1156 Punching Upwards
Of course, it went without saying that Valyr agreed to the proposition after Scho'doxa brought it up once more, causing the latter to grin and chuckle on his own.
Taking a bit of time to compose himself, Scho'doxa went silent for a bit before looking back at the young man with a faint smile. "On second thought, I'm changing the mechanics on the rewards you'd get from this challenge."
"For the meantime, have this."
Whoosh!
Just as Valyr raised his eyebrow as he wondered what the man meant by that, the latter threw a bottle towards the young man, containing what looked to be a leaf that took on almost every color that existed on its surface.
Faintly wondering whether what he got was some sort of unique psychedelic, the young man went ahead and brought up the item's description, only to push the screen to the side as Scho'doxa talked to him.
"Don't get me wrong. I don't plan on changing the reward you'd get from beating the winner of the Early Rank 5 tournament," said Scho'doxa as he clarified himself to the young man. "Instead, I'm changing the rewards you'd get if you plan on challenging the winners of the other tournaments."
With those words, Scho'doxa then explained to the young man that he was basically giving him an opportunity to obtain access to the best version of the final combined item. Specifically, it was a version that went one step above what was possible to obtain in the tournament.
With that as a background, the man explained to Valyr that he'd get the best version of the fifth round's item if he were to defeat the victor of the Early Rank 5 tournament.
After that, if he planned on continuing the challenge and decided to fight the victor of the Mid Rank 5 tournament, as long as he won against them, he would obtain the best version of the second round's item.
"All in all, the challenge will end once you upgrade all of the items you got from the tournament into their Heavenly Potential versions," said Scho'doxa, prompting Valyr to nod in response. "I might change a couple of things later on, but that's more or less how it'll work."
After talking a bit more about the challenge with Scho'doxa, the two soon disappeared from the arena hosting the Peak Rank 4 tournament…
Only to appear in the arena that was hosting the Mid Rank 4 tournament.
Whoosh!
Pushing all of his senses to their limits, Valyr immediately had a confused expression on his face when he noticed that the auras within the arena were weaker than what he expected.
21:00
Pondering whether the victor of the Early Rank 5 tournament had only become the victor through fluke, Scho'doxa immediately clarified the confusion the young man had by explaining that they were at the Mid Rank 4 tournament's arena.
Through there, it did not take long for Valyr to understand what was going on, recalling that the man had offered the same proposition to the other victors before him.
With that, it did not take long for him and the victor of the Mid Rank 4 tournament to prepare themselves, heading to their own sides of the arena as they came to the agreement that they would not land any lethal hits on one another.
With Scho'doxa acting as their arbiter, the fight between the two soon began, with both of them charging towards one another in a bid to take the initiative.
Swoosh!
However, with his stats absurdly higher than one would expect from that of a peak Rank 4 class holder, it was no surprise that Valyr was the first to take initiative, activating [Limit Break: Second Verse] to bolster his advantage even further.
Whoosh!
Planting his feet firmly on the ground, the young man then got into a battle stance before punching out with great force, hoping to catch his opponent unaware as the latter continued to build up momentum.
Unfortunately, just as he punched out to hit the man's chest, Valyr's eyes instead widened in surprise when the man forcefully maneuvered his body to dodge the punch as best as he could.
With that, his punch barely missed the man's torso.
However…
Fwoosh!
As if it were an aftereffect of his punches, Valyr's missed punch instead generate a strong wind that pushed his oddly postured opponent back, causing the latter to pale in complexion as he realized what he was up against with.
Getting the feeling that the punch would have been fatal if it landed on his body, the opponent did not hesitate to surrender not long after, leaving Valyr with a slightly sour expression as he thought to himself.
'That's it?'
Letting out a faint sigh as he thought his opponent would put up more of a fight than what he saw, Valyr soon nodded at his opponent before turning to look at Scho'doxa.
Seeing that the latter was talking to the man, he waited for a bit before voicing out his question. "So, am I going to start my challenge or…?"
"Just one more fight," replied Scho'doxa, his expression slightly apologetic. "The winner of the Early Rank 4 tournament won against the opponent you just fought against, and they told me they want to continue with the challenge."
At those words, the young man merely nodded in response as he waited for Scho'doxa to teleport the two of them to the arena hosting the Early Rank 4 tournament.
Whoosh!
Once there, it did not take long for the fight between him and the victor of the Early Rank 4 tournament to be set up, distancing themselves from one another as Scho'doxa announced the start of the match.
Unsurprisingly, the first move each side made was more or less similar to the fight that Valyr fought in earlier, with both sides charging at one another to take initiative.
However, his opponent decided to make use of a movement skill this time around, allowing her to gain an initiative against Valyr.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Without hesitation, the young woman sent out a barrage of energy bolts towards Valyr, forcing the latter to briefly stop as she conjured a large shield out of Prime Azure Energy.
Seeing that the shield could endure the barrage of bolts without much issue, Valyr continued moving onward as he empowered his stats once more, only to then conjure his own attack in retaliation.
"[Four Paths Azure Magic Arts]…"
"[Four Paths Azure Bolt]."
Swoosh!
Infusing the element of Water into the bolt, Valyr briefly moved his shield to the side as he shot the bolt directly at his opponent.
With how quick it was, the young woman was forced to briefly stop her offensive as he conjured a couple of barriers in response to the attack.
Thinking that those barriers would be enough to stop Valyr's retaliation in its tracks, the young woman was instead left at a loss for words when the bolt began to curve around the barrier instead.
Heading straight for what looked to be her blind spot, the young woman visibly became anxious as she hastily conjured barriers behind her back.
In the end, the match more or less ended the same way the previous fight did… though Valyr somewhat enjoyed the fight a bit more this time around.
'Definitely something to think about once I'm at the battlefield.'
With him having beaten the only two people that were lower-ranked than him in this tournament, Valyr soon shifted his gaze towards Scho'doxa once more, donning a faint smile as his gaze told the man what he needed to know.
In response, Scho'doxa looked back at him before beaming a slight smile in return, nodding as he indirectly told the young man that his attempt at the entire challenge was now about to begin.
Whoosh!
Appearing at the arena where he became the victor once more, the man told him to stay put for a bit before disappearing.
Waiting for a while, Scho'doxa then returned to the arena with a man that boasted a physique that even the manliest of men would die to have for themselves.
With such a unique appearance, Valyr soon realized that he was slightly familiar with the man in front of him, recalling that there was a small but unique event revolving around him during the first version of Greater Beyond.
Exchanging some small talk with one another, the two soon got into their places as Scho'doxa explained the rules of the fight for both sides.
Only when both him and his opponent told Scho'doxa that they were ready did the latter announce the official start of their match.
Whoosh!
Though he knew he was only up against an opponent at the early levels of Rank 5, Valyr did not dare to underestimate him, charging towards the man while activating [Limit Break: Second Verse] from the get-go.
With that, the young man was able to seize initiative from the man. Though, with how his opponent had also activated a stat-boosting skill of his own, it would've probably been the man who would've taken initiative first.
Swoosh!
Conjuring a barrier around him with Prime Azure Energy, Valyr watched as the man sent a fist at him, causing the barrier to warp in response.
Seeing the barrier warp under a simple punch of his, the man felt immense pride, thinking that it wouldn't take much time for him to defeat the young man in front of him and proceed with his own challenge.
However, as if the world was making a mockery out of his move, the barrier bounced back as if his attack hadn't landed at all, making the man's eyes widen in slight surprise.
Hoping to land yet another attack to break the barrier in front of him, the man decided to use a skill, only to stop when he felt something constrict around his legs.
Then, just as he was about to look at what exactly wrapped around his legs, he then felt an ominous aura coming from up above.
Whoosh!
In less than an instant, a maelstrom of azure phoenixes began to rain from the sky, all of them seemingly choosing the man himself as their target.
Unsurprisingly, the man began to pale and shudder in response.
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