Flashy Adventurer System : Show Off to Get Stronger! - Chapter 345

Chapter 345: Raven’s Blade Qualifiers: First Match
“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the second day of Balkrow City’s Rookie Qualifiers! I’m your host, Corey. Today, we’re about to begin the highly anticipated Raven’s Blade Rookie Representative Selection!”

Corey’s vibrant voice boomed across the entire arena, increasing everyone’s excitement and anticipation towards the upcoming matches.

“Will the recently famous Shye Crowley, ace representative of this year’s champion academy, live up to his legend?! Or will he prove to be yet another disappointment?! Sit back and relax as the 32 rookies with the highest contribution points in Raven’s Blade battle it out for a spot in Balkrow City’s Rookie Adventurer Competition!”

Hearing Corey’s masterful opening, Shye was impressed.

‘This guy’s almost as good as that Bart guy from Valenzia!’ He mused as he watched the host walk with a professional smile towards a staff member who was holding a mana-powered device.

*BLEEP!*

A bleep sounded after Corey pressed a certain button on the device, prompting a huge holographic screen to appear above the stage—visible no matter which side of the arena one was watching from.

Displayed on the screen were the matchups, causing a few overeager individuals to sigh in disappointment upon seeing that Shye and Mateo were on both ends of the brackets, meaning that they probably wouldn’t meet until the finals.

Well, if Shye was the real deal, that is.

After all, the majority of the chosen rookies were from the previous year’s batch, with only about six rookies from Shye’s generation making it to the top 32.

Once the matchups were decided, Corey descended from the stage and sat at the commentator’s desk.

It seemed that he would also be the one who would cast the matches.

Shortly after Corey settled down on his desk, a staff member, who was also the referee, raised his arms, seemingly motioning for someone to do something.

Shockingly, a blue dome then appeared and enveloped the stage, causing Shye’s eyes to widen in surprise.

‘Balkrow has one too?’ He thought as he reminisced about the blue dome that ensured the safety of the representatives in the Adventurer Academy Competition. ‘This one is way smaller than the one in Valenzia though…’

Balkrow Arena was only about a fifth of Valenzia Arena’s size, and there was only a single vast stage in the middle.

Hence, the Manasoft Simulation Safety Dome Balkrow City purchased was only a fifth of the one in Valenzia, also, it only had two options: a one-on-one duel and a party skirmish.

It didn’t have complicated modes such as hunt and survival.

Well, Balkrow was certainly less well-off than Valenzia so it was understandable.

In fact, Shye was already amazed that Balkrow City’s governing bodies were able to purchase one.

However, the resources needed to activate the dome would be provided by the guilds themselves, otherwise, they would have to conduct their qualifiers without the dome which would be not only embarrassing as the guild would appear broke as f*ck, but it would also be detrimental to the well-being of the members.

After all, such fierce duels were bound to end up with casualties, and so, the blue-dome would be the perfect solution that would allow everyone to go all out without worrying about their safety.

Since the event organizers knew that everyone wanted to see a glimpse of Shye’s strength, they gave the audience what they wanted: Shye Crowley in the first match.

His opponent, Neil Armwick, was ranked 20th among all the rookies in Raven’s Blade—neither too strong nor too weak—the perfect opponent to gauge Shye’s strength.

Noticing that the audience’s anticipation was at its peak, Corey decided to call the rookies participating in the first match onto the stage.

“Without further ado, let’s begin the first match! Ascending from the left side of the stage, the 20th-ranked rookie in Raven’s Blade, Neil Armwick!” Corey enthusiastically exclaimed, prompting a few Shye Crowley haters to stand up and cheer.

Hearing the crowd cheering for him, a confident smile made its way into Neil’s face.

He was always out on a quest, hence, he only heard stories about Shye every time he returned to the headquarters to turn his quests in.

And since he wasn’t there to witness the so-called notorious super-rookie’s feats for himself, Neil found it hard to believe that a mere year-one rookie would have the capabilities to accomplish such things even if he’s the ace representative of this year’s champion academy.

After all, one’s imagination would be more or less limited by his/her personal experiences.

Neil felt that the crowd’s cheers affirmed his suspicions of Shye resorting to dishonesty in exchange for fame.

‘I’ll expose this fraud…’ He thought as he waited for Shye in the middle of the stage.

“Now, from the right side of the stage, the rookie everyone’s been watching, the ace representative of this year’s champion academy, Balkrow’s top-ranked rookie! Please welcome… Shye Crowley!”

As Shye took the stage, a good number of people cheered for him—mostly those who had bet on him and guild members who had witnessed his skills firsthand.

However, for “Balkrow City’s top-ranked rookie”, such cheers seemed rather lackluster.

Shye didn’t care though.

In the end, all of them would give him system points.

As Shye arrived in the middle of the stage donning mage equipment, a considerable number of people who were watching were utterly confused—a single thought resonating in their minds:

‘Wasn’t this guy a warrior?!’

The people in the audience who watched Shye’s matches in the Adventurer Academy Competition were 110% sure that he was a warrior.

However, since they were curious about what his plans were for donning mage equipment, they temporarily kept their mouths shut and watched how the duel would unfold.

“Heh, Shye Crowley, the top-ranked rookie. It would be an honor to be the one to reveal how much of a fraud you are.” Neil mocked, staring right at Shye’s eyes as though he could see the “fear and panic” in Shye’s heart.

“Delusional. Honor my ass. Once this match is done, you will have zero honor left.”

The short trash-talk session further intensified the crowd’s enthusiasm for this match, prompting the referee to jerk his arms upwards as it would be unwise to make such an eager crowd wait.

“Begin!”