MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

"Wow."

Arriving at the venue where the tournament would be held, Valyr briefly let out a sigh of admiration as he gazed at the massive building in front of him.

"…Woah."

Though, just as he was about to start walking around the venue to get a better look, four other people decided to snap back to reality the same way he did, forcing him to snap back to reality as he recognized them.

"You guys are here." Inwardly letting out a slightly disappointed sigh, the young man gave Thomas and the others a slight smile. "Did it take you long to get here?"

"Not really," replied Thomas, his expression that of excitement. "The closest class guild related to my class is actually here, so I just had to make use of our Teleportation Hall."

"Our class guild was a town away from here," said Lucques after Thomas was done, with Meria nodding in agreement. "Fortunately, there wasn't too much of a distance between there and here."

"Same goes for me," said Alisa, slightly grinning at Valyr and the others.

"Are any of the other guild members gonna come?" Nodding at their words, the young man went ahead and asked them another question. "I'm pretty sure the Astella Coliseum is pretty easy to find."

"Definitely easy to find," said Thomas in response, only to give Valyr a slightly bitter smile. "But have you thought about how easy it is for those at lower ranks to get here?"

At those words, the young man returned a bitter smile of his own, eventually deciding not to talk about the topic any further.

With him sending a quick message to the guild chat about the event, the five eventually made their way inside the Astella Coliseum, only to be then greeted by the sight of a massive crowd.

"Waaaaahhhh!!!"

Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the cacophony of sounds throughout the coliseum, Valyr decided to part ways with the four for the meantime as he headed to the area specifically for those participating in the tournament.

Whoosh!

Being greeted by a massive swarm of people once more by the time he got there, Valyr took in a few deep breaths to calm his nerves before lining up on a queue to get his number.

"…You're 383."

"…"

"…You're 1,012."

'Over 1,000 people are participating in the tournament?' Absentmindedly listening to the numbers being shouted out at the counters, the young man's eyes widened in slight disbelief after hearing the number break the four-digit barrier.

At that point, he had been in the queue for over an hour already.

"Ataraxia…" Fortunately, after the number went past the four-digit mark, it did not take long for his turn to arrive, allowing him to come face to face with one of the attendants.

"Can I confirm that you're at least Rank 2?"

Nodding in response, he went ahead and brought up his status screen, leaving only his class rank on it for the attendant to see.

"…You're 1,139." Confirming that Valyr indeed met the minimum requirements to participate in the tournament, the attendant hastily gave him a badge before jotting his number down on a thin tablet.

Thanking the attendant for their time, the young man kept the badge in his spatial bracelet for the meantime as he wondered whether to check where Thomas and the others were before the tournament began.

Unfortunately, just as he left the registration area, a pair of familiar individuals appeared before him all of a sudden, looking at him with wide smiles on their faces.

"You're prepared, right?" Heading towards a quieter part of the coliseum, Dalton eventually asked Valyr the question that was lingering in both their minds.

"I've already told you two yesterday. I'm more than ready," replied the young man with a slight sigh. "Do I have to show you two a skill or something to ease your worries?"

"That's… not a bad idea, actually," said Aster after some time, only to let out a slightly wry chuckle after sensing the young man glaring daggers at him.

Clearing his throat to diffuse the tension in the air, Dalton took in a deep breath before asking Valyr a different question. "How are your opponents? You think you could beat all of them?"

"Well…" Closing his eyes for a bit, Valyr thought back to the various people he'd come across on the queue. "A decent number of them seem pretty strong."

"They're probably at Rank 3 or higher," replied Aster, clicking his tongue at the thought. "If there are a lot of them participating in the tournament, then it might be difficult for you to place in the top nine spots."

"But let's not focus on that," said the man after that, changing the topic as he looked at Valyr with a serious expression. "Most of your opponents in this tournament are at the same rank as you."

"You think you got it covered?"

"Depends." Valyr shrugged his shoulders. "After all, there's a possibility that my opponent could counter every attack I throw at them."

"But generally speaking, though," clarified Dalton.

"Would you lose against any of them?"

"Nah." Valyr shook his head in response, giving the two a confident smile.

"I'd win."

…

"Greetings ladies and gentlemen! Welcome one and all to the Astella Coliseum!"

At the exact moment the sun reached its zenith, a young man in a silver suit appeared at the center of the coliseum.

Utilizing a mix of mana and acoustics, the young man was able to make his voice heard from any part of the coliseum.

"My name is Clive, and I'll be your announcer for today," said the young man, grinning amidst the loud cheers and applause echoing throughout the coliseum.

"We're gathered here today to witness the making of history. In this place, we'll see people showcase their true might and go all out."

"Will their strength cause their names to be remembered by humanity for centuries and millenniums? Or will their strength cause them to be buried by the sands of time?"

"We'll all find out soon enough as this tournament shall crown the Nine Prodigies of Astella."

After talking a bit more about the mechanics of the tournament and the prizes that would be given to those that participated in the tournament, Clive eventually talked about the most important part of the tournament.

The match-ups.

"Due to the number of participants we have in this tournament exceeding 1,500, the first round will have us go through 50 battles per batch to make sure we can crown our top nine before the end of the day."

"Now if I call your number, please head to the coliseum."

"363 and 383…"

"192 and 17…"

Attentively listening to all of the numbers that were being mentioned near the registration area, Valyr inwardly let out a sigh of relief after hearing his number not be called.

Nevertheless, the young man kept his senses alert, knowing that he'd be called by the announcer any second a battle ended.

'Then again, I should take this as an opportunity to get a better idea of the opponents I might be matched up against,' thought Valyr to himself, his senses working on overdrive as he committed most of the people he could see to his memory.

Eventually, after filling up his mental list of possible attacks in his mind by a decent amount, Valyr heard his number be called by the time the first round was at its 5th batch of battles.

"827 and 1,139, please proceed to Stage 7."

Taking in a deep breath at those words, the young man quickly calmed his nerves as he made his way to the main part of the coliseum, only to be greeted by a cacophony of cheers, shouts, and applause from the crowd.

Making his way to the stage the announcer mentioned, Valyr soon found where Thomas and the others were, seeing the four cheer and wave at him with excitement written all over their faces.

Waving back at the four in response, he eventually arrived at the stage chosen for him, with his opponent arriving before him a few seconds later.

"Richard Long." Just as Valyr was about to greet his opponent, the latter decided to take the initiative as he cupped his fists and gave him a respectful half-bow.

"Ataraxia." Not wanting to ruin the atmosphere, Valyr decided to reciprocate the action, which his opponent greatly appreciated.

"Let's go all out and do our best," said the man with a slight grin.

Valyr nodded in agreement.

"Let's do so indeed."

"Combatants, are you ready?" After the two were done exchanging pleasantries, the arbiter for their stage finally made his presence known to the two.

In response to the arbiter's question, both Valyr and his opponent activated all of the buff skills in their arsenal, causing their auras to erupt with far more power than before.

Seeing that the two were more primed and ready to fight than ever before after that, the arbiter took it upon himself to consider their actions as his go signal.

"Fight!"

Whoosh!

Charging forward without hesitation, Valyr's opponent swiftly closed the distance between them before landing a flurry of strikes from every possible angle. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire

Responding to the flurry, Valyr quickly took a step back before casting three shields in front of him, each one protecting a side from attacks.

Seeing that the young man had taken on a more defensive approach to the fight, Valyr's opponent started to grin as a blue-orange flame started to coat the man's fists.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Sending out a flurry of strikes at the shields once more, the man immediately took notice that his strikes were gradually rendering Valyr's shields useless, thinking that it was only a matter of time before Valyr would admit defeat in front of him.

Yet, just as the man doubled down on his offensive, the young man decided that now was the time to give his opponent a taste of his own medicine.

"[Arcane Authority]."

"[First Sky]."