Chapter Six: The Duel Arena

Most reality benders, when faced with ordinary people, carry themselves with an air of superiority, born of the singular power they possess in the present and the boundless possibilities that await them in the future. Yet in their novice stage, though they do have advantages, those advantages are not especially obvious. Take Thorn, the pinnacle of a beginner, for example: on the verge of her life’s transformation, the crystal of her ability had only granted her two extra attributes. By contrast, players received that very same beginner’s boon the moment they entered the game.

Though this blessing is available to every newcomer, it quietly narrows the gulf between reality benders and ordinary people, effectively turning a normal person into half a reality bender. If one makes good use of that edge, miracles are not impossible.

Of course, someone like Ember, who had consecutively earned the highest evaluations in highly difficult trials, was already rare even among players, let alone among game characters. So it was no wonder this combat master, also a reality bender, spoke with such confidence.

And amid these combat masters’ unguarded conversation, the battle upon the platform began.

A notification appeared: defeat the staff master to obtain a staff mastery skill book.

“Pardon me.”

To be fair, the staff master’s attitude toward Ember was rather decent. After all, his question had helped Ember out of an awkward spot. Out of courtesy, Ember first greeted the staff master, then without the slightest hesitation produced his fully charged, slowed, enhanced telescoping baton.

The combat masters present were all men of discernment. The instant they saw the humming baton, charged and ready, someone let out a whistle.

“Just the three enhancements alone cost seven thousand credits, more than the perfect reward from a single difficult mission. Who was it that just said, so confidently, that Sunward Defenders could never have good weapons?”

“Hahahaha!”

Laughter burst out, and the combat instructor who had earlier looked down on Ember, broad as an ox, flushed deep red. Staring at the telescoping baton in Ember’s hand, he stiffened his neck and forced out his rebuttal: “This weapon is barely passable, but it looks better than it works. Its base is far too poor. So what if it has charged enhancement? Without charge, with that tiny amount of effective damage, I’d be overestimating it to say it could last half a minute!”

To tell the truth, this combat instructor had indeed misjudged things before, but his objection still won the approval of the others. Raising attack rank by one point through charged enhancement was certainly remarkable, yet it also meant wasting a precious chance to improve base damage. Each piece of equipment had its enhancement attempts strictly limited, and everyone treated such choices with utmost caution. Thus the conflict between high burst and steady output remained an issue with no easy answer.

The staff master looked a little surprised at the baton’s charged state. He was less concerned with how much damage the weapon could deal than with how strong Ember himself might be. A person’s attributes were kept strictly confidential; without special abilities, there was no way to know them. As a result, the combat masters had long since learned to infer an opponent’s level through the many details of their weapons and equipment.

“That telescoping baton has had its damage enhanced twice, so its strength requirement should be three points. Charge enhancement doubles that outright, which means controlling it requires six points of strength. The Sun Badge is a special accessory, so perception must be at least two or three. As for how much agility he has, that hardly matters anymore, because six points of strength are enough to crush everything. My current usable total attributes are only eight points. If nothing unexpected happens, I’m going to be thoroughly humiliated today.”

The staff master’s heart was bitter. The upper limit of strength set by the Foundation not only reduced his damage drastically, but also made it impossible for him to perform vital tactical maneuvers such as blocking and counterattacking. Before six points of strength, all resistance was a joke. No matter how well he could run, he could not run beyond the bounds of the platform.

Who decided the trainee had to strike first?

Wasn’t that bullying people?

Seeing Ember close in at speed, the staff master, resigned to his fate, simply stopped dodging. He gave his long staff a shake, flourished a beautifully elegant flower-spin, and ignored the fierce incoming attack entirely.

Fine.

If he was going to lose anyway,

he would lose beautifully.

Then, with a dull thud, a club landed squarely on his head.

A prompt appeared: you activated the weapon’s enhancement effect, Energy Infusion, causing the next three attacks to increase attack rank by one point.

A prompt appeared: you used the active skill Staff Technique: Headshot, reducing the target’s head defense rank by one point.

A prompt appeared: you dealt twenty-one points of damage to the Staff Master.

A prompt appeared: the Staff Master’s agility rank was below five points, so he could not ignore the ordinary Slow status. For the next five seconds, attack speed and movement speed both decreased by twenty-five percent.

A prompt appeared: the Staff Master’s agility rank reached three points, allowing him to ignore the weaker Paralysis status.

Good heavens.

No mercy at all!

He had even learned the headshot club move?

The staff master, stung on the forehead, bared his teeth and swung back at Ember’s head in turn. He knew defeat was inevitable, so he resolved at least to keep up appearances and make it look even.

A prompt appeared: you were struck by the Staff Master’s Staff Technique: Headshot; your head defense rank was reduced by one point.

A prompt appeared: you took six points of damage!

Such pitiful damage made the staff master’s mouth twitch. Before long, another blow landed on his head, and his life dropped below half. Feeling that he could not be beaten so disgracefully by a trainee, he switched to the more powerful Staff Technique: Fierce Assault, abandoning the skill-focused Headshot. Only then did he barely manage to deal double-digit damage.

Fifteen points!

Seeing this, the staff master’s spirit failed him. He gave up struggling altogether and simply exchanged headshots with Ember, one staff blow after another, until Ember’s fifth swing spent his stamina at precisely the right moment, and the staff master’s health was reduced to zero, declaring defeat. From start to finish, it took less than five seconds, leaving the surrounding combat masters wincing in discomfort. Was this kid’s damage a little too high?

“Fixed match!”

The combat master who had earlier declared the fight would last more than half a minute was burning with embarrassment. He had never expected that, knowing he was doomed, the staff master would have no shame at all and simply stand there to be battered mercilessly.

Would dodging kill you?

If this wasn’t a fixed match, what was?

“If you’ve got the guts, come up here yourself! If you don’t, shut your mouth!”

The staff master snapped back at him, then, looking rather puzzled, took out a skill book and complained to Ember, “You even learned Headshot Club, and you still hadn’t mastered Staff Proficiency?”

A prompt appeared: you have defeated the Staff Master and obtained the Staff Proficiency skill book.

“There’s no easy way to say it,” Ember replied with a smile, knowing the staff master had gone easy on him. He took the skill book, slapped it onto himself casually, and obtained the damage skill he had long dreamed of.

Skill Name: Staff Proficiency

Type: Passive

Consumption: None

Effect: When using staff-type weapons, damage increases by fifty percent.

Requirement: Agility rank 2

Description: You have learned how to bring out the full power of a battle staff.

“Equipment, skills, and special bonuses each calculate damage separately. Just this one passive skill makes the telescoping baton’s output soar by half. That’s almost a dramatic qualitative transformation!” Ember was very satisfied and immediately wanted to test his damage potential. “I’d also like to learn Gauntlet Proficiency. Is that possible?”

“Of course. You have three chances to learn here. If you have the money, you can obtain basic skill books and a qualification seal as well.”

The staff master, in unusually good humor, answered Ember’s question, then pointed at one of the combat masters in the crowd and shouted, “Get up there and take a beating!”

“Shut up!”

The gauntlet master whose name had been called darkened at once. Anyone could tell that whoever went onto the platform would be the one in trouble. He had no chance of winning before, and now there was even less chance, so he didn’t even step onto the platform. Standing at the edge of the arena, he said to Ember, “Pay up.”

“Here.”

“Admit defeat.”

“Uh…”

A prompt appeared: you have defeated the Gauntlet Master and obtained the Gauntlet Proficiency skill book.

“You’ve no shame!” the staff master exclaimed. He had been hoping to see someone else get beaten too, in order to soothe his wounded pride.

“Your head was almost knocked clean off, and you’re lecturing me about shame?”

“I don’t care, you’re shameless!”

“Fine, I’m shameless. Then you’re the one without a brain. You know perfectly well you can’t win, and you still go up there to get beaten. What, do you think I was born yesterday?”

“…”

The two combat masters fell into a furious argument, leaving everyone nearby speechless. Ember on the platform was even more helpless. He only wanted a sparring target—why was that so hard? Fortunately, there was still one chance to learn left. His gaze immediately began to sweep through the crowd. Whoever his eyes fell upon could not help shrinking back. They were combat masters, yes, but once on the platform they too would only be there to take a beating. No one wanted to lose face, and the reality benders even less so.

If not for the Foundation’s higher-ups issuing a dead-serious order, they would never have let an ordinary person show off here.

“Who should I choose? I already have the two basic passives. Should I learn another burst skill? But it doesn’t seem like they teach that here!”

Ember was suddenly at a loss. Then he noticed a burly man wearing an awkward expression. This one did not want to be looked down on by an ordinary person, yet he also did not much want to be beaten by one. Worse still, his earlier grand boasting had become a joke. So, stubbornly clinging to the last trace of dignity a reality bender could have, he stood tall and met Ember’s gaze.

“May I ask what kind of combat master you are?”

At that, the burly man knew his doom was unavoidable. Furious, he roared, “Enough nonsense! Beat me, and you can learn Charge!”

“Oh? Charge? That seems quite suitable for me. I already have combat skills, and I have survival skills too, more than one at that. If I add a movement skill as well, wouldn’t that be the finishing touch?” Ember’s eyes lit up. “May I ask what the learning requirements for Charge are?”

“Strength four, agility two, and eight hundred credits.” The burly man ground his teeth, wishing he could tear Ember into eight pieces.

“Great! Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and come take a beating—”

Ember gave an embarrassed smile and corrected himself. “Oh! No, I mean, hurry up and come spar with me!”