Chapter 2078: Good Loot, Big Egos

The two Supreme Ranked warriors stood silently across from each other on the arena floor, while the referee, a Dark Elven King Epic Golem, cleared the rest of the floor as the matches ended.

He intended to put off all other fights so that the space was not split, and the duo had as much room as possible for their battle.

Fights between Supremes were rare in the arena, they usually liked to fight it out in private, or directly attack each other’s territory. But the visitors who didn’t know them assumed that this was likely a battle over something that had dropped in the Dungeon.

The arena was the usual spot for the resolution of such claims.

And there were a lot of them.

The issue only got worse as the power level went up because the chances of something obscenely valuable increased constantly. With both of these men being Clan Leaders, they might have been doing a difficulty three or four Supreme Ranked dungeon with a team.

If that was the case, then there was a chance that an Epic Grade item had dropped.

An Epic Grade, Supreme Ranked item.

The sort of item that smaller Clans treasured as their sacred relic.

Even the item that Karl was using as a Guild Item right now wasn’t that powerful, it just happened to have a very useful boon on it.

{Eternity’s Blessing} Artifact Grade. Mythic Rank. Equips in Guild Inventory. Activates the Guild Skill [Eternity], granting Guild Members the physical stats expected to be present at the peak of their life, at their current Rank.

He really should make a better item, as that one was technically still equipped to the Drodh Guild Branch, and the slot for their own branch was empty.

The branches were close enough to be connected, through the portal in the Tiny World, so the members were still getting the benefit of it. But they could do so much better if they really tried.

The thought distracted Karl until the referee started speaking.

"For the honour of their Clans, and for the right of possession of the Peerless Relic known as {The Immovable Object} today’s contest shall continue until one combatant is rendered unfit to continue, with no option to forfeit."

That made everyone in the arena look up in shock.

Fights almost always ended when someone couldn’t continue, nobody liked to admit that they had lost until they were forced to. But for a pair of Clan Leaders to give themselves no way out, no way to save face if things didn’t go their way? ℴ𝗆

That was extreme.

So, the conversations about the war were put on hold, while the two men took their positions. That was when Karl noticed that the usual warrior brown on one of them was a slightly different shade.

He was not a standard warrior class, but an advanced one.

His opponent likely hadn’t noticed, and most wouldn’t as the shades were too close for most eyes to see. But Karl was absolutely certain that one of the two had some sort of hidden class skill that he would probably use to his advantage during this battle.

Not that they were lacking in skills.

They were Supreme Ranked Clan Leaders, they definitely had the skills to back up their positions. But everyone kept something hidden for emergencies.

"You may begin when ready," the referee announced.

Normally, he would make a grand production of it, but these two looked like they were already well aware of the others’ abilities and power level, so he decided to just let them set the pace instead of encouraging them to fight.

They would do that on their own.

For half a second, the pair simply stared at each other, then sword skills began to fly from them, lighting up the arena with arcs of gold.

The spectators cheered, and enthusiastically poured mana into the arena’s storage crystals.

It wasn’t necessary, Karl had designed them to harvest ambient mana at a level that would keep the arena active. But it was a show of support for the fighters to bolster the barriers, as if to say that you thought they were so powerful they could break them if you didn’t help.

The pair were fast, Karl realized.

Not tank type warriors, he assumed, though the item they were fighting over was a Peerless Grade shield.

They moved fast enough that they were nothing but a blur to many of the lower ranking spectators, circling and darting at each other while continually unleashing skills even when they were not within blade range.

It was an interesting way of fighting, Karl thought.

So, he sent a mental poke to Dana, informing her that she should come watch this. There might be something in their style that she could learn better from seeing and feeling it firsthand than from watching the replay later.

And there would be a replay.

There was a screen in the Lycan’s Den Tavern that replayed highlight from past battles for the guests, and with a battle this epic, it would likely be turned into a play by Opal, to be shown in the private lounge of the Dollhouse.

Even better for the spectators, the pair appeared to be incredibly well-matched.

Their power levels were nearly identical, and their core style was the same. So, they already knew the basics of what the other would do, and how to counter it. That part of the fight was flashy, but it was filler.

Designed to keep the opponent busy while you tried to set up for the kill.

Remi looked through Karl’s eyes and giggled.

"{ Both of them were here under ten minutes ago, separately. They both bought long duration mana and stamina potions. Place a wager on that battle going the full hour, and I think you’ll make good money. }"

Karl decided that he would leave the gambling to others, since Cara was already in the stands running a bookie pool for the fight. Getting in on the bet might make it look like he was fixing the odds.

And everyone around him had the same thought, until they realized that Karl had no intentions of betting.

"Get your bets in, get them in! I’m only keeping it open for three more minutes, get your bets in here!"ℯ𝐥.𝒄ℴ𝓶