Chapter 463: Flash of Lightning

Julius found himself quite entertained by all of the fighting. He was completely engrossed as he watched the hundred competitors slaughter the monsters.

“That girl is not so bad,” Freya commented as they watched Christina finally cross the seventy-point threshold. Since they were technically his “guardians”, they were allowed in the family area to observe the fights.

Julius had been expecting to see Derek’s family here as well, but apparently, they had their very own VIP seating since they were such a prominent house. They had been offered a place as well, but he wanted to see what it was like from here first. Perhaps, he would take their offer tomorrow after his own group match begins. His group match was the second of the day, and so he would have plenty of time to relax and watch the rest of the matches with them if he wanted to.

“That little lightning field is quite a good skill. If she nurtures it properly, it can become a powerful part of her domain. She shouldn’t have any issues with going on to the next stage,” Cain added.

Julius nodded. He had thought of the same thing when he had seen it for the first time. Christina wasn’t the fastest person to earn a hundred points, but she was almost certainly going to. A lot of the people around her had barely earned fifty points. It was surprising to see how many of the other fighters focused on the monsters that rewarded more points.

The normal monsters were left alone for the most part, which helped Christina earn so many points without much interference. The only time someone had stolen her kill was when she had gone after a monster worth five points. She hadn’t gone after another one since.

Only a small number of extremely talented people had completed the task and were already leaving the field.

The first person to earn a hundred points came from a young man Julius didn’t recognize. They had only targeted the monsters worth ten points and had done so with incredible speed. The man had hunted down the lizard monsters with brutal efficiency. Using only a sword to do so.

A single sword swing was all it took to remove the monsters’ heads. Calm, clean, and precise. That was how Julius would comment on the style of this swordsman. They were very strong.

Julius wanted to ask the others who this guy was, but they were with Derek in his family’s private seating area. To be fair, it wasn’t like Derek could go off on his own; he had his own responsibilities, and the others decided to keep him company. Though in Julius’s opinion, they likely had been lured in by the food that was provided.

Julius shook his head in disappointment.

Imagine being a slave to food, I would never let myself fall that far, he said to himself while popping in another handful of popcorn.

The young swordsman hadn’t bothered with the boss monster, most likely understanding that its massive vitality and endurance would make beating it a tiresome ordeal. Not to mention, it wasn’t guaranteed that someone else wouldn’t take the final kill.

Julius shook his head as louder explosions rocked the field, and the other competitors slammed the creature with attacks of all varieties. They were powerful attacks, but against the toughness of the boss monster, it looked like it was futile.

It was surprising to see so many people still focusing on the large creature. It seemed like a waste of time and almost felt like people were doing it to prove a point. To show how strong they were.

Despite their questionable strategies, Julius was a little shocked at how powerful these Tier 3s were. Each one of them was strong and an elite. Various and powerful Concepts backed their attacks. He suspected that almost every single one of them had an Emblem to call their own. Which also meant they likely had at least three Concepts.

These were the Empire’s blooming talents, and he would be going up against them. He couldn’t lie, he was feeling a little bit excited at the prospect of that.

***

A couple of hours later, he was still sitting down next to Cain and Freya. However, he was much more interested in the upcoming fight. It was because Derek would be participating in this group. As luck would have it, Edgar would also be fighting at the same time.

He was just about to tuck in and watch when he was suddenly approached by two people he hadn’t been expecting to see. Honestly, he had sort of forgotten that they were competing as well. It was also a little surprising to see them here together.

“I was wondering if I would see you here,” Irene Graves commented as she walked up to Julius.

“More like hoping you would see him,” Liam Abrams said haughtily from beside her, earning him a not-too-gentle nudge on the shoulder.

Julius smiled when he saw them. “It’s good to see you guys again.”

Liam’s haughty look transformed into a grin when he met Julius’s eyes. “How are you feeling? Nervous? Excited?”

Julius was always a bit surprised at how different Liam had become after he had been beaten in the top sixteen match. Julius would have thought it would make Liam dislike him even more, but on the contrary, the other boy became quite pleasant toward Julius.

“A little bit of both,” Julius answered with a shrug. “What are you guys doing here? I thought your families would have a special place to watch the matches from.”

Irene nodded. “We do, but we also are in the next group, so we came down so we are closer and can get ready once it ends. When do you fight? I want to make sure I don’t miss it,” she said with a glint in her eyes.

“I am in the second group tomorrow,” he responded to her.

“Have you gotten stronger?” Liam suddenly asked, quite bluntly, too.

Julius chuckled. “I guess you will have to see for yourself,” he said with a challenging smirk.

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Liam laughed. “Hopefully, we come across one another in the second or third stage.”

“You’re that confident that you’ll make it there?” Irene teased Liam.

Liam scoffed in an arrogant way that reminded Julius of the Liam he had met initially. “The people from Goldencrest should be able to make it past this stage. Those who don’t are the ones who got in through luck.”

“It sounds like you are still upset that you only made it to the top sixteen,” Irene prodded him with another smirk.