Spinters casually browsed through the information that had been handed to him by his assistant. After his eyes crossed a few lines, he raised his head with confusion and asked toward his assistant. "Is this the progress from last month?" his eyebrows rose from surprise as he couldn't help but find that the overall ranks had gone up. They had gone up so much that he didn't dare the trust his eyes and began massaging his temples while waiting for the young man in front of him to answer his question.
"No, Sir. This is, in fact, the records from the last two days!", the young man himself couldn't help but doubt his own words. It was just too shocking, how could the entirety of the local player base progress at such a ridiculous speed. But he couldn't voice it as the number on the record didn't lie. New Casablanca's player base was making a rush through the Earthly ladder, and if they kept with this rhythm, it wouldn't take long them to develop into a reputable Battle Center on Earth.
"If even the last in the ranking made such absurd progress, then what about the first in the ladder?", Chairman asked as he felt that the matter was too far fetched for it to be that simple.
After checking the data at hand, the assistant briskly spoke without raising his head. "Not much change when it comes to the top ten in the ranking, their ranks are stable… The only exceptions are those three!" he said while swiping his finger on the tablet-sized screen in front of him. The three user's data appeared in front of him; The avatars EatIt, DogPie, and MkPeo's were swiftly analyzed by the chairman in a dozen of seconds. Then he crossed his hands and fell in deep thought before slapping his tights as if he had a revelation.
"Cross the information of the users with one variable!" his assistant executed the settings without further thought. After preparing everything, he asked Chairman Spinters which variable to add.
"Number of times they have faced the user "Stroke.", the assistant remembered hearing this word from the mouth of several users but hadn't put the matter as he just thought he was a current superstar of the game.
As the information swiftly changed on the screens in front of them, Spinters calmly pondered on the matter while waiting for the changes to occur. "The results are undeniable!" he exclaimed as his eyes darted left and right, reading the wall of data in front of him. "Stroke is at talent when it comes to helping others!", as soon as he exclaimed, he clapped his in his office before ordering his assistant one last time.
"Whoever manages to beat Stroke will be granted a wish from me!". The assistant darted from the chairman's office in a dash. Chairman Spinters fiddled with the data in front of him as a smile appeared on his face.
"So that's your way of making us win the next tournament…", he mumbled while thinking about his discussion with Fell. "No wonder he seemed so confident. He wasn't talking about carrying the battle center by himself, but he wanted to raise the battle center's whole level!".
The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't fathom the young cultivator that had shared a drink with him. He had met dozens of arrogant youth that showered him with empty vows and promises, rare were those that actually held true to their pledges.
"Achoo!" a sneeze resounded in a silent fighting platform. Fell stood in the middle of his mountain peak as he hesitated on activating the platform. If it were only the local matchmaking, he wouldn't have stood there for so long. But it was different now, and if he activated the platform, he would face his fourth opponent in . Such an act couldn't be done on a whiff as he was interested in trying to get the maximum reward. Karukobi was his third opponent, and the giant's strength had left him a deep, lasting impression. He didn't dare to underestimate his next opponent as he knew it could cost him an instant loss.
"When have I hesitated so much on a simple matter?!" he said as he tried to raise his momentum. "But what if I'm not ready…" he thought as doubt appeared on his mind. Then an idea appeared as he remembered that he never asked his mountain about a specific subject.
He coughed as his body instinctively took a polite form, his face reddened as bashfulness took over his skin. "Old mountain?" a soft voice escaped Fell's throat before resounding through the vast mountain peak.
"Oh-Oh-Oh! You didn't forget about this old one?" a coarse voice appeared from the void as a powerful shock wave washed Fell's surrounding. "What do you need, young one?"
Fell bashfully asked, with a slightly bowed head. "You see Unc-Senior Mountain… I've been questioning myself. You see, I've won three of my five first matches, and I'm aiming for the maximum reward.", his eyes glowed as he thought of a way to phrase his next sentence.
"Isn't there a way for me to train here without facing any opponent?" as soon as the word escaped his lips. He knew that the chances were low, fighting opponents was already part of the training. He just hoped that the creators of battle league might have put some hidden features that would only reveal themselves if players asked or looked around. Fell sighed as he felt that the silence that followed his question was more of an answer than anything the mountain could say.
But, a gigantic string of laugher resounded all around him, followed by a few words that changed his facial expression.
"There are a few ways.", the mountain's answer may have been short. But Fell bashfulness disappeared as soon as he heard it, his back straightened and his mouth opened as he loudly exclaimed. "Which way!", if he could have grabbed the mountain by the collar, he would have shaken him to get the answer faster.