"Grandma, will Big Brother be fine?" Iris asked with an anxious tone. "I saw the list of contestants who will be in the same arena as him, and several of them are no pushovers."
"Don't worry, Lux will be fine." Vera assured her anxious granddaughter who had a worried look on her face.
"Pa!" Eiko, who was perched on Iris' shoulder, said with a confident tone.
Clearly, the baby Slime had full faith in her Papa, who she thought would easily win the tournament if he went all out.
What Eiko didn't know was that Lux didn't plan on summoning Diablo, Ishtar, Pazuzu, and his skeleton minions to fight with him for the duration of the tournament. The Half-Elf only let Orion out because he planned to be recognized as a Summoner, and not a Necromancer by his competitors.
"I'm still a bit worried," Iris looked at the chubby young man who was now standing inside the arena alongside the contestants that would participate in the second round of the Qualifying Matches. "Grandma, how strong is Big Brother, currently?"
Vera chuckled after hearing her granddaughter's question. Seeing how anxious she was, the old lady decided to answer her question as honestly as she could.
"Right now, I can say that Lux is on par with the Four Kings, and Five Overlords," Vera replied.
"Really?!"
"Yes. However, he is placing certain restrictions on himself. But, even if that is the case, knowing Lux, he will not allow himself to be at a disadvantage. Have more faith in him, Iris. He will be fine."
"Pa." Eiko nodded, agreeing with her great grandma's words. Lux had taken more than half of the Beast Cores that Eiko's slimes had collected in order to strengthen his Body Constitution.
After experimenting a bit, Lux had found that he could increase the number of points he could gain from a Beast Core if he just focused on adding points to his Body Constitution.
Usually, when Lux absorbed Beast Cores he would gain a specific number of points.
Rank 1 Beast Cores = 10 Points in Stats, 10 Points in Body Constitution.
Rank 2 Beast Cores = 20 Points in Stats, 20 Points in Body Constitution.
Rank 3 Beast Cores = 30 Points in Stats, 30 Points in Body Constitution.
Rank 4 Beast Cores = 40 Points in Stats, 40 Points in Body Constitution.
Rank 5 Beast Cores = 50 Points in Stats, 50 Points in Body Constitution
The Beast Cores of Alpha Monsters' had double stats. For example, a Beast Core that came from a Carbuncle, a Rank 2 Alpha Beast, would give 40 points in Stats and Body Constitution instead of the typical 20 points in stats and 20 points in Body Constitution.
Some might say that this point distribution was unfair, especially for Rank 3 monsters and above. However, what the higher-leveled Monsters lacked in points, they made up for with the Skills that one could learn from them once they have absorbed their Beast Cores.
For most people, the Skills that they could gain from the Beast Core were more important than the Stats.
The stronger the skills were, the better their offensive and defensive capabilities would be.
In Lux's case, he had recently discovered that he could convert Skill Points into Constitution Points.
For example, if Lux used a Rank 2 Beast Core that gave him 20 Stats points and 20 points for Constitution Points, he could just convert the 20 Stats points and pool them with his Constitution Points, raising the overall points to 40, instead of 20.
This tradeoff was something that Lux was able to discover because the rewards he had gained from raising his Body Constitution had helped him increase not only his strength, but his abilities as well.
The Immortal Dragon Conqueror's Legacy was truly one of a kind, allowing Lux to wield the power of Dragons. He believed that if he was able to upgrade his Body's Constitution rank to the next level, a new set of amazing rewards would be waiting for him.
Iris giggled after hearing Eiko's complaint about her Papa borrowing her Beast Cores. Because of this, Iris gave Eiko a hundred low-ranked Cores, so that she would stop pouting.
Eiko was naturally happy with these unexpected gains. For her, the more Beast Cores she had, the better.
"The battle is about to start," Vera said as she looked at the timer that was displayed in the center of the arena.
Iris and Eiko focused their attention on the projection that was displayed on the wall of Iris' room.
Even if the Half-Elf were to lose, as long as he was safe, Iris would still be happy no matter the result. She had grown up with him and knew how weak his body had been in the past. Even with the new changes she had seen in his Soul Book, Iris was still worried that her step-brother's previous illness would return at some point during his battles in the arena.
"Brother, goodluck," Iris pressed her hands together in front of her chest and prayed for Lux's victory. Deep inside, the only thing she wished for was that Lux wouldn't be hurt in the tournament.
Five minutes before the timer started in Arena 4...
Rol Mordosk, the younger brother of one of the Four Kings, glanced in the direction of the chubby boy standing in one of the corners of the arena.
Her brother had told him that there was a possibility that his love rival had disguised himself as one of the participants in the tournament. The chubby boy's name was one of the people suspected to be Lux's hidden persona, so his older brother had asked him to give the chubby boy a beating.
Although the chances of the Summoner being Lux were small, he was still considered as one of the threats in Arena 4, so it went without saying that Rol Mordosk would eliminate him as soon as possible, even without his Older Brother's reminder.
"Hey, are you Lux Von Kaizer?" Rol asked as he gazed down at the chubby boy whose head only reached his chest.
"Lux who?" the chubby boy replied. "Is he famous?"
"More like infamous for being a weakling. So, are you him?"
"Huh? Do I look like a weakling? Do you want me to clobber you later?"
Rol snorted after hearing the chubby boy's reply. He had seen that weak and pathetic Half-Elf several times when he had visited Barbatos Academy in the past, because his older brother was one of Iris' suitors.
For him, the Half-Elf was trash, especially since the latter couldn't even enter Elysium, making him the laughingstock of those who were pursuing the blue-haired beauty of Barbatos Academy.
"Good, at least you have guts compared to that weakling," Rol stated. "If you beg me later, and vow to become my subordinate, I will only beat you half dead. If you refuse, I will beat you until you're just a step away from dying. Make sure to choose wisely."
Instead of answering, the chubby boy chuckled as he looked up at the Barbarian teenager whose bulging muscles reminded him of the body builders back on Earth. In his mind, if he couldn't even beat the little brother of one of the Four Kings that represented the young generation then he should just pack up and leave the tournament.
Rol frowned after seeing the chubby boy's response and decided to give the other party a light push. However, before he could even do that, Bruno appeared and held Rol's wrist, preventing him from hurting the chubby boy.
"Do you want to get disqualified?" Bruno asked. "It is stated in the rules that fighting before the countdown starts is foul play. Tell me, should I call the guards and escort you out of the arena for breaking the rules?"
Rol shook Bruno's hands off before giving the chubby boy a glare. He then walked away to return to where he was standing a short while ago and leaned against the wall with his eyes closed.
Clearly, getting disqualified was not part of his plan. If he were to get really kicked out of the tournament because of something petty, his Older Brother, as well as his family, would be disappointed in him.
This was something Rol didn't want to happen, so he decided to hold himself back until the timer started. Smashing the chubby boy's face in as punishment for being cocky could wait.
Bruno snorted before flying upwards. He then glanced at the contestants who were paying attention to the tension that was happening inside the arena.
"Rulebreakers will be punished!" Bruno declared. "I don't care who you are, where you are from, and who your daddy, grandpa, or great grand daddy is. If you break the rules of the tournament, you will be punished accordingly!"
Bruno scoffed before flying towards the raised platform that acted as the Judge's seat of honor. Since he was the presiding judge over Arena 4, he had been given full authority to dish out punishments at any given time.
This was why Alicia had made sure that Bruno knew that the chubby boy was a VIP. As long as Bruno was the one overseeing the battle, Lux's safety was assured.
"Make your last minute preparations," Bruno stated. "The battle will begin in two minutes!"
As if waiting for that cue, the countdown timer appeared in the center of the arena. The contestants immediately formed groups, while solo fighters backed into the far corners of the arena.
They already knew that this would be another Royal Rumble, so they couldn't take any chances.
Lux crossed his arms over his chest, as Orion, and one more Rock Golem appeared on his other side, defending him from anyone who wished to harm him.
Rol glanced at the two Rock Golems with ridicule. He was confident that he would be able to smash his fist into the chubby boy's face before his summons could even react to him.
What Rol didn't know was that, aside from him, one more person was paying close attention to Lux, and it was none other than Gerhart Cenele.
He was the other person that Alicia had warned him about. The clothes of the young man who held the power to control the wind element, started to flutter as he slowly released the power inside his body.
His gaze never left the chubby boy, as those who were beside him backed away in a hurry. A powerful gust of wind swirled around Gerhart's body, making him look like a human tornado that was about to unleash a natural disaster on those around him.
Bruno looked at this scene with a calm expression on his face. Although he was told to ensure that Lux wouldn't die in the tournament, he wouldn't act until the very last moment to save the chubby teenager's life.
His reason for this kind of mindset was due to the subtle pressure that Lux was emanating from his body.
As a Ranker, he could tell that the chubby teenager wasn't someone simple. He was looking forward to seeing what the young man, and his summons, could do against other participants whose abilities were said to be nearing the level of the Four Kings and Five Overlords, who stood above the warriors of the young generation.
