The battle between contestant 12 and contestant 31 went as expected.
Contestant 12 never stood a chance.
After contestant 12's Mana Shield was deactivated, he only looked at the ground with an expression of melancholy and acceptance.
"It was a good fight," contestant 31 said.
Contestant 12 didn't immediately answer. "You know, I've never been truly talented."
Silence.
"I've taken it easy during my earliest years. I couldn't imagine dedicating so much of my time to becoming more powerful as the truly outstanding people on my level."
"I never gave it my all."
"And then, my wife was killed by a beast that had been just a bit more powerful than me."
"If I had just put in a bit more effort, I could have protected her."
Contestant 12 sighed again.
"That's when I actually started trying, you know?" he said as he looked at contestant 31.
"But no matter how hard I tried, there were so many people that were much stronger and smarter than me."
"My hard work didn't matter."
"I know that this doesn't concern you," contestant 12 said, looking to the side. "I think I just lost control. Forget what I said."
Silence.
Most people were bored of the sob story. There were so many people in the world with similar stories. It was basically normal.
"How many people have you seen as superior to yourself?" contestant 31 asked. "More than 20?"
"Much more," contestant 12 answered.
"And yet, you are in the top four in this tournament," contestant 31 said. "In my opinion, your self-pity is unjustified. Stop looking at your failures and look at your successes."
After that, contestant 31 walked to the side of the arena.
Contestant 12 only sighed again before also walking to the side of the arena.
The match between him and contestant 31 had hit him on a fundamental level.
The Impose Stage.
Was the Impose Stage truly better than the Weapon Variance Stage?
Contestant 12 sighed once again. 'I thought increasing the overall power of warriors was my job,' he thought.
Contestant 12's name was Oliver, and he was Shang's successor.
Sadly, Oliver hadn't been chosen by the God due to his outstanding talent but due to his mindset.
He was an altruistic person that liked to help others.
To him, the benefits for the greater collective outweighed the benefits for the individual.
And he had done quite a beautiful job.
He had created the Weapon Variance Stage, an actually useful Fifth Stage for warriors.
He had done exactly what the God had wanted him to do.
But he wasn't a genius.
It was already a miracle that he reached the Fifth Realm, and he deserved every praise he could get for it.
Sadly, that was his maximum potential.
The Sixth Realm wouldn't be possible for him to achieve in his lifetime.
He was already over 600 years old, and he was only at the Early Weapon Variance Stage.
While Oliver was thinking about his life, the finals started.
Contestant 1 was fighting contestant 31.
Contestant 1 took the battle extremely seriously.
He couldn't allow himself to lose against a warrior three levels below him!
This would be the greatest humiliation of his entire life, and it would also humiliate every single warrior in the Lightning Manor's territory!
He would fight with his life on the line!
In his mind, if he lost, he would die.
The fight started, and contestant 1 immediately charged at contestant 31.
Contestant 31 kept jumping away while firing arrows, but contestant 1's body was too powerful. He easily blocked and parried the arrows as he shot toward contestant 31.
Contestant 1 was not playing around.
He was deadly serious.
When contestant 31 noticed that her current strategy didn't work, she also got serious.
SHING!
Her composite bow suddenly vanished, and a much larger bow appeared in her hands.
Contestant 1's eyes narrowed while everyone else grew more excited.
Then, she fired.
BANG!
For the first time, contestant 1 was halted in his charge, but he also hadn't been injured.
The arrows from the bigger bow flew faster and were much more powerful.
When contestant 1 had been stopped, two smaller arrows shot at him, and he did his best to block them.
Right now, contestant 31 was switching between her two bows regularly. The bigger bow was more powerful but couldn't fire as many arrows, while the smaller bow was the opposite.
By switching between them, her attacks became far more difficult to deal with.
However, after adjusting his strategy a bit, contestant 1 still managed to close the distance between the two.
Eventually, contestant 31 also used her arrows to create several Magic Runes and Magic Circles between her and her opponent.
Everyone was watching with bated breath.
Contestant 31 was insanely talented and powerful!
Even the Mages were shocked.
With that power, wouldn't contestant 31 have a shot against an Archmage a level above her?
A warrior that could actually jump a level against a Mage?
This was unreal!
One had to remember that contestant 1 could win against an Archmage two levels below him but not against one just one level below him.
Contestant 12, Oliver, could fight a Mage on his level.
But contestant 31 could fight a Mage above her level.
The ability to win against a Mage one level above oneself was something that would give someone the opportunity to join an Empire when they reached the Sixth Realm, and only 1% of Ancestral Mages could join one!
Contestant 31 was a true genius!
However, contestant 1 used all of his power and experience to move forward.
As more time passed, contestant 1's power also seemingly increased.
And eventually, contestant 1 completely closed the gap.
At that moment, the fight was over.
It had been far beyond difficult, but contestant 1 had won.
He had done it!
He had defended the honor of all the warriors!
However, only a minority of warriors shared his thoughts.
There were three levels between the two opponents.
Of course, the warriors were still happy that contestant 1 had won, but it was a bitter victory.
Contestant 1 was panting violently, and his entire body was covered in sweat as his body shook.
In comparison to him, contestant 31 seemed rather relaxed. It was like she had just finished a nice workout.
"Lei is here to show everyone the power of an average Impose Stage warrior," contestant 31 suddenly said.
Contestant 1 looked up from the ground and looked contestant 31 in the eyes.
"I have been sent here to show the potential of the Impose Stage," contestant 31 said.
"But this tournament is being held to find the strongest warrior in the world, and that is not me."
"And also not you," contestant 31 said.
Contestant 1 didn't show it, but he felt nervous and scared deep inside.
"Lei said that you will meet Master when you manage to defeat me. Originally, I expected to win against you, but I didn't."
"It seems like I'm still not strong enough to take Master's place."
After she said all that, contestant 31 put her bow away and walked over to Lei, who leaned on the arena's wall with a smirk.
Suddenly, a small vibration went through the air, and only the Ancestral Mages took note of it.
The Ancestral Mages looked at the source of the small vibration, Lord Starsky.
At the moment, Lord Starsky was looking at the middle of the arena with an intense stare.
The vibration had appeared because Lord Starsky had been so shocked that he had lost his cool for just a tiny moment.
The Ancestral Mages looked at the place where Lord Starsky was looking, and their eyes widened.
Where did that guy come from?!
Somehow, someone managed to appear in the middle of the arena without them noticing it!
How did they do that?!
Contestant 1 took a while to notice that someone new had appeared relatively close to him, and his heart nearly stopped.
He hadn't noticed that guy at all!
It was one of the cloaked people, the one wearing the white cloak.
Was this their Master?
Was this the person that created the Impose Stage?
For some reason, contestant 1 immediately became intimidated.
There was a unique pressure coming off the person in the white cloak.
It wasn't the typical pressure of an extremely talented person but the pressure of something unnatural.
For some reason, contestant 1 was reminded of someone.
Back when contestant 1 was just a teenager, he had insulted one of his new classmates for being a rich kid that got everything he ever wanted.
Then, he went hunting with his friends, and that rich kid accompanied them as a guide.
When that kid had become a True Path Stage warrior, contestant 1 saw him again, and the pressure he was feeling right now was very similar to the pressure he had felt back then.
Contestant 1's name was Elver, and he had once been in the same class as Shang.
And right now, Elver realized who the person in front of him was, and he couldn't decide how he should feel about seeing that person again.
But one thing was clear.
This explained where the Impose Stage came from.
