The following week proceeded with more monsters pitted against human competitors. It was the results that varied between the days.

Morel, it turned out, had been one of the weakest who had qualified for the second round. The very next day after his defeat, the cultivator facing another Arisen—Galorian from the first round—put up a much better fight.

Rieren didn’t spend too long spectating the battles. All she did was note down the monsters’ and the humans’ capabilities before returning to her own training and preparation.

It wasn’t that the prospect of facing Zhalen worried her. On the contrary, she was certain she could take him, even if his prowess turned out to be greater than she was expecting. Instead, her real training revolved around combining the new Aspects that were so proliferous in her Arisen form with the skills and techniques she was already more than familiar with.

If Zhalen thought he was prepared to face Rieren, perhaps by coaxing information out of Kalvia, then he was going to be sadly mistaken.

Of course, Rieren’s days didn’t go without any interruptions. Seeing the success the first Arisen had enjoyed against Morel, more of the monsters had come seeking her advice. They were beginning to treat her like some sort of Abyss-cursed teacher.

Rieren had granted them some brief information, but in most cases, her help was limited. She wasn’t omniscient. The real reasons behind the first Arisen’s success were two things—Rieren had known Morel and his capabilities personally, and the fact that Morel himself hadn’t been that powerful.

The same couldn’t be said for most of the other competitors. As was proven by the results of the following few bouts.

Of the five fights between humans and monsters that followed the Morel and the first Arisen’s battle, the human cultivators won four of them. And that had been without too great a difficulty in most cases too. Only in one instance would Rieren have said that the bout could have gone either way with how evenly matched the two fighters had been.

In all the rest, the humans had more or less handily beaten their Arisen opponents.

The monsters’ consternation had grown stronger with every loss. They grumbled and growled, ostracizing the defeated Arisen so that the losers never showed up at the stands again. Rieren was just glad that they weren’t killed in their battles.

Which was an excellent thing because Morel hadn’t ended up dead after his match either. A quick little scouting trip by Batcat had proven he was recovering well.

“If we are to leash ourselves from dealing killing blows,” one monster complained. This was a B-Grade Aetherian, a golden, star-shaped monster with streaks of silver across its body. “Then of course we are going to lose, aren’t we? We need to unleash ourselves to the fullest extent, let loose our truest strengths, and then we can conquer this whole tournament!”

Ah, yes. Rieren had been waiting for when the blame would fall upon her for their losses. Thankfully, not all the monsters were to be taken in by such silliness.

“That is not the case,” another Arisen said. It appeared to be a combination of a Nebula and a Life Stifler, just a lot smaller than expected. Barely taller than Rieren herself. Had she seen it before? She must have. So hard to tell with all the monsters around her. “All those who have fallen gave their utmost. This I can confirm. It is not for the lack of trying that they failed.”

“Then why did they lose?”

“They were defeated because their opponents were mighty. Stronger than them. That is the simple truth of the matter. Which is why we must find ways to counter their strengths.”

At this point, two-thirds of the monsters’ bouts were already over. Rieren wasn’t certain there was a great deal of point in trying to formulate strategies now. Monsters couldn’t raise their inherent strength any further after all, not after they had taken the drastic measure of turning themselves into an Arisen.

In fact, as far as Rieren was aware, turning into an Arisen was the only way a monster could grow. She had never heard of a monster going from B-Grade to A-Grade or something along those lines. They just… existed at their given levels of power.

Nevertheless, just because it seemed pointless didn’t mean they couldn’t make some effort towards fixing their predicament.

So, Rieren rose to her feet. “I will see if I can find out more about some of the specific opponents some of you still have left.”

The monsters all turned to face her. They had invaded her little glen, her initial statements that her assistance would always be limited having done nothing to get them out of there. So now, Rieren decided to take a more proactive measure in booting them out so she could carry on with her actual training.

She turned to Batcat. “Kitten, are you ready to conduct some scouting again?”

The little Spirit Beast had been licking its paws. It looked up at Rieren’s call, hissing a little at all the monsters, before almost imperceptibly nodding its head at her. Rieren tutted. Cats didn’t nod or shake their heads.

“There you have it,” Rieren said. She turned to the monsters who were yet to fight in the second round. “I am aware of the exact identities of your opponents. Rest assured I will find some information about them, though I would not expect it to be tremendously helpful. Now, leave me in peace so I can prepare for my own fight tomorrow.”

They shuffled out together, some of them remembering to not only thank her for the assistance, but to also wish her good fortune against Zhalen. Most of them promised they would be there at the stands to witness her triumph. Like it was already certain. Rieren appreciated that, at least.

When the time came for her fight, she made sure Batcat was with her, up until she entered the actual arena.

One of the little glowing orbs guided her to where she needed to go. All this time, Rieren had only followed the audience to join them at the stands. Now, she had to journey as a competitor.

Rieren was led to a small area underneath the stands, where the day’s combatants were to gather. Her opponent wasn’t there. He would be in a similar chamber at the other end of the arena. When the time came at a shouted signal from the commentator, the official in the room activated the runic formation that kept the arena’s gate locked, opening it for Rieren.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Stay here, Batcat,” she said.

The kitten purred a little, almost like it was an encouragement, then hopped off to stand beside the official who had opened the gate. He contained his yelp and tried not to look like his personal space had been invaded by a demon instead of an adorable little furball.

Leaving them with a smile, Rieren entered the battlefield.

Cheers and boos greeted her. The majority of the audience were, of course, mortals. Humans who held on to a great deal of hatred for the monsters of the apocalypse. Monsters, like Rieren herself.

She should have been used to it. For over a week, she had been spectating battles, watching as warriors both human and otherworldly were greeted by the gathered crowd. Were either lavished with uplifting cheers or pelted with insults and accusations, and sometimes even dire threats from behind the safety of the stands.

But it still struck her in a very different way when she was the subject of it all. Thousands upon thousands of voices, all clamouring for her end. All smothering her with their loathing and malice. Thousands of people who would have gladly exercised their own powers to end her.

So this was what it felt like being a monster.

Well, it didn’t feel like much at all. Not a single one of the comments scarcely affected her beyond annoyingly poking her ears.

Ironic, all the same. After all, it was Rieren who had granted each and every member of the audience access to the system to gain the same powers a cultivator had. It was Rieren, who had allowed them to be so bold.

She reached the centre of the arena around the same time her opponent did.

An Avatar’s ceramic mask was tied to Zhalen’s robe. He had kept it off so she could take full note of his sneer. There wasn’t an inch of respectability or sportsmanlike behaviour on him. He was here to win. He was here to beat Rieren. He was here to channel the furor of the crowd and use it to propel himself to the next stage of the tournament.

“Please give a warm round of applause for our combatants of the day,” the commentator said, voice booming out over the arena. “Zhalen of the imperial clan and Rieren Vallorne.”

The crowd’s noise doubled at that. They had to be yelling themselves hoarse at this rate. The match official between Rieren and Zhalen had his arm raised, as though waiting for the crowd to still before he could let the match begin.

“You may have heard the rules already elsewhere,” he said. “But it is my duty to reiterate them all the same. So, listen closely.”

Rieren kept her eyes on Zhalen as the older cultivator listed out the rules they needed to follow.

“No killing,” he said. “No intentional maiming or injuring or any other torturous acts for the sake of torture. You are to contain the effects of your battle within the bounds of the arena. Any spillage of any skill or technique beyond it will result in immediate disqualification. You must also always abide by my signals at all times. Any questions?”

Rieren shook her head, as did Zhalen. A typical, expected list. No massacring each other, no massacring the audience, and certainly no massacring the poor cultivator who had been roped into officiating their bout. She could deal with those.

With his hands still raised, the match official slowly backed away. Once he was sufficiently distant, his hand dropped. “Begin!”

The crowd roared at the same time as Rieren and Zhalen finally started their bout. Or, they were supposed to. Rieren simply stood in position. Her eyes were locked on her opponent, noting his every little twitch and motion. Waiting for him to act first.

Zhalen was slowly circling her with a little frown. He was thrown off by her inaction.

“I would have understood if you had stared at me before,” Rieren said. The taunt made her twist her mouth. “But now?” She shook her head with a twisted smile. “Do you find a monster so appealing?”

He sneered at the taunt but only continued circling as he had done before. The crowd was starting to get impatient. Jeers were mixed in with the cheers now.

Without any warning, with no sign of any change, Zhalen attacked.

He had probably intended for it to be a surprising assault. A supremely fast blow that would peg Rieren back, if not take her down outright. Most likely, he already knew that Rieren had pretty high stats, especially a Mind high enough to see it coming, yet still believed he was faster than what her reactions should have been able to match.

That might even have been true had Rieren been in her previous form. But her class evolution had granted a huge boost to a ton of her stats, including Mind.

Rieren was more than fast enough to see Zhalen’s attack coming.

He had lunged at her like a praying mantis. From his outstretched arm, a dozen spiky vines had burst out from under his sleeves, all shooting even faster at Rieren, aiming to impale her where she stood.

Rieren stomped the ground, hiding nothing of her derision. Her Domain activated. A circle of water rapidly appeared at her feet and expanded outwards. In a fraction of a heartbeat, just as the spearing vines reached her vicinity, they expanded upwards in a geyser as well, obscuring her opponent and his vines momentarily from view.

But Rieren didn’t need to see what happened. She already knew. It was more than just water rising around her. Rieren had mixed in her new Aspects as well, Divine and Abyss Aspects turning the water a murky black-gold mixture.

An explosive mixture. Anything touching the water that wasn’t Rieren was rocked with hundreds of tiny explosions thanks to the volatile mixture of the competing Aspects within the geyser.

All the vines that Zhalen had thrown in Rieren’s direction were torn to shreds long before they reached her.

The water ought to have struck Zhalen too. Rieren certainly hadn’t held her Domain back from expanding outwards at a rapid pace. The momentum with which Zhalen had been heading in her direction should have thrown him into the geyser, essentially ending the fight then and there.

Somehow, he managed to survive it. When the rising column of bursting water fell away a few heartbeats later, Rieren found Zhalen had retreated out of harm’s way. He was fine.

Well, physically. A scowl had twisted his expression. He hadn’t been expecting her defence to be that solid.

That effortless.

More vines flew at her, even faster than before. Zhalen mixed it up so that he wasn’t attacking her just head-on too. While he had a horizontal beam of spiky green tendrils lashing in Rieren’s direction, more came in from other sides too. Dozens were snaking over the ground at a rapid pace from either side. He was seeking to coral her in.

Or make it look that way. In truth, Rieren recognized it for the feint that it truly was.

Once more, her geyser took care of the plant matter. The column of coruscating water covered all directions. They both knew that. So, Zhalen wouldn’t be throwing the same attack at her, knowing how futile it was.

Not unless he had something else planned alongside it.

The follow-up—intended to be surprising of course—came a second later. Zhalen just hadn’t attacked her this time. The slight tremble in the earth confirmed it. Rieren’s opponent had struck the battleground itself with his vines, carving a huge chunk of rocks and earth to throw in her direction.

If his vines couldn’t get through to her, then surely the rocks and debris would. Or so Zhalen thought.

New Aspects weren’t all that had changed about Rieren’s Domain. Its power and efficacy had risen too. While the rocks Zhalen had thrown weren’t going to be torn apart as easily as his direct tree-Aspect techniques had been, they wouldn’t harm Rieren. They wouldn’t even get close.

Rieren empowered her Domain’s geyser, forcing the water to carry the debris high up with it. But that wasn’t all she did. She made it expand outwards with rapid pace as well, eating up the ground as it headed towards Zhalen.

He would avoid it without difficulty, of course. Most competitors didn’t make it this far without at least that level of prowess.

So, Rieren tried to pull her own surprise while still hidden by her geyser. She pulled her sword back, activating Rippling Blade to extend its length, slashing it in a wide arc around her as she did so. Rieren had imbued some lightning Aspect, arcs of electricity crackling along her sword’s extended length.

She had finally pulled her Domain’s rise to a stop as she executed Rippling Blade. It was as much to conserve some of the Essence she had been rapidly spending as to see if her counterattack had hit him.

There was no sign of him at all. Rieren was caught off guard for a fraction of a second.

Then she looked up to see him preparing to dive bomb her. Well. It wasn’t truly her fault for not figuring that he’d have Abyss-cursed wings formed by a twisted contraption of vines and tree branches. It spread out wide off his back to create an overlarge canvas for gliding and staying afloat, one Zhalen twisted so that he began falling.

He plummeted towards Rieren with a spike of condensed thorny vines forming a lance aimed right at her heart.