Chapter 54 - The Event(4/?)

'I guess I'll use this time to restore a bit of my mana'

Thinking this, Ethan closed his eyes before sitting on the ground in his meditative-pose.

'I guess I'm already prepared to learn [Concurrent Meditation] in the future...maybe splitting my focus in more parts was to prepare me for this technique...Although this shouldn't appear in my [Status Board]...'

With his deep-in-thought state, he understood he had so many things to think about..

'After this, I'll finally have some spare time.. I need to train so many things that I don't know where to start. If I'll increase my mana pool and the efficiency of it, I will definitely remain steadfast with the development of all my skills. Even though from Light's explanation, It would probably be faster to increase the rank of all my skills for the future if my Mana Control increases..it looks like branches of a single tree, as in some video games...'

Undecided on what to do, Riveria appeared in his mind. Imagining her giving him lessons on magic with Lefiya participating, he had a smile on his face

'I will probably be busy in a hard workout from tomorrow...even harder than my first..'

Seeing him sitting meditating, Riveria stared at him for some moments while everyone else were dealing with the staff of the Ganesha Familia.

"Is he..recovering his mana?"

"Probably, I'm not sure.."

With the anxiety of attending the show, few of them were still shocked by the situation but, their shock didn't last longer, mainly because they needed to register as 'participant' in the event.

'Finally..my chance to throw some punches at him...'

Laughing evilly, one of them took the pen and the sheet from the staff member's hands.

"I'll type my name, don't worry!"

Finishing doing so, he threw the pen and the sheet to the staff member without adding anything more.

With the situation continuing in this direction of anxiety and excitement, Ethan had recovered already most of his mana.

'I should make it circulate a little in my veins to refine it'

Although he wasn't sure something like this could work, Ethan had a mischievous smile on his face

On this route of thought, Ethan was still asking himself how many techniques he will be using in the future

'[Boost Magic]...it's really an incredible magic. Probably all my arsenal will be composed of ramifications of it..but still, being able to make perks of my [Boost Magic] to become a skill will still lead me to a situation where using [Boost Magic] will be easier with time. I guess this is something similar to a loop. Everything I will choose to improve will always lead me to a single route, the route where I will increase my whole arsenal's power.'

While he was busy recovering his mana, Ganesha saw that staff members made a bow on the distance. Slightly confused, he heard Shakti say

"It's the signal, it means they are done"

Understanding, he made a smile before starting to shout as always

"Time is passing quickly, so I want to ask, are the preparations done?"

Hearing Ganesha's words, the excitement for the upcoming show made them so excited to even answer him. Shouting on their own, he heard their 'Yes'

While he laughed at their reply, ready to continue, some of them were looking at Ethan.

'What is he doing?'

'He had more than 15 minutes...if he has any large-scale magic...'

Thinking this, they were trying to understand what he was doing with all their might but, failing to understand, they chose to return their attention to Ganesha

"Now that preparations are over, I, GANEEESHA, pass the word to Shakti for further clarification!"

Hearing this, they saw Shakti look at the arena for a moment before saying

"Now that everyone is ready and registered to enter the arena, the only things missing are to inform you of the details. The first thing is, killing is obviously not allowed, you can knock Ethan out and that will count as his defeat. The same for you, if you are knocked out or unable to fight, you'll have to leave the arena"

Inhaling and exhaling, Shakti continued her speech while everyone listened closely to her words

"The second thing is, No technique or skill activated before the start that can harm others is valid"

Hearing this, the few of them that thought he was ready to attack them sighed.

'So Ethan isn't preparing a magic...'

"That's all for now, you already know the rules and how this game works, I send good luck to everyone...are you ready to start?"

With another loud 'yes', Shakti started to make a countdown..

"10..."

'This seems to benefit his opponents a lot, yet I think it will be interesting to see...it is a pity that I am a Lv 4..'

"9..."

With the anxiety increasing second by second, they wanted to immediately launch themselves into the arena.

Looking at his surroundings, a man made a 'tch'

'This..is a strategy from him, how can they not notice it...'

Looking away, the man minded his own business without saying anything.

"8..."

Looking at him still with his eyes closed while meditating, Loki had a mischievous smile on her face

'I wanted to see it, how far your schemes could reach... Even though you didn't manage to fool them all, it's still quite a lot for your first time'

With a smirk, she continued to observe the situation while Riveria sighed.

'He's really smart...'

"7..."

Smiling, Ethan opening his eyes to see how much anxiety they had

'They are really stupid, just because I can't perform a magic that can harm everyone that doesn't mean I can't boost my body before the start'

Preparing to Boost his whole body, he was thinking about the minority of elves he has glimpsed

"6..."

Seeing the smile on his face, Finn understood the situation was going exactly as Ethan wanted

'Bringing people to think they have a huge advantage both in number and strength, making them believe the situation is in the palm of their hands... I see..'

Without saying anything, he had a smile on his face

'he will be a problematic opponent in the future, we're lucky to have him between our ranks...'

thinking that Ethan was betting everything on this plan, Finn said

"I see, so was he so convinced of winning because he has something like a large-scale attack?"

Shaking her head, Loki answered

"he has no magic of that type"

Furrowing his brows, Finn asked

"Then..what is the meaning of this?"

With a mischievous laugh, she looked at Finn while saying

"He managed to fool most of them, but some saw through his plan, even though it's not all, probably"

Surprised, he was thinking about it while everyone else stared at him waiting for these seconds to pass quickly.

"5..."

Preparing their various equipment, most of them were ready to jump in while Ethan stopped meditating. Getting up, he looked around him to memorize everyone

'By the way..where's the quest?'

This time, he had some moments to think about it before a quest appeared in front of him.

-------------------------------------------------

//Optional Quest Triggered//

[One against All]

Rank: S(Unstable)

Objective: Defeat all [Enemies](0/?), Be recognized unanimously as worthy of being part of the Loki Familia(0/1)

Optional Objectives: don't reach [Mind Down] (0/1), don't use any equipment from the System(0/1)

Failure Conditions: Death, Unable to fight within the next 5 hours, declare defeat, fail to defeat everyone that enters the arena as a [Enemy], Ask for (Ais Wallenstein) help.

Penalty: Chance to being kicked out of the Loki Familia(0,1%/100%)

Rewards: 2.500.000SP, 1x[???], [Reckless] skill

-----

Reading it, Ethan understood the quest rank would change based on some variables. With a smirk, he thought

'I'll make this reach SSS-Rank. Probably the variable is the quantity of enemies I'll need to defeat and, even though there isn't a quantified number, the skill is already rank S...it will be more difficult than expected'

With a tense smile, he focused on the countdown while his [Boost Magic] was doing its job.

"4..."

Without further hesitation, some managed to take advantage of these few seconds and the previous 15 minutes to form groups.

'It will be easy..surround him and attack from every single direction. I don't believe he will be fast enough to evade every single attack even wanting to exaggerate his skills'

Although most of them had no additional reasons, few had the belief that Ethan should be erased from Orario.

'After this stupid show you put on, I'll make your life a living hell...'

"3..."

Finally, with the last 3 seconds remaining, the participants got up at the same time to make the places closest to the arena accessible to people who could not participate

Seeing this act of courtesy from the crowd, Ganesha was a little shocked

'He really managed to make them united to face a common opponent, to the point where they even help each other...'

"2..."

With a laugh, one of the few that couldn't enter the arena said

"Go all out! Make him lose!"

The encouragement of the one quickly made everyone else say the same thing as well from everyone else.

'Don't make it sound it will be difficult to face this boy... We have numbers and power in our hands, I'm sure I will be bored to death'

"1..."

'Finally it's time.'

Completed his boost, Ethan was ready to activate [Avian] at 100% its power.

'I can't be sure they won't use this simple strategy..'

Thinking about this, Shakti finally said

"Start!"

Hearing her words, they were ready to jump into the arena, but ..

"Stop! Don't jump in the arena!"

Stopping, they looked at the owner of the voice. With a bored expression, one of them replied

"Why? We can't start if we don't go"

Nodding, the woman added

"I know, but look at him"

Doing as she said, the man saw the that Ethan was ready to face them

"I don't follow you, why should we stop? He's as ready as us"

Shaking her head, she said

"Listen, he is ready to attack us. I don't know what type of magic he uses, but it could be a trap. Instead of jumping headlong, It is best to send a single person and observe his techniques."

Understanding what she wanted to ask, the man laughed

"Why should we send just one person when we are so many? Even if he had the power to defeat an entire group of 10 adventurers at level 3, there are many others..."

Understanding he had a point, the woman Ethan observed for a moment with an indecisive air

'His powers..are increasing second by second, but I can't tell him...this will bring us to our loss...Even though I don't care much about this event...I don't want to be defeated by a rookie...'

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8 If you enter it, you can choose one of Ethan's future powers from the pool I created, but that's not all! On the server, you can see the reference on some things that will be present in the story! Right now you can freely see some things like the [Twin's Digimon] and [The Devoted Heart].)

(Alternate Titles: "Ethan....is learning from Loki-sensei!?","Cliff-kun, you should die", "That countdown...")