Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 258 - 257 - Round 2 Results

The audience saw each battle as desired.  It was a bit chaotic with 250 battles happening at once, but one in particular drew all eyes.  Lind Frey versus Silvt Carn was a highly anticipated battle on both sides.

Many from the Cerulean Hold thought it was no contest as Lind Frey was known mostly as a scholar.  His results in the former Kingdom of Altair was mostly attributed to his connections due to his sharing of revelations about elements, elixirs, and even his Forging.

Few would doubt such a conclusion as connections were just as powerful as personal strength.  Thus the fight for some was a foregone conclusion.

The Violet and Crimson Hold seats almost looked in pity at Silvt.  The man had no idea of the monster he was facing.  The only concern on their side was the short turnaround from the 1st round to the 2nd.

However, all were in the same boat as far as that went.  The rest was up to luck.

The masterful control Lind displayed shocked all at that time since there was no sign of special circumstances.  While other cultivators could replicate such control, they doubt they could be as fast as he was.

What truly shocked them, however, was how Lind could withstand the powerful sandstorm.  A World Realm's flesh was more resilient than a Soul Realm by a large magnitude, they were still flesh and blood.  A fierce storm could kill them given an opportunity.

Lind did not seem bothered at all while Silvt could not follow.  The sudden appearance of hail nearly spread to other battlefields but the realm spirit contained the effects within theirs.  The sudden change and reversal of expectation left all floored when both legs broke nearly in half on Sivlt.

The final mercy of Lind Frey defused a great deal of anger but when Sivlt appeared healed in his stands, there were many that roared for him to seek revenge after the tournament.  The slim man, himself, seemed conflicted.

Lind's wives noted the faces and powers encouraging vengeance for the future and they had to restrain Ethry as she seemed to understand they were threatening Lind.  The little dragon was only a Soul Realm but her physical strength was nearly on par with a World Realm from what they could tell.

The battles continued and some noticed that Athena, who had lost to Lind, excelled on her own to an easy win before Lind's battle even ended.  Others had much better individual results as well which more closely aligned with how cultivators viewed strength.

Being able to lead a group to victory was not a bad thing at all, but it was difficult to usually understand how much an individual contributed as at times the group effort was the only way victory was won.

Lind's battle was a bit easier as all confirmed he Forged that small city on his own without consultation or support.  Only after he demonstrated such power and the new battle conditions did people start listening to him.

The result had been evident in the results.

Now, they saw that Lind had personal strength as well but he had yet to draw a weapon.  While he may rely on a strong body, he had not demonstrated any Arts to that effect nor used his elements from what people could tell.

Still, his reflexes and responses revealed decent training.

"Round 2 has concluded.  Results are pending."  The realm spirit's voice boomed out and the dias began to change once more.  The once 250 divisions were reduced to 125.  It was clear the 3rd round would be similar to the second but there were no environments generated this time.

The golden stone tiles were revealed without a scratch on them despite the powerful manipulations of the environments all had done.  Lind's battle especially was strong but there was no sign of the slightest disturbance on any of the tiles.

Despite the new arenas being ready, there was no announcement to begin.  What was taking so long?  No one knew the full functions of the realm spirit but the round had been odd in that the environment had to be manipulated to win.

Finally, a new list was displayed for all to see.

Lind stood up and stretched as more than a day passed during the 2nd round so he had fully recovered to his peak and dispersed any side effects of over consumption of elixirs.  Like pills, too much reliance on elixirs could start to have an effect on the quality of Qi as well as the ability of a cultivator to progress.

It was why those that chose to advance quickly by use of pills were frowned upon.  While one could reach great heights relying on pills, the foundation would be shallow and very weak.  Elixirs were a lot better, but the same danger remained.

Lind had noticed it long ago but found normal cultivation sessions resolved any lingering issues from a rash of heavy consumption of recovery or restoration elixirs.  As far as what Little Fey went through, it seemed if there was severe enough damage and the elixir could barely fix it, no such issues occurred but no cultivator would put their path at such dire risk that it needed such an elixir.

"Round 2 results compiled.  Please find your next battlefield."  The realm spirit spoke but unlike last time, it was not a simple ranking which confused many, but the top name drew all eyes.

[Lind Frey - 90%]

What did it mean 90%?  Lind, himself was confused so he thought back to the battle.  He had summoned the storm and charged the ground when Sivlt spoke up to draw lightning.  He then changed the conditions of the environment to allow the hail storm.

Silvt seemed to manipulate the air and the sand to hide and attack.  Simple, but effective manipulation.  Lind wished his name was listed for a comparison but he looked around to see no one quite grasped what the percentages meant.

"Are we allowed context for these results?"  Lind asked the question and all looked at him as if he was an idiot but were then stunned when the voice returned.

"Acceptable request received.  Revising list."  The display vanished and all were shocked!  The realm spirit responded to a request when no one in the history of the tournament had ever gotten it to work.  Why did it listen to Lind Frey?!

The panel returned and now there was new shock as the results made a disturbing amount of sense.

[Lind Frey - 50% Control; 40% Mastery:  Composite result is 90%]

Lind now understood.  He had controlled the storm but rather than master the environment given, he changed the conditions.  Still, it showed considerable skill to manipulate a desert into a hail storm.  It also could simply be 50% was the best score he could get in both categories.

He glanced at others and saw some were broken into a third category.

[Athena Milliard - 30% Control; 20% Mastery; 10% Adaptation:  Composite result is 60%]

Athena clearly had a difficult battle but no one cleared the 50% threshold in any category.  Some had higher adaptation percentages but the vast majority had the bulk of their score from control.

"It wanted to know how well we truly understood our realm."  Lind mumbled but his words carried in the silence of people looking at the results.  Many nodded as clarity reached them that the 2nd round was about displaying the mastery of their realm.

The 1st round was about cooperation and applying results in a receptive environment, but the 2nd round was about individual control.  The tournament seemed to be testing their capabilities as much as letting them show off their combat prowess.

The audience above heard Lind's words and saw that the man they believed only to be a scholar perhaps had  a deeper grasp of the World Realm than anyone before him!  The realm spirit was the one who created the rules but no one really knew how it decided them.

The theme of the current tournament seemed to focus on ingenuity and mastery of their realm.  It made the next round a true curiosity.

"Round 2 results completed and displayed.  Please move to your next battleground."  Lind saw more information added and headed to the portal for #83.  He was almost curious about how the battlegrounds were assigned yet felt he would not get an answer.

Once he arrived at the larger arena, he noticed there was no one across from him.  He also did not feel any restrictions on his fonts but every instinct in his body screamed not to move.

The much larger space was not just about the reduced number of contenders, was it?

"Round 3 will begin shortly.  Please look above your current arena."  Lind looked up and saw a floating display of what looked a great deal like a maze.  It looked like there were 2 entrances and a center area that was larger than the corridors of the maze.  Lind looked around but did not see any such maze around him.

What was going on?

"Talents are not restricted nor is any previous restriction in place.  The maze shown is unique to each of the 125 arenas.  There will be no battle, it is a race to reach the center before your opponent."  Lind snapped back up and looked at the entrances.

He did not bother trying to memorize the path as he could not determine which entrance he was, but both had a common starting issue.  The wall should be directly in front of him.  Still, he did not attempt to move as instincts were still screaming at him not to move.

"Three have failed and forfeited their place on the quarter - finals slot"  Lind felt sweat breakout as he could suspect what exactly happened.  Moving before told to move meant failure to comply with the rules.

"Once the maze is set up, you may begin."  Lind expected a rumbling or perhaps something dropping from above but his Eyes began to burn as Qi condensed massively in front of him.  He restricted his talent and was shocked by what he saw in front of him.

It was not a simple stone maze at all, but one of Qi.  Specifically it was a fire corridor ahead of him.  The heat was intolerable but infusing his body with water helped cool it off.  Still, he would need to do more and he finally grasped the point of the round.

"We have to show how well we can overcome Qi conflict."  Lind was facing a pure fire corridor but likely would find more elements and even combinations as he approached the center.

The feeling of danger passed and Lind began to plan how to proceed.  He did not know how the maze was chosen, but he had to assume it was related to his fonts.  Sighing, he began to form earth and darkness tiles on his feet while air and water began to flow around him.

Because of the fire, he already felt his Qi draining at a frightening pace but he swallowed his saliva and began the race to the center.