Chapter 377: The cancelation round

Amnur sighed, he did not wish to air out his past and certainly he did not want to get into a large debate with Tovack. Tovack's next question was also not one he could refute, and it linked perfectly with his first statement. 

"Does not each person you meet alter your path in life?" Tovack asked, from which he went ahead and explained how each teacher could adjust your way, how each enemy could change your perception or be your end. How each friend could lead you astray or save you from yourself. 

"You all think that he will blindly do as you say, but that is not how teaching works. You might have forgotten with all the years."

"We, your abyssal guard, while we follow your teaching and orders. We still forge our own way, it is our choice to serve. You might have altered our paths, yet you cannot say that you stole our choice."

...

The group spawned on a grassland to their relief. Across from them in the distance stood another group of 8, their enemies seemed to be four mages and four rogues though it was hard to tell from the distance. A strange combination, but not one that could stand a chance against team Phoenix.

Their opponents seemingly knew this too as they realized that they had lost the coin toss. Yet they did not give up immediately. All those who were part of the tourney were some of the strongest players (A total of 2024 players out of the 10M plus). Naturally, they did not want to be eliminated in their first fight. 

The tournament was quite kind in giving the losers a chance, but not in the first round. There was a reason this part of it was called the cancelation fights. All those who lost would have no chance of coming back. The company had not expected that 253 teams would make it into the legend rank, so this cancelation round was added to weed through them quicker. 

In the next rounds there would always be a loser bracket, which will fight for the top 4 spots. The top 4 would then be allowed to challenge anyone in the winner bracket for their spot. Those fights would also have a set time which the teams must attend.

While the company promised to do their best to allocate both team's best time, naturally it was not so easy when dealing with things internationally. 

The two teams stared each other down and slowly moved closer. Naturally, the 250X250-meter arena was massive, and of course, their fight had no viewers. While it was being streamed no one would be interested in watching a few nobodies fight. 

Most people were following those who were in the top ten. If it was not one of those teams then they would rather get on with their lives. Especially with these 126 fights that were going to be spread out over a week. 

Smirking, Eldrian felt quite confident he could handle every one of their opponents. As was expected they were all Tier 3, however, none of them even had 1 magic item. Their gear was not crappy, it was Tier 4 and 5 normal grade. However, none of them wore plate. The only thing that Eldrian was not quite efficient in dealing with. However, he was quickly becoming better. 

While he wanted to charge forward and have some fun, Eldrian held himself back. That was until both teams were around 50 meters from each other. The point where archers and mages could attempt to attack. 

And that was what happened. Those proficient in close combat charged forward while those proficient in long-range let loose their attacks. 

Eldrian himself rushed forward with glee, as soon as he neared his opponents he summoned two icicles which moved faster than the rogues could follow. Before they could react they had died, and Eldrian was already on the other just as fast. 

Normally, in the other fights, he had let his team do most of the fighting most of the time. However, now that they were in the official tournament Eldrian saw no reason to hold back. 

As such anyone without decent armor stood no chance. Eldrian's spells were simply too accurate, and when cast when just a few meters from the opponent, they had no time to react and dodge. 

"No fair!" Judith complained, arriving just a second or two after Eldrian yet all the rogues were dead. Of the mages, there were just two left and Zyviss was putting a great deal of pressure on them. So much that Ilmadia and Erik could rain down spells. Wearing them down and killing them a few seconds later. 

"This is the real deal now," Eldrian countered, "It will be best if we no longer take it easy."

"You're one to talk." Elizabeth scolded as they returned to her virtual home. The fight had ended in a few seconds after the two teams got close enough. "You were the one taking it easy, not us."

"Guilty, but I was busy with other things," Eldrian replied, causing an irritating twitch to stir in Elizabeth. Taking a deep breath she tried to calm down. Eldrian's reply reminding her of how he kept refusing to go on quests with them. 

While she understood that he had that strange quest, she felt he needed to go out if he wanted to complete it. Eldrian instead had countered that doing nothing would also snub whoever was aiming for his life. 

Naturally, what Elizabeth failed to understand and what Eldrian did not feel he could share was that him dying would not just be a normal issue of a player dying. The person after him certainly had some type of soul attack. 

However, Eldrian did not feel it would be right for him to bring this to the light of all players. It would cause panic, especially with players only now starting to get their footing and being able to actually participate in quests efficiently. Learning that all their work can be taken from them would be a massive blow. 

Naturally then, she could not understand why he was so unwilling to risk it when he had risked far more before. She failed to understand that Eldrian had only done so because Vivian had been fighting.

Now at least she was given time to recover and would not be forced back into the battle for some time more. Especially since the healers were stretched so thin and her natural healing would now clash with that of most healers. 

"Good thing you're on our team." Zyviss commented with pride, for the first time he had the second most kills. The developers had actually added a nice feature to track who did what. Giving them a list of their contributions. 

Naturally, the listing was lacking as it only tracked the player's stats. It would not count something such as blocking an attack for a friend, or even taking an arrow for them. 

"No kidding, I don't think any player can stand up to him anymore. How do you keep becoming stronger so quickly?" Therdul asked, naturally by the time he had reached the 'fight' the match was already over. He had neglected agility and that along with his short stature as a dwarf meant he was by far the slowest in the team. 

"What do you mean? You guys have seen me practicing." Eldrian countered innocently, causing Nikki and Ilmadia to laugh their asses off as Therdul suddenly became beet red. 

They recalled when the dwarf had tried to follow Eldrian's routine. Only to end up exhausted by the time for brunch. Yet Eldrian continued without break till lunch, and only lunch. He never spent any time on other things. He was like some sort of machine. 

"Right, in any case that is it for the week," Elizabeth announced, shocking the rest. Questions of whether she was sure and if they didn't have another match quickly springing up. 

"No, this is just the cancelation round remember. They only added it to weed out the teams since there were too many. It is also why it is not properly streamed, yet. Coming next week there will be a fight each day until we get to the finals."

"Right, how does that work again?" Eldrian asked, not having bothered to read up on the tournament. He had lost nearly all interest in it. While the prize would still be welcomed, with Erik having found a way out the gold no longer interested him as much. 

Sure, it would allow him to fully equip himself, that however would only make so much of a difference. The true limiting factor was not his gear but rather his skills. Naturally, gear would enhance his strength, but it couldn't bridge the gap he felt there was. 

A perfect example of this was against the ghoul and vampire. No gear would have allowed him to keep up to their speed. Nor would anything have managed to block the ghoul's claws. Though it might have helped against the vampire. 

He certainly did not want to rely on his aura of wrath again. It had sounded so amazing and overpowered, yet failing to recall what had happened even now left a shadow in his heart. The strength boost might be amazing, but losing himself was far more terrifying than he felt it was worth. 

"Well, it is a pyramid-type tournament. The 128 teams that got through the cancelation will be randomly sorted and then fight for their place. With the losers of each bracket forming their own bracket and then vying for the top spots so they can challenge the winners of the previous rounds..." Elizabeth started explaining how their next week would look, asking everyone to make sure they would be available any time of the week. 

They would just get 1 day's notice of their next matches' time. In total, the fighting would last 12 days. With each team fighting in 6 of the days.