After a few moments since the start of the match, that platform was experiencing a moment of significant silence, where even the gulping of saliva and rumbling of stomachs could be heard.
But the time had passed quickly, and when everyone least expected it, the 3 minutes were up, with Lothur's opponent having finished before him once again.
But this was not because Lothur was less talented than his opponent but because of his confidence in his resistance to poisons. Not only that, if he attacked first and his opponent fell, then he could not experience the benefits of being poisoned.
In this way, Lothur was naturally behaving more calmly during the initial minutes of the test, giving his opponent the chance to attack him first, as he had done with Rudolf.
So, when the time in question ended and Moritz got up to attack him, Lothur was still calmly preparing his mixture, which this time was not the same as his opponent's.
"Let's see if you'll continue with all that arrogance now, bastard!" Maritz shouted as he threw a vial high above where Lothur was standing, shortly afterward throwing a stone to destroy it.
When the stone hit the transparent vial with his poison, the thing exploded, creating a reaction in the air that started a brown rain over the area where Lothur was sitting.
The people in the surrounding area watched this with excitement, waiting to see if Lothur would be all right again or if he would fall to the joy of most of them.
However, as the small cloud formed after the explosion of that fainter diminished along with the rain on Lothur, he showed no reaction, as had happened before.
Gulp!
Kai's allies in the surroundings began to feel that the first round would repeat itself, slowly feeling the sense that their failure could no longer be corrected.
If Lothur fell in this round, all would be fine. He would get no more points for the Frost family in the competition for poison masters and would still be at risk of being disabled for other matches.
But as the situation developed, they slowly realized that this would not happen and the worst of their nightmares was about to happen!
Others in the area realized this along with Moritz, but when they were about to comment on Lothur's super-resistance to poisons, this young man displayed peculiar behavior...
As the last drops of that poisonous rain fell on him, Lothur suddenly got up and began to remove his clothes!
He not only did this with the outermost items on his body but took off almost everything he had, quickly staying with only his underwear in the middle of that platform.
The women watched this with their mouths open, looking at his almost perfect body, while the men felt terrible as they noticed the bulge in his underwear...
'How can this be?' A young nobleman wondered, seeing that Lothur seemed to be carrying something bulky in his crotch...
"What is he doing?" Annaliese blushed as she saw how Lothur was acting in front of so many people.
Rebecca had a good idea about what was going on with him, but she said nothing as she continued to observe the situation.
Then, before the people there even began to exclaim words of outrage at Lothur's strange behavior, he sat down on the ground, and the experts there realized what was going on.
"That young man's resistance to poisons is evolving!" A 2-star specialist said in surprise.
"Yes, it seems that Moritz helped him break the bottleneck to Bronze-grade poison resistance, and now he is undergoing a marrow cleanse!"
"Unbelievable!"
"What a lucky young man! Advancing in the middle of a competition..."
"Tsk!"
"He's already at that level? No wonder Rudolf failed miserably against him!"
Several people commented on this, while the competitors in the surroundings looked at Lothur as if they saw a monster on that platform.
Lothur was supposed to be a good-for-nothing, but in a single day, he had already revealed two extraordinary talents!
Hence, most of these people, who had even mocked him in the past or bet against him in this tournament, could not help but feel a bitter taste in their mouths right now.
That was even more true for Moritz, who was open-mouthed as he saw the impurities from Lothur's body accumulating on the floor of that platform.
He thought he would defeat his opponent decisively, perhaps even risking the life of such a person. But who knew? He had given Lothur a great deal of help!
'Damn it!'
'What do I do?' He hesitated, feeling that he would lose this match.
Amid his desperation, Moritz grabbed a dagger from his clothes and ran toward Lothur, intending to finish his opponent before the competition ended.
The Province Conference competitions were very clear. No one could interfere with the matches unless one participant quit. But on the other hand, only tested skills could be used during such battles.
Thus, he could act against Lothur that way, but that would result in his elimination from this competition.
However, given his probable defeat, Moritz chose the option that could at least help his family eliminate Lothur and hurt the Frost family!
"Die, you bastard!" He shouted as he stooped to strike the neck of the silver-haired young man.
Many people in their chairs stood up as they noticed what he intended, while Annaliese felt her heart thumping in her left chest.
But as Kai's companions saw hope before them, Lothur turned one of his hands in the air, scattering a cloud of red dust in his surroundings.
When such a thing came in contact with his right arm holding the dagger, Moritz felt as if acid had fallen on his skin and immediately withdrew.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He screamed in horror as he used his other hand to clench his forearm, feeling as if his arm was melting.
Meanwhile, Lothur finally saw the system's warning about his advancement!
[Resistance to Bronze-grade poisons.]
[Progress: 0%]
...
[Name: Lothur Ritter]
[Physique: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger]
[Bloodline: Life Devourer]
[Cultivation: level 8]
[STR: 24.5]
[CON: 52.3 -> 53]
[DEX: 20.9]
[AGI: 29]
[INT: 68.8]
[PER: 69.1 -> 70]
[WIL: 72.5 -> 73]
[EVF: 247]
Noting his status, Lothur smiled in satisfaction, feeling the benefits of having advanced his poison resistance to the Bronze grade.
At the same time, he looked at his agonizing opponent in front of him and felt that another match was about to end, with another point for him and the Frost family.
He stood under the watchful eyes of everyone in the area and gathered his clothes, trying to ignore the terrible smell of impurities that had left his body.
He took his eyes off the young man, who had now lost one of his arms and was screaming uncontrollably, and asked. "I guess I'm the winner of this round, right? Can I go now?"
With that, the match referee announced the result and freed Lothur.
"Lothur Ritter beats Moritz Frohberg and moves on to the second day of trials for poison masters!"
...