“Now for the next match, we have the F class adventurer Shiro, versus the A class adventurer the ‘Berserker’!”, the next match began with the noise of peoples excitement.

I stood amidst the arena, in my line of sight I could see the smiling figure before me. His smile showed his excitement, easily to be confused with confidence.

I was about to fight against this reckless and stubborn mess of a human being, if he could even be considered to be referred as such.

In total there were eight matches, and only one person coming victorious each. The matches were entertaining to say the least, I was never the type of person to go to stadiums to watch people compete over some stupid prize, not that I ever got the chance to up until now.

Now there were going to be four matches, and only one person can come out victorious from each match, those who won will be directed to the pre-finals which consist of two matches, then leading to the finals where it’s going to be a one-on-one fight.

“… it was inevitable that this was going to happen… not even I could stop this turn of events.”, the pairings were determined at random, but to me it felt like fate was messing with me.

All the previous matches felt nonexistent, like everything was just a small break for this one match to eventually begin.

“Get ready! Because the match will start in three—“

I unsheathed my swords, and steadied my breathing, it was inevitable for me to get nervous in such a situation.

“Two.”

Considering whom I was about to clash blades with, it pissed me off yet at the same time I was glad.

“One.”

We looked each other in the eyes, it made me feel perplexed by his smile at the same time disgusted. I didn’t particularly hate him, but the way he acted and thought made me feel uncomfortable by his presence.

“Begin!”

I instantly held my swords in a cross shape to absorb the impact of his white sword.

“You knew what I was going to do, quite impressive!”, he praised my quick action. “Considering your personality, it was the most obvious thing you’d do!”

We clashed blades time after time, our strength stat was roundabout the same wavelength by my calculations of just hitting my sword against his.

“You know, I was waiting for this match ever since the second challenge.”, I pushed him off, and conjured multiple ‘Mana Shot’s to throw him off, but he effortlessly evaded them. “Oh really, you don’t say?”

Despite our seemingly calm conversation, we were going at each other like our lives were at stake, or at the very least it seemed as such to the people.

He threw his sword in my direction, like it was some sort of prop. And right in the next instant he reached back to his sword and collided his sword against mine.

That move was solely meant to break my concentration, though it caught me off surprise it didn’t really do much.

I used my free arm to freeze his arm holding the sword, he broke free of my grip and retaliated by casting a spell.

“‘Rock Throw’.”, Boulder sized rocks were launched from above like a avalanche towards me, the size of the boulders were likely due to his high mana or expertise in magic.

The announcer commented in a really loud and annoying voice, but I could not listen to his blabbering.

I jumped on top of the boulders and used them as a foothold and created a couple of lances made of ice.

Though I’ve never been active in sports, my body sort of moved on its own. As if it were my ‘skills’ actually doing the work.

The arenas landscape slightly changed, the boulders dug to the ground making them look natural on the surface, the floor had cracks and craters.

The ‘Berserker’ held his sword diagonally and with one swing destroyed all the ice lances. “Is that all you got!?”

It seemed like I flipped a switch on him, though I’m not exactly sure how.

“I guess I should go all out now!”, he struck his sword on the ground, the mystic glow made it look like a holy sword though do not be mistaken as for that is naught but a magic sword not in comparison to the actual real deal.

“I love this tournament, it’s the only place I can fight without holding back.”, the air around him suddenly changed. “Nowadays, fighting is so dull, what I like are fights to the death, where one knows that ones life is at risk!”

The title ‘Berserker’ was bestowed upon him due to his actions and attitude. To him, a fight where life is not at stake, is nothing but a trifle, that is why he went as far as almost killing his opponents or severely injuring them.

Some may think those actions as evil or that he is doing it as a form of bullying. However, he went all out because he respected his opponents, because for him a fight where nothing is at stake, is dull, not even to be taken seriously.

He was never apprehended due to multiple factors, one of them being his class as an adventurer and the victim itself being responsible for what happened. Despite his extreme actions, he is ‘sane’. He asks people to battle him, he even tells them to put their life’s in the line which some people took it as a joke, soon to be put at the brink of death moments later.

“That is why, fight me! Kill me! Fight like everything is at stake!”, he looked me in the eyes and curved a smile. “Now! ‘Berserk’!”

His eye color suddenly changed to blood red, the white part of his eyes turned black and his sword's glow increased even further.

The air around him vibrated as if intense heat was surrounding him.

“Now! LETS GO!!!”, he stomped the floor with one feet and in the next moment he appeared right before me.

His collided his sword with mine, the weight behind the sword multiplied immensely. Though it wasn’t the same level as the king, it still struck me with awe by his sudden increase in strength.

“‘Light Blade Destruction’!”, his blade glowed in a ominous color and exploded throwing me away like a rag doll.

My back hit against one of the boulders, stopping me from falling off the arena.

‘What the hell?! What was that damage!?”, clouds of dust was the thing left behind by the sword skill used by my opponent.

I slowly but surely rose back to my feet, my body slowly stabilized itself.

I was extremely restricted in this fight, a small portion of my skills cannot be used. Due to them not being used by humans and could reveal my race, the best I could do is use some spells I made and learned.

‘Using the spell ‘Brainwash’ won’t work, what it does is share my ‘will’ across to other persons mind. But if the person isn’t sane it’s useless!’, my spells were nothing but either imitations of something that already exists, or something thought up.

Suddenly a huge magic circle appeared in the middle of the sky, and lances made from ‘Light Attribute Magic’ were launched towards me at a frightening speed.

I evaded the light lances that bombarded the battlefield, each lance left behind a small cater, like holes drawn in a painting.

I hid behind the walls created by the boulders, unfortunately the next second cracks appeared on the bolder, and charging from within the bolder ‘he’ came out.

“This is not hide and seek!”, he used the flat surface of his sword to throw me away, my body collided against multiple boulders leaving behind a trail of destruction.

“I’m so glad for the ‘Pain Nullification’ skill.”, I seemed glad, despite the foreseen course of events. I couldn’t feel any pain, though I doubt I came unharmed.

My ‘Fast Healing’ skill can only heal wounds like cuts and bruises, broken bones would take possibly weeks or months to heal. Lost limbs cannot heal themselves up with this skill, I would require the skill ‘Regeneration’ or have an expert in ‘Life Attribute Magic’ to regenerate my limbs…

That is if I was human.

Unlike human bodies that consist of physical cells, I am a soul, or if one would lump me with a group of monsters, I’d be an ‘Undead’. Healing a spirit might be almost the same like healing a human body, but my soul which takes shape after my previous ‘vessel’ cannot be healed by normal means or it would take at least a considerate amount of time to heal.

I felt my vision getting hazy, my head must’ve taken quite the impact. Blood flowed down my cheeks, leaving droplets of blood on the floor.

My body fell back to the ground, the boulder had a crater the form of my body embed on it.

“Don’t tell me that is all you’ve got!?”, footsteps approached my limp body.

“…”, nothing came from me, not even a single breath much less a word. He reached closer to my body.

“Wha—“, I extended my right hand, grabbed his collar, projecting black flames around my body, I slammed his body to the ground.

The sudden attack caught him off guard, thus leaving an opening for me to attack once again.

Coating my hand in black flames, I smashed my fist into his stomach, I kept hold onto his collar and dragged him by the ground like a bag.

“AAAHHH!”, I threw him away with all my strength.

However, things did not turn my way, he easily rebalanced himself by using the walls of the boulders as a foothold and launched himself back at me.

The sole of his foot dug into my chest, throwing me once again back all the way to the edge of the arena, shattering terrain, thus leaving me cornered by the debris of stone.

I couldn’t turn off ‘Materialization’ mainly due to the fact that passing through rocks and walls cannot be done by any spell, and the possibility that someone is a ‘spiritualist’.

My consciousness was slowly slipping away, pressure was spread all over my body instead of pain. And blood gushed out of my wounds that could not self recover due to the sheer number of them throughout my body.

‘Damn it, I can’t think straight! I need to stand up and fight, I need to win…..’, the only thing remaining was my will to continue.

I knew what would transpired if I lost this fight, things would remain the same as before, and I would possibly get killed by the monstrosity right in front of me.

“Blurgh…”, I vomited blood out of my mouth, my eyes were heavy and the pressure around my body was driving me insane, not that I wasn’t already.

‘Move Damn it! I need to fight…’, my breathing was heavy, my body did not necessarily need to breath, but it was imitating the original functions of a human body.

‘Why? Why the hell am I so weak?!’, suddenly everything seemed to disappear, like I was alone in the middle of nowhere.

Everything was pitch black once again, my consciousness either slipped away or my body, my soul gave up. Thus leaving my consciousness somewhere else.

‘What can I do?!’

‘Nothing.’

‘I can’t stand up… I’m really weak…’

‘That’s right.’

‘Why the hell am I so weak?’

‘That’s because you are ‘you’.’

‘…who are you?’

‘Me? I am the closest person to you.’

‘But, I don’t know anyone like that.’

‘You don’t need to, it’s unimportant to know.’

‘What should I do?’

‘Give up.’

‘Why?’

‘Because you can’t fight.’

‘Yes I can.’

‘In the state you’re in, you might as well as be dead.’

‘If that’s the case, what can I do? What should I do, to defeat him?’

‘Leave it up to me.’

‘I don’t trust you.’

‘Of course you don’t, I knew you wouldn’t trust me.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Because I know you.’

‘…’

A pair of white arms enveloped me, they were cold to the point they felt dead, but inside this endlessly dark realm it was the closest I'll get to warmth.

‘Leave it all up to me, you’re useless. You can’t even stand up, much less put up a fight. The best you’d muster would be some cut wounds, but you would never be able to kill him the way you’re going.’

‘Why would I want to kill him?’

'Because, deep down you know how much you hate him.'

'No, I don't'

'Had it not been Gray, you would've been disqualified, you would fail to reach those you wanted to save.'

'...'

'His actions are senseless, there's no reasoning with him.'

'...'

'He has hurt a lot of people, getting rid of him would be an act of justice.'

'...that does not mean I have to kill him, I am sure that anyone can cha-'

'Have you ever changed?'

'...'

'You haven't grown up a single thing ever since you came here.'

'...'

'Your ignorance will bring the downfall of many, just like 'them'.'

'...'

'So, what are you going to do? Continue to ignore your mistakes and carry on? How greedy can you be?'

'I don't want to give up, I want to save them.'

‘You’re not giving up.’

‘I’m not giving up?’

‘No, all you have to do, is leave it up to ‘me’.’

'Why?'

'Because...'

A pair of golden eyes stared into my soul, just looking at them made yourself drown in the endless golden sea.

'Because, I am better than 'you'.'

My strength left me, my body was slowly no longer in my control as something else took shape.

YeetusFeetus

I hope all of you enjoyed this chap, I'm going to be spending the rest of today playing Genshin. I am currently farming for Klee, which will be nearly impossible. If someone could tell me, is multiple summons better than one summons, or how should I try to summon Klee on her banner?

Nevertheless, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter!