Chương 465: Chapter 463: Flash of Lightning

Julius found himself quite entertained by all of the fighting. He was completely engrossed as he watched the hundred competitors slaughter the monsters.

"That girl is not so bad," Freya commented as they watched Christina finally cross the seventy-point threshold. Since they were technically his "guardians", they were allowed in the family area to observe the fights. Julius had been expecting to see Derek's family here as well, but apparently, they had their very own VIP seating since they were such a prominent house. They had been offered a place as well, but he wanted to see what it was like from here first.

Perhaps, he would take their offer tomorrow after his own group match begins. His group match was the second of the day, and so he would have plenty of time to relax and watch the rest of the matches with them if he wanted to.

"That little lightning field is quite a good skill. If she nurtures it properly, it can become a powerful part of her domain. She shouldn't have any issues with going on to the next stage," Cain added. Julius nodded. He had thought of the same thing when he had seen it for the first time. Christina wasn't the fastest person to earn a hundred points, but she was almost certainly going to. A lot of the people around her had barely earned fifty points.

It was surprising to see how many of the other fighters focused on the monsters that rewarded more points. The normal monsters were left alone for the most part, which helped Christina earn so many points without much interference. The only time someone had stolen her kill was when she had gone after a monster worth five points. She hadn't gone after another one since. Only a small number of extremely talented people had completed the task and were already leaving the field.

The first person to earn a hundred points came from a young man Julius didn't recognize. They had only targeted the monsters worth ten points and had done so with incredible speed. The man had hunted down the lizard monsters with brutal efficiency. Using only a sword to do so. A single sword swing was all it took to remove the monsters' heads. Calm, clean, and precise. That was how Julius would comment on the style of this swordsman. They were very strong.

Julius wanted to ask the others who this guy was, but they were with Derek in his family's private seating area. To be fair, it wasn't like Derek could go off on his own; he had his own responsibilities, and the others decided to keep him company. Though in Julius's opinion, they likely had been lured in by the food that was provided. Julius shook his head in disappointment. Imagine being a slave to food, I would never let myself fall that far, he said to himself while popping in another handful of popcorn.

The young swordsman hadn't bothered with the boss monster, most likely understanding that its massive vitality and endurance would make beating it a tiresome ordeal. Not to mention, it wasn't guaranteed that someone else wouldn't take the final kill. Julius shook his head as louder explosions rocked the field, and the other competitors slammed the creature with attacks of all varieties. They were powerful attacks, but against the toughness of the boss monster, it looked like it was futile.

It was surprising to see so many people still focusing on the large creature. It seemed like a waste of time and almost felt like people were doing it to prove a point. To show how strong they were. Despite their questionable strategies, Julius was a little shocked at how powerful these Tier 3s were. Each one of them was strong and an elite. Various and powerful Concepts backed their attacks. He suspected that almost every single one of them had an Emblem to call their own.

Which also meant they likely had at least three Concepts. These were the Empire's blooming talents, and he would be going up against them. He couldn't lie, he was feeling a little bit excited at the prospect of that.

A couple of hours later, he was still sitting down next to Cain and Freya. However, he was much more interested in the upcoming fight. It was because Derek would be participating in this group. As luck would have it, Edgar would also be fighting at the same time. He was just about to tuck in and watch when he was suddenly approached by two people he hadn't been expecting to see. Honestly, he had sort of forgotten that they were competing as well. It was also a little surprising to see them here together.

"I was wondering if I would see you here," Irene Graves commented as she walked up to Julius.

"More like hoping you would see him," Liam Abrams said haughtily from beside her, earning him a not-too-gentle nudge on the shoulder. Julius smiled when he saw them.

"It's good to see you guys again." Liam's haughty look transformed into a grin when he met Julius's eyes.

"How are you feeling? Nervous? Excited?" Julius was always a bit surprised at how different Liam had become after he had been beaten in the top sixteen match. Julius would have thought it would make Liam dislike him even more, but on the contrary, the other boy became quite pleasant toward Julius.

"A little bit of both," Julius answered with a shrug.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought your families would have a special place to watch the matches from." Irene nodded.

"We do, but we also are in the next group, so we came down so we are closer and can get ready once it ends. When do you fight? I want to make sure I don't miss it," she said with a glint in her eyes.

"I am in the second group tomorrow," he responded to her.

"Have you gotten stronger?" Liam suddenly asked, quite bluntly, too. Julius chuckled.

"I guess you will have to see for yourself," he said with a challenging smirk. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Liam laughed.

"Hopefully, we come across one another in the second or third stage."

"You're that confident that you'll make it there?" Irene teased Liam. Liam scoffed in an arrogant way that reminded Julius of the Liam he had met initially.

"The people from Goldencrest should be able to make it past this stage. Those who don't are the ones who got in through luck."

"It sounds like you are still upset that you only made it to the top sixteen," Irene prodded him with another smirk. Liam rolled his eyes.

"Don't even start. You lost to the same guy, remember?"

"Yes, but I still finished higher, remember?" Julius hid the grin that tried to force its way to his face. It seems that these two had grown quite close over the past several months. He wondered if something had happened between them that caused it. He noticed that they had been standing quite close to each other this entire time. He wanted to ask, but he heard the start of the battle below them and shifted his attention, as did the two of them.

They didn't even ask for permission and sat down next to Julius without another word.

Derek POV He let out a calming breath as he allowed the erratic power of his lightning to course through his veins. These past few months have been enlightening for him. His entire perception had changed, and he had finally found some motivation he had been lacking for the past few years. He looked up at where his family would be watching from. It was obscured, but he knew they would be watching and also criticizing his every move. Then he glanced at the other section, where he knew Julius was watching from.

It took him some time, and he had to channel some mana into his eyes to sharpen his vision, but he finally spotted Julius. He gave a short nod to his friend, who had saved his life months ago and had finally given him the push he needed to surpass his previous self. Then he brought his attention back to the field. He closed his eyes as he let his rampaging lightning slowly build in power and pulled out his spear.

He let the lightning flow down his arm and into his weapon, turning the spear into a brilliant blue streak of surging light. He knew that people would be watching him very closely, but he didn't particularly mind. That has been the case for his entire life. He kept his eyes closed, and only when he heard the countdown did he finally open them. The familiar crackling of lightning popped and crackled the air around him, making the competitors near him back away with unease.

When the horn finally went off, he was already gone in a flash of lightning. He ripped through the air like a lightning bolt and appeared right in front of a large monster. These creatures were a tall, humanoid species with skin made of craggly rocks, likely a very defensive-oriented monster. That didn't matter to Derek. He thrusted his spear with all the momentum of his charge and the empowered body he could gather.

The creature's natural defenses were quite tough and resisted his attack slightly, but not for long. He grunted as he forced his lightning-shrouded spear to shatter the underjaw of the monster like it was made of glass. His spearhead lodged itself into its head. The monster reacted instantly, and while it had his spear stuck in its head, it still tried to swipe at him with its massive hands.

However, before it could slam into his back, he let loose a burst of lightning, and he watched as its head crumbled into dust. He glanced down at the bracelet on his bicep and saw that it ticked up to five points. He suddenly stepped to the side as he saw a flying body coming at him. It had been one of the other competitors who had tried to challenge one of the stronger monsters. He gave this person one last look, and before he could waste any more time, he disappeared in another flash of lightning.

His spear found its way into the nearest monster; this one's defenses weren't as robust, and he was able to kill it much more easily. He had been hoping to employ the same strategy as Christina and target the weaker monsters, but it seemed that the competition had realized the opportunity after the first battle, and now everyone was trying to eliminate the normal monsters. Of course, this also meant that he now had more opportunities to pursue the more powerful ones. He spotted such a monster not too far away.

This one was different than the one he had beaten previously. It was smaller, but its skin wasn't as craggly either. It looked more like polished marble. He sent a blast of lightning at it to test its defenses. He wasn't that shocked when his attack petered out and essentially did nothing. He did get the monster's attention, though. However, he was caught off guard when he saw the monster finally make a move. In a display of speed that surprised him, it was in front of his face and slammed its fist down on him.

He sidestepped and thrusted his spear at its chest. The tip of the spear was deflected by its incredibly hard, stony skin. He ducked underneath a swing and slashed his spear at its legs. He also used some lightning to yank on the monster's legs, pulling it off balance. Then, before it rebalanced itself, he thrusted the butt of his spear at its forehead. He made sure to infuse a lot of his mana into the attack. This time around, he heard something crunch underneath his spear.

Then lashed out with a kick, shrouding his legs in lightning-clad greaves. He was able to force even more power through these armaments and sent it flying backwards until it slammed into one of its comrades. Someone must have thought this was the perfect chance to make their move because Derek watched as they appeared above the downed monster and slammed two shortswords down into its skull with an excited grin on their face. That look quickly morphed into one of confusion.

They were only able to chip the surface of the monster's skin, and Derek shook his head as the monster retaliated by slamming a powerful forearm into the person's chest. They let out a gasp as their ribs cracked from the power of the blow and got blasted into a mob of monsters. The injured fighter wasn't able to recover in time and was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of monsters. They were stomped to death, or rather stomped until they turned into particles of light and were transported to safety.

Derek had already sensed the assassin's presence. Cygnus might have been an ass, but he had prepared them accordingly. They had been thoroughly tested to detect hidden presences for the past few months. Derek had just wanted to see if this hidden competitor would be able to pierce the monster's defenses. And he had gotten his answer. He nodded to himself as he clad himself with even more lightning and reversed the grip of his weapon. His usual piercing attacks wouldn't do him much good here.

However, he believed that blunt force trauma would work quite well. Thankfully, he had two friends who were extremely talented at that sort of thing, and he might have picked up a few things from them. Before the monster was able to crawl to its legs, he was already in front of it, slamming his supercharged lightning fists into its face, hearing more of its marbly skin crack from under the pressure. He was forced to lean to the side as another monster took this opportunity to attack him.

He didn't even bother to fully confront it. He distractedly sent a beam of compressed lighting at the creature's chest, shattering the monster into small pieces. He focused back on the much more dangerous monster, avoiding its quick and powerful blows, continuously smashing his fists or spear into its hard exterior. He took one or two glancing blows, but compared to the spars he had partaken in with Cygnus and Marcus over these past few months, it was nothing.

It took more effort than the five-point monster had taken, but before long, he walked away as it crumbled into dust. He glanced at his bracelet and saw his points go up by ten. He didn't bother to take time and celebrate defeating a monster he would have had trouble against a few months ago. Instead, he let his lightning mana surge, and he disappeared in a flash of lightning, off to find another monster to take down.

He may not be the strongest person competing this year, but he was determined to ensure he didn't embarrass himself.