"Go, go, boss!! Slash that Bonsai tree or whatever in half!! Err...I mean, burn him to ashes!!" Seira's loud but cute voice sounded from the stands, causing heads to subconsciously turn in her direction.
She...had unknowingly built quite a reputation for herself.
As who? Well...she unknowingly goes by many names.
"Shye Crowley's lackey", "Shye Crowley's friend with benefits", and for those who started hating her after being humiliated by her: "Shye Crowley's Worshipper".
Her reputation was built from her borderline blind faith in Shye Crowley's victory, tested time and again by numerous people, only to be humiliated by her in the end.
Hence, upon hearing her notorious voice, there were a few people who immediately acted to challenge her claim about Shye Crowley's invincibility.
"Hmmph! You must be Shye Crowley's pipsqueak of a lackey. Unfortunately for you, your clown of a boss was destined to be humiliated today by none other than Arthur Vermillion, the illustrious heir of the renowned Vermillion Adventurer Clan!"
"Hah! You're correct, brother Banar, however, you forgot one thing: Shye Crowley would face John Oni in the semi-finals...if the guy could even reach that far! Hahahahaha!"
"Oh, silly me, brother Alan. I do agree that Shye Crowley might not even make it past John Oni! Hahahaha"
Hearing the words of those around her, a smile crept up in the corners of Seira's mouth.
She was waiting for this!
"Hmm? Arthur Vermicelli? John Ong? Who the hell are those guys? Never heard of them! Anyway, whoever they are, they're destined to be mere stepping stones for my invincible boss!"
"Heh, it seems that the rumors about you were true. Let's see then, for now, I shall watch how your boss would "barely" handle his 11th-ranked scout-class opponent! Hahahahaha!"
As an enormous ball of roaring flames blazed through the confines of the blue dome, Seira couldn't help but temporarily ignore the increasing number of men—both young and middle-aged, and turn her attention to the ongoing match between her invincible boss and his fairly renowned opponent, Bonza Glais.
Shye, being a mage, naturally had the advantage in attacking first, summoning various projectiles of frost, wind, fire, and earth, creating a cacophony of elemental roars as he wreaked hellish havoc inside the blue dome under the shocked gazes of the audience.
Feeling blatantly disrespected, Bonza gnashed his teeth in utter fury.
'You dare take me lightly? I'll cut your head off!'
Bolting forward, Bonza sliced his dagger toward Shye's neck, utterly unconvinced that the arrogant mage could engage in a head-on fight against him.
Although a scout's strength attribute wasn't as high as a warrior's, it was definitely higher than a mere mage's.
Unless...the very same mage was also a warrior. Chapter Explore:
Fortunately for Bonza, Shye's goal wasn't to reveal how strong he was but to show everyone his slick "melee" fighting skills that he "worked on" to fend off scouts and warriors in close range.
Raising his high-grade ruby-tier elemental staff, Shye angled it perfectly, gently receiving Bonza's dagger and parrying it with unmatched grace and finesse.
He then used his other elemental staff to hit the scout's wrist, making his strike appear light but effective when in reality, it was his shockingly high strength attribute that knocked the dagger out of Bonza's right hand.
The poor scout couldn't even understand what happened before another vicious blow came his way.
This time, from the ruby-tier elemental staff.
The satisfying yet unpleasant sound of black steelwood hitting someone's skull echoed across the four corners of the arena, prompting the crowd to gasp in utter shock and disbelief.
Wasting no time, Shye aimed his staff at his opponent and fired a scorching ball of fire, incinerating Bonza to ashes just like what Seira said and causing him to turn into an azure ray of light that shot out of the blue dome.
"S-Shye Crowley easily fends off Bonza's ferocious melee assault!! Who?! Who would've thought that things would turn out this way?! Slick!! The menacing top-ranked mage displays astonishing melee prowess to eliminate the 11th-ranked Bonza and advance to the top 16!!"
[Congratulations! You've earned 35,620 points!]
'Heh, take that, doubters!'