The fire burning around the red-haired guy had dimmed significantly as he held his hand in place, as if trying to reattach it. His eyes showed a mad glint as he glared at Ragnar. He did not even leak a slight noise despite having his hand severed as his gaze turned determined.

Ragnar turned around only to see something that he definitely had not expected. The man moved his hand away from the cut, and his hand that should have been detached, looked perfectly fine. Only the blood around the spot and the cut in his armour showed hints of a previous wound.

Ragnar looked at him with a serious gaze for the first time. It seemed like that was what the fire was for. Along with improving his strength and speed, it healed him at an unimaginable rate.

The guy picked his hammer back up as he looked at Ragnar with a grin.

Ragnar liked that grin. He spun the blade once around his finger as he placed it back into the scabbard in the same motion. The man was about to use his Hammer for increasing his fire again but Ragnar was not about to let him. He shot forward as the man was forced to block him with his hammer.

Ragnar’s fist smashed against the hammer as the guy was sent drifting across the floor. But he somehow managed to stop himself before he fell down the platform.

In the next moment, before he could contain himself, he saw his opponent preparing for another attack. He couldn’t help but sigh since the outcome was obvious. Still, he wanted to give his all, so he stored the hammer back into his storage pouch and moved to meet Ragnar’s punch head-on with his own.

He had focused all the remaining fire around his fist as he went for the exchange. But it turned out to be useless as his body was flung out of the stage and blasted into the wall of the room. The walls didn’t crack but a dent, in the shape of his body was formed.

This is why Ragnar needed to test himself. He wanted to increase the intensity of his attack since previous one didn’t seem to have had much effect, but now, he might have killed him. He could really use some practice. This was his first proper fight after he had become an Arcane.

The Audience was left flabbergasted as they stared with their mouths agape. The referee also took a moment to come back to himself as he ran towards the body stuck in the wall. He wasn’t quite ready for this jump in power. And it turns out he wasn’t asleep.

Ragnar came down the floor as he observed the red-haired guy being carried away by some people. But no-one seemed much worried, which was really surprising for him.

Aura came up to him with a wide smile.

“Don’t worry, he won’t die. The Nexarions have tough skin.”

Ragnar looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

Aura’s smile only turned wider.

“No reason.”

In reality, she was excited about what future held for them. She could envision her completing her goal now. After seeing his performance, it looked so much more possible than it had ever been before.

Kalix also walked up behind them at this point as he said with a smirk.

“We have Mystic healers here as well. So, he’ll be fine. You actually almost killed him huh…”

Ragnar just looked at him and spoke casually.

“Now tell me how I can accept challenges or issue my own.”

Kalix’s smile turned professional again.

“Of course, follow me.”

The crowd was looking intensely at Ragnar as they whispered amongst themselves. Ragnar heard a few of them as they left the room for the lobby.

“Hey, do you know who he is?”

“No, I’ve seen him for the first time too. Which faction do you think he is from?”

“His ability doesn’t ring any bells. But his hair colour…”

“His fighting style also isn’t recognizable.”

“Do you think it’s possible he is not from any faction?”

“No, that can’t be. There is no way.”

Ragnar ignored the voices as he followed Kalix into the lobby. Kalix asked him after reaching the lobby.

“Would you like to Issue a challenge or accept an already existing one?”

Ragnar thought about it for a moment before he spoke.

“Let me have a look first.”

Kalix nodded as he handed him his screen that had a list of challengers listed along with their ranks and what they had wagered. They were filtered from the lowest rank to the highest. So, Ragnar directly scrolled to the bottom and looked for the Wagers that he could match.

There were 6 Challenges in the 20s and 30s but all of their wagers exceeded 500000 Enders. After that, a few people were in the 40s with Wagers that Ragnar could match.

Aura’s face was starting to turn really anxious as she saw Ragnar lingering around the top 50s. She knew that he was abnormally strong, but she was worried that he would bite more than he can chew. So, she came up with a plan as she suddenly asked Kalix.

“Is there a limit to how many challenges a person can accept in a day?”

Kalix looked at her weirdly, he had a strange feeling that this was not going in a good direction. Still, he answered honestly.

“No, there is no such limit.”

Ragnar’s attention had also been diverted by this conversation as he looked at Aura. Aura matched his gaze with a bright expression as she spoke.

“Lord Ragnar, since we have been given this opportunity, why not make good use of it?”

Ragnar was puzzled by her words.

“What do you mean?”

Aura replied as she spoke with an understanding look.

“I know you want to directly challenge someone who is Ranked as high as possible. But wouldn’t that be a waste?”

Ragnar looked at her with his deadpan gaze. He was running out of patience already. Aura knew that too as she hurried to elaborate.

“You see, if you challenge someone Ranked very high and win, then you will gain their rank. But it will highly limit the number of people you can challenge. On the other hand, if you start with challenging someone who is near your Rank and move your way up then…”

She did not continue further as she gave Ragnar a small smile.

Ragnar finally understood what she was getting at. And realising what he could gain from it, he couldn’t help a grin from appearing on his face as well. He looked at Aura as he said with an appreciative nod.

“Smart.”

Aura’s smile turned forced after hearing his complement. Firstly, she felt really weird getting praised by him for something. And secondly, smart? Any sane person could have thought of this if they ended up in this situation.

Kalix sighed in the background. Firstly, these people were talking about defeating Spectrals as an Arcane as if it meant nothing. Secondly, they were about to exploit the shit out of their establishment if it really worked.

Ragnar’s smile only widened as he scrolled back up to see the challengers near his Rank. There were a few Arcanes that had marked the highest rank they want to fight as his own. But their wagers were very small, not even crossing 10,000 enders. Aura honestly wanted him to start with those, but she also understood that they can’t waste too much time. And she also didn’t want to push it too far.

Ragnar finally decided on a person ranked 111. His wager was 100000. He wanted to receive challenges from anyone Ranked 100 or below.

Normally people never accept challenges of others who are Ranked higher than them… since the wagers stop them from being reckless. Hence, there was no such rule that prevented Ragnar from doing what he was going to do.

He looked at Kalix who sighed for the N^th time as he stared back at him.

“I want to accept this challenge.”

Kalix asked with a forced smile, even though he knew there was no point.
“Are you sure? He is a Spectral.”

Ragnar just nodded with a grin. Kalix sighed again as he spoke.

“Then will you pay in Enders or Item of that value?”

Ragnar took out his dagger along with the scabbard as he spoke.

“This costed 450000 Enders. But I want to use it during the fight, so, can I keep it with myself?”

Aura’s voice was heard from behind him as she corrected him.

“It was 500000. You got that at the discounted price. And just keep it. I’ll pay for the wager.”

Ragnar did an ‘Oh’ as he remembered the actual price before he tied the scabbard back around his waist. He was going to fall in a much larger debt now. He could not lose now. Well, he wasn’t going to lose anyways.

Kalix went to the gruff man at the reception as he accepted the challenge for Ragnar. He was also trying his best to get into Ragnar’s good books since this was definitely not a part of his job. But it was going to be hard.

Kalix came back after a minute and spoke with a grin.

“Come, it’s time to show you the real Arena.”