"The total number of participants for Solo Combat is 932! One of the highest we've ever seen in a tournament, ladies and gents. Only 64 of them will face each other in an arena as we start things off with a selection phase!"

  Ron glanced at Lev. "What are the chances of me facing you in the first phase?"

  "Low," Lev instantly replied as the commentator continued speaking.

  "Eight participants will face each other in the arena in the selection phase to decide a victor. The phase has two major rules. First, if a winner has not emerged in five minutes, all the participants will be disqualified. Make sure to be hasty.

  "Second, combatants are not allowed to team up against a singular participant. Allying is allowed in unique circumstances, but deliberately targeting someone from the get-go will be grounds for immediate disqualification. We will be watching."

  That is unexpected, Lev mused, liking the rule. Even if eight of them wouldn't quite be enough to take me out instantly, it wouldn't hurt to keep some cards close to myself. Only Elias and his team know what I can truly do when not holding back.

  He wasn't sure if anyone would be blatant enough to resort to such tactics, but an official rule banning them was a plus.

  "Please find your seats and enjoy these free snacks. The first round will start in thirty minutes."

  ****

  "Lev, Ron, Khalik, Monica, and Yuna. You guys are up."

  First round? Lev wondered as he got up and followed the clerk.

  "Do you want me to explain the positions?" the clerk asked, getting a collective negative response. "Lev, you're in fourth spot. Monica in 5th, Khalik in 6th, Ron in 7th, and Yuna in 8th. Wait for the starting bell. Remember, no teaming."

  "Called it," Ron muttered, almost causing Lev to burst out laughing.

  "The losers will have their own bracket," the clerk continued after Ron's reaction. "16 slots will be reserved for whoever wins in those, so you can still compete in the duels. Do your best to qualify for a spot if you can't win. The bracket's participants will be decided based on their showing."

  Ron already knew that and simply nodded. Lev looked at his competition, finding Yuna looking back. Her expression was resigned, though far from dejected. Lev was not going to face anything but her best. Ron was Ron, looking pained and depressed, whereas the other two didn't seem to recognize Lev.

  Their reactions will be interesting, at least.

  Not long after, Lev was standing amidst all the people who would face him. He wondered what the holdup was before a Master crafter suddenly blurred in front of them.

  "I don't have much time to explain. Put these on."

  The man handed them all a bracelet. Throwing it on his right arm, Lev peered at it curiously. If his senses weren't deceiving him, the enchantments were incredibly potent despite being cloaked. Gazing at them might just do more harm than good because of how intimidating their scale probably was.

  "It's a simple tool to ensure you will not be lethally wounded. Good luck," he said before vanishing.

  The fighters took a few seconds to digest what had just happened. Lev could visibly observe them shrug and move on. Masters were weird like that.

  For the final check, Lev handed over his ring after summoning Stargazer and the earth mana converter. Since there were no cores to be reaped, there was no point in keeping the storage ring.

  Stepping out of the hallway and into the arena was an experience Lev would never forget. Be it the sheer grand scale of the structure, the excited roaring crowds, or the gaze of several Exalted and extremely strong Masters landing on him, Lev had to stop in place and take a deep breath.

  The other participants didn't seem to be as affected, which meant his increased perception of auras was to blame.

  "WE'RE STARTING THINGS OFF WITH A BANG, PEOPLE!"

  Oh boy.

  "ON THE FOURTH, WE HAVE LEV, A MYSTERIOUS HUNTER WHO UTTERLY DEMOLISHED ALL PREVIOUS RECORDS IN THE MONSTER HUNT."

  Lev tuned out the rest. He didn't know if long periods of exposure to such commentary could cause mind damage, and he wasn't willing to risk it.

  Scanning the arena, each of the competitors was standing several hundred meters away from each other. Beyond the direct distance, Lev estimated the space between opposite hunters to be half a kilometer. The sheer size of the arena truly boggled his mind.

  "WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, LET THE FIRST ROUND BEGIN!"

  Lev sprung into action the moment a booming gong rolled through the arena, signifying the beginning of the five-minute timer.

  From his left, a warrior woman he hadn't seen before charged at him, whereas ice spells were forming to his right.

  Lev smirked as his barrier armor appeared. Enhancement formation was carved and fueled before a small stream of lightning imbued the armor.

  Sand parted in his wake as Lev launched himself at the ice mage. Not needing to stop on the ground, a constant cloud rose around him as he covered the distance in a blink and swung Stargazer from a dozen meters away.

  The slash was blocked by a risen ice wall, and several icicles sought to impale him. Lev weaved between them, the projectiles not fast enough to reliably hit him, and formed a few fire arrows.

  The mage hadn't wasted a moment, running away the moment Lev started moving. Perhaps he was waiting for the warrior woman to catch up, but Lev didn't give him the chance to even consider anything further.

  Overloaded arrows flew at him, some blocked by his creations before two exploded on either side of the mage. Before he could reorient himself, Lev was already slashing down.

  The mage's eyes widened as lightning aimed to cook him alive, but the bracelet on his arm came alive in an instant. Barriers sprung up around the mage, the constructs forming out of the bracelet, and effortlessly stopped Lev's attack.

  Before Lev could blink, the mage had vanished, taken out of the arena.

  Whirling around, Stargazer's blade met a hulking greatsword. The former's blade cracked and was hastily repaired as Lev backtracked.

  Slow, Lev noted, not letting his guard down. The other five were duking it out in the back, which let him deal with the warrior by himself.

  Earth mana entered Stargazer, increasing the weight of the blade considerably while enhancing its durability. Running the enhancement formation at half its capacity, Lev met the warrior's charge with one of his own.

  The first few probing swings passed quickly before the warrior grunted, getting ready to go all out. Lev prepared himself, running enhancement at its maximum, and tried to deflect an overhead swing.

  That turned out to be a mistake as Stargazer was wrestled out of his hand, thudding into the sand-covered ground. Lev blinked at the unexpected outcome and darted to the right, dodging the follow-up without much trouble.

  Mentally nudging Stargazer, the blade flew out of the ground before the glaive landed in his waiting palm.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Both of them paused, reassessing. Lev now knew he was no match in strength, which should've been obvious from the very start.

  Sure, he was considerably faster, yet he still couldn't hope to run circles around the obviously strength-focused warrior.

  Giving her a nod of recognition and realizing his own limits, Lev formed four thick shields around him. Each was infused with earth mana, not yet imbued, before he charged again.

  His straight thrust was blocked with the flat of the blade. The warrior showed impressive skill as she twirled the greatsword, causing Lev to waste another instant on righting Stargazer, and swung in a wide arc.

  Two shields blocked the attack, sporting large cracks at the point of impact but nothing beyond them. The earth mana imbued at the last second and the durability rune being powered made them far too resilient to break easily.

  Undeterred, she easily transitioned the move into further attacks. Lev found himself constantly backtracking.

  Damned mastery skills. I swear her sword has a mind of its own.

  It didn't, but it sure felt that way. His arms ached from the repeated impacts before he decided to change his approach a little.

  Lightning replaced earth mana in Stargazer in a blink before being channeled into a slash. Caught unprepared, the warrior raised an arm to block it as best as she could and covered her face.

  Lev was about to rush in after the slash landed in an explosion, only to find that the warrior had vanished. Some stunned seconds passed before he realized she had been taken out in a single attack.

  … Whoops? How the fuck did that happen?

  He didn't have to ponder for long. With the amount of mana he had, even his 'usual' slashes outclassed what anyone else used. No wonder the warrior was about to be fried.

  Several hundred meters away, a grand brawl was taking place. Two mages and three warriors were locked in a free-for-all, and the temptation to take them out at once was strong.

  Lev resisted the urge and observed. Less than a minute had passed, meaning there was some time to spare.

  Ron's balls of acid came as a surprise. When a warrior was about to skewer him with his frankly oversized spear, three of them splashed onto the unlucky opponent.

  Lev sincerely hoped the bracelet stopped the acid from reaching the downed man because he vanished in moments.

  Two more were disqualified in the next minute, leaving Lev, Ron, and a dual-sword warrior in the arena.

  Indecision played on both their faces before they reached a silent agreement. Just as they were about to turn towards Lev, two overloaded lightning lances landed near them, carefully aimed to not hit them directly or impact too close. They were both taken out instantly.

  Feel free to team up in the losers' bracket.

  Rolling his eyes, Lev ignored the boisterous commentary and returned to the entrance of the arena. Taking off the bracelet, he handed it to the waiting Master. The participants were all also present there, netting him mixed looks.

  "Good showing," the Master crafter nodded his way before they were all made to leave.

  ****

  Ron didn't come to sit next to Lev when he returned to the waiting room. Given his recent victory, he didn't need to be present in the arena anymore. His performance in the hunt ensured that Lev didn't need to participate in a secondary selection phase to thin the numbers. Only 64 were going to be selected, after all.

  He only got to sit there for a few minutes before an attendant entered the room. The woman looked around before her eyes settled on Lev.

  "Hunter Lev?" she confirmed after coming close, continuing after Lev's nod. "You have been summoned by Princess Katarina. Please follow me post-haste."

  Just what I needed, Lev mentally sighed and psyched himself up for whatever was waiting for him. Hopefully, no one would try to pressure him into any jobs or contracts.

  While he followed the woman, his mind went over all the things he should and shouldn't do in the presence of nobility. There were mercifully few things to note.

  Bow at the waist to greet them and stay quiet unless addressed. Foolproof plan, Lev chuckled to himself, getting an odd look from the woman he was following.

  Two minutes later, he walked through a grand hallway. Different strong auras were present near him, no doubt from the other rooms for different nobles.

  Unfortunately, two auras eclipsed all others combined, and they just happened to be at his destination. Lev was mildly surprised when he felt Hakim's aura instead of the Runic Warlord's.

  Whatever little he had prepared himself was rendered useless when he entered the room with five suffocating auras. The princesses were strong, he knew that already, and both Hakim and Sherron were Exalted. They were all seated on their luxurious sofas facing the arena.

  It was Duke Fabian who made him freeze in his steps. Being exposed to strong auras for the first time was always rough, and the warrior in front of him was far stronger than Lev was expecting, even more so than Orianna.

  Lev was rightfully afraid. He shakily took a few steps forward and bowed at the waist, electing to stay quiet. His voice could not be trusted at the moment.

  "Rise," Katarina's order reached him. Lev stood back up straight and scanned the reactions of everyone present.

  Hakim was Hakim, no reaction there. Sherron was smiling lightly like usual, and the princesses looked serious for once. Duke Fabian was expressionless, content with observing him as Lev observed him back.

  Since nobody spoke, Lev addressed Katarina first, "How may I be of assistance, Your Highness?"

  What an unpleasant new flavor of speech.

  "What do you think, hunter Lev?"

  Oh great. They're enjoying this.

  Lev took his time to answer, pretending to be deep in thought. Not like he actually knew the reason.

  "I don't know," he eventually answered.

  The moment he answered, the air in the room shifted. No outward changes were visible, but Lev knew something had just happened.

  "Illusion's in place now," Sherron piped up.

  That seemed to be the cue to drop the regal act for both the princesses. Katarina stretched, producing sounds that made Lev want to run away, before fully turning to look at him with a relaxed smile. Even the duke seemed to be used to her antics.

  "Did you have to win so easily?"

  Since she was being casual, Lev also risked talking normally.

  "The last two were going to team up. I wanted to face the winner of the brawl, so I just bombed them out of disappointment, I guess."

  All the while, Lev was becoming increasingly creeped out by the duke silently watching his every move like a hawk.

  "You're not fit to be a noble," Duke Fabian spoke for the first time, causing Lev's gaze to turn flat. It took some effort not to open his mouth as the duke continued.

  "That is not a big deal. Tell me, Hunter Lev, are you a part of a team?"

  "Not yet, sir. There is one waiting for me."

  Duke Fabian nodded as if he already knew. "What did my daughter say to you?"

  He knew about that too?

  Lev took a few moments to gather his scattered thoughts. It wasn't that surprising for a Duke to take his daughter's safety seriously.

  "She told me to be respectful regardless of what you ask of me," Lev replied, not giving him the full truth.

  "So it was about our meeting. I can deduce the rest," the duke casually reasoned, making Lev wonder why he was here in the first place.

  "Are you done?" Sherron's rather icy voice cut through Lev's thoughts. He blinked, taken aback.

  "It's just like you to interfere for no reason," Duke Fabian remarked, his tone exasperated despite being clipped and formal. "And yes, I can tell the boy has already made up his mind."

  "And it's just like you to waste time despite knowing the outcome," Sherron quipped, equally unamused. "Was my word not enough?"

  Duke Fabian had nothing to say to that.

  "Isabella's a good girl, you know?" Lara said while looking at Lev. "She will not shy away from grand goals like yours."

  Lev took a seat beside Sherron before replying. "While that may be true, do you know what my plans are after this?"

  "Rushing to Master?" she guessed.

  "Yeah, but how exactly?"

  Lara looked at him with narrowed eyes and considered in silence. "Will you return to the pit?"

  "Nope. I'm gonna solo clear platinum dungeons."

  "That is a horrible idea," Duke Fabian couldn't help but comment.

  "That is a fantastic idea," Lev countered before addressing Sherron. "How many clears do I need for the title upgrade?"

  "Dungoneer?" Lev nodded. "10, 25, 50, 100, and so on."

  "Do any of you know what kind of title one can get by solo clearing platinum dungeons before Master?"

  There was no answer. Lev was waiting for Hakim to tell him off but that didn't happen. He would've happily listened to the old man's advice. If he thought Lev could do it, though…

  "Is it possible?" Lev asked Hakim directly.

  "Sure is," Hakim answered without hesitation. "What's more important is how you clear them."

  Lev waved a hand. "Nothing to be worried about on that front. Since dungeons last forever, I'm gonna take whatever rewards Drakys has prepared and practice my skills as much as I can. Surely that counts for something."

  "I do not approve of this," Sherron spoke up, getting nods from Katarina and Lara both. Lev frowned. His decision would be based on their agreement, but the opinions were split.

  "Why?"

  "It's too dangerous," she replied. Lev stared at her without an expression, which actually made the Exalted squirm a little. With a sigh, she first looked at Fabian.

  "What we're about to discuss is classified information. Red-black category, if you care."

  Fabian's eyebrows rose, visibly reacting for the first time. He nodded slowly, tacitly agreeing to a vow of silence.

  Sherron turned to Lev, "You nearly died twice in gold dungeons. There would be a much higher chance of things going wrong in way larger platinum dungeons. What if another chaoswalker finds you?"

  Lev hesitated. "It will not."

  Her gaze sharpened, waiting for an explanation. None came for a few seconds as she gradually became disappointed, and a little hurt.

  That broke the straw. "ALRIGHT FINE! Don't look at me like that," Lev rubbed his neck. "I still can't tell you all of it, but I got a title saying 'Such events are extremely unlikely to happen around you again.'"

  "When…" Duke Fabian's voice interrupted further explanation. "When, exactly, did this happen?"

  "Like, two months ago? I haven't been keeping track of time."

  "Two months ago," the duke echoed, struggling to believe. "How come I was not made aware of this?"

  Hakim glanced at Lev, telling him to take the reins.

  "It's related to me," Lev settled on half-truths again. "Waves form faster wherever I go, and this also happened when I was solo clearing a dungeon

  "… It's also why I refuse to join a team right now. My mentor assured me that the team waiting for me would be able to keep up, which is the only reason I agreed. If they fail to, I'll still be doing the most dangerous missions solo."

  Despite being unable to read anything on Duke Fabian's face, Lev could still feel the moment he changed his mind about recruiting Lev for his daughter's team.