( The next day, Terra Nova Online )
Early morning the next day, the massive arena base, constructed within the granary, was covered using a ginormous cloth and transported using complex inscripted devices.
A total of four such identical arena's were constructed in four different parts of the city and were brought to the fighting arena's only on the morning of the fight.
"Today's round will be a climb the mountain challenge.
The two competitors will start on opposite ends of the mountain base, equidistant to the path leading upwards and will have to scale the mountain up till the top.
Once on-top, one needs to stay there without their opponents getting a foot on the top base for 30 seconds.
Once a challenger can stand on-top of the mountain uninterrupted for 30 seconds, they will be deemed winner of the round.
If they are interrupted, the count will reset from zero" The match official explained in real time as the arena was being set up and unveiled in the background.
Today for Leo, the arena he was fighting in was the West Park Arena, as opposed to the East Park Arena that he participated in yesterday, however, even across the other side of the city, the support for him remained undiminished.
*Boss! Boss! Boss! Boss!*
"Whose number one? Boss! Boss!
Who's gonna win? Boss! Boss!"
Even when the round of 128 had not officially begun and all the contestants were still within the warm-up zone, the boss's chants reverberated throughout west park arena as his popularity seemed to be climbing every single day.
Not only did the players seem to support The Boss, but the commoners NPC did too, as Leo came from the open rounds and represented the masses unlike the Royal Academies where usually only nobles enrolled.
Even Leo himself was shocked as to why the people in the arena were cheering so strongly for him when he was not even out there fighting, however, behind his mask nobody could read his surprise.
To his opponents it seemed like he was standing in the corner with a smug smile on his face as the entire arena chanted his name.
"First fight, The Boss versus Faizal Lombror, please move to the fight stage" the match official instructed as Leo cracked his neck and loosened up his shoulders before walking out of the warm-up room.
*Cheers*
The crowd erupted into cheers when their favorite contestant walked out, as compared to him, the support for the sword academy student Faizal was next to none.
"Introducing first….. The number one draft of the open round. The man with the third preliminary round score of 9.9.
The mysterious enigma ….. THE BOSS" The match announcer said, as Leo raised his hand in the air and basked in the cheers of the crowd.
"And his opponent, the number 3 ranked graduate of the Royal Sword Academy. The man who formed a sword intent at the young age of 17.
Faizal Lombror" The announcer said as Boos began raining in from the crowd.
"Shut up- shut up! Your boos don't affect me" said Faizal as Leo chuckled under his mask to see his opponent feeling heckled by crowd reactions.
"Guys, how many father's do you think Faizal has?"
"Two? Five? Or the whole town?"
"Look at his tight ass under his robes, I'd pay to tap that"
"Come on now, introduce this brother to mama Faizal if she has as beautiful golden hair as you-"
The degenerate members of the uprising spoke from the crowd, as they used popular Earthly insults to get under the skin of Faizal before the fight.
Although Leo had never asked for such extra support, he was glad for it as even before the match began, his supporters helped him establish a psychological advantage.
"You- don't behave too smug just because you have the crowd on your side, I'm going to crush you in this fight, you hear me? I'm going to crush you!" Faizal said, trying to sound threatening, however, Leo completely ignored him.
"Please don't maim or injure your opponent if possible-" the match referee said before the start, as once both contestants took their appropriate starting spots, he issued the command for the round to start.
"Begin-" he said, his voice cutting through the crowd's chatter as it prompted both contestants to leap into action.
"I'll show you….. I'll be the first to reach the top" thought Faizal as he only focused on his path ahead and ran with all his strength without looking back.
In his mind, he ran at his top speed, going round and round the mountain trail as he slowly ascended towards the top.
"Shit-" he said, as around the mid-way point, his path to the top was blocked by a massive boulder, as it was only then that he paused and looked behind his shoulder.
"Huh? Hei? Where is he?" Faizal wondered as he looked behind and then on the trail below for any signs of Leo, however, he could find none.
He was shocked, his enemy seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
"Well, where he is, should not concern me" thought Faizal as he unsheathed his sword and used the move [ Boulder Splitting Slash ] to blast open a path for himself.
*Shua*
*Crash*
Successfully splitting the boulder in half, Faizal opened a path for himself as one half of the boulder slipped down and crashed onto the floor below with a loud crash sound.
"5….4…..3...2…..1….0!!!!!!!"
The crowd seemed to count in the background, as while Faizal paid no attention to it, he was stunned to see the match official appearing out of nowhere before him, as he signaled for Faizal to stop.
"Stop-, it's over" the match official said, as for a moment Faizal felt confused as to what was going on.
"What do you mean it's over? I haven't even reached the top yet…. Did my opponent forfeit?" Asked Faizal, when a dagger came flying down at his feet.
*Snap*
Planting into the ground with a snap sound, the dagger alerted Faizal, as he looked up to see his opponent casually sitting at the top with his legs dangling.
"What? How?" He wondered, as only then did he realize that the fight was over before it ever started.