Risen World

Exhaustion could be felt in every portion of Joshua's body. Even after Dmitry had been teleported out of the stadium. Joshua willed himself to stand as he looked toward the crowd that had been silent ever since the large explosion from Dmitry's body being overloaded and realized everyone was staring at him not making a sound. Joshua forced out a smile and strained himself to raise his hand and wave to the crowd which finally got everyone roaring once more. Many of the audience rose from their seats and cheered loudly. Some were shouting out towards Joshua, but since there were so many people trying to get his attention at the same time he couldn't make out what one person was saying over the other.

Joshua eyed the crowd for a while looking to see if he could spot his family and eventually saw his mother and father cheering him on. His mother was like an excited fan that was clapping and shouting his name while his father was busy pulling some random guy next to him in to a one armed hug. From the way he was shouting Joshua got the impression that he was pointing out that they were related. Joshua did spot some other people from the alliance in the crowd like Nathan and Naomi, but anyone who competed in the tournament was likely still in their waiting rooms watching the show.

Before Joshua fell over from exhaustion the battle arena finally decided to teleport him away back to his room and he sighed with relief as all of his injuries vanished. He had been in the worst state possible and he hadn't felt so bad since the time he broke his arm and most of his body in the fight against the town boss at the end of the first phase. Dmitry was definitely not a push over and was someone that Joshua knew could beat him if a few things were flipped around during the match. His mind was already trying to think of other ways to handle someone like Dmitry without getting himself put in a position where he was so bad off. If Joshua had known the extent of Dmitry's draining ability he might have tried to deal a crippling blow right away directed at a vital spot, but that would be tough to do in an actual fight.

Looking back on all of the matches he went through Joshua could see why competition was so high in the hub city and that fact alone excited him. If a tournament in a single hub city in a small newly evolved planet like earth was so exciting and challenging, then what would it be like when he was put in tournaments on a much grander scale. On earth there had to be several people with unique abilities and that was just one little planet in a much bigger system. Eventually Joshua and the rest of his kind would have to strike out into the much larger universe to face other intelligent beings that have their own worlds and capabilities. Winning this tournament was just a baby step in the broader picture, but it was one that put Joshua ahead of all the rest going forward.

Before Joshua could sink even further down that thought process he was sent a message by the system that grabbed his attention. While thinking about future endeavors was fun and all Joshua was still excited to see what exactly he would be getting as a reward for the tournament.

[Congratulations on winning the first hub city tournament. The reward ceremony will be taking place shortly and all explorers who have participated in the last day's portion will be getting a specialty reward depending on where they finished. Anyone that participated in the tournament as a whole will be getting a smaller reward, but all shall be revealed during the ceremony. Sit back and relax, a countdown will alert you to win you will be teleported into the arena.]

After reading the message Joshua smiled and sat down on the couch in front of the screen in the waiting room. He could see that the crowd was still crazily cheering even when the match had been over for a few minutes. Eventually they finally started to calm down as Sarah came out into the now fixed arena. Instead of being on a big screen above the arena like usual she was now standing in the center of it. The arena was projecting her voice so the crowd could hear her as she cleared her throat so that she could gain everyone's attention. The screen above the arena floor was zoomed in on her face so that everyone could see her clearly.

"Well with that match our tournament has come to an end and we have our winner. Joshua the leader of the Fenrir Guild has come out on top in what amounted to one of the closest matches I have ever seen." She said getting another round of cheers from everyone. "With all of the matches having come to a close it is time for us to dull out the rewards."

Joshua smiled at this. With such a big introduction tournament for the battle arena Joshua knew that the rewards was going to have to be something good. The system would definitely want people to keep coming to the battle arena as both participants and audience members. In the case of participants the systems wants more explorers to grow in strength and experience by challenging each other in an environment that didn't amount to life or death struggles with one another. In the end the system wanted to strengthen and help humanity evolve like so many other species that had joined it. It also wanted to keep audience members coming so that the flow of system currency would be more consistent. Eventually humans would join all of the other races that used the system currency and getting accustomed to doing so on a smaller scale was always useful.

With those thoughts running through his mind Joshua made sure to pay attention to what Sarah would say next. "Before we get to bringing those who made it to the final sixty four to the arena for their awards there are a few things that must be brought up." Sarah said with a smile. "Don't worry I'm sure you will all enjoy the news. First the system wished us to let it be known that for the next week there will be no territory wars. It shall be considered a resting period for after a major tournament. You can still explore new areas or try to take down territories that haven't been concurred, but you can't go and attack another guild right now after so many have participated in this tournament."

Joshua nodded at this since it made sense. It would be a pain in the ass to suddenly have to defend James Town after all of this. He watched as Sarah brought up her next point. "Next I shall inform all participants of the rewards for those who entered the tournament and did not make it to the last portion. You shall all be given some of a new currency that can only be gained from the system in two ways." Once Sarah said this it grabbed everyone's full attention. "This currency can be used to buy certain things from a new system shop that shall be opening up in the market portion of the hub city at the end of the week. The only way to gain this currency is either by winning in tournaments or the battle arena in general. Regular matches won't give nearly as large of a reward as tournaments, but the currency can be gambled in matches in the arena. The other way to gain the currency is by conquering new territories."

The idea of a new currency was interesting to Joshua. The fact that it could only be used at a specific shop meant that shop probably had items and luxuries that would be beneficial well beyond the current level and strength of explorers. The battle arena would be something that would be around even after humans started interacting with other races on a larger scale, so it would be a currency that would be more than worth stockpiling.

"All those who participated will be given ten coins of this currency depending on the amount of matches that you won in the preliminaries. If you didn't win any matches you will still be given five coins." Sarah explained.

Joshua nodded at this. The fact that the amount seemed so little was a good sign that the coins would be incredibly valuable. "Moving on to the bigger winners let's give a big congratulations for all of those who made it to the first round of the final day of the tournament." When Sarah said this thirty two contestants appeared on the arena behind her. These were all of the people that had lost in the first round. Joshua could make out some familiar faces like Ivan who had lost to Laura, and Isabella who had lost to Vince. Dillon, Robin, and Adam were all also there making it five members of the alliance who had lost in the first round. They all went down against tough opponents. Even Shawn was standing their looking a bit disappointed in himself after losing so early to Joshua.

"Everyone who made it to this point is given a reward of a hundred coins of the new currency added to the ten per a match that they would have won in the preliminaries. They shall also gain one level up from the system." Sarah said with a smug smile that caused people in the audience to be surprised. With this first wave of rewards Joshua already had an idea of how things were going to go and was shocked. At this point gaining levels was challenging and getting them so easily would be a great reward. Of course by the time everyone reached their second tier combat jobs and beyond some levels gained right now wouldn't seem all that big, but it would make it a whole lot easier to challenge harder dungeons now.

After that revelation another row of people appeared in the arena. This time around there were sixteen people. These were all the participants that had lost in the second round. Among them Joshua could see Rex who was one of the stronger members of the World Government Guild, Amy who Joshua had taken down himself looking extremely excited as she waved to the crowd, Natalie, Aito, Adrian, and Vince to name a few. There was also the Stranger's Guild leader who had caught everyone's attention with her ruins and a random fire mage that had gotten lucky up until the point where he had to face Henry.

"Those who made it to the second round will gain two hundred coins of the new currency along with ten coins for every match they had one in the preliminaries. They will also gain two level ups from the system." Sarah said with a smile before introducing the next group. From then on each group was brought into the arena at a time with the rewards getting progressively better. The eight people who had lost in the third round were given four hundred coins and three level ups. The four people that had lost in the quarter finals were given eight hundred coins and four level ups. Lily and Madalyn who had made it to the semifinals were given two thousand coins and five level ups. Then Dmitry was brought to the arena still grinning even after losing the match. He was given five thousand coins of the new currency and six level ups.

When it was Joshua's turn to be brought forth the crowd started cheering even louder. "Lastly we have our tournament champion." Sarah said as Joshua was brought into the arena standing right next to her. She gave him a light smile before continuing the ceremony. "As the winner of this tournament he shall be rewarded with ten thousand of the new currency and seven level ups. He shall also gain the title of Hub City Champion."

The crowd broke out into a ruckus at the mention of the title and Joshua could see that most of the other participants were clapping and congratulating him whether because they were genuinely happy for him or in some cases just putting on a good show. "Well champion, do you have any words for us?" Sarah said getting everyone to quiet down and listen to what Joshua had to say.

He smiled a bit and only said three words. "It was fun.."