Around ten minutes later, Izroth finished checking the status of his body in the real world as he opened his eyes and stood to his feet. Since most of his skills were now off cooldown and the next relocation would take place soon, he decided that it was time for him to move on.
'In the end, I was unable to find anything wrong with my body on a physical level. If that's the case, it may have something to do with the strange energy that mimics the spiritual essence of the Seven Realms. I'll have to wait until I log out to confirm this matter.'
Izroth checked his rank and saw that he was still in 4th place. One of the main reasons he was not in any particular rush to move on was due to his massive jump in rank after eliminating Roudin. He went from the 500s all the way to the top five rankings! However, Izroth was still unsatisfied with the way things ended. If possible, he would have liked to conclude his fight properly with Roudin without any outside interference.
'Still, my current strength is too weak. There are also many things I have yet to understand about this world. That Domain, for instance…'
Izroth thought back to when Roudin spoke about the difference between those who had a Domain and those who did not. From the power Izroth witnessed of Roudin's Mountain Domain and Sage's Domain, which Roudin referred to as a main upper eight Wind Domain, he could see that their power was not to be underestimated.
'If there is an upper eight, does a lower eight also exist? Also, Mountain and Wind… If we're talking about figures with elements that involve a total of eight, then the first thing that comes to mind is that thing.'
What Izroth was referring to was Bagua, the eight symbols. Though many people referred to it as the eight trigrams. Fire, Water, Wind, Mountain, Lake, Thunder, Earth, and Heaven. Izroth speculated from the information available to him that the main upper eight Domains were somehow tied to these eight elements of nature. He was unsure what to think about the lower eight Domains, but they most likely had characteristics of their own and were less powerful than that of the upper eight Domains.
'It's different from a Source and it contains a power similar to one of the pages from the Book of Beginnings. In other words, a natural power birthed from the world itself. However, how does one obtain a Domain?'
Izroth figured that a Domain, just like his Source, was another thing that players were completely clueless about and shrouded in mystery. After pondering for a while, Izroth decided to set this matter aside for the time being. He knew that there was no use aimlessly speculating about something when he had such limited information about it.
'I'll pay a visit to the Amaharpe palace library when I have a chance and see if I can obtain some additional information from Orion, the Keeper of Books. For now, it's pointless to think about it too much.'
Since the next relocation time was so close, Izroth chose to stay put and wait for it to take place. A few moments later, he received the system alert as two magic symbols appeared around him and carried him off to the next random location.
Third relocation…
Izroth was sent to the Living Forest. It was his second time entering the Living Forest, however, he was in a different area than the one from last time and so he was unfamiliar with his current surroundings.
Just because Izroth was in 4th place did not mean that he planned on slacking off. He was not satisfied with simply being within the top ten. He would not stop there as his goal was to take 1st place in the selection!
Izroth journeyed through the Living Forest and came across a few man-eating plant monsters that he took care of. With his improved Heavenly Golden Body, he was immune to most forms of basic attacks the plants dished out. His immunity to poison had also increased which played a huge part in a place like the Living Forest where every other monster and plant was poisonous.
Izroth came across two participants, but neither of them came anywhere close to comparing to Roudin. Though that was not to say that they were easy opponents. Compared to the likes of the participants he faced at the beginning of the selection, these participants could definitely be considered as being more skilled individuals.
One of the fights, Izroth did not use his Flickering Steps as a way to test himself. While he managed to emerge victoriously, the fight was intense and an uphill battle for him. He had to rely on his vast battle experience, high sense of perception, and sword forms to win.
Fourth Relocation…
Izroth was relocated to the Scorching Lands. There was something different about the fourth relocation and that was the fact that it was the first time Limit Zones were introduced into the selection. Limit Zones were just as their name suggested as it limited the area where participants could move around within their region.
Every relocation, each Limit Zone would shrink and this would exponentially raise the chances of participants encountering one another.
'I see, so that's how it is.'
Izroth was troubled about finding other participants since the number of individuals was dropping and the size of each region was massive. He was glad to see that this had been taken into account.
This time, Izroth's luck was good as he had a difficult time finding monsters, but an easy time running into other participants which were most likely the result of the Limit Zone. In the end, he defeated a total of seven participants! Each of them had a minimum of 3,000 points in their possession! Excluding Roudin, those seven participants were Izroth's most challenging fights yet within the selection.
Fifth Relocation…
By the time the fifth relocation came around, Izroth had arrived back at the Boundless Sea. The number of participants had dropped to a mere 250 individuals. This was a far cry from the initial 1,000 participants. The Limit Zones had also decreased in size once again and the number of intense encounters was increasing throughout the selection.
Unfortunately, Izroth was still unable to move anywhere past 4th place. There was even a time when he dropped down to 5th place for a brief moment, however, he quickly regained his spot at 4th place.
'As I thought, it's incredibly difficult to move past 4th place. Could it be the other individuals that Lances mentioned? If that's the case, the person in 5th place may be one of them.'
When the fifth relocation came to an end, Izroth had a grand total of 99,059 points! Also, the number of total participants had fallen drastically to just 120 individuals.
Sixth Relocation…
Izroth was relocated to the one place that seemed to be avoiding him this selection. It was the area where there were constant storms, strong gusts of wind, and lightning discharging in almost every direction.
〈System Alert: You have entered the region «Untamed Land Storms»!〉
〈System Alert: The size of Limit Zones have been reduced! [Current Radius: 140 meters]〉
'It's easier to see here than I thought it'd be. Though the strong winds would make a fight in this place challenging to those who are unable to adapt to the environment.'
However, just as Izroth was thinking to himself, he received a stream of alerts from the system.
〈System Alert: Warning! Participants will not be allowed to journey outside of the set Limit Zone of their region!〉
〈System Alert: Top Ten Tracking has been enabled!〉
〈System Alert: You are currently ranked 4th in the selection! A special marker has been assigned to you. Every five minutes, your name and live location will be sent out for other participants to view. As one of the top ten members of the selection, you will be able to constantly view the location of the participants in your region. For the next two rounds of the selection, those within the top ten must defend their spots!〉
〈System Alert: Your location will be sent out in 4 minutes 59 seconds…〉
'This selection is too ruthless. Though I suppose those without the power to protect what belongs to them have no business holding onto one of the top ten spots.'
By this point in the selection, 99% of the weak participants had been weeded out and removed. Now, those who remained were all talented or skilled one way or another. Add on to the fact that his location would now be available for all to see… Izroth knew that the last hour of the selection would be more challenging than the first 3 hours combined.
'I suppose it's not all a loss for those within the top ten. At the very least, we know the location of the participants within our region.'
Izroth received special access to a minimap. The moment he opened the minimap, he saw a blue dot on the map which represented his current location and multiple red dots which were other participants. He counted a total of 34 red dots on the minimap; two of which were close by and a few grouped together in pairs that appeared to be participants fighting one another.
'I wonder if those individuals also have access to our location.'
If Zushuatri's students were able to use the live location and intentionally hunt for the top ten participants, then Izroth believed that he had a high chance of running into Sage again. While he did not know what he did to offend her, he no longer cared about that now that she had offended him. Not only had she shown hostility towards him, but she even dared to act upon that hostility and tried to directly kill him back in the Boundless Sea region.
Izroth was a patient, however, he had no patience whatsoever for those who were out to claim his life or block his path. So what if she was one of Zushuatri's students? If she thought that he was an easy target to bully, then he would make sure that she learned the true meaning of regret.
'From how much she seems to want me dead, then she'll definitely come for me if she's in this region. When she does, then…'
After organizing his thoughts, Izroth believed that it was best to sit back for the time being. There was no reason for him to actively search for other participants since they would be coming to him soon due to the special marker placed upon him.
Five minutes quickly passed by as Izroth was sat down in a meditative pose. Less than 30 seconds later, Izroth suddenly felt a sharp sword aura headed his way and immediately shot up to his feet and avoided the incoming strike. The spot where he sat down just moments ago had a deep scar in the ground that was created as a result of the sword aura. A few seconds later, a male revealed himself with a sword in his hand that had an extremely sharp edge.
NPC Name: Eoxin(Elite)
NPC Level: 55
"Heh, lucky me! I'm the first one to arrive! Izroth? Never heard of that name before. I don't know how you managed to claim a spot in the top ten, however, I'll be taking it for myself." Eoxin said with a grin on his face.
Izroth unsheathed his Sword of The Storm, however, instead of its usual gust of wind that appeared when it was removed from its sheath, it was at least twice as powerful than normal! This was due to Izroth's Sword of The Storm being within a suitable environment that matched and resonated with its elements. Izroth clearly felt that difference in power of the sword in his hand.
'Is it another hidden feature?'
This was Izroth's first time seeing it, therefore he was unfamiliar with it. But, this worked to his advantage.
"Tch, someone else already beat me here!" The second participant arrived on the scene and just a few seconds later, three more participants had reached Izroth's location!
"Back off, I was here first!" Eoxin roared as he tried to intimidate those who had just arrived.
"Are you an idiot? Why would we back off?" One of the participants responded. An argument then ensued between the participants as to who would get to claim Izroth's life! It was as if Izroth himself did not even exist in their eyes. None of them took Izroth seriously because of how weak he appeared to be. As for how he managed to get to 4th place, he probably just got extremely lucky and killed someone in that spot who was already worn out from fighting.
'I can see I'm being looked down upon.'
Izroth smiled in a carefree manner, however, there was a cold glint that flashed across his eyes. They wanted to discuss and argue over who got to claim his life? One should first have the ability to do so before discussing such nonsense!
