Just as everyone expected, the most intense battles were happening in the center of the Arena.
With no place to run or hide, they had no choice but to wipe out the people around them to ensure that no one would stab them in the back.
Lux arched an eyebrow when he noticed several people forming groups, fighting as a united front. He assumed that while some of them teamed up because they knew each other, there were also others who formed teams on the spot.
The chubby boy thought that this was a very sensible idea since the battle would end only when twenty people were left in the arena. As the number of participants dwindled, some groups started to target those that were staying on the sidelines.
They weren't stupid and knew that those who were on the sides were just waiting for everyone to get tired or destroy each other before fishing in troubled waters. Because of this, the groups were able to reduce the number of their rivals, one at a time, as they swept the edges of the battlefield, while others continued to fight at the center.
Among the contestants in Arena 4, a skinny young man caught Lux's eye.
The contestant wore ragged clothing, and the only thing that looked new in his possession was the bamboo straw hat covering his head.
He was standing at the very center of the arena with several young men and women lying on the ground around him, their limbs cut off from their bodies.
The Mages who were standing outside of the arena deemed that everyone that the young man had attacked was no longer capable of fighting, so they decisively teleported them out along with their body parts, so that they could receive medical attention as soon as possible.
'This person is dangerous,' Lux thought as he eyed the skinny young man in the distance.
To his surprise, the skinny young man turned his head to look in his direction.
Lux and the young man held each other's gaze for a few seconds before giving each other a brief nod of acknowledgement.
The skinny young man then closed his eyes as he remained standing at the center of the arena. No one dared to approach him after they had seen him dismember a group of ten people who assumed that they could beat the young man easily using their numbers.
Suddenly, a loud shout reached Lux's ears, which made him frown.
"Get rid of that chubby pig!"
Lux thought that the people were referring to him, but to his surprise, they were not talking about him but an actual pig!
A two-meter tall Boar had appeared in the arena, and it was busy charging at everyone it had set its sights on.
Lux immediately appraised the Boar using his Elysium Compendium but the information that he received surprised him.
—--
The target creature is Shape Shifter. Its information cannot be appraised.
—--
'I see, so that Boar is a shapeshifter. Makes sense.' Lux knew that his Elysium Compendium could not see the stats of people.
It could only see the stats and information of the Monsters that could be seen or had appeared in Elysium.
Suddenly the Boar stopped running and shifted its attention to the person that said get rid of that chubby pig!
"Who are you calling a pig?!" the Boar roared in anger. "You dare call me a Pig? I'll kill you!"
"What's wrong with calling a pig a pig?!" The person that had called out to the Boar didn't cower and raised his weapon high. "I'm going to roast you!"
The reason why he didn't back down was because he was with a group of exactly twenty people. He believed that with their numbers, defeating the Boar that was charging at them with bloodshot eyes could be done easily.
The group clashed with the Boar, and an intense battle broke out. Shouts of anger, pain, and the Boar's squealing reverberated in the arena as blood splattered in the surroundings.
The Boar's body was bleeding heavily from the numerous stabs and slashes it had received from its opponents.
However, the Boar's opponents weren't doing well either. Five of them had already suffered fatal injuries, and were immediately ejected from the arena to receive emergency treatment. The others had also received varying levels of injury ranging from minor ones to serious ones.
"Die!" the young man, who had called out to the Boar earlier, yelled as he smashed his steel hammer on the side of the Boar's body, sending it skidding across the ground.
Everyone moved out of the way as the Boar's body skidded until it reached the edges of the arena. It only stopped moving when it was about to hit Lux, who had stepped aside to prevent himself from getting hit.
The Boar's snout was bleeding, and gave off a deep, and heavy snorting sound as it tried to catch its breath.
It tried to prop itself up, but the injuries it received had taken its toll on its body and depleted most of its stamina.
"I can't… lose here…," the Boar mumbled as it struggled to stand up. "Everyone… everyone is waiting for me… back in the village. I can't… lose here."
It made huffing and squealing sounds as it repeatedly tried to stand up, but it fell each and every time. The group that it had fought earlier were drinking health potions to recover their injuries while they laughed at the struggling Boar, who seemed to have run out of steam.
There were no rules that forbade the use of Health and Mana Potions during the qualifying matches, so the referees observing the battle from the side didn't say anything and merely continued to monitor the battles around them.
After falling back on its side for the umpteenth time, the Boar stopped trying to stand up and just panted for breath. A pool of blood had already dyed half of its body red, and made it look like a bloody Monster that had come from a horror story.
Just as the Boar was starting to feel that its legs were starting to go numb, it felt something cool and refreshing wash over its body.
A chubby boy, who was standing by its side was pouring two health potions on its body.
The Boar looked at the black-haired boy in surprise, because it didn't expect that someone would help it during its time of need.
"Drink up," Lux said as he placed a potion near the snout of the boar.
"Why?" the Boar asked as it looked at Lux. "Why are you helping me?"
"For my own self satisfaction," Lux replied. "Don't worry. You don't owe me anything. I just feel like helping you this once."
Lux didn't want to admit it, but he somehow saw his old self in the struggling Boar that was lying in a pool of its own blood on the ground.
His old, weak, and pitiful self which no person even bothered to help during his last moments on Earth. Even though he had no obligation to help anyone in the tournament, the determination, and unwillingness in the Boar's eyes, and voice, reached his heart.
Because of this, he decided to do the unthinkable and lend aid to a complete stranger, who was also doing their best to struggle until the bitter end.
