Free Web NovelChapter 470: Two Thousand Participants
Author’s Note: After the mass release, I have read through your complaints. Indeed, the previous five Chapters had been dragged out more than necessary. So, to compensate for my mistake, I have decided to release three Chapters today, rather than two. Hopefully, you enjoy them, and that mitigates my previous error <: (Does not affect Chapter Price)
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Competitors rose from their seats and began walking toward the corridor, following the announcement.
Yara separated from Moon and Selene at the junction. She wasn’t a registered fighter, so the main arena was off-limits. She had been allowed to stay in the waiting area as Selene’s companion, but once the fighting started, spectators needed to be in the spectator section.
"Good luck." Yara said, squeezing both their hands before turning toward the spectator entrance.
"See you soon." Moon nodded.
Yara disappeared into the crowd heading the opposite direction.
Moon and Selene walked side by side through the competitor corridor. The passage widened as they approached the end, and the noise grew louder with every step.
They stepped out into the arena.
It was massive. Larger than any magical football stadium Moon had ever seen before. Magical football was the improved, more nuanced version of American football. Only those with classes related to enhanced physical power participated in them, since it was very heavy on the physical aspect.
The sport was one of the kingdom’s main attraction. Although life had changed after the great collapse, that didn’t mean people still couldn’t enjoy watching sports, not at all.
Of course, there were other sports related to pure magical abilities, where only mages could participate, but those were less popular amongst the people of United Terran Alliance.
The arena was a vast open space of reinforced stone designed to absorb the damage that the Evolvers were about to inflict on it. On the outskirts of the arena, tiered seating rose on all sides, climbing so high that the uppermost rows disappeared into the glare of the overhead lights.
Today, two thousand participants will battle it out, resulting in the advancement of two hundred participants only. freewebnoveℓ.com
The arena continued to fill as more groups of Evolvers poured in from waiting lounges positioned around the perimeter. They came from every direction, hundreds of fighters streaming onto the floor and spreading out, each one sizing up the people around them.
Above the arena, enormous screens displayed close-up shots of individual competitors, cycling between faces as cameras swept across the crowd. Names and candidate numbers flashed beneath each image. The spectators, hundreds of thousands of them packed into the stands, watched the faces rotate and murmured amongst themselves, pointing, discussing who would survive the first round.
Moon looked up at the screens. For a brief moment, his own face appeared, captured by one of the roaming cameras. Candidate number displayed beneath it. Then it cycled to the next person.
He looked away and scanned the arena floor.
Somewhere in this crowd of two thousand, the real competition was hiding.
Once all two thousand participants had gathered, a middle-aged man appeared in the air above the arena. He simply appeared there, suspended hundreds of feet up, no wings, no platform, or any visible technique holding him aloft.
"An Ascender." Moon muttered.
Only Ascenders could fly freely like that, without artifacts or wind-element skills. Moon himself could only manage a few seconds in the air using [Air Step] before he could no longer stand on his air slabs, and gravity pulled him back down. To hover effortlessly, defying the laws that bound everyone below, was a privilege reserved for those who had crossed into a higher realm of power.
’One day.’ Moon thought.
The man’s voice rang out across the arena, amplified so that every person in the stands and on the floor could hear it clearly.
"Welcome, Evolvers of the United Terran Alliance. You are here to compete for your future, to represent your families, and to prove that your hard work has paid off."
A ripple of murmurs spread through the crowd around Moon.
"Isn’t that the Ascender nicknamed, Water bender?"
"I heard he can summon tsunamis that swallow entire battlefields."
"I can’t believe he’s overseeing the tournament. He’s one of the strongest Ascenders we have in New Avalon. He’s been an Ascender for nearly two decades."
Moon studied the man with interest. Klein. The name surfaced from the murmurs around him. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"My name is Klein, of the Awakener’s Association. Many of you may know me as the great water bender." The Ascender continued, a smile smile on his face. "Today, I will be overseeing this tournament."
He let the noise settle before speaking again.
"Every one of you stands here because you survived. You entered the two Sanctuaries, you bled, you grew, and you came back stronger. That alone places you above countless others who never made it this far. But surviving is not the same as winning. Today, you will prove which of you has the strength, the cunning, and the will to rise above your peers."
His gaze swept across the arena floor, passing over every face.
"Some of you will advance. Most of you will not. That is the nature of competition. But whether you rise or fall today, remember this. The path does not end here. It never ends. There is always another mountain to climb."
He raised a hand.
"Now, let me explain what awaits you."
The screens around the arena changed, displaying a vast map divided into a grid.
"Shortly, you will be transported to the Free For All Zone. A large battlefield where all two thousand of you will compete simultaneously. Your performance will be measured in points, tracked by the wrist device each of you will receive upon entry. The two hundred competitors with the highest point totals at the end will advance to the next stage."
The map zoomed in. The grid was labelled with letters and numbers.
"The zone is divided into sections. Each section is marked with a letter from A to Z and a number from one to ten. A1. B5. Z9. And so on. Memorize this system. It will matter."
Klein gestured, and the map highlighted several sections in different colors.
"There are three ways to earn points. Listen carefully, because I don’t like repeating myself."
The Evolvers immediately straightened, the small talk between them seized.
The first method appeared on the screen.
