Chương 34: Awakener's League (2)

On the screen, it showed someone swiftly killing a kobold in a single swing.

"Is it censored?" I asked, noticing how it didn't show any guts or blood being shown.

"Yep," Mouse replied, "Since it takes place in virtual reality, they removed all the gorey bits that'd usually be shown so that all ages could watch."

"Mm…I'm not sure I'd like my child to see someone dissecting monsters even if censored."

"Fair, I'm the same." Mouse nodded, "That's why they usually swap scenes whenever something like that happens." The video continued and it showed the gatherer bringing back materials for their production-class to use. The Gators brought a blacksmith while the Red Hearts brought an enchanter.

"Production-classes can either use the materials the team brought or sell them to purchase more suited materials." Mouse explained as the enchanter sold stuff to what looked like a pop-up shop.

"I see…" I nodded, but then got lost in thought. Aren't alchemists just super OP then? I could probably create some kind of bomb in less than an hour with proper materials. If not a bomb, then deadly poison. As if seeing my thought process, Mouse continued,"Materials that are able to be purchased are based on the map there on and are randomized each round."

"Ah, that makes sense." The enchanter purchased hide, fangs, and some kind of beast's heart. I watched with intrigue as he lay his iron sword on the ground and positioned materials around it in a circle. He placed one hand on the blade and the other on the hide. Suddenly, both the blade and hide started to glow as the man closed his eyes.

"Is that how enchanters work?" I asked curiously. It seemed so different than how I thought they'd do it.

"I think so?" Mouse replied with a tilted head, "That's how they do it in the league. I've never seen an enchanter work in person though."

"Mm…" I nodded, continuing to watch. Unfortunately, the scene soon switched back to the combat personal exploring.

"We don't get to see him work?" I asked.

"It takes a while to enchant." Mouse explained, "It'd just be showing him with his eyes closed and the objects glowing."

"Can he enchant all of his teammates equipment in time then?"

"Yes. Right now he's just testing enchantments. Later in the match, he'll purchase an enchanting table that helps him enchant faster. He's figuring out combinations based on the materials he has available, once he has a good combination in mind, he'll create templates that makes enchanting even faster."

"Mm…" I nodded. It's similar to recipes for potions then. If I had proper equipment and more experience I could make a single mana potion in less than twenty minutes. These guys probably have immense control over their mana and maybe even some mana manipulation skills. I don't doubt that there's a skill that cuts down the length it takes to create stuff. It'd make sense if every production-class in the league had a skill like that. Haah… I internally sighed. When am I going to get more skills?

The answer to that was probably tomorrow. I was only two gold tokens away from getting a skill, if I get two tokens like usual after clearing the fifth floor, I'll have myself a gold skill! Hehe… Just thinking about it gets me excited. Honestly, even if I got bronze skill tokens, I'd still roll for a new skill. I mean, I have 8 gold tokens, if 2 bronze tokens added to that gets me a bronze skill, then, that's just my luck. Of course, I may end up drinking a dynokali potion if that happens, but it won't!

So there's no problem! This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. While I was in thought, the people on screen seem to have found something—A monster. It was huge—bigger than any monster I've ever seen before. It dwarfed the people by over ten times. It had a crab-like face with giant claws made of rock that doubled the size of a person. Six crab legs spread out from its sides like a spider.

A humongous rock comparable to a small hill was carried on its back. Whether it was apart of its body or just a shell, I didn't know. I looked at the creature with wide eyes and a open mouth. Is that… a monster from the 26th floor…? I thought in disbelief.

"Haha," Mouse laughed and I heard the sound of a photo being taken. Looking over, Mouse was pointing her phone at me, she snapped a few more photos before explaining, "That's a unique monster. I believe it's from a gate with a similar environment to the 26th floor."

"A unique monster…" I mumbled, staring at the monster. I doubted that even ten dynokali potions would work on that thing. A caption showed the creature's name: Shellious Crab (A Rank)"That's an A-rank monster?" I asked, looking at Mouse.

"Not a standard one. I think it's a boss monster from an A-rank gate." Mouse explained.

"Mm…" I nodded, refocusing on the screen. The battle had started. The tank, holding a shield, charged forth and stood directly in front of the beast. With a shout, a caption showed that he activated a skill, [Taunting Roar]. The monster's eyes snapped onto the man. In the blink of an eye, the claws of the beast swung like a bullet train moving at max speed. The tank, reacting in time, raised his shield and didn't budge as claw and shield connected. Behind him, his team had started to move.

The first to attack was a support—the most religious-looking person there. Clad in a gown that covered her entire body, she wielded a iron staff with a circular top. The top of her staff glowed as she chanted. [Rocks Will Crumble] A small caption explained what the skill does. Rocks Will Crumble Lowers the hardness/toughness of those hit by the skill by 25% and makes the target more malleable. It wasn't the exact description, but an abbreviated one that shares the bare basics so anyone can understand.

The target wasn't the giant rock on the monster's back, but its claws. Following the debuff, she chanted another skill, [Strongman's Power] Strongman's Power Increases the strength of the target by 25%. This time, the target was one of her teammates, a gruff-looking man wielding a battle hammer. The man charged forth and as he approached the claw that was held in place by the tank, he activated his own skill, [Giant's Strength] Giant's Strength Increases own strength by 50%.

He lifted his hammer high and swung down with the force of. 50 cal sniper. In an instant, cracks appeared all over the claw's surface before it completely shattered. Shell fell to the ground and the monster screeched, slashing for the assailant with its other claw. But, the tank quickly reacted, blocking and keeping the second claw in place just like the first. Again, the support and hammer combo struck, shattering the second claw. Stumbling back, the monster glared at the humans with hatred.

The support used her debuff again, this time on the creature's head. The hammer-wielding man charged forward, and struck the forehead of the beast. But, it didn't die. The crab stumbled even further back and tried to bite the man, but the tank stepped forward, preventing even that. The two men kept attacking and blocking for several moments. While this was happening, the mage in the background had been casting her skill the whole time. At her call, both the tank and hammer-wielder retreated.

[Ashes to Ashes] Ashes to Ashes Huge fire spell that deals a lot of damage in an AOE. The caption barely had any info on the skill, but combined with what was shown, it was more than enough. A giant circle beneath the crab lit up and spun. Sparks of fire appeared on the outer edge of the circle, rotating rampantly. After a moment, the sparks turned to flames and each flame drew a thin line of fire to connect to one another. Once every flame connected, the fire started to spin. Orange light lit up beneath the crab.

The tank stood in front of the mage and every member of the party stood behind the mage. [Guardian's Barrier] Guardian's Barrier Creates a wide protective barrier around the user's shield. A translucent blue formed a half-circle around the group. The fire spun even faster as the monster stumbled. It was disorientated, attacks to the brain had made it start seeing double. When the monster finally locked onto the group, it started to move. But, just as it went to take a step… BOOM! A pillar of fire spewed up.

Flames reminiscent that of hellfire reached for the ciling of the cave, even surpassing the giant height of the crab's shell. A true column of fire. Nothing but flames could be seen on the screen. After ten seconds, the flames started to reside and all that was left was a dead crab with charred skin.

"Wow…" I instinctively mumbled, staring at the sight. Dozens of emotion ran through my mind: Excitement, hype, awe, and disbelief being a few of them. Seeing an experienced awakener at work was simply breathtaking. They smoothly and easily dispatched an A rank monster, something I had no idea how to fight when I saw it. Their use of skills were efficient and you could see their dedication and effort in full glory. Especially that mage's skill: [Ashes to Ashes]. That column of fire was simply stunning.

I thought my dynokali potions were impressive, but seeing that has me second-guessing. One day, could I make potions that spectacular? No, I must. I will. I'll brew a potion that causes an even bigger explosion.

"Haha, are you entertained?" Mouse said, cutting off my thoughts. I looked at her with a smile,"Mhm!" I nodded, "That was so cool! They worked together so well and it was fascinating seeing other skills, especially that [Ashes to Ashes] one! That firepower was so epic! I totally get why people watch this now."

"Right?" Mouse nodded excitedly, "You need to see more! The way players use their skills and synergize with each other is absolutely insane! This is just the beginning, when they start fighting each other and skills are flying everywhere, it's true chaos and the embodiment of battle!"

"Who's the strongest player?" I asked.

"…"

"…"

"Hm…Don't ask my Dad that." She replied before laughing.

"Oh? Will he go on a tangent?"

"Even more than when I talk about movies." My eyes widened at that statement. I have to ask her Dad that later.

"So? Is it Anonymous? That rank 1 swordsman?" After every floor clear of mine, there's been a single person who has ranked first on the leaderboard, Anonymous. Is he also the rank 1 in the league? Or is he just a PVE person?

"Ah, that guy? He's not in the league." Mouse replied with a shake of the head, "Most of the awakeners on the tower leaderboard focus on the tower rather than the league. They'd have to learn an entirely different skill set since the league focuses on PVP. Of course, there's a few rankers in the league but none are as prominent as the rank 1."

"Mm." I nodded in understanding, "Makes sense." I wasn't too interested in playing in the league myself. Maybe an exhibition match? But otherwise, why would I bother? I can just stay home and make potions instead. Well, I'm not considered a ranker yet. To be a ranker you have to place on the ranker's leaderboard, which the tower dictates by some metric. I'm not too certain on the criteria, but I know that anonymous fellow is rank 1 on it.

"Then what about the rank 1 in the league?" I asked.

"It changes every season," Mouse replied, "Right now, it's some English guy named Oliver Mint, a swashbuckler class."

"Oh? Is that some sort of swordsman offshoot?"

"I think so? It's definitely some sort of evolved swordsman class."

"Mm, interesting." With that said, I turned my attention back to the TV and continued to watch the match with Mouse.