Chapter 187

‘Ноw саn this be…!!!’

Dramоs соuldn’t hidе his аstonishment at thе vаst amount оf Manа еmаnаting frоm Кhan.

Thаt Manа аpреаrеd tо be аt leаst twice аs muсh аs whаt Khan hаd used in аll his battles so fаr.

‘I thоught this guy had almost ехhausted his Mana tоо… It was a complеtе misjudgment on mу pаrt.’

Drаmоs, whо had been the kingdоm’s guard cарtаin, had enсоuntеred numerоus geniuses.

Аlthough Dramos himself wаs оne of thоsе geniusеs, he felt thаt both himself and аll the gеniusеs he had seen werе fakеs.

“Наhahаha…!! It’s truly mу реrfect dеfeаt. То think уоu werе still hiding thаt muсh Mаnа… Now I understand. That’s why it was impossible to gauge your Mana until now.”

“Old man, stop your noisy chatter. What do you intend to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Admit your defeat. Or I’ll kill you.”

An immense amount of Mana was still explosively spreading from Khan’s body.

In truth, this power was the Mana from the Aura Blade and Heavenly Extreme Flash that had just been emanating from Dramos’s sword.

‘Perhaps because it’s not my Mana, it’s disappearing quickly. I need to finish this fast.’

Attacks absorbed through Mirror Defense had to be used quickly before all the Mana was consumed.

At this rate, it seemed all the Mana would disappear in less than 10 seconds.

“Kheukheuk… Can you say that even after seeing my condition? Or do you want to kill me?”

“Admit your defeat.”

“Kheukheukheuk, fine. I’ll admit my defeat. I lost.”

Upon hearing this, Khan finally released the Mana he had been barely holding onto.

As all the Mana Khan had released vanished, the final match of the Underground Arena Tournament ended just like that.

“Wh-what the…!”

“Crazy, it ended like this…?!”

“Don’t screw around!! Dramos, get up and fight!!!”

“How much money did I bet on you!! What are you doing!!!”

The spectators who had bet on Dramos began to shout.

However, there were also those who had bet against him.

“Stop talking nonsense. Khan won, you idiots.”

“Just admit it. Kheuk… Hahahaha!! This is so much money!!”

“Khan!! Thank you!! Because of you, my life is set from now on!!”

While the spectators were shouting, Rodion, the tournament host, suddenly appeared.

“The, the winner of the finals is contestant Khan!!! As expected of the finals, it was truly an incredible match! It’s a relief that no one was seriously injured! With this, the winner of this Underground Arena Tournament has been decided!!”

Rodion walked toward Khan standing in the arena.

Before they knew it, Rodion had approached him, grabbed Khan’s wrist, and raised it high.

“The winner of the Underground Arena is contestant Khan!!!”

“Wooooooooooah!!!!!”

“You were truly amazing, Sir Khan!!”

“I’ll remember your name!!”

“You were the strongest Mage I’ve ever seen!!”

As soon as the match ended, the spectators’ tone changed instantly.

Since Mages received treatment almost equal to Nobles, commoners outside the arena always had to bow their heads to Mages.

Moreover, some had their futures set straight thanks to Khan.

“Thank you, Sir Khan…!! I kept betting on you and made enough money to buy a house!”

“I’ll live honestly from now on! Thank you for saving my life, Sir Khan!”

Of course, there were also those who lost their entire fortunes, but that wasn’t Khan’s concern.

“Hyungnim!!!”

“Master!”

The second to approach Khan were Byutek and Sharin.

“Hyungnim…! I was worried something serious had happened to you. Hahaha! To think you were hiding your strength until the very end! I should say, as expected of Hyungnim!”

“Hey, you brat! Your Master is lying here like this, and instead of coming to me, what are you doing?!”

“Ah… S-sorry, Master!”

Byutek was laughing and shouting at Khan when he got an undeserved scolding from Dramos.

“Master, are you alright? That last swordsmanship was truly amazing…!”

“Yes, my body is fine. It was beyond expectations. That Khan fellow you serve… is truly an incredible person. To serve such a Mage by your side, your current skills are far insufficient, so you must strive harder from now on.”

“Understood…!”

With that, Byutek helped Dramos up.

“Master, you’re really alright, right?”

“Yes. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine, Sharin. And I properly avenged you.”

“Ah, thank you! Hehe.”

Sharin, who had lost to Dramos in the quarterfinals, smiled brightly upon hearing Khan’s words.

Byutek and Sharin were genuinely happy about Khan’s victory.

The spectators who had bet on Khan were also shouting and rejoicing, but at this moment, there was someone else who was happiest of all.

“Hahahahaha!! What a relief…!!! I really thought you were going to lose at the end, but to be that strong…!”

Viscount Aldrik, the mastermind behind the Underground Arena Tournament and owner of Erindel, was alone in the VIP seat, laughing and shouting loudly.

If Dramos had won, his plans would have been ruined, but fortunately, Khan defeated Dramos and won.

‘But this creates another problem. Since Khan is stronger than Dramos, the kingdom’s guard captain, I can’t rashly propose a contract.’

Since Aldrik didn’t properly know what kind of person Khan was, he was somewhat suspicious of his identity.

“It’s a bit regrettable… but I suppose I’ll just have to give him the winner’s prize and send him off this time. No, actually, it’s better this way. I can build a relationship here and maybe ask for a favor later…!”

Although Aldrik was a Noble, in his relationship with Khan, he was overwhelmingly the weaker party.

No matter how much of a Noble he was, the other party was a Mage with overwhelmingly superior skills.

So he decided to cancel all his original plans and focus solely on improving his relationship with Khan.

“Hoo, I should go down now.”

Aldrik, who had been alone in the VIP seat, also moved his steps toward the arena.

* * *

“Now! Let’s begin the awards ceremony!”

The awards ceremony proceeded quickly in the arena.

Those who made it to the round of 16 all received modest prizes, and now only the final winner, Khan, remained.

“Now only the final protagonist remains! It’s time for the award ceremony for contestant Khan, the winner of this Underground Arena Tournament!!”

“Wooooooah!!!!”

“Khan! Khan! Khan! Khan! Khan!”

Amid the spectators’ cheers, Khan stepped forward.

Then Aldrik welcomed Khan and continued speaking.

“First, I’d like to express my gratitude to contestant Khan, who brought the most glory to this Underground Arena Tournament. Contestant Khan showed stronger and more impressive performances than any other contestant, overwhelmingly defeating other contestants to claim victory! Also……”

Aldrik’s speech continued for quite a while before finally reaching the part where he introduced the prize.

“I will now present the Ancient Magic Tome, the prize for winning this Underground Arena Tournament!”

Khan received the Ancient Magic Tome handed to him by Aldrik.

[Ancient Magic Tome]

• Item Rank: ???

• Level Restriction: X

• Item Description: Upon use, you will acquire one of the skills that lay dormant in ancient times.

As soon as Khan received the Ancient Magic Tome, he put it into his Spatial Pocket.

“Now! Shall we hear the winner’s thoughts?!”

Rodion handed the microphone to Khan, and Khan threw out just one sentence.

“It was quite an interesting tournament.”

Khan, who returned the microphone to Rodion, disappeared from the arena without hesitation.

“Hahaha… haha! He left with a cool demeanor until the very end…! Hahaha!”

The remaining wrap-up was Rodion’s responsibility.

* * *

[Used Skill ‘Space-Time Leap’.]

Khan, who had returned directly from the arena to the inn where he was staying using the Space-Time Leap skill, was checking the messages that appeared before his eyes.

[Cleared Main Quest.]

[Acquired ‘Ancient Magic Tome’ and ‘explosive amount of Experience Points’ as Main Quest Clear Reward.]

The Main Quest clear message didn’t appear when he defeated Dramos but appeared just before receiving the Ancient Magic Tome from Aldrik.

So Khan was checking them one by one only after returning to the inn.

[Level has increased.]

[Level has increased.]

[Level has increased.]

[Level has increased.]

[Level has increased.]

[Level has increased.]

[Level has increased.]

[Level has increased.]

[Level has increased.]

Upon checking, there were a total of nine Level Up Messages.

‘It increased a bit more than I thought. I should check my Status Window first.’

Khan immediately opened his Status Window.

◈ LV.99

◈ Khan (Lee Huseong)

◈ Mana: 42090/42090

◈ Talent: Magic

◈ Experience Points: 97.9%

◈ 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, (5★)Absolute Sight, (5★)Chrono Reset

His Level had reached 99, and his Experience Points were at 97%.

‘Still, if I fill up a bit more Experience Points, I’ll reach Level 100.’

Now that the Underground Arena Tournament was over, he was thinking of leaving Erindel and moving to a city with stronger Monsters.

If he went there and defeated just a few more Monsters, he should be able to achieve Level 100.

“Now then… shall I check the Ancient Magic Tome?”

It was time to check the Ancient Magic Tome he received as a reward.