The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 544 : Live commentary Tournament (1)

With the system’s declaration, the red sky returned to its solemn azure blue color, and Arena shone with a white light, then returned to normal. With one exception, there were now 33 pillars of light all around it, rising as high as the heist balcony.

Still, at the moment, no one cared about this show; their minds were occupied by the stuff they just read.

“What did it mean by Emperor candidate?”

“Who is this empress?”

“What is going on here?”

As soon as the declaration ended and the audience realized that that was it, they all began to clamor, asking each other and the elders around them.

“SILENCE!”

An authoritative voice sounded in the arena as the fog curtaining one of the balconies receded partially to reveal a bald old man, leaning on a wooden cane.

“Master Tog!” Many elders from the marginal clans and sects who sat in the auditorium stood up and bowed, urging their youths to do the same. Of course, there were people who didn’t care to even nod, while others shot the old man some hostile glares, but those were the minority.

“Master Tog… That declaration…” one old man from a minor family stood up and asked.

“Don’t ask questions that you shouldn’t ask… When it is the right time, you will know what it all means! Now letʼs proceed with the Tournament,” Tog said.

“Yes…” Everyone replied upon hearing him. Although reluctant, they knew this was the end of it… For now at least.

“Who is this guy?” a young man sitting in the seat beside Victor asked an elder who was one of the first to bow.

“Master Tog is the Head of the player console! He is a great man! You should always show him respect,” the elder said. “Never act like that blond arrogant guy sitting there; he doesn’t even have his own place!” the elder said, glaring at Victor, who, from start to finish, never cared to look at Tog.

“Yes…” The youth said as he glared at that guy and at the masked petite girl sitting beside him.

Victor naturally didn’t care… He didn’t even know they were talking about him as he was making a round trip around the stadium to prepare a few elements for his next play… And also a few things for contingencies!

Yup, the one at the seat was an illusion that was being guarded by Ruby, who sat to its side blocking the way, just in case someone tried to pass right through it.

Anyways, by the time Victor returned to his seat and let Ruby activate her power to calm down his injured soul, the first brave man just happened to enter the arena. A muscular guy with an ugly scar across his face.

“My name is Tovaq von Jar. I challenge any hero here who has the courage to come down and die!” he announced as he flexed his muscles and played with a scary scythe in his hand.

“I will try how hard your bones are…” With a chuckle, another young man shouted from one of the Blaconies, jumping right down. “My name is Tale Von Richter. I hope you remember that name when the king of the underworld asks you who killed you…” he said as his feet touched the arena’s floor. The moment they did, the arena shone with a bright silver light for a moment before returning to normal, as if indicating that the conditions for the first battle were met!

“A von Richter?”

“DAMN IT… ARE THOSE PEOPLE STILL AROUND?”

“Interesting…. So they have finally begun to make their move…”

Some all-knowing people in the audience quickly realized the name, but for most of the others, the Von Richter name didn’t ring any bells. Most thought it was some minor family or something. What they cared about was how the fight was going to play!

“NOW… FOR THE FIRST FIGHT OF THE DAY, WE HAVE TO VAN VON JAR IN BLUE AND TALE VON RICHTER ALSO IN BLUE, FIGHTING FOR THE FIRST SPOT… WILL ANY OF THEM WIN, OR WOULD THEY BOTH DIE? WE WILL NOT IN A MOMENT… BATTLE START!”

Out of nowhere, a majestic voice appeared throughout the arena commenting on what was happening.

“There was a commentator here?” Everyone asked each other, including those from the player council, the oligarchs, and the Heavenly sect.

The answer was one of three. “I have no idea,” “Nothing like this has ever been recorded,” and “Who is it… HOW DARE THEY!”

“Quickly go investigate…”

Other than the ones who realized that this was not normal and sent a few guards to investigate, all the others just shrugged it off. The voice came from all around the Arena after all; it seemed as if it was built in, so for them, it didn’t seem that bizarre.

Only three people knew the truth, but sadly, they were not going to tell anyone!

“THE TWO ARE LOOKING AROUND… ARE THEY WAITING TO BOAR EACH OTHER TO DEATH?” the commentator asked, making the two fighters hesitate, then look toward each other.

“Let’s do it… AAAAAAAAAa….” Tovar was the first to scream and attack using his scythe. His speed multiplied in seconds as he approached his target!

“DIE!”

POOOOOOOOOOF

In the eyes of everyone, the scene of the scythe cutting his opponent, Tale’s body didn’t happen. Before Tovar could even reach him, the former only needed to move his hand and release a barrage of sharp blood needles that went through the accelerating opponentʼs body, shredding him into pieces!

Tovar fell a moment later, not realizing how he just died.

“TALE VON RICHTER WINS WITH A SINGLE STRIKE,” The commentator announced almost immediately. “WHAT A STRIKE… WHAT A PROWES!”

“TOVAR!” Ignoring the commentator, a woman wailed from the audience, then tried to jump into the arena; sadly, she was met with a light barrier stopping her.

She could only watch as Tovar’s body slowly disintegrated with Tale, his killer not even looking at him, but at the First Pillar, which now had his name written in the same strange System Alphabet.

Next to it, there was a ticking-down timer.

60… 59… 58… 57…

This was the time he had to stay on stage before being allowed to leave.

Tale naturally smirked seeing it, then shot the audience a challenging look, as if daring them to come….

“THAT WAS TOTALLY UNEXPECTED, A ONE-SHOT BATTLE! AN ABSOLUTE SHOW OF ONE SIDEDNESS… THAT BLOOD NEEDLE SKILL OF THE BLOOD WIZARD IS TRULY AMAZING, TOO BAD TOVAR FELL FOR THAT GUYʼS PROVOCATION AND SPREAD RIGHT INTO HIS TRAP! IF HE WERE TO TAKE HIS TIME TO DODGE AND ABUSE THE BLOOD NEEDLE’S LONG COOL DOWN TIME TO MAKE HIS MOVE, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN THIS GUY’S WORST NIGHTMARE BUTT, NOW WE CAN NEVER KNOW….. NOW, WOULD ANYONE COME DOWN AND CHALLENGE THAT SPOT BEFORE TALE LEAVES THE ARENA?”

The voice perfectly analyzed Tale’s skill, making the latterʼs smirking face fall almost immediately as he looked around wanting to find who this damn bastard commentator who revealed his secret was. Sadly, he could never find him.

At the moment, he could only cross his fingers and wish no one would challenge him. Thankfully, with 31 slots still available, no one hurried to fight a hard battle.

As soon as the timer ended, Tale quickly pressed the ethereal ‘withdraw’ button that appeared in his system screen and vanished a moment later.

“AND WITH NO ONE WANTING TO DIRTY HIS HANDS, TALE RETURNS SAFELY TO HIS THREE GRANDMAS’ EMBRACE… WELL, NO ONE CAN PAMPER YOU LIKE YOUR GRANDMA… SO, WHO IS NEXT?” the commentator asked, making the three grandmas in the balcony frown and look around. This balcony’s curtain should be able to stop all kinds of snooping around. They have tried to break it a few times when they got here to make sure, and it was really impregnable… Could this commentator really be something left by the Empress?

“Let’s get done with this…” Two youths jumped from the stadium at the same time and entered the arena, making it shine with a white light.

“JOE ARTIO Vs KAL ARTIO… ARE THOSE TWO BROTHERS GOING TO FIGHT THIS TIME?” The commentator asked before anything could happen.

Ignoring him, one of the brothers raised his hands. “I surrender…”

The other nodded and then watched as his brother vanished and appeared back at his seat, while he looked toward the 2nd Pillar where his name JOE ARTIO appeared with a counter right beside it…

60… 59… 49

“WOW… JUST WOW…. THOSE TWO BROTHERS ARE REALLY BRAVE, TRYING TO ABUSE THE SYSTEM ITSELF! NO ONE SAW THAT CUMMING! AMAZING… JUST AMAZING… WHAT A DIRTY PLAY… WHAT AN ACT OF TOTAL DISRESPECT FOR THIS TOURNAMENT… WELL, IF YOUNG ARTO WERE TO USE HIS POISON SKILLS, HIS BROTHER WOULD HAVE BEEN IN TROUBLE, UNLESS THE LATTER ATE AN ANTIDOTE BEFORE ATTACKING, OR USED A FIRE-BASED SKILL TO BURN AWAY THE FROST-BASED POISON… SADLY HE LACKED SUCH A SKILL…. “The commentator quickly began to analyze, making JOE sweat as he looked around. Damn it! With his trump card revealed, would anyone come to fight him?

40… 39… 38…

“SO… ARE NO ONE COMING TO GET TEACH THIS CHEATER A LESSON?” the commentator asked as the counter trickled down.

“Damn it….” Joe cursed at the commentator as he looked at the countdown, praying in his heart that it would end quickly.

30… 29… 28…

“I will get rid of this filthbag!” someone said, making everyone look toward one of the lower balconies, belonging to the minor sects, as a young man jumped right into the arena that shone with a white light a moment later!

“A kid?” someone asked immediately, looking at the newcomer.

“WOW! JUST WOW… IF IT IS NOT SEBASTICAN SILVER, THE SCION DISCIPLE OF THE IMMORTAL ABODE! TOURNAMENT USUALLY PROGRESS FROM THE WEEK TO THE STRONG? BUTT SEBASTIAN APPARENTLY BELIEVES NOT!” the commenter quickly said, introducing the Sebastian who acted heroic. Yup, he just wanted to finish with this! “ONE WOULD HAVE BELIEVED THAT SUCH A GREAT FIGURE WOULD NOT APPEAR AT THE PRELIMINARY ROUND, BUT A WHILE BACK THE SEKETON KEY IN HIS POSSESSION WAS STOLEN BY A BAD GIRL BECAUSE HE THOUGHT WITH HIS BALLS INSTEAD OF HIS HEAD… NOW HE WILL HAVE TO CLIMB HIS WAY FROM THE BOTTOM AGAIN!”

“...” Sebastian clicked his tongue hearing the commentator; HOW DID IT KNOW THAT? Still, thankfully, it didn’t reveal any of his hidden powers as it did to others.

“DIE!”

BANG

DING DING DING

DING DING DING DING DING

Before Sebastian could turn to face his opponent, the latter, who realized from the commentator that his enemy was not to be trifled with, played dirty and made a move, throwing a bomb that exploded and releasing a barrage of poisonous needles!

He wanted to end this quickly, but sadly for him, his opponent was not someone easy to defeat!

With elegant moves, Sebastian used his newly forged curved sword to parry each one of them just like those heroes in trashy martial arts movies!

“You… AHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…” Before his opponent could register Sebastian’s moves, he lost sight of the latter, then felt the blade go through his stomach from behind.

At the same moment, the name atop the second column of light changed into SEBASTIAN SILVER.

“NO BROTHER!” KAL, the young man’s brother, screamed as he realized that his brother had just died, wanting to do something about it. Sadly, he didnʼt dare to go down the stage!

“AND A WIN FOR SEBASTIAN SILVER! TOO BAD IT IS NOT AS GREAT OF A WIN AS IT APPEARS, HE IS REALLY A 31-YEAR-OLD BATTLE MAGE WHO PRACTICED THE ETERNAL ART THAT DELAYED AGING, SO HIS WIN WAS IN A WAY, JUST BULLYING A YONGESTER…”

“What? 31? Didn’t this tournament forbid old people from entering?”

“He must have entered through some loophole…”

“Damn it…”

”Be careful of that guy later...”

”What an idiot...”

”Fuck...” Hearing the Commentator, Sebastian became more annoyed by it revealing his class, but looking at the dismayed audience, he knew that no one dared to fight him. And thankfully, even though the commentator realized his real age, he didn’t mention anything about him entering the Tournament, so his master was right; the eternal art really stopped his body’s aging, which was what the gate measured.

60… 59… 58…

As usual, after Sebastian’s win, the countdown began again…

“Young master… Do you know that guy?” Jasmine, who stood politely before Alex, suddenly asked. She had noticed the latterʼs tense expression as soon as Sebastian entered the stage.

“Ah… Fought him once before…” Alex sighed, remembering that night at Golden Waterfall town.

“Does he have something to do with your esteemed Thunder Sect’s demise…”

“No, nothing like that… It was after that, when I was… Eh… Searching for a way to awaken my bloodline, I came across him after I discovered a Von Richter vault…. One thing led to another, and we had a fight…” Alex said, mixing truth with falsehood.

“Did you win?” Janet, to his side, was the one who asked. Her husband had been trying to awaken his bloodline to get stronger ever since his sect fell. If not for that, they would have long consummated their marriage!

“Ah… I would have if… If the bastard played dirty, sticking below the belt “ Alex, who didn’t want to explain things, quickly made up an excuse, technically telling the truth. “Don’t worry, I… WAIT!” he shouted, but it was too late as the hot-blooded Jasmine jumped out of the balcony before him or his master could catch her.

“OH! EH…. ANOTHER CHALLENGER! A YOUNG SWORD MAID FROM THE SWORD SECT THIS TIME… JASMINE SWORDBOUND!” The commentator seemed to have hesitated for a moment, but he quickly introduced the new challenger without fail.

“My name is Jasmin… Let’s finish this quickly!” Ignoring the commentator, the petite Jasmin, who was dressed in simple linen martial arts clothes, said toward Sebastian as she held onto a large sword that was a bit longer than her.

“...” Sebastian raised his eyebrow as he readied his sword, looking at her. Unlike when fighting the guy before, he couldn’t help but inspect this one. She was a pretty girl after all. If not for the sword scar across her nose, she would have been even prettier. “Young lady, from the way you are talking to me, it is as if you hold a grudge against me… HAY!” he quickly parried as Jasmine attacked.

“You are my young master’s enemy, so naturally, mine too!” she said as she used her sword that moved at a speed that was physically impossible to cut down at Sebastian as he barely dodged by a hairʼs breadth!

“LOOK AT THAT… LOOK AT THAT… HER SWORDSLAVE CLASS ALLOWS A UNITY OF MAN AND SWORD, ALLOWING THIS GIRL TO ACHIEVE IMPOSSIBLE SPEEDS… THAT SWORD BY ITSELF IS A SSS RANK RELIC; IT IS A SURPRISE THE GIRL MANAGING TO CONTROL IT THIS EASILY! BUT WOULD THAT BE ENOUGH TO DEFEAT AN OLD MAN LIKE SEBASTIAN…”

“Fuck… Stop calling me an old man… I am still in my early thirties!” Sebastian spat as he dodged. True, that sword was tricky. This battle should have taken some time to finish, but now that the commentator revealed Jasmin’s class, it was pretty easy to solve…

BANG!

AS jasmine tried to attack again, all of a sudden, Sebastian appeared, appearing right beside her, striking at her sword handle from a strange angle!

PAM!

“Ah!” The large sword was struck right out of her hand, as she was pushed away. As a sword slave, without her sword, her power plummets.

Before she could stand up, Sebastian appeared right above her with his curved sword aimed at her neck. “I never kill a pretty girl, but….”

“I SURRENDER…” she quickly spat. A moment later she vanished.

“SEBASTIAN WINS! WELL PLAYED… WELL PLAYED! A VERY WELL EXECUTED ETERNAL STEP… WHAT A DISPLAY OF ETERNAL ARTS!” the commentator said, making everyone realize something. It seemed like the more they fought, the more the Commentator would reveal! ”NOW… WHO IS NEXT?”

60…. 59… 58….

“Jasmin! That was reckless!” Alex scolded as soon as Jasmin appeared with her sword on the balcony again.

“Sorry, young master… For some reason, I couldn’t stand that guy…”

“....” Alex sighed, not knowing what to do with this girl. If not for Lily telling her to get her, she would have never cared about her, but now that she became her maid, she really liked her!

“Take it easy!” the sword sect’s patriarch, who sat in the back, said toward her. “Loss is a part of the fight… You still have two chances!”

“Thank you, master!” Jasmine nodded.

Alex sighed, looking toward the Arena. She was really tempted to go fight Sebastian again, but remembering Lily’s advice to keep the law for now, she decided to hold off. What was important now was to secure a key for the sword sect. She felt obligated to repay her father-in-law!

***

“And so, the empress chose you as her next disciple after you managed to secure Skylance….”

“That girl… Why do I feel that I met her before?” Harper, who sat at the VIP balcony watching the tournament, asked, interrupting Malcolm, who was retelling his story to Valerie.

“I feel nothing…” Mona said.

“Neither do I…” Lily said. She never met Jasmine in the Zero timeline, but in Victor’s timeline, Jasmine became one of the 4 supreme demonesses along with Alicia, Nova, and that unknown Shapshifting slut. That’s why she told Alex to grab her for now.

“Oh… Maybe it is just my imagination…” Harper frowned as she clicked a few buttons on the screen in front of her. The data that was revealed was precisely as the commentator said, nothing special!

BONE AGE: 16

AUTHORITY : 3

LEVEL: 10

CLASS: SWORD SLAVE, A

STATUS: NORMAL PLAYER

ID : SWORD SECT TOKEN

“This day keeps getting stranger… First that incident outside, then that commentator and now this…” Mona pondered. “Let’s just hope nothing bad happens!”

***

“That girl… Jasmine… Who would have thought that I would meet her here… Find out who her young master is… He might be an old friend!” In the highest balcony right below that of the VIP, a young man with sharp eyebrows, the only one sitting in the entire balcony as the others knelt. said as he looked toward the arena. “And keep looking for that fake commentator…. This day keeps getting stranger, so it’s better that nothing interrupts our plans!”

“Yes, your eminence…” the one who answered was none other than making none other than the bald player council president. Master Tog! “May the Midnight be eternal!