Translator : HDGGXIN
Editor : humbletroll
Well an update after a long time lol. Well I have been busy in coaching and other stuff since it’s 3rd year of my uni. Also, since I am in AoE DE closed beta so I have been pretty much sucked into it lol. So much procrastination. Well here’s the chapter. Point out mistakes if any.
The preliminary round. It is conducted in a very large empty room inside the Sky Dome.
The rules of the compet.i.tion are simple. You have to defeat the enemies that attack you and survive until the end of the compet.i.tion is announced. The use of items is prohibited. Player whose HP reaches 0 will be transported to another room instead of dying.
It seems that there were more preliminary rounds being held in the rooms other than this one. I don"t know the exact number of players in this place, but everyone here are strong people with lots of skill and experience. If you are negligent even for a moment you will be defeated. The only way to clear this round and advance to the next is going all out without any hesitation. Not to mention, I do not have any friends here. Among the players here, there will be a few who entered with their fellow guild members. Although the partic.i.p.ants are divided randomly, there are bound to be several people who are in the same place as their friends. Therefore, people will probably work with their friends.
I don’t intend to use rare skills here. It would be if best if I don"t reveal my skills here, or some counter measures might be devised for them later in the compet.i.tion by someone but it would be stupid if I get defeated while trying to hide them.
Each preliminary partic.i.p.ant is given their own private waiting room. I was wondering if the Sky Dome was big enough to give players their own private room but, it seems that all the waiting rooms were divided equally.
I was sitting on a chair in the waiting room, waiting for the preliminary to begin. Players of top guilds such as > were also going to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion.No matter how much I trained in the forest it is still not guaranteed whether I would win or not.
As I was being crushed by tension, my body stated shining with green light.
"Sorry to have you kept waiting. The preliminary will begin immediately. All the players will be automatically transferred to the venue."
As I was thinking, my sight was covered by light and I was transferred to a corner the huge preliminary venue. Many players started transferring around me. An alarmed expression could be seen on everyone"s face as they looked around.
"The end of the preliminary will be indicated by an announcement. So, we request you to fight until then. Well then, players, we wish that you fight bravely."
As soon as the announcement was finished, our bodies were covered with thin film of light. Apparently, this was supposed to prevent us from feeling pain. Oh well, I also really don"t want to feel pain from the fight.
I drew the tachi from my back and hold it. None of the players started attacking at the time of the beginning of the match. Everyone was holding their weapons and were surveying their surroundings. Is this instant what they call a critical situation??
My eyes fell on the man closest to me. His weapons were dual swords.
Our eyes became affixed and didn"t move from each other. I held the sword in such a way that I am able to use it anytime. The battle would begin the moment a person took a step. I swallowed hard and readied myself.
In such a case the person who made the first move would obviously have the advantage, but why would you feel so I wonder…?
"First move wins."
Even if you lose, you should cut down as many enemies as possible. I approached with a dash and before the opponent could move, I attacked with my tachi. The opponent"s response was delayed by a moment and he received the attack while holding his dual swords in a cross. The blades struck each other and sparks flew. I strengthened my grip on the tachi and thrust the opponent away forcefully. He jumped back using > instead of going against the attack.As our fight began, everyone around me started fighting. I have to be careful as this man was not my only enemy.
"It"s surprising that there is still someone who uses a tachi. I haven"t used it, but shouldn"t it awfully inconvenient to use, right?"
The dual sword user started talking to me while holding both his swords in alert.
"It"s easy to use once you get used to it."
As I recalled that man"s words, it reminds me that this tachi was supposed to be unsuitable for combat. Ignoring everything else, nothing of that sort has happened with me. Why is that though? Is it because my skill level when up? I thrust my sword into the man as he asked these questions.
The man seemed have been waiting for me to come in. He activated his skill as soon as I come in range. The swords shone with blue light. The two blades simultaneously swung down diagonally from the right and left side. The skill he used was >. I jumped to the right using > to avoid the blades just before they could touch my body."Huh!? Isn"t that > too fast!?"Before the dual sword user could turn back, I used > and attacked him four times consecutively. His HP decreased by about 50%. The man jumped back and slashed with his dual blades. I jumped back lightly to avoid them."Oi! Oi! Was that really > you used just now!? Your figure completely disappeared!"Due to > being used very often it became very fast. Moreover, it is because of the same reason that all the other skills have also become powerful. It is impossible to shave HP by half using > you get in the early state."uh-Oh!"
I used my tachi to block an attack from behind. Since I was using >, it was possible to sense surprise attacks from behind. The man did not think that I would block the attack and raised a surprised voice "Woah..!!" I moved behind the man at a high speed and thrust my tachi."Looks like a very skilled tachi user has arrived here."
The dual blade user muttered with a bitter smile.