NOVEL NEXT Chapter 141: Chapter 141: Preparation x Progression - Aiming Higher
Time passes in Heavens Arena, and Alex continues his climb. He fights his second and third opponents—both of whom are mediocre fighters with, at most, a basic Hatsu to somewhat compensate for their crippling wounds and deformities. Unlike Alex's first opponent, who was actually strong and earned Alex's respect for his skill, these two enemies prove to be utterly useless.
Alex's second opponent had a missing hand, which he replaced with a conjured round ball. This conjuration created various "fingers" with transmutation, capable of performing tasks beyond those of a normal hand. While the ability was creative, it was ultimately useless in combat. The fake hand granted little more than a few gimmicky techniques, such as sharpening and lengthening his conjured fingers and using them to stab at opponents. Unfortunately for him, those tricks were no match for Alex's sword and shield. The fight ended quickly, with Alex easily overpowering him.
Alex's third opponent was even worse. The man had lost both eyes in a prior battle and wielded a dangerous-looking spear. His strategy revolved around pretending to be fully blind, only to activate En at the right moment to spot his enemy and land a vicious ambush attack. However, Alex had been warned beforehand about this tactic. Fully prepared, Alex easily saw through the ruse. The man's reliance on switching between Ren and En left him vulnerable, as he had no other notable skills or techniques. Alex took him down without much effort, landing numerous nasty stabs and slashes.
After securing these two wins, Alex learns the truth—neither of his last two opponents had wanted to fight him in the first place. Both were sacrifices, sent by their boss to gather information about Alex's abilities. However, the plan backfired spectacularly. Alex only used the most basic techniques in both fights, giving nothing away about his true power. Worse still for the rookie hunters, both of Alex's new opponents suffered terrible sword wounds, with the third enemy sustaining life-threatening injuries.
With the rookie hunters' morale shattered, none of them were willing to experiment further. Even Kell and Nibul, the first two rookie hunters Alex met, had forfeited outright—a fact that Alex regrets somewhat. I should've taken those two out when I had the chance a few weeks ago, he thinks bitterly.
Sitting in his room, Alex takes a moment to check his progress on his secret quest. He now has three real wins under his belt. While his first fight had offered a bit of a struggle, the last two were easy victories. However, earlier in the day, Alex had been informed by the Heavens Arena staff that the remaining rookie hunters—all except their leader—had forfeited their matches against him. This grants Alex a total of nine official wins!
According to Sua, Alex's first opponent was either the strongest or second-strongest fighter of the rookie hunters.
[Secret Quest Updated:
Mission: Win fights in the 200 class of Heavens Arena
Won fights: 9
Reward: ???]
This was way easier and more successful than I could've imagined, Alex thinks, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied grin. As I thought, these rookie hunters were total losers without any real skills.
Despite his success, Alex can't help but feel a bit bored. Now what? he wonders, his mind already drifting to his next challenge.
Menchi enters the room, and Alex greets her with excitement. "Menchi, I missed you. You were gone for quite a while this time. I thought you had ditched me—you disappeared for almost three weeks."
Menchi, wearing a surprisingly skimpy outfit that's slightly warmer than her last one, grins smugly and explains, "Since I'll be leaving for your 'secret place' or whatever, I had to do some last-minute studying. I also gathered a few supplies! With these tools, spices, and condiments, I can work my magic anywhere. But what about you? Besides your messages telling me you obliterated two rookie hunters and that everyone else gave up, you were pretty silent."
Alex answers, "I was mostly training, learning about my target, watching his fights, and preparing strategies to counter him. Along with a bit work… let's call it a side project to get my name out there. I'll be a famous researcher, you'll see."
"I see! So who is it?" Menchi asks, crossing her arms. "I didn't care much about him. And what about your last opponent? It's that leader, right? The one who told those suckers to give me their money? That philanthropist, heh? Shouldn't you focus on him first? Don't get too cocky for beating those losers. These are the weakest fighters in the 200 class, so beating them isn't impressive. Hell, even a talented newbie without any Hatsu could do that."
If she only knew how right she was, Alex thinks, recalling Gon's and Killua's fights against the next generation of rookie hunters.
He responds, "Well, the last target is brilliant, but he's the worst of the bunch. He won all his fights outside of the arena. He's got seven wins and one loss. That loss was his first fight—apparently, it was his initiation. Either he's hiding a grievous wound under his robe, or he just got lucky. I'm not sure. From the tape, it looked like he was hit in the chest during his fight, causing him to faint and almost die. That's as much as I could gather.
"As for the seven wins? They were all by default, because his opponents didn't show up. A bunch of them have never been seen again up to this day. I wonder why Heavens Arena is still letting this scumbag get away with that. So yeah, there's not much I can tell you about him.
"As for my strategy… I'll have another Conjuration ready besides the claw and the armor. It's a grenade. I'm keeping it as my joker so I can instantly turn the tables if things don't look good."
Alex continues, "More importantly… the Floor Master is my favorite kind of enemy. His name is Darius, no tricks, no deception, just pure might. I prefer opponents like that. He uses a giant warhammer, kind of like a Paladin from video games. It looks fierce. His Hatsu revolves around that hammer, allowing him to generate shockwaves by striking the ground.
"He can create a shockwave that sends a booming sound in all directions, disorienting his enemies, or a more focused shockwave that rips through the ground like a damn earthquake, burying anything caught in its path. He's most likely an Enhancer, maybe with a bit of Emission thrown in.
"Beyond his shockwave ability, he's skilled at using his hammer for straight-up smashing, and he can take a few hits, too. He's a rather large enemy—probably as big as Botobai. Despite his Floor Master rank, I don't anticipate too many problems with him. He's stronger than me in Aura and physical strength, but I more than make up for it with my equipment and my jokers. If I'm lucky and haven't revealed my grenades by then, I should be able to catch him off guard and finish him off with a coordinated attack."
Alex pauses before adding, "Anyway, I've got one more month until my fight against that rookie hunter leader. His name's Bawahin—that's all I know about him. After that, if I win, I'll finally get my shot at the Floor Master. I'm getting excited!"
As he speaks, Alex's eyes wander to Menchi's body. Her new outfit consists of a black vest with a see-through black shirt underneath, paired with black hot pants. She's also wearing tall leather boots—practical for adventuring but undeniably stylish.
Menchi grins mischievously and says, "I'll make sure to train you hard so you'll leave this place as a Floor Master."
Alex immediately feels a chill and mutters nervously, "...Normal training is fine, thank you." Memories of her special training flash through his mind, sessions that always leave him collapsing to the ground, utterly exhausted.
Menchi's grin grows even wider, her expression almost sadistic. "Rejected! Let's start now. I've kinda missed this!"
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