Ascension: Online

(Kaze's Perspective)

After Hina-nee finished her fight, only one last battle needed to take place between the top four guaranteed a spot in the Blessing Nature sect were determined. It was between a human boy named Ling Tian Yu and an elven boy named Rio.

In order to gather intel, I discretely used a skill I picked up from hitting Level 30 a while ago: Inspect II.

This allowed me to use Inspect on NPCs as well, gauging their approximate strength level. There was also an Inspect III which allowed me to inspect Monsters and Magic Beasts, but I ran out of AP, so I was unable to get that, quite unfortunately. It only cost 3 AP though, so one level-up and I would be able to get it. It was certainly a useful skill to have.

Ling Tian Yu and Rio weren't players, but both had similar stats, mainly focused on STR and AGI. Judging from stats alone, Rio seemed to be superior by a slight margin, but from what I could see here, Ling Tian Yu's LUC stat was exceptionally high, at a whopping 300.

Whether that was the result of a certain artifact he possessed or he was just naturally born with good luck, I had no idea. If it was the latter, then hell, I'm jealous. I wish I had erased my emotion of jealousy instead, because damn, this feeling sucks.

Still, if I had to fight either of them, I would win. My stats were far higher than theirs, and I also had a plethora of arts to use at my disposal, some of which I haven't even revealed yet in the tournament.

As soon as the battle began, Rio initiated the fight, charging at Ling Tian Yu with his broadsword. The human responded in turn, letting metal clash against metal with a satisfying sound.

The two continued to exchange blows, taking turns attacking and defending. However… I noticed something strange.

Every time Rio stabbed at Ling Tian Yu, he seemed to miss by just a slight bit, and Ling Tian Yu wasn't even trying to dodge. His movements seemed perfectly natural — as if he wasn't defending at all, but instead counterattacking.

"That's weird," Hina-nee murmured from beside me. Seems like she's noticed it too.

"How has he not gotten hit yet…?" Furuwa shook her head in bewilderment. "He's not even trying to dodge, yet somehow the elf's sword strikes just keep missing, almost like he's trying to lose or something. Paid actors, or bribery, like that last 'young master' guy or whatever?"

"Perhaps, but… from what I can see through Inspect II, Ling Tian Yu has a LUC stat of 300," I replied.

"3-300?!" the two girls dropped their jaws.

"Hm, that's no fun~" Nadeshiko pouted, folding her arms. "I hate people who rely on luck for everything… I prefer Kaze here more, hehe~"

"Stop taking advantage of every possible moment to flirt with Kaze-kun!" Hina-nee whispered sharply, shooting Nadeshiko a look of disdain.

"Yes, yes…"

I ignored their childish exchange and kept my attention focused on the fight, where the two contestants were still going at it full-force.

Several minutes passed, with no sign of development. Both sides have yet to land a single solid hit on one another. That said, Ling Tian Yu was slowly running out of energy, but Rio seemed to be doing just fine still. Elven genetics, I suppose.

At the rate things were going, Rio would win through endurance. But…

Suddenly, Ling Tian Yu unleashed a battle cry, wanting to end this within this next blow that contained all of his remaining strength.

"RAHHH!"

Rio's eyes widened as he took a step back and prepared to block, but then, to everyone's surprise, his foot ended up stepping on the end of his own cape, causing him to slip and fall backwards.

"Wha-!"

"TAKE THIS!" Ling Tian Yu swung his sword down towards Rio's falling and vulnerable body, not even giving him a chance.

"AHH!" Rio screamed in agony as the sword was plunged deep into his stomach.

Gritting his teeth to contain the pain, he grabbed the handle of Ling Tian Yu's sword and pulled the blade out of his own body with one good heave.

However, Ling Tian Yu was absolutely merciless. He plunged the sword deep into Rio's body once more, this time directly in the heart.

"NGH!" Rio's dying yell was not one of anger at his opponent, but mere frustration at himself falling.

Slowly but surely, Rio's arms fell limp by his side, his sword falling out of his hand.

Ling Tian Yu took a couple of deep breaths, panting heavily, before finally pulling his weapon out of his opponent's corpse.

"The winner of the match is… Ling Tian Yu!" the mayor announced amidst the sound of the drums being struck.

"Hah… you saved my life again, lucky charm…" he murmured faintly before walking off the stage, legs weak and exhausted.

"Lucky charm, huh…" I muttered under my breath.

"Should we investigate him?" Furuwa asked.

I shook my head. "The semifinals are starting right after lunch anyway. It's not like we'll have a lot of time to spy on him. Besides, given his current condition… it'll take a miracle for him to recover in time."

"Unless he has pills," Aisa interrupted.

"Speaking of, how the hell do I make pills? Or do I have to buy them?" I asked, scratching my head.

"… I will explain at a restaurant," she replied after some hesitation.

"What, even you can get hungry?" Furuwa raised an eyebrow.

"No. But the explanation will take some time. I was merely showing concern for you humans. Take it or leave it."

"Right, thanks, Aisa," I sighed and opened up my System, checking the time. "Okay… any moment now…"

"Alright everyone," the mayor announced once Rio's body had been cleaned off the stage. "We will now be holding a short lunch break. The tournament's semifinals will begin in the afternoon, at 1 PM exactly. The time is now 11 AM, meaning you will have 2 hours for lunch, contestants. This should be more than enough. That's all!"

"Yep, there it is. Let's go," I said. The announcement I had been waiting for Zhen Yuhan to make had been made, so we could finally leave now.

The girls followed behind me as we headed for a familiar restaurant we've ate at a couple of times before, just to save time.

*****

"So. Tell me about pills," I said, sipping on some water. We were currently waiting for our order to arrive.

"Pills are extraordinary items that provide great benefits," Aisa explained. "They can increase your cultivation speed, temporarily boost your stats, neutralize status ailments, and even cure curses or otherwise deadly diseases."

"Mhm, I kind of figured," I replied. "They definitely sound amazing, but the problem is, how do I get them?"

"At your current level, you can only obtain them via one of four ways: purchasing or trading them off of someone else, winning them as rewards in tournaments, finding them hidden in the wild, and lastly, the rare chance of one dropping from a Magic Beast kill. I listed the four methods in order from easiest to strongest, just for your information."

"Purchasing… damn," I muttered. "They've gotta be expensive, right?"

Aisa nodded. "Naturally. However, you are not exactly poor, are you?"

"That's true. With the money I currently have, how many pills can I buy, roughly?"

"That depends on the vendor and grade of the pill, but…" Aisa narrowed her eyes, making calculations inside of her supercomputer head. "You currently have approximately 350,000 gold. A Low-Grade pill costs around 5,000 gold in general, meaning you would be able to purchase about 70 of them before ending up without a room to stay in at night."

"Even a Low-Grade pill costs 5,000?" Hina-nee's eyes widened. "Then what do the other grades cost?"

"Pills are really not something you should be worrying about with your current level, but… as a guide, every pill costs twice as much as another pill of a grade below. In other words, Low-Grade pills cost 5,000 gold, so Mid-Grade pills cost 10,000. High-Grade pills cost 20,000, and the list goes on."

"How many pill grades are there in total?" Furuwa asked curiously.

"There are seven ranks to pills in total, but pills above High-Grade are rare in this world nowadays."

"I see… so, for now, we should just focus on getting stronger without the help of any pills?" I asked.

"Correct. Speaking in 'video game' terms, certain cultivation speed boosting pills are essentially 'XP booster packs'. However, while these may be useful if this were really all a game, these pills do come with a demerit as well — they will destabilize your foundation."

"Huh…"

"It is a little complicated to explain, but think of it like this," Aisa sighed. "Cultivation is not just a matter of physically getting stronger and being able to use stronger arts. It also involves spiritual foundation — and before a certain level of spiritual enlightenment is reached, one cannot break their bottleneck and ascend to the next stage."

"Hm, and how do you get this 'enlightenment'?" Hina-nee asked.

"Fighting and even killing is the best and most effective method," Aisa said calmly. "After a certain amount of kills and combat, your soul and mind will mature enough for the next cultivation stage. That is how enlightenment works in this world."

"Killing?" Nadeshiko's ears perked up, despite having been silent this whole conversation. "Hehehe~ sounds fun…"

"Nadeshiko, no-" I desperately tried to calm her down, like a father to a rampaging child. It proved to be of little to no effect whatsoever on Nadeshiko's hysterical giggling that attracted many suspicious gazes towards us.

Some recognized us as contestants in the tournament, but all of them were far too scared of Nadeshiko to approach us. She's made quite the name for herself, here in this city.

Our food arrived soon after, and even the waitress was uncomfortable, seeing Nadeshiko.

She's really a walking disaster, but if I could hone her as my blade, then she could prove to be a powerful tool.