The pillars of ice summoned from Maria's feet and sword nearly fill the entire arena's dome. However, the unyielding orange aura and ferocious speed of the ghoul tear down her mana and Qi-imbued attacks one by one without slowing down in the slightest.

Over 10 more clashes go by, making bigger and more extreme explosions of blue ice crystals each time. Every clash they have ends with Maria sinking slightly deeper into the ghoul's aura, but activating her Red Hydra's buff moments before disaster.

I can tell she's growing at a rapid rate, channeling more qi into her blade, and making it denser and denser every time. She's learning her upper Qi imbuing limits just like I did in my fight yesterday.

However, this doesn't last forever. Every attack into that orange aura evaporates a large amount of Qi, and it's clear she's starting to run low when on her next attack, a red aura envelops her entire body before her blade even makes contact with the Ghoul.

In a glimmering display of pink-tinted ice, the monster is defeated, and the crowd erupts into cheers that even shake the ceiling above us.

What the audience thought was going to be a one-attack match turned into an epic duel.

I smile as she walks around the ring in a victory lap, destroying the leftover ice in the ring and politely declining the announcer's offer to move on to the next stage.

Over 81 Platinum rest in my balance as she's teleported back into the training room and Abby steps up to the platform.

"Good luck out there, put on a show and take your time in the earlier rounds. There's no rush."

She continues forward and the two female fighters exchange words as they pass too.

"Flashy match out there, good job."

"Thanks, I think you'll enjoy fighting that 7th Stage too!"

A few people overhear their back-and-forth, and already begin whispering and readying their bets on an unknown fighter closely associated with the woman who just put on the performance of the night.

Abby teleports away, and Maria stands next to me, letting out quite the long sigh.

"I dropped down to nearly 20% in my stores, that was exhausting... But very eye-opening."

I cross my arms and look up at the screen displaying Abby readying a fist-fighting stance with her two bonded daggers on her waist.

"Yeah, It's not going to be easy figuring this out. I have a few ideas, but we're going to need a lot of time and practice."

We place our bets and the matches begin.

Rounds 1-5 go just the same as Maria's.

I turn 81 Platinum into 89, going all in every time. At this point in the tournament, everyone knows that a new participant named the "Emerald Warrior" won't lose early this late into the night.

The crowd still enjoys her presence, and in return, Abby puts on quite the show. Using her stone magic to hop around the ring while glowing bright green, she punches her opponents into bits with Qi-infused fists.

Blasts of rock and green energy fly around in all directions to mask her blows, making it seem as if the monsters she's defeating are turned to stone the moment they're hit and crumble to pieces.

On the 6th stage, she's matched up against one of the extremely quick lizard creatures that carries a spear.

Using her earth magic, she materializes a floating spear of her own to block the monster's fast-paced constant attacks. Meanwhile, the green-haired hunter focuses very hard on infusing Qi into her daggers.

The understanding of Qi imbuement doesn't happen instantly, and she faces off against the lizardman for much longer than needed. Over 30 seconds of back-and-forths go on before the first wave of Qi finally enters one of her daggers and she lands a body shot on the lizard.

It doesn't instantly get blown away like the other opponents, but a large chunk of flesh on its side is missing.

Abby grins, and a zoom-in on the holographic fight display shows this very clearly. The mood in the arena shifts, and everyone knows she's going to go in for the kill.

A series of Qi-infused slashes later, and every new hit is getting more and more powerful as the stone mage becomes more comfortable infusing this new power into her bonded weapons.

By the final attack, it only takes a single clean blow to slice the lizard creature's head clean off and end the 6th stage with a roaring applause.

A full 96 Platinum are credited back into my account and Abby takes a victory lap while giving the okay to move onto the 7th round.

Based on her performance in the 6th, the odds on the 7th begin leaning against her because the victory wasn't as swift and clean as Maria's, opening up a 1.52x bet that I take full advantage of and go all in.

The grin on my face beneath my mask gets wider and wider as the same results as Maria's match unfold before me.

Abby continuously shapes and molds the arena floor with walls of rock to limit the Ghoul's speed, while getting in close enough to attempt some Qi-infused slashes. Her attacks are instantly absorbed by the dangerous orange aura, and the Red Hydra's buff is activated just in time for the healer to jump away.

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The stone being manipulated beneath Abby's feet is tinted crimson while her buff is activated, and the sharp glimmer in her eyes every time she jumps back in at the monster before her makes the crowd roar with excitement.

As her Qi gets sucked away more and more, her reliance on the Red Hydra's buff increases. However, unlike Maria and I, Abby is able to use her buff almost indefinitely as long as she continues to heal her fatigue after it deactivates with [Restore].

This allows her to be more conservative and precise with her Qi placement, and use her Hydra's buff to dodge instead of striking when the angles aren't ideal.

Her match lasts almost twice as long as Maria's but ends all the same, with a flash of dark red aura eating through every drop of the possessed Ghoul and leaving it in pieces on the floor while she circles the ring and uses earth magic to bring the rocky arena floor back down to a flat ring like it was before.

She's teleported back into the training room as just over 146 Platinum are credited into my account.

Mixed cheers and boos come from the audience, but they're almost immediately drowned out when the announcer says a familiar name.

"Now, I know there's been some entertaining fights this evening, but we've saved the best for last. I assure you this will be a night you won't forget. Please welcome, The Flame Emperor!"

The rumbling noise of the crowd above and overview shots of the arena confirm that there are definitely more people at this showing than any of the other times I came...

Abby gives me a smile as she steps off the platform, and I get a round of good luck remarks from everyone I pass before stepping on myself. I'm teleported into the ring with my sword on my waist as a weapon.

"Let's get started..."

The matches go on, and I bet all in on myself every round, turning 146 Platinum into 172 by the time I finish round 6. Though, 21 Platinum was from exclusively my % gains of the fighter cuts, hardly any winnings have been from the actual betting payouts themselves. All of the odds are constantly on me.

I've made quite the name for myself, and no one wants to bet against me other than a few drunkards that want in on the potential 20x+ payouts for me losing.

The announcer yells out with a happy tone as I move onto the 7th Stage.

"It looks like we really have a crowd favorite tonight! Let's make some noise for the main event!"

I grab my sword tight and watch the level 685 Ghoul appear before me while the crowd goes wild.

Everything slows down as I breathe in and out, focusing large amounts of Qi into my blade.

It almost overflows as I let every drop trickle in and run forward with all of my buffs activated including my new and improved extreme speed skill.

The instant the announcer gives the go-ahead for the match to begin, my Qi-soaked blade is already challenging the edges of this monster's borrowed Soul energy.

I smirk as my first attempt slices through over a full third of its depth before the density of the energy is too much, and it begins eating away at my sword's infused Qi.

I activate my hydra's buffs and jump backwards with the insane multipliers boosting my already monstrous speed and power.

I doubt anyone in this ring can perceive what's happening below them. The only ones with any possibility of understanding what's going on are Monk, Maria, Abby, and possibly the other legacy fighters to a certain extent.

With none of this on my mind, and only the enemy before me in my sights, I dive back in.

Over and over, I attempt slicing through with more refined and different shapes of Qi infused into my blade. After over 10 attacks go by, my Qi stores are already nearing half, and I think of an interesting idea.

"Maybe this could work..."

Throwing out the same attack will only get me so far. It's great practice in refining my Qi control bit by bit, but it's clear I won't be able to break through its energy without drastically increasing my Qi capacities base.

But, what if I just made the energy I'm trying to cut through weaker?

With a sly grin, and blade tightly grasped, I activate my Hydra's buff before I even run toward the Ghoul on this attack.

When I swing my blade, I don't even aim to kill it.

I just narrowly miss, aiming only for the aura surrounding its body.

On contact with its energy, my crimson veil disintegrates its orange energy in an instant as I fly past.

Once I turn around, the energy seeps out from its body and begins to grow back, but that doesn't stop me from running at it again.

Over and over, just like my previous attacks I fly by the Ghoul with speed too fast for it to track over 10 more times in under 2 seconds. Chunks of its energy are melted away, and I get more efficient at moving my blades and body to cover higher surface areas and take more energy each time I pass.

At first it doesn't make a dent, but by the 10th try, I can see the aura around this Ghoul has dwindled slightly.

Doing all of this work with the Red Hydra's buff is not going to be pretty for me afterward, but at least I get to test my theory out.

Another 10 slashes go by, and to the audience's around streaks of red aura fill the stadium as another 2 seconds pass.

The orange aura falls to less than half of what it was when I started this match, and I give it yet another 10 slashes to bring it to a state where I'm almost certain my blade could penetrate solely infused with my own Qi.

I come to a halt on the far side of the ring, deactivating my crimson aura, and feeling a wave of fatigue and discomfort fall over me.

Using my newly upgraded self-regeneration skill, I heal myself to the best of my abilities, but it doesn't do very much at all with the limited time I have to act.

I still get the sensation of wanting to fall to my knees even as I see the angry screeching ghoul come running at me from my left side.

"This is it..."

I push through the pain and reactivate all my skills with active battle buffs and turn straight toward my enemy wielding a Qi-infused sword. I allow my swordsmanship skill to take over and my aching body and bones follow the guiding line right at the monster's midsection.

The orange cloud around the monster looks one fourth the thickness it did at the start of this match, and my blade filled with Qi has not wavered in strength at all.

The Ghoul shielded by a dwindling orange light is sliced in two by a crisp white hot wave.

Both of its halves lay motionless on the floor.

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

I hit level 633 and 226 Platinum are credited to my balance while the crowd erupts in cheers. The announcer hypes up my victory, while I smile and deactivate my buffs.

I continue to self-regenerate my aching muscles and bones, standing straight with my sword raised in the air.

It really wasn't that difficult to defeat as long as it's worn out. Maybe if I were to battle it long enough with its aura activated, it would run out naturally. Or if I used multiple Qi pills in a match, and made it use up its power destroying my own that might be faster.

I start scratching my chin, thinking of more possibilities of how I could get the same result without my Red Hydra's buff for the future. The announcer continues to stall while the crowd is still hyped, showing close-up recaps of the fight to the eccentric audience.

It doesn't seem too odd to me, but at the back of my mind, I'm waiting for the announcer to ask me if I'd like to move on so I can leave the ring and get fully healed up by Abby.

However, it seems there are more reasons than one for this delay... Before I realize what's going on, out of the corner of my eye I see multiple Black Armored Knights enter the ring via small white blips of teleportation magic.

I activate my perception skills and turn to see a main guard unlike all the others. It's twice the size of the other 3, and already less than 5 meters from my back.

The monstrous guard's metallic voice rings through my ears like some kind of telepathy skill.

"Congratulations... You'll be participating in the 8th Stage."