Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

Chapter 277 Gladiator of the Arena Part 3

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/Fwoosh!/

/Shing!/

As Maroro dashed within the dark smoke, he raised his weapons, a pair of sharp long daggers, having them cut the air as they produced a harrowing symphony on the stage.

"Hupp!"

'Neck Thrust!'

He activated his signature Skill, a strike directly to the nape of the opponent, an assassination Skill that greatly increased his damage if all conditions were met while also massively increasing his Dexterity and Movement Speed.

Few opponents even managed to react to it, the others that did barely avoided fatal damage.

But alas, he still had one loss.

/PIERCE!/

/Clang…/

"?!"

Against his expectation, Dale easily blocked his attack by raising his spear sideways, blocking the attack coming from his back without even looking sideways.

This caused Maroro to fully realize how dangerous his matched enemy was, so he pumped up his stage.

'Side Edge!'

Activating another Skill, Maroro seemingly blinked to the side, slashing at Dale's waist while at the same time, a shadowy copy of his strike manifested behind Dale's nape, striking at it as well!

He was being assaulted by two places at the same time!

"..."

Perhaps noticing things had become a bit more serious, Dale took a step forward for the first time, using his left hand to block the knife behind his neck with his spear while using his right one to hold onto his enemy's knife.

"What?!" Maroro said in extreme surprise as he saw his knife be held in place by two fingers

'He grabbed the Knife Mid-Skill? Was that even possible?! The strength behind that is enough to shatter Common Grade equipment!'

'And how did he stop an immaterial strike? This was my Ace dammit!'

/Punch!/

"?!"

Dale had seen enough, it was his time to counterattack.

He let go of the knife, causing Maroro to lose his footing, and the moment he did so, he punched his chest, sending him flying back to the edge of the Arena like a bullet!

/BAM!/

[You've dealt 765 damage to player Up#Maroro]

/Dispel…/

As Maroro slammed against the walls of the Arena, his area Skill deactivated on its own as he left its premises.

Dale on the other hand looked at Maroro's health percentage, it was cut in half now, and that wasn't surprising.

For a Dexterity-focused Assassin, being hit in the chest by one of Dale's punches, even if a pretty lackluster one was bound to cause significant damage.

And even the tankiest of warriors would likely have no more than three or four times Maroro's current health value, not counting their own Armor value of course.

"Cough… Cough!"

"Shit…"

'One punch took one over half my health? How high is his Physical Stat? Or was that a Skill?'

'If he's Level 30 too, then his Physical Stat is double that of mine just on itself, if he has better items, it could be even three or four times that.'

'He definitely consumed the Attribute potions of the tutorial so we can't count those in, I can see that in this regard, we're both Elite players.'

'This guy… He's much stronger than that last HardCore player I faced.'

Albeit the percentage of HardCore players was less than 5% as of right now, the very few that did manage to somehow climb through the early game now found themselves dominating on the PvP aspect of Babylon.

Because no matter who it is, they had double Stats compared to anyone at their base Level, and the only way for SdM players to catch up would be through special opportunities and items, things HcM players could acquire as well.

Not to say that HardCore players already dealt tons of damage naturally as they are, so even without the Status difference, they're already machines of mass destruction.

The only weaknesses of a HardCore player in a PvP scenario are their frailty, as any form of damage could prove fatal to them.

Together with their lack of ability, they only have themselves to rely upon while the others can make use of the Skill and Action Systems to move more proficiently during combat and other instances, a significant disadvantage to all that chose this mode.

Or maybe… It was a means of freedom to others, those whose individual abilities were so great that the standardized system was nothing but a weight holding them down.

With this Event forcing players to clash and explore new horizons, every Mode was starting to realize the Ups and Downs of their own choices and how to deal with them all.

/Spat…/

Spitting on the ground as he recovered his breath, he thought:

'Will I lose to a HardCore again?... Tche, how pathetic. Did I already lose my hope with only this?'

Standard players couldn't get hurt nor bleed unless under direct status abnormalities, so spitting like this was completely and utterly unnecessary on his part.

/Sheen…/

'I'll at least graze him once, as long as I can draw blood...' He thought with a thin smile as a fire burned in his eyes 

/PIERCE!/

"?!"

Before Maroro could react, Dale dashed forward, piercing the air with his spear.

/DODGE!/

/CRASH!/

[You've dealt 98 damage to player Up#Maroro]

He barely evaded the blow, being grazed in the shoulder as the spear crashed onto the wall, almost breaking it apart.

Yet, Dale did not follow up with the attack, something Maroro didn't seem to realize as he had just been spared.

Instead, he pulled his spear from the wall and pointed it at Maroro, asking:

"Do you only have those Skills to show?"

"... #!!"

'Did he just...'

It was true that Dale originally had the intention of provoking his enemy, but he didn't expect him to actually take the bait...

'... Bastard!' Maroro thought as he crossed his daggers in front of his chest

/Shine…/

'Maliforce Double Edge!' He thought strongly as he activated his Skill

His blades shone in greenish-dark light, casting a shadow onto the ground of two large fangs.

This was a Unique Skill he had received from a lengthy Level 40 Dungeon he and a group of players had done before over several in-game days. 

It dropped from the last Boss and just by looking at its description he knew it wasn't anything ordinary because it was one of the abilities the Boss used.

He kept it a secret for the most part, those players weren't close enough for him to share such things, and he didn't want to create conflicts over greediness and jealousy since he rather enjoyed their presence, a good party was hard to find…

But right now, he didn't care!

/Fwoosh!/

Maroro activated several Skills in tandem as he dashed ahead, pushing his Dexterity past his usual limits and tripling it as he prepared to deliver his final strike!

He could feel a rush of adrenaline as he ran faster than ever before, his daggers glistering in reply.

"HAAA! DIE!" He exclaimed as he jumped, slashing down with everything he had, creating the image of a wolf as it closed its jaw upon Dale

"..."

'He's just like Eleonora, why do they scream so damn loud?' He thought as he looked at his opponent plainly

To him, Maroro was moving at the speed of a snail, almost stopping in midair.

His Dexterity Stat could be said to be between 2.5 and 3 times Maroro's current boosted state, and that was without even considering his own Skills, of which he activated none.

His only reason to not have ended the fight was…

'Now, this is an interesting Skill.' He thought as he watched his knives shine

He traced back the energy to his arms, and then he tried to see what kind of circulation he was having within his body, trying to figure out what kind of principles were being used in combination to make this Skill a possibility.

And even if Dale wasn't a Martial Genius to figure that out on the fly, there was someone who could…

...

Eventually, when the blades were just a few Cm away from his forehead, Dale decided to move, piercing upwards with his spear.

Dale wondered if the knives would even damage him at all due to his armor's grade, but he didn't wish to test it out regardless.

It was time to end this man's dreams, he fought well… For someone that was only being experimented upon.

A Level 30 Assassin... Better luck next time.

/Thrust!/

/Pierce!/

"Ga-ha?!"

[You've dealt 4755 damage to player Up#Maroro]

"H-How did you..."

/Flash.../

[Ding]

[Player Up#Maroro has died]

/Din Din Din!/

[Champion of the Arena!]

With a rather lackluster expression under his leather helmet, Dale sighed as Maroro's body turned into white light.

[DING]

[Congratulations on your first Victory!]

[1 Victory Streak!]

[Solo 1v1 -> 1/0/0]

[Calculating Ranking...]

[Continue fighting to receive a Rank!]

"Hm... I thought I would receive a Rank with one fight but... Yeah, I guess one fight's not enough."

'I learned quite a bit with this, I'm satisfied. This could be treated as my very first "serious" PvP encounter.'

'I liked it, and I'm excited for what's next, even if my first opponent was more of a stepping stone...'

[Ding!]

[Rewards have been processed]

[You've been awarded 9,831 Favor for defeating player, Up#Maroro]

[You bet on your own Victory, being awarded 20,000 Favor]

[Due to your Special Packages, all Favor and Recognition rewards times 3]

[You've been awarded 60,000 Favor (Final Value)]

"Oh? Those are not bad." Dale thought silently

'The first reward was actually just his rank and I got twice what I bet... Not bad either way.'

'I imagine that once I get on the higher rankings I'll rake in hundreds of thousands every match, but for now, only a few ten thousand will do.'

'Even though we're in the top 0.1% of players, it would be too much to give them loads and loads of Favor when each match takes five minutes at most to end.'[1]

'For people who are constantly betting on themselves or doing other kinds of challenges, they would be able to farm a ton of Favor...'

'Though that can be said for any activity, if you know what you're doing and you are consistent, you can make a bucket load of anything in any amount of time.'

'That is why there are PvP and PvE players...'

/Flash.../

Crossing his arms as he nodded to himself, Dale was teleported out of the Arena, preparing for his next match!

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Notes

[1] There should be around 10 Million players on Babylon, so 10 thousand is around 0.1%