Chapter 443 442   - World Tournament(Part 1)　　Point-of-View: Cusnai Bronztan

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　　Ugh, why do I feel so nervous? My palms are all clammy and I feel a bit nauseous too, I think I'm gonna be sick. Yeah, my palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there's v-...okay, seriously, I need to calm down. I don't even like rap!

　　It's not like I haven't participated in tournaments like this one before, and not to mention that I've been through several life or death experiences in the recent past, so I really didn't think that I'd be this nervous.

　　It's probably the massive crowd that's throwing me off, all the stadiums in this world that I've fought in before only had capacities of a few hundred or a couple thousand people at most, but there's tens of thousands of people here!

　　That's way too many, and there's the also the fact that this is being broadcast to pretty much the entire world. If I screw up due to a stupid mistake or something like that, the whole world will see my failure.

　　The thought of that is just mortifying. So, I need to make sure that I do my best out there. I at least need to get through the first match, and after that, try to get as far into the tournament as possible. And if and when I lose, I can't let myself do so without putting up as good a fight as I possibly can.magic

　　Still, though...why does my match have to be the very first one, huh!? I'm up against a Halfling from Idyll, named Krasp. His power level is listed at 23,600, so he could be a tough opponent.

　　Without using any of my serums, my power level is below 5,000. I probably can't win this easily without using a power boosting serum, but I'll try to hold off on using those till later...after all, they take quite a toll on my body, so I'll save them as a last resort.

　　Alright, looks like it's time for my match to begin...I need to head out to the arena. I put on a pair of goggles over my eyes, before heading out after making sure that I had all my weapons and equipment on.

　　As I headed out towards the arena, I felt a slight sense of anxiety and nervousness as all the noise ringing out from the audience enveloped me. Okay, just calm down, this is nothing...it's just a regular old fight, no big deal.

　　My opponent walked onto the arena just after I did, from the opposite direction. He was a bit below average height and well-built, with long blue hair tied in a braid, light purple eyes and a couple of daggers on his belt, along with a crossbow attached to his right forearm.

　　I prepared myself for the fight to begin, which would be signaled by the announcer's declaration. Speaking of whom...the announcer for this tournament was...Belia...

　　"Alright, everyone, it's almost time to kick things off! The first match of the World Combat Championship is Cusnai of the Rustlands versus Krasp of Idyll!" Exclaimed Belia enthusiastically, right on cue as the safety barrier activated around us, before continuing, "Now, then, who do you think's gonna win this opening encounter!? Let's find out! And so, let the fight...BEGIN!"

　　Right as she gave the signal, Krasp fired out an arrow from his crossbow, before rapidly sprinting towards me with an electric crackle, using Lightning Boost...crap, he's fast!

　　I deflected the arrow with one of my short-spears as he drew out a dagger and slashed at my neck as he closed in on me in an instant, which I just about barely blocked with my other spear, deflecting his attack and countering with a lightning blast from my mouth.　　He swiftly evaded my attack and sprang back, getting some distance as he fired another arrow at me. I deflected it and fired out a lightning bolt at him while chasing after him at top speed...before quickly stopping as it became clear that he was much faster than I was.

　　He's got a serious speed advantage over me, but his attacks are pretty light...that said, his reaction speed is faster than my attacks, so I can't land a hit like this.

　　He's playing it cautious right now, keeping his distance and sizing me up...I'll be in trouble once he starts attacking in earnest. Well, if I can't beat him in a head-on battle, then I'll just have to play dirty!

　　And that's where these goggles come in...I'm not wearing them during fights just as a fashion statement, they very much serve a purpose...

　　As he began to wind up to attack again, I took out a small vial on my belt and flung it at him, to which he responded by drawing out one of his daggers and striking it away...and as the vial shattered upon impact, a red smoke burst out from it, eliciting a cry of surprise from the Halfling.

　　It's a liquid that instantly turns to red smoke when exposed to oxygen, and it temporarily compromises the eyesight of anyone, making their eyes sting and water like crazy. Basically, it's like a pepper spray bomb. It doesn't do any actual damage though, so no harm no foul.

　　I shot towards him as he stumbled back, his eyes shut tight as tears streamed down his face, his expression all scrunched up. Now's my chance!

　　I flung one of my spears straight at him like a javelin, running lightning through it as I did. He stiffened and reacted just in time, forming a defensive barrier around himself.

　　My spear struck the surface of the barrier, several cracks spreading out from the point of impact, but the barrier didn't shatter. I'm not done yet!

　　With all my might, I arched my arm back and flung my second spear with all my might, putting in an extra dose of lightning into it. Before the first spear could fall, the second one struck the bottom of the first one's handle with a loud, vicious spark and crackle, before the cracks in the barrier spread out further...and shattered.

　　The remaining momentum through the spears carried forward, and before the first one could pierce through his chest, the Halfling was teleported out, my spear striking the floor of the arena and piercing into it.

　　I clenched my fist in triumph as cheers rang out all around me, feeling pretty good about myself as I soaked in the applause...

　　"Huh, didn't see that coming...the winner is, Cusnai of the Rustlands!" Declared Belia with a grin, as the cheers grew louder.

　　I did it, I won my first match...but, uh, did she really have to sound so surprised that I won? Talk about annoying...

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　　Point-of-View: Azeria Folix

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　　"Whew, that was a short, but pretty intense, opening match! And let's keep this thing going, it's time for the second match! It's Azeria of Abyss versus Faelar of Liberty!" Announced Belia loudly.　　She's too loud...and so are the crowd. Tch, my ears feel all irritated with the amount of noise around...I'll end this quickly.

　　My opponent is an Elf, he had short, spiked-up blonde hair, light green eyes and a sword on his back. I don't see any other weapons. His power level is 20,900...should be easy enough to handle.

　　We aren't allowed to transform or draw our weapons till Belia declares the start of the match...that's fine, otherwise this would be too easy. I'm not particularly interested in this tournament, I only entered because I was asked to and didn't have a reason to decline...but regardless, I am quite curious to see how far I can go in this competition.

　　"Now, then, that's enough talking, let's get to fighting...BEGIN, BITCHES!"

　　As she gave the signal, the Elf fired out a rapid arrow at me, enhanced by sharp streaks of wind swirling around the tip. I swiftly placed my hands on the floor of the arena and raised a defensive wall using Earth Magic, before combining it with Fire Magic to bring forth a wave of lava, rising up towards my opponent.

　　He reacted by quickly flying up, evading as I fired arrows of lava up at him, just barely avoiding getting hit. And now, it's over.

　　He's too far to interrupt this, time to transform...I then unleashed my True Anima, my Demonic powers activating as well. My jaws extended forward into a snout as orange and black fur sprouted all over my body, my limbs growing more flexible and my fingernails and teeth extending out into claws and fangs.

　　I crouched on all fours as my power surged, my third eye opening as I crouched down and sprang up towards the Elf, rapidly zipping through the air towards him, before I closed in on him in the blink of an eye.

　　His eyes began to widen in alarm and he started to fly away...but he was far too slow. To me, it looked like he was barely moving at all.

　　I then swirled flames around my left hand, before driving it towards his chest like a spear, my claws cutting through his leather armor and began to pierce into his skin...when suddenly, he disappeared.

　　Hm? Tch, that wasn't the safety barrier, he used a teleportation spell at the last second! How annoying, just give up and lose already!

　　As I began to plummet back down, having reached the peak of my jump, I dissipated the lava below to give myself space to land. The Elf rapidly flew towards me as I fell, his sword poised to strike.

　　Right as he closed in, while I was still in midair, he drove his sword towards my throat, and as the blade neared me, I swung open my jaws and caught it between my teeth, one of the fangs breaking through the metal and holding the sword in place, preventing the Elf from drawing it back.

　　And then, before he could react, I swung my claws across, sending out a fiery slash of flames at him. Before it could scorch through his neck, he got teleported out by the barrier, failing to teleport himself this time.

　　"Well, that was quick...the winner is Azeria of Abyss!"

　　That took a bit longer than I expected, I must be getting rusty...but in the end, I won without too much trouble...

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