Restrictions placed on the fighters were as expected. Arnold had participated in tournaments before—back in his early days as Lufulur—so he was familiar with the rules.
Basically, it went like this: if it was your most powerful technique or spell—don’t use it.
The long, convoluted explanation was wrapped in layers of technicalities, but it boiled down to a simple philosophy: tournaments were for demonstrating skill, not obliterating opponents. No attacks capable of wiping out the arena. No spells that could bend reality to your will. If a technique required minutes of preparation and left nothing but scorched earth in its wake, it was banned. If it risked permanently maiming an opponent rather than just defeating them, it was forbidden.
As Sebastian once told him:
-"Unlike the gladiator arena, fighting in a tournament within a sophisticated coliseum—before both nobility and common folk—isn’t just about fairness. It’s about control. Masters of combat are expected to wield their strength with discipline, proving their superiority through precision rather than sheer destruction."
Because of this, Arnold only ever resorted to brute force when there was no other option. If he encountered a fighter with a martial art so problematic that even Sebastian’s teachings couldn’t help him counter it, there was only one path left—unleashing his full power and crushing everything in his way.
This wouldn’t work with monsters like Gederick and Guinevere, though…
-
Breuk, Mian Xi, and Arnold stood beneath separate arena pillars, each positioned at a considerable distance from one another. The spacing wasn’t arbitrary—it was intentional. A safety measure. With fighters of their caliber, even the shockwaves from their physical attacks alone could tear the arena apart. The announcer needed time to retreat before the battlefield turned into a war zone.
The crowd, a mix of nobles and commoners, sat at the edge of their seats, anticipation thick in the air. For years, the tournament had seen prodigies, warriors, and legends in the making—but never had it hosted three fighters of this magnitude at once. This was history in the making, and no one dared to blink.
"Begin!"
The announcer’s voice had barely faded when Arnold jumped into action. He wasted no time waiting for his opponents to move, charging straight at Mian Xi with relentless focus, the ground beneath him fracturing under the force of his takeoff.
A sly smirk curved her lips just as Arnold’s fist streaked toward her, not at all surprised by his speed. It connected with nothing but air—no, it passed through her entirely while she didn’t move an inch.
‘An illusion? No… something else.’
Not hesitating, Arnold twisted his body so that his hand touched the arena floor and aimed a powerful kick at her neck with his right leg. The result was the same: his attack sliced through her as if she wasn’t there.
“Humph!”
The gruff sound came from Breuk, who appeared beside Arnold in an instant. With a mighty swing, the giant brought his war hammer down. The blow was halted by a shimmering, transparent shield that materialized just in time. Breuk clicked his tongue in frustration, retreating a few steps to reassess the situation.
Arnold, however, had no time to spare for Breuk. His focus was locked on Mian Xi and the strange trick behind her seeming invulnerability. She watched him with a look of amused detachment, then leapt to the side with effortless grace, his gaze following her.
Something struck his abdomen with brutal force at that moment. The sheer power of the blow sent him hurtling across the arena, crashing into one of the pillars and knocking it down.
What the—?
It couldn’t have been Breuk; the giant hadn’t budged from the spot he’d retreated to earlier. Arnold pushed himself up, his eyes scanning the battlefield. That’s when he saw them.
A pair of long, shapely legs—wrapped in alluring lingerie and sleek, dark leggings and heels—stood poised in a perfect kicking stance. The legs’ behind was quite exposed to the crowd so the parents covered their children’s eyes and the women covered their lovers’ eyes.
‘Legs? Just legs?’
His mind raced to comprehend what he was seeing. What in the world is she…? This has the be one of the strangest martial arts he’s ever seen.
It looked as if she was a clay figure that was sawed in half then painted over like a sculptor. You’d think you’re looking at a figurine and not like an actual body.
‘The moment she jumped to the side, her signature split up into two. It’s not a cloning technique by the looks of it—’
A third signature suddenly appeared right beside his face. He held up his arms to block whatever attack it was, only to be sent flying. That attack was double the strength of the previous one.
He regained his momentum and twisted his body in mid-air to land on the ground.
“Tch—Huh?” He suddenly fell on his knees just when he planted his feet firmly on the ground. He also felt lightheaded when he fell down, which quickly vanished. “…” he looked at his trembling arm that received her hit.
Normally, ordinary attacks barely leave a tingle but even if this was an attack from a level 90+ martial artist, he shouldn’t have felt anything from that attack. There is a considerable difference in power between Endgame Arnold and ordinary level cap NPCs. His infinite potential as a Transcendent isn’t just for show.
How was she able to lessen that gap anyway?
“—There ya are!! I’ve given yer enough courtesy to fight alone!”
When he looked ahead, he could see she appeared in front of Breuk this time and before the giant could grab her, she vanished to another spot, chuckling at his attempt. It appears she wasn’t really interested in fighting him, just taunting him.
Afterimages of her long milky legs were left behind. Miraculously, the afterimages attacked Breuk as if they were real. There were about five in total, the ones who attacked Arnold earlier joining in on the assault. Clicking his tongue, he tried to grab one of them but his hands passed right through.
‘So, the main body isn’t the only one that has that ability.’
“Kuek!” Breuk was kicked in the face and staggered backwards, “Wha—” a bewildered expression appeared on his face when he noticed blood came out of his nose.
‘Strange. If Mian was able to make my arm tremble from her blow then Breuk should’ve been in a worse state from her attack.’
What’s the gimmick behind her strength…
“So, this is your multiplier ability I’ve heard of the power to increase your strength through your clones! Kahaha!” Miraculously, his frown vanished and was replaced by boisterous laughter.
A multiplier, huh.
That doesn’t explain how she was able to land such an effective blow on him. An attack that could do that much “damage” to him should’ve been able to blow Breuk’s head off if he received the same attack.
In any case, Arnold heard of “multipliers” before, usually something an assassination clan or sect would have. During solo missions, there’s no telling how many bodyguards their target has lying in wait so the assassin needs to create clones of themselves that can help them fight. Ruria might have the ability, though he wasn’t sure since he didn’t know what family she was from. It’s a mandatory skill taught to every member of an assassin family.
‘System, is it true that she multiplied her strength?’
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
-Yes
He should’ve done more research on that woman before today. It can’t be helped since he was so focused on other things.
‘Maybe an Aether Blast can injure her.’
Arnold lifted his hand, pointing it right at Breuk and Mian who were fighting each other. The latter was obviously at an advantage due to her strange ability and strength.
A dense white ball of energy appeared at the palm of Arnold’s hand. It was the size of an apple.
‘I’ll have to stop this blast myself before it reaches the barrier.’ He was thinking of using one blow to beat both of them. This didn’t just come to him. He definitely wanted to study that woman and Breuk’s martial arts—the latter who hadn’t revealed it yet.
He was curious how the woman will respond and if his thoughts will be confirmed in the next few moments—
Could a skill damage her if physical attacks can’t?
“!”
That small ball of energy transformed into a destructive torrent, swallowing half the arena in a blinding surge of power in mere seconds. The entire coliseum trembled under the force, cracks splintering through its stone as the audience watched in awe. From their perspective, it looked like a towering, 100-foot wave threatening to consume a ship at sea.
Ko’s eyes narrowed. “To think there is another who can wield this much Aether…” he murmured, his voice tinged with both admiration and bitterness. “Did you pay a price as well, Nova?”
If Nova hadn’t, shame would gnaw at Ko’s soul like an unrelenting curse. How could such devastating power come naturally to someone else, while his own had demanded the sacrifice of 100,000 souls to Cocytus? The war had etched scars into his very being—scars no passage of time could erase. If Nova’s strength came without such a cost, it would mock every pain, every sacrifice, every unspoken regret he carried.
His gaze flicked to his wife, his expression hardening into stone.
There was no room for lamentation. To feel shame over what he had done would render all his suffering meaningless. Swallowing the bitter weight of his choices, Ko steeled himself, burying his anguish deep within. He could not afford to falter and show weakness.
This weakness must never be showed to Funiji.
…
‘…This woman’s ability is affecting me somehow. Is it connected to her clones that Breuk mentioned?’ Arnold noticed that the barrier was still standing. In the moments that followed after releasing the blast, he felt something being sucked out of him—not his Aether but his life force. The lightheaded feeling came again but he was able to withstand it better than before.
It painted the illusion that he was getting weaker somehow. With how much lifeforce he had, that itself wasn’t fatal but it would be troublesome if it benefitted his opponent.
‘Huh? A wall of flesh…?’
When the smoke settled, he could see a humungous wall that wasn’t there before. Looking closer, it looked like humans huddled together with their backs facing him.
‘On top of my lifeforce being sucked out, this woman’s signature increased a hundred-fold. Breuk confirmed she has a multiplier on top of all this—just what martial art is this?’
This was probably the first time he had struggled to understand a martial art he was seeing. If his assumptions about it were correct then it would be a threat to him if he doesn’t finish the fight quickly. His opponent having a multiplier would need him to fight with the intention to kill.
However, at this very moment this fight felt—
Exhilarating.
It was a power that could be useful for his illusions. He must have it.
“Dear me, your ruthlessness certainly matches your strength, young master.” He heard the woman’s voice for the first time. It was gentle, melodious but smug.
Slowly, the wall of flesh shrunk and disappeared into her chest, which Arnold caught a glimpse of before she closed her robe. In a fight like this, he didn’t have the luxury to appreciate a woman’s beauty.
“Hn? You don’t seem shocked at all?” she folded her arms with a cute pout that didn’t suit an adult woman like her, “That’s weird. No one has seen me conjure that many before—well, the ones that are alive, that is. I never needed it for weaklings in the tournament.”
‘Conjuration? Is it the same as my water-based dragon skill?’
“You have a strange combo skill.”
“Fufu, whatever you think you’ve figured out—it’s completely wrong. Don’t think my martial arts is as easy to copy as the others.”
“It’s not magic, huh.”
“I find it offensive that you’d think that.” She huffed to his question but was obviously amused.
Arnold looked at her status with a cursory glance. Her numerical stats fit that of a level 96 NPC, no doubt. He was able to withstand her blows at twice the normal power fairly well even though he’s just at base form.
‘Doppel Dancer. Legendary class. While exceptional given its class, the martial art itself is quite vague.’
He mentally asked the system what that was.
-Answer: There are thousands of locations and hundreds of worlds in the ‘universe of Star Fantasy’. The knowledge in the system is tied to how many locations its creators coded into it after their final stage of development. As of right now, there are only 2480 locations and their NPCs that have been mapped and recorded. This shadow world is not one of them. What you see today are the martial arts handed down by the Martial Gods.
‘You could’ve just said you don’t know.’
-…
Unfortunately, the system was right. Although 80% of everything in the game was hand-crafted, not everything was recorded in the system to give players knowledge of where they are or who they meet in those places. So, there might be a chance they’ll meet an unknown monster even more mysterious than the Faceless that the system doesn’t know about. Shadow worlds probably wasn’t on the developers’ list of priorities. Players didn’t exactly visit these worlds often, thinking there was nothing interesting in worlds disconnected from the nine realms.
Since the game had advanced A.I generation to simulate the NPCs behaviors from birth until death, they must’ve learned new things on their own that the developers didn’t think of before. That must be why he was seeing so many strange martial arts and technique utilizations of the norm.
Like Arnold, there must’ve been many other people in this world who could make something greater from a Common class by combining its own origins and that of other martial arts that the populace deems trash. He wasn’t that special when it comes to creating new things.
Question is, did this happen off-screen during the main story or was there a period of time between Liam being back at the convenience store and the game becoming reality, which allowed it to happen?
“I’ll tell you one little detail, though.” She held up one slender finger, interrupting Arnold thoughts that lasted only a few seconds, “What you saw weren’t clones but afterimages.”
“I could clearly see them vanish into your chest like a parasite crawling under your skin. You could be using both.”
In Star Fantasy, clones are living, breathing projections of the original body. They had actual flesh and organs. Afterimages are just empty protections of the original body that are controlled by one’s mind, sort of like Luxtivin’s illusions.
Mian shrugged as if dismissing his observation. He was obviously not believing the enemy over his own assumptions just yet.
‘I should shut up before I give too much away.’ She thought before glancing around. Breuk was rather quiet. Though she couldn’t exactly see him with all this smoke that was caused by that earlier energy blast.
The moment her gaze left him, Arnold charged at her with incredible speed, striking different parts of her body with monstrous precision. Every inch of her body was targeted—eyes, nose, fingers, toes, nether region, breasts, stomach—
Nothing. His attacks passed right through even though not even a second had gone by. That was how fast he was. The audience was quietly observing his incredible speed with wide eyes.
He jumped back and punched the arena floor, his hand gripping a handful of debris. He threw the small chunks of the arena at her. A normal person’s head would go flying if hit by these rocks. Yet again, his attacks went right through.
“…” meanwhile, she was looking at her nails.
Arnold observed her movements while attacking her but nothing she did conveyed activating a martial skill or using a magic item on her person at all.
‘Next test then.’ He pulled back both arms until his chest reached the heavens. Blue fire surrounded his forearms, which he shot forward, creating a powerful gust of wind behind him as the tall wall of flames shot out.
‘Her signature is multiplying! This is my chance!’
[Speed of Sound].
Using this skill at its current maximum speed of 10%, the world slowed down and turned grey.
He appeared behind Mian Xi, at the exact same spot she was standing before he unleashed the fire gauntlets.
‘If those flesh clones are solid enough to block my attack, then there’s a chance her whole body is the same once she releases the clone shield.’
Going at the same speed he used to get here, he aimed to break her arms and legs to immobilize her through the rest of the fight. This isn’t exactly an elimination round so kicking an opponent off the ring doesn’t disqualify them so knocking them out only option at winning. There’s a countdown, of course just like what you’d see in normal wrestling.
‘Her ability is faster than the speed of sound?’ yet again, his hands passed through her when he was about to grab her.
‘Tch, her body’s like a slime coming out of a jar and I’m aiming for the jar instead. New approach. Aim for the parts she conjures instead.’ If even that fails, he has no choice but to use his full power to make her give up since this fight will go on until she exhausts herself, while Arnold will remain standing far longer than her.
Ending a fight using just the difference in power alone left a bitter taste in his mouth. Coming to this world and seeing the martial arts that differ from the norm he finds back home reignited his passion for martial arts.
Arnold had always been driven by a passion for learning, a need to dissect and master both the well-known and the obscure. Strength was one thing, but understanding? That was where true mastery lay. Why else would he take a flawed, borderline useless martial art like [Water’s Edge] and refine it until it became something formidable? Where others saw limitations, he saw possibilities.
Arnold looked up at the wall of flesh, noticing that there were several clones of Mian huddled together. All were connected through skin. It looked quite disturbing. He walked up to the wall and summoned Luxtivin.
‘I’ll slice it all off before the fire reaches her.’
Time resumed again and just like he planned to do, he cut off the chunk of flesh that was connected to her through her chest.
Unlike the previous wall of flesh that was as hard as concrete, the one he cut off almost instantly lost its durability. The moment the fire reached the flesh, an explosion occurred.
“Ugh!” retreating the woman dragged the loose flesh that Arnold couldn’t cut off in the end. While retreating into the smoke, she left behind several afterimages that charged at Arnold.
‘I’ll strike her at the heart the second the flesh disappears into her chest.’ Instead of caring about the afterimages. The flesh being cut off proved her real body wasn’t what she wanted the world to see—a gorgeous, tall, gifted woman.
For a moment, he considered focusing on Breuk but as that guy isn’t exactly a threat in his eyes, he decided to keep focusing on Mian.
With that in mind, he charged through her clones.