CHAPTER 168: FIRST COMBAT OF THE LEVELED LEAGUES

Although the players were introduced days in advance, guilds were allowed to introduce players with nicknames or names different from their real ones. This is usually done to distract the enemy or to bluff, but only if the nicknames are not the names of real people.

This is permitted as long as the players meet the age requirement for registration.

Therefore, when the presenter mentioned the "Thoran Twins" in the ranks of Angelic Wave, many were shocked.

They remembered the news that had spread days earlier, saying that the Thoran Twins had gone to Angelic Wave. They initially thought it was a tactic by allied guilds to mislead rival guilds, but it was true.

Although many already knew this and didn’t suspect anything, they still brought out their banners in support of both guilds, as they were fans of the twins.

The thing is, some guilds thought the same way as those who had doubts. They believed it was a ploy to throw people off the scent.

It’s not uncommon; it’s often done, so it wouldn’t be surprising if those two guilds did it, considering they are close sometimes.

After all, who would think that The Cats would hand over their two most important Awakened for this tournament? Were they aiming not to win? What the hell were they trying to do?

Confused, they could only watch as the members of Angelic Wave made their way through the cheering crowds.

Somehow, the names that resonated the most were Elliot, Jenna, and the Twins, but Andrew seemed to have a good number of fans.

His muscular build and height led many to make drawings referring to that, some even asking him to marry them on those big banners.

The least known were Chris and Rich.

Among powerful figures and members of the younger generation, all the guilds finally made their way to the presentation stage, where singers and important people performed various acts for several hours.

Awakened’s fought in front of them, and much more.

Honestly, the most exciting part of this ceremony was the entrance of the guilds. Otherwise, it was just fun for the common people and, occasionally, to allow them to take pictures with their idols.

Thus, the hours quickly passed between celebrations and an 8-hour ceremony.

It was at the end that the moment the guilds had been waiting for arrived. After an exhausting day, they would finally announce tomorrow’s opening battles, revealing how they would unfold over the next two weeks.

Several men took to the podium to choose, from among balls, the teams that would face each other over the next two weeks.

Elliot didn’t care about the other teams; he paid special attention to the matchups they would face and their order.

The first ball told them that tomorrow they would have their opening match against Broken Leaf, an acquaintance.

They weren’t worried about that one, but the second ball already had them facing the House of Fire. While the third ball brought Personifications. Aquatic Longing in the fourth.

That left the Elemental Academy as the one to close out the week.

’Start with the weakest and end with the strongest, huh?’ Elliot smiled. That arrangement wasn’t bad.

In any case, they were sure they would win.

That would also be the order for the second week.

Elliot didn’t care about the rest. There was too much to do to worry about the order of their rivals’ matches. Anyway, someone would tell him when the time came.

That lasted for an hour, until it ended in the evening.

Everyone returned to their hotels to prepare, as the tournament would begin the next day.

Following the game schedule, those who would have their first games in other cities had to fly to those cities again. The ceremony was a nuisance for the guilds precisely because of this.

It would exhaust their players and could put them at a disadvantage in certain aspects. For this reason, during these trips, meals from the cities they visit are not allowed, as they could make them sick for X or Y reason.

But they could not do anything. These were the rules of the System, and they had to abide by them.

-

The night ended quickly.

The next morning, two battles were taking place simultaneously on the Mountain of a Thousand Battles.

The first was Angelic Wave against Broken Leaf.

The second was the Elemental Academy against Personifications.

Both attracted a lot of attention, as each guild had its own well-established fighting styles in a group of five.

In particular, Angelic Wave and Personification.

-

Broken Leaf, on the other hand, had a somewhat complex situation.

When they were in the ring, they had four swordsmen and one soul mage.

It was difficult to know their strategies, but they must have been planning something.

They looked at the members of Angelic Wave, and some of them mocked them.

"Without the Thoran Twins? It seems Angelic Wave really underestimates us," said one of them, a foreigner.

"Not only that," he added. "It seems they’ve run out of powerful people to send us this bunch of kids. But that’s okay."

Gripping his sword, he set it ablaze. Part of his body also burst into flames.

Behind him was a swordsman who made dry branches sprout from his sword and another who made strange flowers bloom on a concrete floor.

"We will eliminate them and prove our superiority."

The Angelic Wave team consisted of Elliot, Jenna, Andrew, Chris, and Rich.

Every one of them was young.

Chris and Rich were almost 19, but not quite yet.

Elliot had just turned 18, and Andrew was also 18.

On the other hand, Jenna was the youngest in the group, at just 16.

Their ages were the youngest among all the competitors, so many people doubted whether they could win.

Five people in their twenties were facing them, so it was difficult to compete with them just based on age. Plus, they were very talented.

Three were in the Master Rank, and the other two were very close.

Even so, Elliot smiled and looked at his group.

"There are three Magic Swordsmen who can perform specific functions. The other one is just pure strength. And a soul mage. Should I summon them?"

Andrew shook his head as he pulled out his hammer. "It’s not necessary. We can finish them off without using your summons."

"Hahaha, Brother Andrew is right," said Jenna, pulling out her sword as well. "We’ll be enough on our own. And it will be easy." Declared.

Chris and Rich sighed. "Hey, guys, have you forgotten we’re here?"

"I haven’t reached Master Rank yet..." said Rich, complaining, and Chris had only just reached it by sheer luck.

If it weren’t for the fact that they had invested heavily in him and he had spent his savings on intensive training, he would still be at the Awakened Rank.

He barely managed to advance.

How could he expect them to face such an experienced team?

Elliot smiled at them. "In terms of power, we have four above Master Rank; they only have three. So, I don’t think we have much to worry about, right?"

"Sigh... not you guys, but me..." Rich complained, but he also pulled out his two daggers. "Well, anyway, I want to hit someone, too, since no one listens to me. When does this start?"

Just above their heads, when everyone had drawn their weapons, a counter started counting down from 10.

The number reached 1, and the swordsmen on the other side charged toward them with ferocity.

The swordsman who controlled the dry branches moved forward, acting as a tank.

Meanwhile, the fire swordsman lunged at Jenna, the only one he wanted to fight.

A swordsman stayed slightly behind and drew his sword in front of his eyes.

"Stunning Flowers!" He swung his sword, and five powerful flowers emerged from that swing, flying quickly toward his opponents.

At the same time, the magical flower swordsman went to meet Andrew, wanting to strike him with a flower at the tip of his weapon.

"Illusion Flower!"

The impact hit him on the shoulder, as this guy was quite fast, causing Andrew to fall into a strange state of passivity quickly.

Elliot, who had come out to face the two swordsmen who had lined up to act as tanks, jumped back.

"Andrew!" He shouted, realizing that he had fallen victim to an illusion.

Suddenly, the hammer swung from side to side, striking the swordsman once and then hitting the ground.

BOM*

An explosion of pure force magic occurred, as Andrew smiled coldly and lunged at his opponent.

"Bad choice of opponent, little illusionist!" he roared, striking his opponent’s face firmly with his third hammer blow.

The swordsman flew backwards from the force of the impact and hit the wall outside the combat arena.

He wasn’t out of the fight yet, as those rules didn’t apply, but he was utterly stunned. He didn’t even notice when Andrew approached him and finished him off by sinking the hammer into his chest four times in a row, knocking him unconscious.