The Traveler Initiative [A Monster Evolution LitRPG]

I came back into the waiting room to cheers and congratulations, instantly topping out on HP, MP, and VMP the second I crossed the threshold. A wave of relief washed over me as the pain disappeared and I could think clearly again. I contemplatively made my way over to my usual spot, absentmindedly wishing Nimma good luck as she was called out for the first semi-final match.

This fight had been so, so close. There was an argument to be made that I only won due to the berserking style Pirsa adopted. If she hadn't mindlessly stood in the lava, taking constant damage, I'd most likely have lost. It drove home the point that my opponents in this tournament weren't any old run-off-the-mill monsters. Recently I barely encountered a real challenge in the monsters I fought, even if they were higher-tiered than me. My biggest advantages, namely my massive attribute pool and unusual amount of high-tiered skills and mutations gave me an unbeatable edge when facing off against other monsters.

I couldn't even remember the last time my mana had bottomed out, yet, Pirsa had almost forced me to zero. The shield spell had obviously saved me, but at the same time, faced with a barrage of attacks like that, it ate through my mana like nobody's business. Sure, I was probably rated in the top one percent when it came to MP, but that didn't mean I was invincible. I felt like I'd become a bit complacent recently, but now something was stirring deep inside of me, a sort of momentum pushing me forward. I wasn't done growing stronger yet. There were wildly stronger opponents out there, and I barely stepped into the ring, able to call myself a contender.

I got excited, setting my sights on a level of power I could hardly imagine.

My eyes flicked to the arena, watching Rollo as he stepped out of his waiting room, no doubt about to thoroughly trounce Nimma. I watched him calmly approach his starting circle, the hunger growing inside of me. I wanted to, no, NEEDED to fight him. There was a real chance that I might lose, that I'd get completely dismantled, but I had a mighty need to measure myself against who was probably the strongest entity I've met to date. I almost forgot that Lophan was betting on me taking the whole thing home for them, the vague sense of duty replaced with a want that almost consumed me.

I took a look at the bracket and felt a wave of disgust upon seeing that Garreth was my next opponent. An irrational hatred for Garreth flashed up briefly. How dare he bar me from my deepest desire? I forced myself to calm down, noticing that I was getting agitated, implementing some thought exercises the therapist had shown me. It was okay. I could still get my fight, all I had to do was defeat Garreth, and I'd get to measure myself against Rollo. I felt the last bit of hesitance peel away, vowing to not hold back any more skills, screw the consequences. If Garreth couldn't handle a void rend, so be it.

My eyes were glued to Rollo as the system horn sounded, drowning out the cheers of the crowd above. If I wanted to stand a chance, I would need to observe carefully. Any hint I could glean from this fight would become another weapon I could use against him later. At first, not much happened, Nimma taking a similar stance to what Garreth did in his last match, although she didn't inch forward slowly, instead opting for a slow and careful jog.

Rollo on the other hand moved into the stance we'd seen from him before, low center of gravity, fists at the ready. He just stood there, waiting for Nimma to approach, making me wonder if he could even move properly. In all three matches so far, he'd barely moved from his starting position, casually dismantling his opponents seemingly without trying. I had to assume it was some sort of show of force, and not an opening to exploit. I'm sure if he felt threatened, he'd show speeds similar to or above what Pirsa had displayed.

It seemed like there was not going to be a battle of wits in this match, as Nimma closed the distance into close quarters, and they began wailing on each other. Skills lit up one after another as both of them tried to get the advantage over the other. Nimma expertly defended each strike while lashing out with her sword, while Rollo rained down a barrage of blows upon her shield. The whole exchange looked amazing. Two experts in their field fusing technique and skill in a display of grace and lethality that I'd rarely seen before.

It made me wonder if I could do more as well. My approach to battle consisted of having the bigger stick than my enemy, and not being afraid to swing it. Surely that approach would fail me one day. Was there such a thing as combat stances and techniques for mages? I would have to look into that. If there was, I should be able to reach a whole new level of power.

Sadly, while Nimma was putting up an amazing display, it was clear from the first exchange that Rollo had the bigger stick in this case. Every skill-enhanced punch had so much force behind it that Nimma had problems standing her ground. The frantic exchange took barely ten seconds before Rollo found an opening, a flurry of movement, and the next thing I knew, Nimma had been disarmed. Her sword and shield were sailing across the arena, and before she could do anything about it with her telekinesis, a series of blows rained down on her.

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What followed was a gruesome combo where Nimma could do nothing except take the hits. At one point she was slammed so hard into the ground that she bounced back up a whole meter, where an axe-kick put her right back down. It was hard to watch my friend be wasted like that, but I still burned the memory into my mind. Soon, this could happen to me, and I didn't have as high a defense as Nimma did.

Unsurprisingly, the system called the fight soon after, Rollo returning victoriously, while Nimma's unmoving body was brought back to the waiting room. I hopped over to check on her, but any concern was unneeded, as the system's healing was perfect. She stood up with an annoyed groan soon after being brought in.

"That guy is a monster…" Nimma complained as she walked over to a couch and plopped down. "Don't get caught when you fight him."

"I wasn't planning on it," I replied solemnly. "Did you manage to figure out anything else?"

"I did," Nimma smiled mischievously. "Would you like to know?"

I thought about it long and hard while looking at Nimma and replaying the fight that had just taken place. Did I really want to know? A short while ago, I'd have definitely said yes, since I wanted to win in order to help Lophan. Then again, did it really matter which side won? All that would change was who would sit in the government's office. The me right now still wanted to win, but even more than that, I wanted to experience another crazy fight like I just had with Pirsa. One that really got my adrenaline pumping.

"No, I don't think I want to," I replied eventually, certain that knowing a potential weakness could dampen my experience. "But thanks for offering."

"Yeah, yeah," Nimma waved me off. "Now get out there, Garreth is already waiting."

I winced, almost having forgotten that I still needed to beat Garreth if I wanted to get a go at Rollo, and quickly left the waiting room. Garreth was standing in his circle, sword and shield in hand, and following my every move. I quickly went over all I knew about him and his fighting style and started to wonder if I could still keep void rend a secret. If I managed to do so, it could become my ace when facing off against Rollo. It was quickly becoming apparent that when facing Rollo, I would need to hit hard and fast, or I would simply get bowled over. Having a spell like void rend in my back pocket could perhaps provide just the surprise I needed to win.

"You know, I was worried about you," Garreth suddenly called over in perfect void. "You were the one uncertain value in this tournament, but seeing how much you struggled against Pirsa, I'm certain we'll win."

I didn't immediately reply and stopped just short of entering my circle. Was he taunting me? What for? Seemed like a weird choice to make, since he was apparently so certain that they'd take it home. Maybe he thought that he would have difficulties facing me, but seeing how much pressure Pirsa put me under, Rollo should win easily? In that case, he was thinking along the same lines as I had. Garreth was dangerous to be sure, but in the end, he shouldn't be able to chase after my teleports like Pirsa did.

"We'll see who wins and who loses when I face off against Rollo," I said, before moving into the circle.

The fact that I was going to win here was left unsaid, but I could feel that we both knew. I'd gotten good at reading asphon tells, and this guy was definitely annoyed. The system announced the start, and off we went. Just as I'd predicted, Garreth had no way of nullifying my teleports, which made it pretty easy to blow him to kingdom come. Sure, his defense was impeccable, and he defended more spells than I could count. I knew he had fate reversal as his ace, but unfortunately for him, I'd seen the skill in action before.

While Garreth had quite a few skills that caused his entire body to glow, it was almost impossible to tell when fate reversal would be activated, and when it was just a normal defensive skill. That didn't matter much in the end, as I simply stopped casting spells whenever I saw a skill cover his whole body. Garreth cursed me out the entire time, sometimes comically running after me even though he knew there was no point to it. He sometimes even deflected my spells back at me.

In the end, this was once again an unfortunate match-up for Kurra. While not as easy a fight as my first one, I wasn't threatened too much by Garreth. He was obviously built for team-based combat, and while he could stand his ground in a 1v1, there were glaring gaps in what he could and couldn't do when faced with an opponent like me without backup.

So it was that I won about twelve minutes after the match started. Garreth had put up a valiant fight, trying everything in his arsenal, but in the end, it didn't even matter. And he wasn't a graceful loser either, cursing me out like a sailor, all the while assuring me that Rollo would destroy me like the tiny slug I was. I went back to the waiting room to restore my MP in good spirits, for I couldn't wait to finally fight the strongest warrior the seventh had to offer me. I even managed to keep void rend a secret, which would hopefully give me an advantage.

Win or lose, I couldn't wait to face off against Rollo.