Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 343: Next Raid

Chapter 343: Next Raid

The tournament itself was fun to watch. Kazi learned a lot about magic circles, the placement of magic circles, the application of shields, and the intricacies of incantations and weaponry. Princess Elara was a particular point of interest. Her style of combat could easily be suited for his own.

Luckily, Kazi found one player to be more valuable than even the princess.

"Hi there! Marcus, right?"

Valhalla’s Colosseum was like an airport. Finding Marcus within the busy area outside the entrance to the stadium when it was most busy was next to impossible. At least it would have been if not for Kazi’s eyes. With Foresight and his natural intuition and spatial awareness, he found the small needle in the stack. He found Marcus.

"Hello...?"

Marcus didn’t know him. Duh.

"You’re a thwasas, aren’t you?" Kazi said, smiling. He kept a small distance, not wanting to act like a creep and get too close.

"I am. Do you need my master?" Marcus’ expression subtly shifted, trying to hide his agitation under his natural composure. "Sorry to say, but she does not do examinations anymore."

Crap. That wasn’t good.

’Gotta roll with what you have.’

"No, not your master—you."

Marcus was naturally a composed boy. Kazi really surprised him by pointing. "M-me?"

"I bet you’re exhausted from the fight. Just..." From his inventory, he got out a Magic Letter. "Here, contact me with this whenever you’re free."

"Thank you, sir." Marcus politely accepted it. "May I ask what you need me for?"

"I’ll fill you in on the details later. It’s a paid job too. In terms of points, the job will be worth ten thousand."

Marcus was intrigued and eagerly nodded. Kazi’s smile widened.

’An apprentice is fine. Anyone that can try and help William and Marta.’

"Thanks! You’re strong, kid. If you ask me, you could have beaten the princess."

This caught Marcus off-guard. He was expecting praise but not a claim like that. "I...don’t know about that." He chuckled the way teens did when adults said something dumb.

"If I was lying, I wouldn’t have said it. Didn’t you notice that the princess required set-up for her cloud trick? If you had rushed her at the start, then you could have disrupted her. Engaged her in close-quarter combat and kept pushing. Make her nervous."

Marcus shook his head. "It is unlikely when her normal attacks are way stronger than my own. You haven’t seen her fight before. She’s a master of lightning. Some say her skill with lightning is two or three years away from being like a Sorcerer’s. If I went all out at the start, I’d lose."

"You said you’ve seen Princess Elara fight. The fact that she developed her own spell and is using it despite the disadvantage means that she won’t ever use anything else. At least in your match. She’s the type to prove herself till the bitter end. You being afraid of her fundamentals was instinctively correct. She’s stronger than you, yes. However, that’s different from reality."

Marcus considered his words. He was correct, the princess would never change tactics. Yet...he didn’t seem entirely convinced. He couldn’t fathom the princess losing.

"I guess we can agree to disagree," said Kazi. "But regardless of the outcome, you did great, kid. I know you can go further."

"Thank you, sir." Marcus lowered his head and hid the smile on his face. "Thank you a lot."

Losers received consolation words all the time. Somehow, with Kazi, it was different. His smile, his praise, and his criticism, it was all fair and objective. He never pretended to know more than he did. He wasn’t uppity about it. He was kind and he was charming.

Marcus wouldn’t forget about him. He would contact him soon.

***

Monday came upon Kazi Hossain. The time for the next great raid. The time for Gate 20.

[ Attention players! Gate 20 will open in 5:00 minutes! Please head over to the Heavenly Tower if you wish to participate as soon as possible! ]

[ Attention players! This is a raid! ]

[ Attention players! There will be no Server Room! You must go through one of four entrances! ]

[ Attention players! Once in a raid, you cannot leave until it is finished! ]

[ Attention players! Once in a raid, you cannot leave until it is finished! ]

’Well, I’ll be.’

Outside the Heavenly Tower were a couple hundred players. The Big Three guilds arranged themselves in the same fancy way they did during Gate 10. Kazi was at the east gate and was waiting alongside the Alhambra Guardians.

’Not as many as I thought. Then again, the Guardians aren’t different from the other guilds in the sense that they don’t care very much about new players and events pre-Gate 10.’

The exception being Jack. Anything with him was sure to gain their interest. A second raid could see his second attack. Kazi rolled his shoulders. ’Open status.’

[ Status: Kazi Hossain

Class: Sorcerer

Level: 78

HP: 1540

HP/Minute: 159.075

MP: 3517

MP/Minute: ∞

Attack: 497

Defence: 308

Attributes

Strength: 461

Resilience: 308

Agility: 311

Deftness: 1360

Vitality: 315

Magical Might: 518

Magical Mending: 309

Distributive Points: 119 ]

His stats were amazing. No complaints, especially when compared to his peers.

"Hm."

Deep inside though, he felt something was off. Not with his stats but with himself. He sensed that he could be better. Stronger and faster and more efficient.

’Ascension was what I experienced. In all the books I’ve read though, I haven’t found anything specific on it. The term ascending is used often in Chinese Cultivation to describe the feeling of reaching a new stage. Some have even used to it to describe a godhood of some kind. But I’m no Cultivator. Did I reach Ascendency because of Odin’s Eye? Or was it something else? An understanding? A result of Odin’s Eye rather than Odin’s Eye itself?’

His Ascendency felt incomplete. Why was that the case? What was out of his reach?

’No one has pushed me. In my fight against Jack, I was fresh from my Ascendancy and grappling with my new powers. Getting adjusted to my new speed and vision. Now that I’m used to it, I need to take it one step further. I need to complete it. Understand it.’

[ Attention players! Gate 20 has opened! ]

[ The raid has begun! ]

[ The raid has begun! ]

[ The raid has begun! ]

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