(Aug 22 Continued)

The final group battle was over, the final 16 contestants in the tournament bracket will soon fight it out one by one on the arena in front of the massive crowd and the king was also watching from afar.

I made it, Briggs made it, Cornelia made it and William made it.

There were 10 A rankers, and only 6 B rankers in the final 16. No one under B ranked made it and I'm not surprised since only the top fighters of each group could make it, it was extremely unlikely for a low C ranked fighter to win.

The matches are being randomly decided again and in the first round I'm fighting against another B ranker:

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Me (B ranked) Vs Another B ranked.

Briggs (A ranked) Vs Another B ranked

Cornelia (A ranked) Vs Another A ranked

William (A ranked) Vs Another A ranker

Assassin (A ranked from before) Vs Another B ranked

Archer (A ranked from before) Vs Another A ranked

Spear user (B ranked from before) Vs Assassin (B ranked in the group match with Briggs)

Necromancer (A ranked from before) Vs Another A ranked

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In my first match, I was lucky enough to be up against another B ranked so there is at least a chance of me winning. I've never met the guy I'm fighting and there's not much information known about him.

I did take a look at him in the prep room and he looks a bit gloomy... he was very quiet and he was wearing a black hoodie with the hood over his face. He had black baggy pants and his hands were always in his pockets.

I don't know what to expect, the first match is going to be me, my fight is first with this guy. I so wish I didn't have to go first.

Well gotta go now.

.

The battle was not held on the platform this time, the entire arena was changed to that of a dirt floor and the platform was moved elsewhere, the water was removed as well and replaced with ground.

The rules were to either make your opponent surrender, or to make them unconscious. Killing your opponent is also not allowed and a "professional" will step in if they think the situation gone too far.

After we both stepped into the arena in opposite sides, the crowd cheered.

I took a deep breath and stepped forwards towards him. We both stepped towards each other and handshake each other before the battle started as a common unwritten rule and we both jumped back to start the battle.

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A gunfire was shot to commence the battle and we both stiffened up to prepare for the other to attack, neither of us moved for a while.

Neither of us knew what the other was going to do, so I slowly tried to gather my dragon essence into my palm to prepare, however it seemed like he noticed I was up to something and he pulled out a small glass bottle that had a strange purple liquid inside and chucked it at me.

His throw was quite sloppy and weak so I easily dodged out of the way.

Based on that little exchange, I predicted he wasn't a fighter. His toss and his body posture was bad for a B ranked, however that potion seemed like it contained magic within it. It's quite likely he's an alchemist using potions and chemicals to fight.

I wasn't sure what he was up to but I was going to be careful, carelessness is always a bad habit no matter who your opponent is.

I created a fireball in my palm and tossed it at him to test him out, and he pulled out a small vial of a light blue powder and he tossed the powder into the air.

The powder sparkled as it reacted to the air and the air itself froze into small ice wall to block and protect him from my fire attack.

It seemed my guess was right, he was an alchemist. He probably made a bunch of chemicals and potions beforehand for this battle.

Then in an instant he pulled out a glass bottle with a red liquid and quickly brought it to his mouth which he then proceeded to chug on the potion.

I was cautious but I took a step forward and to my surprise, he vanished right before my eyes. I looked to my right, my left and I looked around but he was totally gone. Vanished into thin air.

Swallowing my saliva, I took a step back. It was probably that potion he drank that caused him to disappear, maybe an invisibility potion? Either way, I had to find him before he does anything that could potentially put me at a disadvantage.

Since I couldn't see him I closed my eyes and focuses on my ears, I tried listening to any noise and I tried to sense any disturbance in the air.

Tmp, tmp, tmp.

I could hear slight sounds of footsteps to my left and I opened my eyes in an instant, jumped back, took a deep breath in and I breathed fire from my mouth towards the sound of the footsteps.

By attracting my dragon essence to my lungs, I can transform the carbon dioxide into heat and fire by infusing it with dragon essence as it comes out of my mouth thus causing a fire breath.

My dragon fire breath was a AOE (Area Of effect) attack and even if he tried to dodge he would still get somewhat burnt.

I noticed a slight shadow in my fire breath and I leaped forward with my longsword in hand and I swung my sword three times, vertically, horizontally and diagonal in an instant.

But I didn't feel my blade cut through anything but air meaning I missed.

I looked around but the smoke my flames blocked my vision, my fire attack had backfired on me and the smoke worked as a distraction for him to escape me.

Did he not get hit by the flames though? It was an area attack so how didn't he get affected by it?

My question was soon answered when I felt something land on my shoulders, I looked up and I could faintly see light distort around a figure which was standing on my shoulders.

He had leapt into the air and since he was invisible plus the smoke, I didn't see him jump and so he landed on my shoulders.

I jumped back in shock and he also jumped off of me but not before splashing a potion on me.

When the potion splashed on me, I felt my entire body become increasingly heavy, so heavy in fact I had to force onto one knee. It took all my effort to just move, my arms were limp to my sides and I was shaking.

The potion's effects were tremendous and I was immobilized in an instant.

That was also when his invisibility wore off and I could see him again. He was careful, he didn't rush in at me just because he saw that I was weakened. He took out another bottle and that was when I realized he had a gas mask on...

He opened the bottle's lid he had and a yellowish green gas flowed out of it, I didn't know what it was but I didn't want to find out, however I could barely move much less get out of the gases range.

The gas slowly made its way towards me as the wind was blowing my direction, it seemed like he even planned and calculated the winds movements to effectively use the gas.

I held my breath but I knew I couldn't hold it forever.

At the time, I felt like my chest was going to burst and even though I was holding my breath I could feel my throat becoming dry and my lungs were pulsing in my chest!

Then I couldn't hold my breath anymore, I opened my mouth and breathed in by accident...