Chapter 1089: The Players Gather For The Competition
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The competition between crafters was going to soon begin, and many nobles, including the King, the Queen, and their son, had already gathered in the largest Arena of the Capital of the Luminous Kingdom.
Most of the Players were all clamoring over Planta, however, who had been sitting there after she helped Ambil set the smithy and the flames. Many of the Players were using special items to better see what she was doing from high above in the seats.
They all sensed her Aura growing stronger intensively as she drank elixirs and used skill books, it seemed that they were all witnessing Planta powering up using a bunch of rewards from her previous quest!
"S-She's so strong!" a tall, muscular black haired orc warrior said.
"What's going on with her appearance? She's so much hotter now…" a red-skinned elf magician said with a fascinated expression.
"Silver hair and silver scales, she got such an amazing character design! I want to draw a doujinshi of her!" a gnome muttered.
"Pipe down perverts!" Elena roared from the first row of seats, shutting down the line of perverts that wouldn't stop talking about his mother.
"Eeek! I-Is that DarkReaper?!"
"No way…"
"Better stay silent if you don't want to get hunted…"
The majority of the weak Players immediately fell silent after her roar, even more when they sensed her powerful Aura of Mana, which shook their very bodies.
Many of them realized she had hit Level 300 already, becoming amongst the strongest Players in the game at this moment.
"My, isn't it a surprise to see you around here, DarkReaper?"
However, one of the Players amongst the rest was not afraid of Elena at all.
A tall man with long blonde hair, silver colored eyes, wearing full body armor as shiny as the sun itself, a white cape, and a beautiful golden sword sheathed on a belt.
He also carried a huge shield at his back, and seemed like a gallant young man, with a very handsome face, many of the female players around there immediately recognized him.
"Oh my gosh, it's him!"
"He's much handsome in person?!"
"He's everybody's hero! I can't believe it!"
"It's him! The Guild Master of the Knights of the Round Table Guild!"
"Arthur! Please look at me!"
He was nobody else than a rather popular figure amongst Players, often considered the second or third strongest Player in BNLO, often times battling in that position with Elena.
His Player name was ArthurPendragon, an incredible name showing he was one of the first ever players to log-in, as his name did not include any additional number or letter!
He was the first one to ever take it.
While Black Haze stayed as the undisputed strongest Player, Arthur and DarkReaper were constantly battling for the second place.
Sometimes Arthur would get into a higher level, and then usurp her rank, other times Elena would increase her total power and surpass him.
They had sparred many times already, killing each other dozens of times perhaps…
Yet the number of times they had killed each other always ended on a draw.
"You? What are you doing here?" Elena wondered, giving an annoyed expression. "I'm not in the mood to beat your ass today."
"Haha! What's wrong with me being here? I've come to witness Planta's feats in this little competition between craftsmen!" the young man said. "Have you not heard about the news? At the end of the competition, all the craftsmen will put to sell their products in a bid, so I'm here to purchase anything of interest."
"Is that so? I don't care you know?" Elena yawned. "I can ask Planta to make me anything I want, and she'll do it. Actually I got amazing equipment from her already."
"I can tell! Wouldn't it hurt you if you could help me get closer to her, pretty please?" wondered Arthur. "My guild is in dire need of better equipment, everything has already been worn down from our latest raid in the new dungeons of the demon king continent- Ah, oops, I guess you haven't gone there yet, haha! You're missing on so much content while being stuck in this city…"
"Shut up already, I don't care! I'm happy here," Elena sighed. "So what's your end game? You didn't come here just to buy crap, didn't you?"
"Heh~ so rude," laughed Arthur, smiling at the participants, especially at Planta. "I am interested in Planta…"
"Pervert…" Elena glared at him with disgust.
"I-I mean in a different way; not like you think! Jesus…" sighed Arthur. "I want to fight Planta! She's a very strong rising player, right? Have you sparred with her yet? Is she stronger than you?"
"I fought her once and I won," said Elena, smiling. "But she has gotten super strong since then… I kind of want a rematch now. But she doesn't really like fighting Players… So even if you go ask her for a match, she will likely ignore you."
"Hah, I guessed so…" Arthur sighed. "What if I offer her something she can't miss?"
"Hm? What do you mean with that- Huh?!" Elena gasped as she saw something that Arthur pulled out of his inventory. "T-That's…!"
It was a shiny, white colored marble…
"It's something we found in the new dungeons after defeating the boss…" Arthur smiled. "It's called a Skill Specialization Marble. I have yet to use it."
"You have one of those?! Well! Planta already used one," Elena smiled. "She has another, so I doubt she would… want a third."
"Oh! Is that so? I guess she's really ahead of everyone else… But what about you, Reaper?" smiled Arthur. "I know you're very close to her… If you can convince her to have a match with me one day, this marble can be yours."
Elena started sweating a bit, that marble was really precious. She still felt a bit frustrated only her mother has even gotten them so far…
If she wanted to get stronger, divine skill fusion tickets weren't everything, a skill specialization marble could give her a completely new power altogether.
And if she was awakened IRL, she could even obtain some of the powers of the specialization too!
"Ugh… I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you! I knew I could count on you, old friend!"
"Now shut up, the competition is going to start soon."
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