Chapter 87 87. FAME

Fascination filled his mind for a while until he got bored, by this time he had gotten tired of cultivating, and instead decided to check out the participants that survived.

It seemed an hour at most remained before the time limit of the last wave ended, but Noah could already ascertain that the numbers that would enter the last stage, will be a bit over a hundred.

The number of people had decreased dramatically, more space being left in the massive room making it feel empty, even though there were tens of people present.

The whole place was more silent than ever. Noah was able to hear even whispers, as most people weren't talking but cultivating. While some simply sat, their eyes lost in thoughts.

Noah shook his head in slight pity at those who sat silently. They had either lost someone important in the last stage or were doubting their chances of winning the event as a whole.

Noah felt like a cheat at that sight, though he actually was. Those people had spent years training and cultivating, while he, who barely knew anything about the world. Was amongst them and even above them in terms of sheer strength.

Although he eventually wrote the thought off. Honestly, he didn't care about being a cheat, after all, everyone in the world would never pass up on an opportunity to advance faster, he was just the lucky one out of them.

A bit more than an hour passed, by that time everyone had assumed that those present were the only survivors.

So when an Inscription lit up on the tiles, everyone watched with blank expressions as they were teleported back to the coliseum.

The roars of the crowd filled Noah's, and the other participant's ears. He kinda wished they would just teleport them to the last site of the event.

The shouts continued for a while, shock filling Noah's mind at one point when the crowd began to cheer out his name.

James had a light smile on his face, while Isabella shot quizzical glances at him. Noah avoided them all.

He was incredibly glad that not everyone knew his name. So when confusion spread among the remaining participants, Noah and James simply played along.

That all changed when one of the massive illusory screens portrayed Noah's picture.

Noah's expression darkened instantly, while he avoided the gazes of everyone present, some shooting curious glances at him; wondering why he had gotten so popular among the spectators. Many ideas were flowing through the minds of the participants, some guessing it was related to the past stage.

As if answering their silent questions. Another screen carried the feat that Noah and James achieved.

'He finished first, and before an hour,' Most participants shouted in their minds. This time shooting incredulous gazes at him.

Even Isabella did that, though she had finished second after Noah which was multiple hours after he had completed the stage.

"Who the fuck is he?," Most people including the VIPs, asked themselves. Who in the world could do such a thing, was he a powerful expert hiding his true cultivation level?. Was he a descendant of a god or something?. They all wondered.

Though that surprise changed to competition for the participants, 'He's dangerous,' they all concluded in their minds, including Isabella.

At this point, Noah was definitely going to get into that top ten, and they had to secure their position. Most peak tier 2's saw him as a target, but couldn't sum up the courage to think of fighting him alone, though few did.

Noah himself knew what the higher-ups of the event wanted to achieve, and that was to put a target on his back.

He was certain that the participants saw him as a danger to their potential positions in the top ten, but he wasn't sure if they would band together to take him out, or just let him be.

Another few minutes passed. Elder Malachi then floated above the arena, draped in a light blue garment.

"Good day participants. I commend you all for getting this far into the game. It seems our nation has great experts in the making," He started. Noah noticed that although the man was a few hundred meters in the air, his gaze seemed to be on his figure.

The crowd cheers louder than ever at that point. Stopping only when Elder Malachi raised his hand.

"Now the third and final stage shall begin. You all are tasked to eliminate each other until only ten of you will remain," he continued.

"Do not forget it doesn't matter how your fellow participants are eliminated, be it from you killing them or forcing them to surrender using the hand bands feature." He said, all the remaining participants nodding.

"I won't tell you how many of you remain. You are all going to be teleported to a random location in the new site."

"Make sure you keep moving to eliminate the others until only ten of you are left. You'll hear a ding when that requirement has been met. Don't forget you all only have a day for you to achieve this." Elder Malachi explained.

Everyone pondered on the matter. Until shockingly some girl raised her hand. This greatly shocked everyone as they thought they couldn't ask questions.

A small orb of sorts floated towards the young woman in the higher stage. "You may speak," Elder Malachi said, due to his height they couldn't see his raised eyebrow.

"I thank you for the opportunity to speak," she started, seeing Elder Malachi wave his hand lightly, she continued.

"Your words have made me understand that only ten participants are to be left before the end of the day, for the stage and the whole event to be considered over. But that begs the question, what if more than ten people are around after the day ends." She said bowing down to signify that she was done.

"Very good," Elder Malachi's voice rang out, though his face couldn't be seen, Noah could swear that the man had a smile on his face.

"For the answer to that question, you'll find out if that happens." The man said as anxiety couldn't help but grip everyone's heart.

His words didn't inspire the least bit of confidence in the participants, some were already having thoughts about giving up. They didn't want any surprises as it would most likely lead to their deaths.

"If the subject of your fellow participant's question occurs, you all will be notified about what to do," Elder Malachi broke the silence.

"Till then I wish you success and may the best of you come out successful." Elder Malachi spread his arms, blue Inscriptions lighting up the whole arena, as Noah couldn't help but snap his head towards James.

He wasn't sure if they would be teleported to different positions, so worry inevitably filled his mind.

The only thing that ran through James's mind was: 'Oh shit.'

_________________

*Authors note*

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

I'd love it if you guys dropped a review. I don't really like saying these things, but I'd really appreciate it if you did. Overall I just want you guys to read the story, that's fulfilling for me.

Thank you for your time.