging the poison while closing in on Zich with his sword.
But after several exchanges, he realized his routes were disappearing.
Whenever he tried to move sideways, poison blocked his footing.
Whenever he tried to force a charge, Slimy would spit out a new patch of corrosive liquid in advance.
Meanwhile, Zich himself only moved within a small range.
Sometimes he stepped back. Sometimes he shifted to the side. Sometimes he lifted a hand and gathered a blood arc, but never actually fired it.
It was extremely annoying.
Like someone who could attack at any moment, but never did.
The laughter in the stands slowly faded.
"He’s not using the slime to injure the guy."
"He’s blocking the paths."
"That slime’s reaction is way too fast, isn’t it?"
"The placement of the poison is so precise."
"He’s using the slime to control the field?"
The opponent noticed it too, and his expression gradually turned irritated.
"Annoying thing!"
He roared, and a layer of earth yellow light burst out from his body. He stomped hard on the ground, and his entire body surged toward Zich like a heavy hammer.
"Mountain Break Slash!"
The broad bladed longsword came down with fierce pressure.
This strike was much heavier than before, clearly meant to forcibly break through the poison blockade.
Zich watched him charge and still did not panic.
Slimy suddenly bounced in front of Zich.
"Silk Barrier."
A white, translucent barrier instantly unfolded.
BOOM!
The longsword struck the barrier, which shook violently and nearly cracked at once.
But that brief instant was enough.
The opponent’s charge was forcibly halted, and his footing slipped slightly because of the slick edge of the poison. The force behind the sword did not fully disperse, causing his body to lose balance and pitch forward instead.
Zich vanished.
FWOOSH!
The next moment, he appeared at the opponent’s side.
He did not draw his sword to slash or use a blood arc. Rather, he simply lifted his foot and kicked the least stable point at the side of the man’s waist.
Bang!
The tall combat player was sent flying sideways and rolled directly out of the arena boundary.
The entire venue fell silent for a moment.
Even the host froze for half a second before recovering.
"The winner, Zich Grave!"
The arena burst into a far more complicated uproar.
Some were shocked, a few were dissatisfied, while others laughed, finding the entire thing funny.
"He barely even fought!"
"That guy got lured out by himself!"
"What is this supposed to count as?"
"It counts as a win."
"Using a slime to block the paths, then kicking him out? That’s way too disgusting!"
Zich ignored the audience and looked down at Slimy.
Slimy was doing its best to look impressive.
"Well done."
Slimy froze instantly.
The next second, it began bouncing wildly.
"Don’t jump too high," Zich said. "There’s still poison on the ground."
Slimy immediately stopped and obediently returned to his side.
The holographic screen quickly updated the evaluation.
[Zich Grave — Evaluation Result]
[Combat Ability: B]
[Control: A+]
[Adaptability: S]
[Battlefield Contribution Potential: A+]
The audience started talking again.
"Adaptability S?"
"He didn’t even try that hard, did he?"
"Maybe that’s exactly why he won while not trying hard."
"This judging standard is so weird."
"Weird? He won with the lowest risk."
Zich glanced at the evaluation.
’Not bad. Not too high, not too low.’
It was just enough that he would not seem useless, and not so high that it looked outrageous.
That made him feel a little better. His goal was not to stand out too much, or so he thought.
He walked down from the arena platform and returned to his original seat area.
Mira happened to be still sitting there, her farmer’s hat pulled low again.
As Zich passed by, she suddenly spoke.
"Your slime is not weak."
Zich paused and looked at her.
"Your farming is not weak either."
Mira looked up at him.
The two of them held each other’s gaze for half a second.
Then she gave a slight nod and said nothing more.
Zich sat back down. The next couple of matches blurred past like a breeze. Helen and Jaden easily defeated their opponents, getting quite high ratings, but the surprising thing was that neither of them surpassed Zich, much to the latter’s dismay.
’Dammit, and I thought I held back,’ he couldn’t help but frown.
