BXBX NOVEL Chapter 193: Examination (4)
A lion much bigger than Elizabeth's Lew walked in. He was of an elephant size or perhaps even more enormous. His gait, similar to Lew's of the king of the jungle, made it apparent that he also considered himself the strongest and most prideful.
He slowly took over the arena.
He was darker than his shadow, and his long black mane fluttered like a cape.
[The Arena's Champion Lv. ??? HP: ??? MP: ???]
As his red eyes pierced Jake, the lion suddenly widened his jaw, revealing his sharp teeth. However, those weren't his main weapon—it was a laser beam.
The red beam tore through the air with an unbelievable speed.
It was so fast that Jake felt a warm sensation in his chest in less than a second!
He quickly ducked and plastered himself to the ground.
The Champion's attack went past him. Its leftovers swirled above Jake.
It was such an unexpected move that Jake's heart rate quickly surged. He would have been scored through if not for his fast reaction.
His dream of becoming an esports player would have died!
[The Second Stage—Survive.]
[54 seconds left.]
Jake's mission was to survive The Arena's Champion onslaught. He quickly rose to his two feet and took out his bow. He didn't forget to wrap the monster in his perception bubble.
Combining his Death's Lock and Archer's Death Eye, Jake put a tracker on the lion's movement and presence. He swore to himself that he wouldn't let any of this existence's attacks get him!
'His level is unknown… he will obliterate anyone in a single attack!' Jake thought. He was confident in his theory. Therefore, he released his arrows around the arena after avoiding the second beam.
Once again, it was so quick that Jake barely dodged it.
[You have summoned your companions.]
'Take each arrow and move away from me! I will use the arrows you hold to teleport to you, just in case! Ender, make darkness nests around so you can spit arrows whenever I need them! I'll stuff lots of them inside! You're the most crucial to pass this test, so I'll keep in contact with you!'
'Ok,' Ender's voice boomed in Jake's mind.
These two could talk because of Jake's beast-tamer subclass.
Jake's voice was so urgent that other summons didn't dare lag behind. They didn't even exchange their usual glances with Jake and immediately got to work.
The Champion growled.
He raised his front paws high before slamming them down onto the ground!
The arena shook upon the impact.
From beneath those paws, the ground cracked. The cracks fanned out in Jake's direction in a cone.
He stood still beneath them.
At last, the floor erupted. Shockwaves of a raw physical force unrolled toward Jake from where the lion had imprinted his skill. They zoomed at him like an avalanche.
Jake noticed a gap in their pattern. It was probably a chance for players to survive this second aggression, but he didn't want to risk anything and decided to work with his summons.
He teleported to Odin, who had distanced himself from Jake, taking over the spot far away from the lion.
Kamil's eyes gleamed as he gazed at Jake and his choices.
He said, "The moment you choose to run away from The Champion's test…"
A huge shadow loomed over Jake and Odin.
"The Champion himself will verify you."
-
Kamil took an honored seat in the crowd.
He crossed his legs and commented on Jake's endeavors.
'The Perception Skill is the key to this test. We don't want anyone to use their special classes and skills to overcome the second stage,' Kamil thought. This didn't mean that skills like Jake's unusual movement skills weren't enough to pass the second examination.
It meant that it'd be much more challenging.
Kamil believed that The Perception Skill was the strongest in the game.
'The Zone has been confirmed by various scientists years ago. Sportsmen occasionally would enter that zone and perform beyond their humane limits. The Zone would draw out their entire strength and potential,' Kamil thought. 'The Perception Skill and its many variations are, in my opinion, a gate to that zone.'
It was still unknown what exactly put people in the zone.
That said, triggering that in the game world was much easier.
Kamil still doubted whether that zone in the game was exactly the same as in his real world, but he was confident that people would be able to develop the natural and even stronger zone with time and experience.
As he stared at Jake, Kamil whispered to himself, "As time passes and players throw themselves into more hazards, our brains may be able to understand what death is."
Jake stood before what could be death.
The Champion had raised his paw and threatened to plummet it at him.
In fact, he didn't threaten.
He'd done it as fast as he could.
Jake was nowhere to be seen.
'Another teleportation. That will only irk The Champion more, Jake.' Kamil chuckled.
Though he may have escaped that, Jake had paid a price for it.
Odin had entered the battle cooldown. He was scratched by a pebble, which triggered it.
Jake unsummoned Wukong and Medusa, as these two might be helpful later. He could work with Ender alone, as the baby eagle's nests were enough to provide him with a teleportation network!
That was when The Champion suddenly arched his head behind.
He aimed the laser beam at the skies.
A second later, numerous smaller beams rained on the arena.
It was a red rain of massacre.
Each beam was precisely aimed at Ender's darkness nests, shattering them.
Kamil thought, 'Those nests can be only conjured in the darkness. Because of the sun hanging above us, Jake is limited to the arena's perimeter.'
And he had none of that now.
The Champion forced him to play his test!
Ender perched on Jake's shoulder, complaining to him.
Kamil stared at these two and drew a wide smile.
He said, "You have what it takes to evolve your perception skill. You even have death dwelling within you."
There was no need for Jake to develop his perception skills, though.
He could see through The Champion's Test and forced himself to take risks. He squeezed himself into the gaps in the lion's aggression and emerged unscathed.
It was so nerve-wracking and exciting.
Kamil grinned, "Here I hoped I'd get to see your progress live. You already have what it takes to pass this test!"
Although he was disappointed because it would be rare for him to experience Jake's progress live, he genuinely supported Jake.
He, indeed, was one of his fans.
The second stage's timer reached zero.
Jake survived the onslaught.
He didn't get eaten or devoured by the lion's attacks.
The third stage began immediately after.
Jake was blown away by the lion's presence.
The Champion's stats updated.
[The Arena's Champion Lv. 30 HP: 10 000 MP: 8 500]
[Third Stage—Gladiator.]
[Defeat The Arena's Champion.]
Those stats weren't much for a level thirty monster.
At the very least, his health and mana points didn't seem like a problem to Jake.
He suspected the lion was either too strong, fast, or tough.
None of it mattered.
Jake's bow elongated.
Falling into his Formless Soldier Form, Jake drew his strongest anchor point. He also had Odin by his side as the puppy had entered the battle cooldown a minute ago, so he didn't dare to waste that and told him to immediately enter the arrow.
He would genuinely release his strongest!
Kamil leaned forward, his eyes shining bright. "Oh! This is Fenrir's Arrow! Go, my man, silence this entire arena!"
The thunder boomed across the arena. Everyone was put into silence.
Jake's strongest arrow was impossible to stop, even with The Champion reacting just in time to defend himself.
He'd raised his paw to block it, yet the arrow deeply lodged itself in his flesh.
It victoriously thundered for the second time as blood spurted from the monster.
Jake wasn't done.
Even faster than Odin could return to sheathe the second arrow with his presence, Jake had already drawn the second strongest anchor point.
It was fortunate that Odin didn't need time to unleash his arrow!
One, two, three, four… Jake sent so many thunderous arrows that anyone blind would have thought a lightning bolt had struck the same spot numerous times!
He was relentless in his pursuit.
[-1540 HP!]
[-1479 HP!]
[-1431 HP!]
[-1601 HP!]
Jake was dealing an absurd amount of damage with his arrows.
That said, The Champion hadn't been wholly stopped by them.
He was marching forward.
Each arrow halted his march for a little, but not enough to shut him down.
Finally, he stood before Jake.
Jake, however, disappeared off the scene.
He appeared in the skies beside Ender, who had been summoned to perform a simple task—hold an arrow.
Facing the monster with his back from such a high altitude, Jake smirked and broke his bow into two twin swords.
As he started plummeting, he abruptly turned around and filled himself with more strength.
A flash of inspiration went through him as he plunged at The Champion.
'Wouldn't it be better to shoot an arrow?' Ender asked.
Jake replied, 'I always wanted to try it!'
The lion looked up. Here, he saw a human plummeting at him.
That human wore such a bestial smile that goosebumps went through the lion's tough hide.
Before the monster could react, Jake landed on his face, his twin swords sliding into the lion's forehead.
The brain burst open within the skull.
[You have defeated The Arena's Champion.]