"That's enough," Lux ordered. "Return."
Orion nodded as he walked towards his Master and stood right in front of him with an intimidating stance.
After seeing his performance, the remaining contestants, which only numbered less than two hundred now, glanced at each other with fearful looks on their faces.
Now, there were three people they couldn't afford to mess with inside the Arena. First, there was just the skinny young man. Now, there was the Boar, as well as the Chubby boy who commanded a Rank 3 Rock Golem that had a feisty personality.
The standoff lasted for several minutes and it was only broken after Bruno announced an update.
"Last 30 minutes!" Bruno said through the artifact that magnified his voice. "If the remaining number of participants exceeds the quota, we will release an Alpha-Ranked Deimos Monster inside the arena. Goodluck to all of you!"
As if injected by chickenblood, the remaining participants with the exception of Lux, the Boar, and the skinny young man, fought against each other in order to decrease the number of people in the arena.
Lux watched this scene with a calm expression on his face. With Orion standing in front of him, only exceptionally strong Apostles would be able to break past his defenses.
In just fifteen minutes, the number of contestants had dwindled to fifty.
Ten minutes later, this number went down to thirty.
With five minute remaining on the clock, the last thirty participants eyed each other warily.
The other contestants had varying stages of injury, preventing them from fighting each other, in fear that others would use this opportunity to eliminate them.
Just as everyone was thinking of what to do next, a crisp, clinking sound reached everyone's ears.
Suddenly, screams of pain erupted in the arena as ten people collapsed on the ground. Their legs had been cleanly sliced in half, and none of them had been able to see how this happened.
The mages promptly ejected them off the arena, and the Countdown Timer disappeared because they had reached their quota.
"Congratulations to the survivors of Arena 4!" Bruno's voice spread across the arena. "All of you are going to the next round of the tournament!"
The people watching the battle from the audience seats cheered and applauded the young men and women who were going to the next Qualifying Round.
Iris hugged Vera after seeing that Lux had safely passed the first hurdle of the tournament. Even Eiko was quite happy as she joined her Mama in hugging the old lady who had a very satisfied smile on her face.
"Well, it is good to be happy, but this is just the beginning," Vera said as she tried to calm the beautiful young lady and the baby slime who were in a festive mood. "The Qualifying matches lasts for three days. We can celebrate after Lux has succeeded in passing the Qualifying Rounds."
While the three people that loved Lux very much huddled inside Iris' Room, Alicia, who was watching the battles in Arena 4, was still in shock after witnessing the battle that had just transpired.
It never crossed her mind that Lux would become a Summoner, during the time that they hadn't seen each other. In fact, the moment the mage had hurled fire lances in Lux's direction, she felt as if her heart was being squeezed inside her chest.
If not for the fact that Bruno was there to ensure Lux's safety, she might have already rushed to the arena in order to forcefully eject the chubby young man from the arena to save his life.
'Goodness, is this really the Lux I know?' Alicia mused as she watched the chubby teenager walk out of the arena while waving at the audience with a smile on his face. 'So this must be the reason why Lady Vera was confident that he would do well in the tournament.'
Alicia smiled, but a second later that smile disappeared as she shook her head.
'Although he is a Summoner, and that Rock Golem looks strong, it will not be enough to win this tournament,' Alicia thought. 'The Four Kings and Five Overlords could easily defeat Lux and his golem even if they fought together. At most, he will be lucky to win the Qualifying rounds."
Alicia might like Lux, but she was someone who always thought realistically. Knowing how strong the opponents the Half-Elf was going to face, she already knew that his journey would come at an abrupt end the moment he faced one of those prodigies.
—
In Arena 4….
While Lux was walking towards the exit, he sensed a presence appear behind his back.
"You did something unnecessary."
Lux turned his head and arched an eyebrow at the skinny young man who had caught up to him from behind. The chubby teenager didn't say anything because he felt that the mysterious young man still had something to tell him.
"Do you think that helping the Boar earlier was the right thing to do?" the skinny young man asked. "No, you just prolonged his suffering. He just got lucky because you decided to help him, but, in the end, isn't he still unqualified to get far in this tournament."
"So?" Lux asked back. He didn't feel any killing intent from the young man in front of him, but he still raised his guard to protect himself just in case the person talking to him had evil intentions.
"Like I said, you did something unnecessary."
"What I do is none of your business."
The skinny young man was about to say more, but seeing Lux's firm expression, he decided that it was not worth it.
"Unnecessary kindness doesn't help anyone," the skinny young man stated as he walked past Lux. "Goodluck in the tournament."
Lux watched the back of the mysterious teenager as he walked away from him. He admired the young man's steady steps, as well as the raw confidence that emanated from his skinny body. The moment the Half-Elf laid his eyes on the swordsman, he knew right away that the latter was a very powerful individual.
'I'm sure there will be more people like him in the tournament,' Lux thought as he resumed walking towards the exit. 'Even so, it doesn't matter.'
The Half-Elf clenched his fist as he reigned in the blood boiling inside his chest. This feeling of wanting to give everything he had was something he rarely felt. In the past, he had only fought against Monsters and the Dwarves that belonged to Twilight Rain.
But now, he was fighting against Humans and other Demihumans that were of similar age to him.
'Just how many prodigies will I meet in this tournament?' Lux mused as he reached the exit of the arena. 'Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough.'
The Half-Elf chuckled internally as he headed straight to the accommodations that were prepared for the contestants that had won the first round.
He had decided not to meet his Grandma, Iris, and Eiko, for the duration of the tournament so that no one would be suspicious of his identity.
The three of them had been informed about Lux's plan beforehand, and they all supported his plan.
Right now, Nero was looking through the names of the contestants that had won the first round. Something was telling him that Lux had joined the tournament, so he was trying to look up the names of people that the Half-Elf might have used as his Alias.
Several unique names popped up, so he listed them down one by one. He planned to watch the matches of these individuals to see whether or not Lux was one of them.
He was more than willing to bribe a few strong contestants to ensure that the Half-Elf received a good beating inside the arena. However, before he could put this plan to motion, he must first know Lux's new persona.
'I think I need to borrow THAT artifact from the Guild Treasury,' Nero thought as he looked at the names that he had listed down. There were over a hundred of them, and it would be difficult to watch their battles one by one.
Since that was the case, he would need to use an artifact that allowed him to see through disguises to find the Half-Elf that was hiding among the contestants.
'Just you wait you slippery little Half-Elf.' Nero sneered. 'I will make sure that your pitiful journey comes to an untimely end.'
What Nero didn't know was that there were other individuals who were doing the same thing. Since their goal was to become Iris' fiance, they knew that the first person they needed to get rid of was none other than the Half-Elf whom the blue-haired beauty kissed in front of everyone several months ago.
This news had spread far and wide into the Six Kingdoms, making Iris' suitors seethe in anger. Lux was unaware of the diabolical plans that these people were concocting on the side. For him, it didn't matter who his opponent was.
As long as they stood in the way of his step-sister's happiness, he would beat the crap out of them until they decided to surrender and no longer aimed to be with the blue-haired beauty, who loved him with all of her heart.
