Chapter 190: Tournament of Champions: Part 1
"*Sigh* How the hell did I ended up here?
Oh… that's right!
I fucking left Maverick unsupervised!!"
'Oh, pish posh, Esy.
You'll be fine…
The pre-battle stats check has put you up against something competitive and powerful enough to possibly give you a challenge.'
"Carter, I don't need your shit right now.
Let me suffer in peace…"
Carter couldn't help but laugh at Esmond's comment before defending their younger sibling.
'Oh, come on!
Maverick wasn't conscious enough of his surroundings and it was near impossible for him to utilise the Shadow Intelligence Agency to help find threats.'
Right now, Carter couldn't take Esmond blaming Maverick any further, especially when he was standing in the middle of an expansive area.
.
Earlier, Esmond entered the Retail Market World after dressing himself in a mixture of equipment created within the Space Ark and the Pocket Spaces registered with the Retail Market System.
From wearing a face mask to hide his identify completely, Esmond wore some dark armour with hints of the Atlaesyxrian Imperium colours to represent the authority and might of his new homeland.
It also included some basic advertisement on the equipment from the Ark and Astrum Bank, including the Primal Star Corporation that Maverick controlled.
The equipment was supplied by the Heiramli craftsmen and smiths with methods and techniques of the Space Ark, but the quality of the materials already helped them achieve some amazing results.
Esmond's equipment and weapons were forged by a pair of Heiramli craftsmen along with guidance from great master craftsmen.
They were largely retired from working their entire lives but after they moved over to the Pocket Space, the medical facilities and resources helped them revitalise their passion again to pass on their knowledge or display it through fresh pieces of work.
Maverick recruited them with people of the Space Ark to create the perfect armour and equipment for Esmond to utilise in the Tournament of Champions.
Esmond didn't want to participate in the stupid contest, but he had to after Maverick accepted a taunt of another corporation after they issued a challenge with assets on the line.
.
"I understand Carter, and I don't blame him… I'm just annoyed that I need to take part in such a stupid event.
The rewards will be based on the people that watch the fight and what the Retail Market System thinks…
It just sounds exhausting.
The blood challenge isn't thing but an extravagated gamble for the other parties and us."
'Then drown out everything else and only focus on the fight.
That's how you'll push through this mess.
Soon you won't need to worry about the gamble, as the riches will make a position in the Retail Market stronger and near untouchable.'
Listening to Carter's dear words, Esmond triple checked his armoured suits systems for any issues or problems before the battle begun.
Esmond's Knightly Powered Armour Suit was made to be as strong as the toughest modern Space Ark armours while incorporating the design style of medieval renaissance.
Nothing was too chunky or overly exaggerated to cause him any problem during battle, which suited his battle style that was fast paced and destructive.
The twin blades were forged into Nihonto swords that Halkgon dressed in the finest minerals and resources to make it incredibly tough and lightweight.
Both were unsheathed and held tightly by Esmond as Carter finally left him alone in the middle of the Arena as the announcer called for the attention of the immense crowd.
"Ladies~ and gentlemen!
It is TIME!! For the Tournament of Champions to begin!!
Our first Battle Royale of the evening shall begin in 5!
…
4!
…
3!
…
2!
…
1!
…
GO!
May the glory of the bloodbath serve your journey through the tournament!!"
As the announcer finished up, Esmond saw the baren sandy floor of the arena with grandstands in the background, change into an expansive forest with a sun in the sky and fresh air all around.
Esmond noticed the two moons in the sky that took up most of the clear blue sky in broad daylight.
It didn't affect the jungle and flora of the landscape from what Esmond could sense for now, but he figured it helped maintain the large height of the jungle plants and trees.
'Stop looking around like a pitiful fool who's moved to the city from a 'simple' farm.
This isn't the time for that gooey crap.' Carter set up the first target on the mini map of the HUD of the helmet, easily helping Esmond know which direction to take.
Not wanting to let all of his strength out at once, Esmond had already unlocked his strength up to around 200 for the Stat Attributes, leaving him plenty of strength in reserve.
But as Esmond whizzed through the dense jungle, using the twin blades to carve himself a little extra space to move around freely, he quickly noticed through his HUD Mini Map that people were grouping up around certain natural landmarks.
Not wanting to be the jerk to interfere on their little meetings, Esmond wandered around for a while until he came across a pack of creatures that tried to take him down.
They were overgrown anaconda snakes that made them roughly 50 plus metres with a rough diameter of 3 metres.
The mammoth creatures were placed in the map to help eliminate the weaker System User, leaving only the worthy behind.
Not many would dare challenge creatures because they were near impossible to kill but Esmond instead saw it as an opportunity.
He sensed poison within the anaconda creature, and it was a great deal saved up for a surprise attack.
Esmond wanted to use the anaconda and its venom to create a powerful alcoholic drink that would help strengthen his body aura and make it deadlier.
It was honestly overkill for Esmond, but he was afraid of the Gods in the CounterWorld who hadn't awoken yet and paid their allegiance to him.
He was positive another war awaited him in the CounterWorld but his mind chose to focus on the present and it wanted the anaconda above everything else.
Dashing straight towards the huge creature, Esmond to shoulder charged into it, in the hopes it would knock itself out enough for him to land the killing blow.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, well however you may wish to put it, since Esmond put too much strength into his shoulder attack as it ripped the creature in half instead.
Esmond was rewarded 50 points for his kill but in his mind, it wasn't worth it because the creature went to waste.
Picking up what was left of its body, Esmond threw it carefully into the Spatial Ark Star World without anyone noticing his actions.
The few who thought they saw something assumed Esmond was storing the creature in his Inventory as a sign of victory or for medicine.
Nobody knew that it actually moved instantly into the Spatial Ark Star World, with several members of Carter's Virtual Profile Intelligence team looking after their enhanced growth.
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After Esmond made quick work of the creatures, he decided to attack any other creatures or beasts he could find.
None of them stood out as overly threatening or problematic as they quickly perished under the weight of Esmond's fast and powerful blade strikes.
Making sure to not waste his energy needlessly, Esmond effortlessly moved through the jungle trees to kill anything that came in the way.
Those who watched from around the Arena and Retail World couldn't help but feel confused by the lack effort Esmond placed on hunting down other competitors.
They paid the greatest number of points and with a battle royale scenario, it would be best to attack the other participants.
Maverick understood this and also felt a little annoyed with Esmond for wasting time killing creatures instead, but after he looked over at the points leader board, Esmond just happened to be near the top.
Through the creatures he'd killed so far, Esmond made plenty of points to help himself survive and reach the next round, but it still made Maverick feel uneasy.
His anxiety got worse as Esmond fastened his pace and started crushing most creatures with his bare hands when the swords started becoming a distraction.
The crowd thought this was a foolish move, but they quickly came to regret that thought as Esmond became worse and started to rip creatures apart like they were paper.
Everything was stored immediately by Esmond, but as the growing crowd watching him increased to great heights, it also started to worry certain figures of the Retail Market World who saw deep trouble.
"This is getting out of hand…"
"You're telling me, I'm already out 10,000 Credits.
But I'm surprised… the man seems to be loudly declaring his allegiance with certain companies."
"Worry not, Sylvester, it shall all fall into our hands by the time the tournament is over."
.
'Esy, if you don't pick up the pace, we'll have close to 80 creatures surrounding you from all sides.
For God's sake, why did you decide to head further into the mountain valley?!'
"Because I sensed something valuable at the bottom of the valley.
But its also dangerous as fuck…"
'Just roll with the swings I guess…'
"… Always the cheeriest of people, aren't you Carter."
Esmond decided to try out some Kickboxing and Krav Maga while beating up the incoming creatures on his stationary position.
Three beasts roared at Esmond while clawing his head, but they were blasted away with a brisk kick to the head, shattering their skulls.
It was all effortless for Esmond to kill such creatures, but in the eyes of the growing audience on him, they were all terrified by Esmond's strength.
In particular, the few parties who planned to kill Esmond rethought their plans as they figured the current set up wouldn't even scratch the target of their fury.
Esmond knew nothing of the chaos he created, but Maverick and his rocky intelligence network came screaming back with all sorts of schemes and problems Esmond created for himself without attacking a single participant.
However, the only thing on his mind was the vast variety of creatures that helped broaden the range of monsters within the Spatial Ark Star World.
This became increasingly important as Esmond dived into the mountain valley, covered in various colours of blood and guts all over his armour.
'*Sigh* I wish I could go savage as well…
Oh, the humanities… hahaha!' Carter laughed aloud with his voice transmitting to Esmond, who sensed the annoyance and sarcasm in his voice.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone