Fantasy Realm [One Piece] [Harry Potter] [Naruto] - [Progression] [LitRPG]

Chapter 141: Preparation x Progression - Aiming Higher

Time passes in Heavens Arena, and Alex continues his climb. He fights his second and third opponents—both of whom are mediocre fighters with, at most, a basic Hatsu to somewhat compensate for their crippling wounds and deformities. Unlike Alex's first opponent, who was actually strong and earned Alex's respect for his skill, these two enemies prove to be utterly useless.

Alex's second opponent had a missing hand, which he replaced with a conjured round ball. This conjuration created various "fingers" with transmutation, capable of performing tasks beyond those of a normal hand. While the ability was creative, it was ultimately useless in combat. The fake hand granted little more than a few gimmicky techniques, such as sharpening and lengthening his conjured fingers and using them to stab at opponents. Unfortunately for him, those tricks were no match for Alex's sword and shield. The fight ended quickly, with Alex easily overpowering him.

Alex's third opponent was even worse. The man had lost both eyes in a prior battle and wielded a dangerous-looking spear. His strategy revolved around pretending to be fully blind, only to activate En at the right moment to spot his enemy and land a vicious ambush attack. However, Alex had been warned beforehand about this tactic. Fully prepared, Alex easily saw through the ruse. The man's reliance on switching between Ren and En left him vulnerable, as he had no other notable skills or techniques. Alex took him down without much effort, landing numerous nasty stabs and slashes.

After securing these two wins, Alex learns the truth—neither of his last two opponents had wanted to fight him in the first place. Both were sacrifices, sent by their boss to gather information about Alex's abilities. However, the plan backfired spectacularly. Alex only used the most basic techniques in both fights, giving nothing away about his true power. Worse still for the rookie hunters, both of Alex's new opponents suffered terrible sword wounds, with the third enemy sustaining life-threatening injuries.

With the rookie hunters' morale shattered, none of them were willing to experiment further. Even Kell and Nibul, the first two rookie hunters Alex met, had forfeited outright—a fact that Alex regrets somewhat. I should've taken those two out when I had the chance a few weeks ago, he thinks bitterly.

Sitting in his room, Alex takes a moment to check his progress on his secret quest. He now has three real wins under his belt. While his first fight had offered a bit of a struggle, the last two were easy victories. However, earlier in the day, Alex had been informed by the Heavens Arena staff that the remaining rookie hunters—all except their leader—had forfeited their matches against him. This grants Alex a total of nine official wins!

According to Sua, Alex's first opponent was either the strongest or second-strongest fighter of the rookie hunters.

[Secret Quest Updated:

Mission: Win fights in the 200 class of Heavens Arena

Won fights: 9

Reward: ???]

This was way easier and more successful than I could've imagined, Alex thinks, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied grin. As I thought, these rookie hunters were total losers without any real skills.