"..."

    Staring at his opponent lying on the ground, a hint of guilt and worry briefly appeared on Valyr''s face, wondering if the skill he used just now might have dealt too much damage to the man.

    "Urgh..." Fortunately, the man only fell unconscious for a couple of seconds, immediately jolting himself awake the moment he could.

    "Nngh..." Feeling immense pain radiate all over his body, the man took a while to stand up, only to then look at Valyr as he gave him a slightly bitter smile.

    "Guess I lost, huh?"

    In response, Valyr gave the man a bitter smile of his own as he faintly nodded. "I didn''t hurt you too badly, right?"

    "Even if you did, you were well in your right to do that," responded the man, taking in a deep breath as a faint green glow started to envelop his body.

    Watching the injuries and bruises on the man''s skin disappear from his very eyes, it was only then did Valyr finally have a look of relief on his face.

    Seeing that Valyr''s opponent had gotten up from the ground, the arbiter went ahead and asked the man if he wanted to continue the fight.

    The man shook his head in response, prompting the arbiter to finally announce the verdict.

    "...827 has admitted defeat. 1,139 moves onto the second round!"

    Getting a few cheers from the crowd after the arbiter''s announcement, Valyr continued to look at the man for a bit longer with worry, deciding to help the man get back to shape with a few heals of his own.

    Because of that, the fight between the two ended on a positive note, with the man wishing Valyr the best of luck in his ascent through the tournament.

    "With a skill like that up your sleeve, I think I could confidently brag about the fact that I lost to the future champion of the tournament."

    "We''ll see," said Valyr as he softly chuckled in response, only to then head back to the waiting area after that.

    ''Oh? There''s a separate area?'' Though, just as he was about to get back to the spot he was previously waiting at, a kind person near the entrance told him that those who won their first round were waiting at a different area.

    After asking the kind person directions as to where that new area was, Valyr went ahead and thanked them before heading there, only to be left at a slight loss for words the moment he got there.

    ''Quite luxurious.''

    Surprisingly, the waiting area allocated to the victors had multiple trays of food and snacks to choose from, as well as some refreshments and elixirs to replenish the stamina and energy lost during the battle.

    Briefly glancing back at the people who looked back at him with an assessing gaze, Valyr grabbed a couple of elixirs from the trays before finding a slightly quiet spot he could watch the tournament from. Explore stories at My Virtual Library Empire

    Watching some of the battles happening from his spot as he took the opportunity to rest, Valyr eventually decided to go through his recent fight in his mind, his thoughts mostly focused on the skill he used.

    ''To think [Arcane Authority] would be that effective,'' thought the young man to himself.

    ''The passive aspect of the skill alone already makes ascending to the next rank worthwhile, but to think that the active aspect actually does that much in an actual battle...''

    Feeling a hint of excitement at the thought of using the skill again in his next battle, Valyr decided to bring up its description in front of him as a bit of a refresher to the skill''s capabilities.

    Ding!

    Briefly thinking about how it took him a few hours in order to barely adjust to the higher stats [Arcane Authority] gave him, the young man went ahead and brought up his status screen, wanting to refresh his knowledge of it as well.

    Ding!

    ————

    [Ataraxia] (Level 40)

    Class: Emissary of the Arcane (Mythic — Growth)

    Species: Mystic Human | Junior Defier of Fate (2nd Unsealing)

    Power Level: 23,238 (A+)

    Unused XP: 5,452,167

    ————

    HP: 23,837/23,837

    MP: 33,120/33,120

    Attack: 5,813 - 5,813

    Defense: 4,826 - 5,246

    Stats: 776 VIT, 458 STR, 556 AGI, 452 DEX, 1010 INT, 956 WIS, 515 PER, 365 LUK

    Hidden Stats: 2 Mystic, 23 Vigor, ...and 7 others.

    Remarks: Not only are you a beta tester, but you''re also a cheater. You''re... a beater. Yeah, you''re a beater.

    Seriously, how the fuck did you even get your stats that high?

    ————

    Letting out a faint chuckle in response to the remarks the system gave to his stats, the young man briefly thought about what other things he''d done before his ascension to get his current stats.

    ''Well, I used [Soul Shift] to reforge my Novice Arcane Armor into Arcane Duelist Armor,'' thought Valyr to himself.

    ''After upgrading my magic staff to the peak of Rank 2, I then did a couple of forging quotas for Julian so he could stop pestering me about it.''

    ''Then, after that I sent a message to Mystia asking more about the Myriad Prodigies Tournament.'' The young man began to rub his chin at the thought.

    ''If I remember correctly, I also dropped a couple of hints to her that the player I''ve been keeping my eye on was going to participate in the Nine Prodigies of Astella tournament.''

    ''I wonder if she did anything about that?''

    With the question mostly left unanswered, Valyr eventually returned his attention back to the main portion of the coliseum as he watched more battles unfold.

    In the end, it took a bit over two hours for the first round to end, giving the young man more than enough time to bring [First Sky] back out of cooldown.