Chapter 1265: Section 1266: Rookie Game
“The New Star Qualification is a piece of news that has only recently come out,” Baruba whispered, “It’s said that as long as you meet two conditions, you can obtain the New Star status and receive immense benefits.”
Immense benefits? Angel was somewhat curious, what kind of benefits could even attract someone like David, an alchemy homebody.
As Baruba elaborated, Angel also gained an understanding of the New Star Qualification.
The so-called immense benefits were that the Sky Mechanical City was preparing to open a mysterious place, allowing those who obtained the New Star status to enter for training.
“Since I didn’t plan on participating, I didn’t delve into it very much. These are all things I’ve heard from David,” Baruba said.
Angel listened, raising an eyebrow.
...
What was this familiar sense of déjà vu all about?
It reminded him of the Purification Garden incident… likewise promising benefits, saying it was for training. But what actually happened in the Purification Garden? It was practically a slaughterhouse. How many people entered, Angel didn’t know, but in the end, only a handful emerged alive.
Was the Sky Mechanical City planning to reenact the past?
Baruba said, “As for the conditions to obtain the New Star status, there are two. First, one must ascend to the thirtieth floor of the Sky Tower. Second, one must accumulate 100 points in the battles after the thirtieth floor.”
After hearing this, Angel was utterly baffled.
“If I remember correctly, the Sky Tower only has fifteen floors, doesn’t it?” Angel, who had reached the top himself, had only seen fifteen floors and never knew there were thirty floors. Could it be that, in recent years, a secret realm had been constructed on top of the Tower, adding another fifteen floors?
Baruba was about to explain when the young man on Angel’s other side rolled his eyes at him.
The teenager, dressed up in a chuunibyou style with skeleton accessories, overheard the conversation as the battle on stage hadn’t started. Having listened for a bit, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“Hey, uncle, how did you even get to be a Wizard Apprentice? Don’t tell me you’re a Talented One who’s just started out?” The chuunibyou teenager spoke with a tone of disdain, “This is basic knowledge!”
“Basic knowledge?”
“If you’d spent a few years mixing in the Underground Market, you would understand all of this without anyone telling you,” the chuunibyou teenager said, his expression scornful, yet he couldn’t resist showing off his experience: “Anyway, the battle hasn’t started, so I’ll enlighten you a bit.”
Angel looked towards the young man beside him, not minding his attitude, and waited with a smile for him to explain.
“It’s true the Sky Tower only has fifteen floors, but, you need to be clear on something—the Sky Tower is just the selection venue that the Sky Mechanical City has established in various locations. The real Sky Tower, that’s much more than just fifteen floors!”
The teenager then started to explain non-stop.
Angel actually wasn’t listening closely anymore, because he roughly understood what this ‘thirtieth floor’ meant. In fact, one must reach the top of the fifteen floors of the Sky Tower first, then head to the Infinite Battle Tower in the Sky Mechanical City and clear another fifteen floors, which adds up to thirty floors.
Or in other words, instead of participating in the Sky Tower selection, one could directly climb to the thirtieth floor of the Infinite Battle Tower as well.
However, upon closer analysis, directly climbing to the thirtieth floor of the Infinite Battle Tower is actually somewhat harder than the combination of the fifteen floors of the Sky Tower and the fifteen floors of the Infinite Battle Tower.
After explaining what the “thirtieth floor” meant, the teenager was originally planning to elaborate on the “mysterious rewards” that Baruba had vaguely mentioned before. However, just then, cheers erupted in the arena. Looking back, they saw that the two contenders had already entered the stage.
The chuunibyou teenager, apparently a fan of the “King of Beasts,” excitedly stood up cheering when he saw the King of Beasts enter, naturally leaving no room to pay Angel any more attention.
Angel was initially planning to continue the conversation about the New Star Qualification with Baruba, but at that moment, it wasn’t just the chuunibyou teenager beside him who was excited, the entire arena was in a frenzy. Cheers went up from every corner, with balloons and streamers, and a visual feast created by various tricks and techniques, were all on display in midair!
Amid the screams, the countdown on the light screen entered the final stage.
Although Angel wasn’t completely caught up in the jubilant atmosphere, he felt happy for David seeing him enter the stage. Chewing on dried meat, he casually released a small Illusion Technique of fireworks bursting, blending it with the balloons and streamers in the midair. Among the array of flashy tricks, it wasn’t too noticeable.
David’s attire remained the same as always, with goggles tied to his forehead and wearing a light brown vest.
The other side, the “King of Beasts,” was also wearing his usual primitive garb. After entering, he looked at David seriously, and the two sides immediately entered a standoff stage.
Angel remembered from his own competition that the initial standoff stage was essentially a time for trash-talking, but it seemed that both David and the King of Beasts had skipped this process.
When the countdown hit zero, both sides, having prepared a trick in their Mind Space, immediately released them upon the end of the countdown.
The King of Beasts unleashed a series of Fire Bullets, an advanced level 1 Trick of the basic Fire Bullet. The effect was somewhat similar to that of a Crescent Blade Barrage, creating a Pattern that can absorb and transform into Fire Bullets. The number of Patterns absorbed depends on the perfection of the Trick model’s structure.
The more perfect the model construction, the more Fire Bullet Patterns there would be, with each Pattern able to release three Fire Bullets. If the Trick model is perfect, the maximum can reach ten Patterns, that is, the ability to instantaneously shoot out 30 Fire Bullets!
On the other side, David had also released the Trick he prepared during the warm-up period, which was the Ice Wall Technique.
Witnessing this, Angel felt a bit sentimental inside. In fact, it was inevitable to instantly cast a Trick at the start of a Sky Tower battle, because during the time before the start, one could prepare a Trick model.
The King of Beasts had prepared an offensive spell, while David had prepared a defensive one. From this, one could actually discern something about a person’s character.
Angel felt emotional not because David chose to play a “safe victory” game, but because their first trick prepared was mutually restraining. This meant that, no matter what, the Ice Wall Technique couldn’t last long.
If only the model of the King of Beasts had been built a bit more perfectly…
As Angel was thinking this, the King of Beasts had already released as many as 21 Fire Bullets!
This scene stunned everyone present. It meant that the King of Beasts’ flame burst had absorbed 7 Patterns, a level of construction that was not easy to achieve.
Even Angel couldn’t help but admire it, recalling how much the King of Beasts had improved since the first time he saw him fight.
With too many Fire Bullets, the Ice Wall Technique couldn’t withstand them. As a result, the King of Beasts won the first round of the exchange.
Taking advantage of his victory, the King of Beasts chased after David, nearly flying at ground level with incredible speed, and with a light touch of his hands on the ground during the sprint.
With a loud shout!
“Come forth, my King! The most terrifying King of Beasts!”
With a puff of white smoke rising instantly, the atmosphere at the scene grew even more fervent as everyone called out for the King of Beasts!
However, when the white smoke cleared, a “meow” sound came from within, and upon closer inspection, it turned out that a little white cat had crawled out. Looking at it, it was still a kitten that rubbed against the feet of the King of Beasts after coming out.
The atmosphere at the scene instantly froze.
Angel had witnessed this scene before and still felt a bit embarrassed and couldn’t bear to look directly at it when he saw it again.
But just when there was a chorus of boos from the crowd, the King of Beasts controlled the little white cat to rush towards David, and the kitten turned into an arrow, its momentum as if breaking through waves, unstoppable, with the sound of intense drumbeats ringing in everyone’s ears, their blood instantly boiling!
When the little white cat reached David’s side, the King of Beasts curled his lips into a smile, “My King is the King of Beasts! The undisputed King of Beasts!”
As his words fell, the little white cat swelled up countless times in an instant, turning into a white tiger with outstretched wings! It opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and bit towards David!
The atmosphere at the scene was ignited once again!
On the stage, David seemed to be in a state of crisis, but at that moment, dull patterns flickered across his body, and from his chest to his abdomen, his body swelled, transforming into a cauldron!
Ironclad Hedgehog Bloodline! Activated!
The white tiger’s bite not only failed to penetrate but also hurt its teeth.
The situation at the scene took a sharp turn! Seeing this, Angel was almost certain of the outcome. If the King of Beasts didn’t have a stronger trump card, David should be able to win easily.
Because if one cannot break through the defense of the Ironclad Hedgehog, everything is in vain.
Ten minutes later, the intense battle concluded.
The result was as Angel had predicted. In the end, the King of Beasts played his trump card, turning the white tiger into a Flaming White Tiger, but still failed to breach David’s defense and was defeated.
There was nothing spectacular about this fight, but it gave Angel much to ponder.
While he was growing himself, others were not resting either, constantly improving themselves. Both David and the King of Beasts were very different from before.
This visible growth made Angel realize he must not slacken.
The world will wait for you, but other people will not.
After reflecting, Angel looked towards Baruba beside him.
Yet he saw Baruba somewhat absentmindedly looking in the direction of the stage, even though there was no one there now.
Angel remembered that during the previous fight between the King of Beasts and David, he caught a glimpse of Baruba, who was watching the stage with passionate eyes, gleaming with excitement.
Baruba had Otherworld Barbarian blood within him, a race that took pride in combat.
From the look in Baruba’s eyes, it was clear he yearned to fight.
But Angel also remembered that Baruba had once said he didn’t care much about the New Star Tournament and had even declined David’s invitation to watch the fight. Now it seemed that Baruba might not be disinterested, but rather afraid he would care too much.
He had integrated the Parachute Fungus Insect Bloodline, a one-time consumable Bloodline which prevented him from using his Bloodline power to fight again.
He was afraid his blood might boil, and that he might act recklessly.