Chapter 514: The rest of the First Round Matches Part 2

After the match between Vince and Isabella being one of the hardest ones to spectate due to the fact that Isabella's blizzards pretty much made it impossible to see, it was time for the next match which ended up being between Rex and Dillon. Up to this point Charles was the only member of the World Government Guild to make it out of the first round of fights and it would be a disappointing if in the end the biggest guild in the hub city only had one member making it out of the first round while the alliance had several.

Rex didn't bother wasting time when the countdown started for the match to begin and took out his spear from the get go. Any of his other matches were spent with him fighting in hand to hand until his opponent proved strong enough for him to use his spear, but in this match he started things off going all out after finding out he was up against someone from the alliance. Dillon on the other hand had a carefree smile as he held his axe over his shoulder and was ready to go on the attack. The match was a bit erratic at first with the way Dillon liked to fight. Rex was clearly the faster fighter, but Dillon's random attacks and sudden shifts between defending an attacking had Rex on his guard at the start of the match.

This was the longest match of the tournament up to this point with neither side getting a decisive hit in, but eventually after ten minutes of going back and forth Rex's range with his spear along with his ability to increase his own speed with a boost gave him the advantage as he was able to whittle down Dillon over a drawn out match eventually gaining the victory. It was a close fight with Dillon using his strength to get in some brutal blows that Rex barely blocked with his spear and in the end they both looked fairly beaten down. With this victory the World Government Guild had two members getting through the first round.

The twelfth match of the day was between Adrian who already had a good amount of the crowd behind him against one of the people that had upset their way into the tournament. The person he was up against was a spear user in a similar fashion to Rex, but he wasn't nearly as skilled. Adrian made quick work of the lower level spearman that had only reached this point on luck. From what Joshua could see the man wasn't as skilled with a spear as Allen let alone Rex who could flourish several thrust with the same type of weapon. Adrian had no problem avoiding any of his opponents thrust and it seemed like he was just waiting for the right moment to break his opponent's rhythm.

When the spearman started getting frustrated when none of his attacks were landing Adrian left a small opening on purpose which the man struck for. Joshua shook his head at this and he was certain that most of the other well experienced contenders that were watching the match would feel the same way. Adrian allowed the spear to get close before twisting his body so that the spear simply glanced off of one of the few pieces of armor that he wore on his shoulder. Adrian then used one of his swords to catch the tip of the spear that had passed by and knocked it aside giving himself a huge opening. With a few quick strikes to the several open weak points he ended the match in a flash. Adrian gave a bow to the crowd before getting teleported out of the arena in preparation for the next match. Joshua wasn't surprised by the outcome of the match, but he was a little disappointed that he didn't get to see the new skill Adrian had used in the match against Victor again.

The next match was yet another one in which an Alliance member was pit against one of the more powerful contenders in the tournament. This time it was Robin going up against the Stranger's Guild leader. She stood on her side of the arena casually as she looked over Robin through her mask and seemed to come up with a plan for the match. She started creating runes right in front of everyone while the countdown began and it was clear that she was making the perfect runes for a match against a mage. Joshua was interested in seeing if there were any new runes that he might have to look out for in the future, but he wasn't going to rule Robin out of winning the match. Robin had made it far in the tournament with not only her powerful spells, but also her ability to mix in quick ones that could paralyze her opponents.

Once the match started Robin already had a powerful spell charged and ready to fire off, but the moment she let loose the rune creator tossed out a rune that she had just finished making and just as the powerful lightning bolt that Robin had fired off got near it the rune sucked in the lightning stunning both Robin and the entire crowd. The Stranger's Guild leader tossed a few more of the same runes out around herself and all of Robin's spell were absorbed no matter how powerful. Such a tactic was a nightmare for mages, but Joshua noticed several cracks forming in each of the stones which proved they couldn't just absorb everything forever.

Robin seemed to notice this fact as well as she channeled an even more powerful spell creating a barrage of lightning that came down from above and struck directly at her opponent. Unfortunately the guild leader didn't seem too disturbed by this as she pulled out another rune that she held out herself as the lightning came down. The runes that she had set up before started absorbing the powerful attack, but eventually they shattered from the blow as the powerful spell fizzled out. The stone that the guild leader was holding started to glow as the energy that had been absorbed by all of the shattered runes from earlier formed a powerful swell of energy in front of her. The mana was constricted until it was finally let out in one blast that swallowed Robin's entire side of the arena. With that one rune the match had been ended and Joshua was even wearier of the Stranger's Guild leader.

There were only three matches left in the day and two of them ended up being completely one sided. The next match was between the Raider's Guild leader and one of the other World Government Guild members. The Raider's Guild leader came out standing proud and tall with his light armor equipped to his large frame and his hands held behind his back. He didn't even have a weapon out while staring at his opponent who was a knight that was glaring at him as the countdown started off. When the match started the knight charged across the arena planning on closing the gap before the Boss of the Raider's Guild could do anything. It was when he got half way across the arena that his body suddenly froze. He couldn't move anymore as his eyes turned down towards the floor of the arena and noticed that his own shadow was spreading into a pool around him. The sight was odd to see as arms made of shadow started stretching out of the ground and grabbing onto the knight.

The knight struggled for a while as he tried to break free of the shadows, but the Boss of the Raider's Guild wouldn't just give him the chance to struggle free. He marched over to his ensnared opponent and punched him down into the arena floor. He continued to brutally punch the knight over and over as his shadows started to strangle him until the point where he vanished from the arena. It was a quick match and Joshua wasn't able to learn the extent of the Raider's Guild leader's capabilities, but he did get to see his control over shadows in full action.

The match after that was the one that was a bit more challenging for both sides. It was a match between Aito and Seven. Joshua wanted to give Aito the edge in the match up, but he had seen how skilled with daggers that Seven was. The only person he had seen with a more natural feel in that regard was Madalyn and she just seemed to be a savant when it came to using knives of any sort. Aito started off the match as far away from Seven as possible and decided to use pistols for the match along with his shot gun since he knew he wouldn't have enough time to lock his opponent down with a sniper or even an assault rifle from what he had seen Seven be able to do in some of her former match ups.

The moment the countdown ended Seven was already on the move as they used a teleportation skill that had their body poof into smoke before they appeared directly behind Aito. It was a skill that Seven hadn't used up to this point in the tournament and it had put Aito on the back foot right away at the start of the match. Seven constantly struck at him from behind while not allowing Aito to get a better position. Aito on the other hand dodged a few strikes before rolling forward and shooting off his shot gun with his knock back skill to create some separation. The fight between the two of them came down to Aito using his pistols to either block Seven's daggers whenever they got close enough or his shotgun to create distance again.

It took a while, but eventually Aito was the victor in the contest. Even though Seven showed great skill, Aito didn't panic whenever Seven was able to get behind him and was able to create distance between the two of them when needed. This gave Aito several chances to land a shot on his opponent and with his aim it was only a matter of time before he got in a clean shot that Seven wasn't able to block. After that match of skill there was only one match left for the first round and ended up with Adam drawing the short straw of things and having to go up against Dmitry.

Adam started the match out going all out as he used the skill to create a clone of himself that charge forward and attacked Dmitry who was smiling as he walked across the arena towards him. The moment Adams clone went in for the strike Dmitry shot out his hand grabbed its wrist as it tried to cut down at him. Dmitry smiled as he absorbed the clone's energy in its entirety and caused it to break apart. Adam was forced to clash with Dmitry up close and although Adam was able to hold on for few minutes eventually Dmitry was able to grab him and once the Iron Claw got hold of you the match was over. Adam seemed to grow weak as he struggled to break the hold, but eventually he vanished from the arena after passing out. With that the first round had come to an end.