Chapter 165

Аftеr fullу hеaling Ksеntе аnd rеturning tо her seat, Веllua’s bodу was still trembling slightlу.

Наving реrsоnally blоcked thе mаgic оf thаt mаn nаmеd Khаn right befоre her еуеs, shе could trulу understаnd just how monstrous thе оpponent wаs.

“Вellua, are yоu аlright? The magic that mаn Кhan used didn’t sеem tо соntаin that much Manа… did you bаrеlу managе tо blоck it?”

When Вellua rеturned, Binsen, a Маge from thе Yеllow Мagic Тower who hаd beеn sitting in his sеat, asked her.

Binsеn’s magiсаl skill wаs just a tinу bit inferior tо Веllua’s, but he wаs her Sеоnbае аt the Маgiс Tоwеr.

“Yes…”

“…Is that true?”

“Yes, it’s true. I was so startled that I used about a hundred thousand Mana, and my ether shield cracked. I almost got caught up in it myself.”

“That’s absurd. Khan… No matter how much I think about it, it’s a name I’m hearing for the first time. Just who is he to be that strong? Seeing him use magic of that caliber with just a few thousand Mana, he’s clearly no ordinary fellow.”

As he said this, Binsen became convinced that the man named Khan was probably a Dark Mage.

‘Since he’s dabbled in Dark Magic, he probably uses his own life force to cast such powerful magic despite having low Mana. If not that, he might be using the life force of others.’

It seemed he would have to properly investigate this man named Khan once this tournament was over.

“Bellua, we’ll begin investigating that man named Khan as soon as this tournament ends. And once the Magic Tower Information System maintenance is finished, run a search.”

“Yes!”

Bellua and Binsen of the Yellow Magic Tower.

Both of them began observing Khan intently.

* * *

Returning to the participant Waiting Area from the Arena, Khan recalled the situation from a moment ago.

‘Hey, you! You won the match, so why on earth didn’t you withdraw your Mana?! Were you determined to kill your opponent?! Huh?!’

The words spoken to him by Bellua, the manager of this Underground Arena Tournament, kept nagging at him.

‘The power was too strong and the speed too fast; there was no time to withdraw the Mana. I almost ended up killing someone.’

The Taunt from Ksente, his opponent in the Round of 16, was actually at a cute level, so he hadn’t even considered killing or anything like that.

It was just that, as Ksente had said, he was curious if he could block all attacks, so he had used the Skill with quite a bit of force.

“Hahahahaha! Hyungnim! That was incredible power! You really flattened that guy’s nose properly!”

“Phew… I’m relieved, Master. I was so shocked, thinking you were going to lose at first, you know? That person Ksente is definitely strong, though. No matter how much you held back initially, to block Master’s magic and reflect it back like that…”

Upon returning to his seat, Byutek and Sharin approached Khan and chattered away.

Khan listened to their words, gave a light nod, and sat down.

‘Let me check once.’

Khan began checking the message that appeared before his eyes immediately after winning the Round of 16.

[Main Quest cleared.]

[Acquired a certain amount of Experience Points as a reward.]

As much as he had hoped, the Level Up Message still didn’t appear.

After checking the message, Khan immediately opened his Status Window to see how much his Experience Points had increased.

◈ LV.89

◈ Khan (Lee Huseong)

◈ Mana: 19140/19140

◈ Talent: Magic

◈ Experience Points: 79.3%

◈ Skills: (10★)Sage’s Heart, (8★)Growth Acceleration, (1★)Arrow, (1★)Barrier, (2★)Fire Boom, (2★)Fireball, (2★)Mirror Defense, (2★)Mana Enhancement, (1★)Wind Cutter, (3★)Dragon’s Breath, (4★)Mana Circulation, (4★)Power Amplification, (4★)Space-Time Leap, (5★)Dark Flame, (1★)Wind Drill, (4★)Flame Curtain

This time as well, the Experience Points had increased by exactly 10%.

The moment Khan checked that Experience, he felt a creeping worry rising within him.

‘It’s getting more and more unsettling. Surely they’re not going to keep giving out only a fixed amount of Experience Points like this?’

The next match now was the Quarterfinals, and the match after that was the Semifinals.

Only two matches remained until the finals.

There should only be two Quests left as well.

As Khan was having such thoughts, the Main Quest message appeared before his eyes.

• [Win in the Quarterfinals of the Underground Arena Tournament.]

• Will you accept the Main Quest?

• Refusal will make future Quest progression impossible.

• Reward: A certain amount of Experience Points, progression to the next Quest

As if Khan’s ominous thought had hit the mark exactly, this time too the Main Quest reward was at a pitiful level.

‘Another fixed amount of Experience Points? This is…’

Anyway, it wasn’t as if he could refuse the Main Quest, so Khan accepted it.

[Main Quest accepted.]

If he cleared this Main Quest and received a certain amount of Experience Points as a reward, it would increase by another 10%, making it 89.3%.

And if he won the Semifinals and cleared another Main Quest, it would become 99.3%.

‘Should I quickly visit a Dungeon or something while the tournament is going on?’

He briefly considered that, but leaving in the middle of the tournament meant disqualification, so he couldn’t do that.

‘This is driving me crazy. To defeat that monster Dramos with only the Skills I have… just how am I supposed to do it?’

Just as Khan’s mind was about to grow increasingly complicated, ‘Sage’s Heart’ activated, allowing him to quickly regain his composure.

‘Phew, I should just watch the next match for now.’

The next match was Byutek’s match.

The anticipated part was that his opponent was Darenvalt, an adventurer from the Jet Black Guild.

The participant Waiting Area had a spacious layout, and Khan’s party and Darenvalt’s party were seated almost directly across from each other.

Therefore, Darenvalt and Silvia had been able to keep checking on Khan, Byutek, and Sharin since earlier.

“Darenvalt, are you still that angry?”

“Of course! Phew, I can finally give that Byutek guy a proper taste of his own medicine. Looking at that guy’s movements, he doesn’t seem that strong! How dare a guy like that wear my armor…?!”

Darenvalt had been tailing Khan with Silvia before, got caught, and had the armor he was wearing taken away.

To be precise, it was something Darenvalt voluntarily handed over as the price for Khan sparing his life, but he never expected that Khan would give his cherished armor to Byutek.

“Well… Darenvalt. I understand why you’re angry, but you gave the armor to Sir Khan yourself. That’s why Sir Khan forgave us.”

“Silvia! That’s true, but! This is a man’s pride! I thought Sir Khan would obviously sell it at a shop after receiving my armor! I never dreamed he’d give it to some brat like that. I’m so angry…! After I win the match against that guy, I’ll take my armor back!”

“Huh…? What if Sir Khan says something about that?”

“…I’ll think about that later! I’m going to go teach that Byutek guy a lesson!”

Darenvalt, like Byutek, was a warrior who used a massive Greatsword.

It was his first time facing Byutek directly, but he was furious with him.

“Haha! Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience! The tournament was delayed for a bit while we cleaned up the Arena and treated the slightly injured contestant Ksente! Now, let me introduce the contestants who will heat up the Arena in the next match!!! The contestants who will fight in the second match of the Round of 16 are contestant Darenvalt, who has shown overwhelming skill since the Preliminary Rounds, and contestant Byutek!”

Once the Arena maintenance was fully complete, Rodion appeared, put the microphone to his mouth, and shouted.

“Woooooah!! I bet everything on Darenvalt!!”

“I also bet my entire fortune on Darenvalt! Darenvalt, show them again this time!!!”

“I bet my life…! Please win, Darenvalt!!!”

“Darenvalt! Darenvalt! Darenvalt! Darenvalt!”

Most of the people in the spectator stands were chanting Darenvalt’s name.

Among the spectators, there were exactly two people who were the favorites to win: Darenvalt and Silvia.

“The spectators are continuously chanting contestant Darenvalt’s name!! Contestant Darenvalt, a favorite to win this tournament! And contestant Byutek, who has shown tremendous skill! Please both come up to the Arena!”

As Rodion once again called out their names and shouted for them to come up to the Arena, Darenvalt went up to the Arena first.

Byutek, who stood up from the opposite side of the participant Waiting Area, looked at Sharin and shouted.

“Honestly, from my perspective, Byutek oppa seems much stronger…. Byutek oppa, don’t be scared and show them properly!”

“Hahahahaha! Sharin, do you think this oppa would lose to some weakling like that? I should take this chance to properly show my skills. I’ll be back!”

“Hey, stop with that ‘oppa’ nonsense. I’m going to puke and die. Ugh.”

Sharin looked at Byutek, opened her mouth, and pretended to vomit.

But Byutek paid no mind and looked at Khan and shouted.

“Hahahahahaha! Hyungnim! Then, your little brother is off!”

“Alright, win and come back.”

“Yes!”

Had Khan ever told him to win and come back before?

No matter how much he thought about it, this was the first time Khan had spoken like that.

Byutek clenched his fist tightly, determined to win unconditionally, and walked up to the Arena.

As Darenvalt and Byutek came up to the Arena, Khan checked the names and Levels above their heads.

[LV.121 Jet Black Guild Adventurer Darenvalt]

[LV.137 Khan’s Escort Knight Byutek]

In fact, ever since earlier, Khan had been checking the Level conspicuously written above Byutek’s head and wasn’t worried at all about the match between the two.

‘Byutek continues to grow even through this tournament. In a way, his growth rate is at a higher level than even Sharin, who’s a genius.’

Byutek’s Level kept rising as the Underground Arena Tournament progressed.

On the other hand, Darenvalt’s Level was the same as when he had seen him a few days ago.

Khan predicted that Byutek would likely win this match.

‘The only variables are that Byutek’s attacks are too simple, and Darenvalt uses various techniques flashily…. I’ll have to watch.’

As Khan was thinking that and watching the Arena.

“Now! Then, we will now begin the second match of the Round of 16!”

With Rodion’s shout, the second match of the Round of 16 began.