"Reed....there it is again. You're telling me that even in the state of Ἑκατα, his MP is zero? there's something about his martial arts, it's draining them of their mana for fcks sake!" Kenny said as he gripped the armrest. "This...is exciting. It is, I want to know more about his martial arts, it's unfortunate that we can't see what ATHENA categorizes it as but we can only wait.."
Nate wasn't wrong to think it was a glitch, but it wasn't exactly right as well. He realized this only after focusing the entirety of his mental strength into his eyes, he could see the purple-blue strands constantly flowing towards his core but at the same time, he could see them shooting away from his body.
"Sir..its his MP, its fluctuating, I mean, it hit 0 and then it jumps back to 30% and then goes back to 0 and all of this is happening in less than a second if there wasn't any record then it would be impossible to notice..."
"....."
"I think I understand. It's a small chance but I think I know where the mana is going. It's not disappearing, his techniques disperse the mana in the opponent's body, meaning the mana that was flowing through Nate was forced out of his body, however thanks to his current condition, it seems like the mana is getting absorbed back in, of course, it doesn't matter considering the fact that it's getting dispersed the very next second."
It was impressive. Very impressive. Kenny Smith managed to come up with such a complete theory in under a minute, even though the situation involved complex factors and at the same time involved two players with the nicknames, "The Anomaly and The Prodigy", Reed was flabbergasted, while he too was thinking about what could be going on, he could never have come up with such a theory.
It was over at this point, Nate could very well change the situation once again, that is assuming he was to use his Bloodline skills, but that was too much. There was a reason why even Night held back from using those, it wasn't like they had a contract or an agreement to not use it. It was more like they didn't want to expose all their skills to the public. Besides, if Night were to use his Bloodline skills it would be over for Nate. His domain alone was more than enough to slaughter any player, even without allowing them to understand what hit them.
While it was understood that his Bloodline skills weren't exactly directly effective in battle and were considerably difficult to use and master, it was also established that Night was more than capable of fully controlling them. Therefore, his skills couldn't be utilized by just anybody.
'Perhaps it wasn't my luck that managed to trigger Hecate's torches but it was his bad luck...I wasn't the lucky player, it was him. He was the Unlucky Player.' Nate thought as he accepted his fate and closed his eyes.
"The match is over..already? how long has it been? It felt like its only just begun..I wanted to see more."
"You are joking? Towards the ending, it was literally all just a blur, Night finished him off before his form wore off. I couldn't even see what he was doing, it was too much for me.."
"I thoroughly enjoyed that. It was exhilarating, from the start to the end. While I agree that the end was somewhat of a blur for me as well, it was amazing. It's hard to believe these two are level 100 players. Those forms of theirs, the skills, everything was magnificent."
It was the only time that the crowd had a satisfied and pleasant expression on their face, usually, they'd look dissatisfied or bored after a match, however, it would be an understatement to say that they didn't feel that way after this match. It had all the elements an exciting match should have. Suspense, full of action, an unclear outcome. The form changes were an added bonus of sorts but it was naturally welcomed.
"That...what happened?" Jace stuttered.
"I told you. It is pointless to try and understand, let's just hope that the higher-ups of the military assume that speed and technique were simply thanks to the game. While there is some truth in that, I can say for a fact that it is much more effective in reality. However, that brings up the question, which version of him is stronger? The one in this video game or the one in reality?" K said while caressing his chin.
"That is...actually an interesting question...But as of now, I cannot say, I simply have no idea what he is capable of. While the game does have stats and whatnot, it is very possible that those stats thingies aren't high enough compared to his real-life self. I've personally experienced what he can do, of course, I assume that isn't all of it...however, that doesn't change the fact that I could've very well died back then. It was truly appalling...I'm not sure why but initially it felt like it was nothing, however, the next second, I could feel this pressure at the point of impact..." Jace replied, this time he didn't bother mock or tease Luke, while he knew what he was capable of, he genuinely doubted his victory against Nate.
"Hmmmm, well let's not jump to conclusions yet, there is another event left, the final one, I have no idea if those two are in any clan but I can say that whichever clan has those two is truly blessed. Perhaps we get to witness more?" K couldn't help but chuckle, he was truly excited and interested in witnessing Luke and Nate's performance.
Usually, he would never concern himself with a game, but after he heard from his very own granddaughter about a player named Night, he was curious, not only for himself but even for Luke's sake. In his mind, Aurora would never praise someone so much and if she did, that simply meant that the person in question, deserves it. It was an opportunity to find an opponent worthy enough of Luke.
This was the whole reason K and Jace even showed up, what reason did they have to sit and idly watch some youngsters fight each other on a screen. However, the news that Luke and Night were the same person more than just shocked them. It replaced their initial reason to attend the event.
"Nate...lost? but how? why couldn't he just use his magic? was this rigged? No, it could not have been rigged, there's no point. Then why wouldn't he at least use those elemental orbs of his?" Aurora had a confused look on her face, she wasn't unhappy about Night's victory, but she did support Nate more because of the fact that they shared the same class.
"He did...I have no idea as well. It was something he relied on throughout the event, he didn't even use it during Accuracy Spike. Maybe there's a limit or something?" Layla replied.
"Forget about it. It doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that all of us underestimated them. Not only is Night stronger than we anticipated but Nate is just as strong. I have this odd feeling that there's more to them, however, that being said, I'm glad we have the relationship we have with them. I have no plans to ruin that, in fact, I was hoping it would only strengthen over time, however, this doesn't change the fact that we are still not strong enough. Leo and Noxx, you guys should take part next time..."
Those were valuable words and strict words but it was important. The others nodded, everyone there knew for a fact that they weren't strong enough. It was pointless to try and refute those words, there was only one winner and that was Night.
"You won," Nate said as he punched Luke in the shoulder. "It was...something, though I do have some questions about certain things, like the technique you were using in the end. I've seen that before but it was....awfully fear-inflicting. And there was something unusual as well, my mana, with every punch or kick that landed, I was drained. Even during the state of Ἑκατα."
"Huh? I have no idea about any of that. We can look into it later though. Besides, you had some interesting things to show as well. What on earth is up with the constant spam of Three Moons Dispersion?? It was frustrating, that skill will literally be the end of me." Luke replied as he dragged Nate back to the seating area, completely ignoring Reed's announcement as well as the crowd's cheers.
"The skill spam was nothing really. I have this conditional passive called Hecate's Torches that has like a really low chance of activating, I don't think it has anything to do with my luck though, my guess is that it was your luck that tampered with the skill."
"..."
"...."
"Screw you."