Return Of The Strongest Player

"Shall we begin?" Melzer asked, preparing to shout, 'For Asgard!' despite being retired. His attachment to Asgard was beyond what he could describe with words.

Although he'd only met Odin once and the Norns twice, he had impressed them quite a lot. It was to the point where the Norns blessed him using the strings of fate before he retired.

It was similar to a farewell gift. Elite Rankers were not valued and were treated as fodder, but Melzer felt Asgard wasn't such an organization. And he was correct for the most part.

Asgard was one of the largest clans in Heaven's Spire and home to numerous Divine Rankers.

Arthur nodded at Melzer's question. "Reduce your strength, child."

"Child?" Melzer scoffed, observing Arthur's appearance. "You're barely eighteen by the looks of it."

"I didn't mean in terms of age," said Arthur before infusing his feet with mana. He burst forward at tremendous speeds, shocking Melzer quite a bit.

"For Asgard!" Melzer shouted before a cloak of mana hugged his body tightly. His mana was colored topaz and exuded a dangerous glow while reinforcing and invigorating his entire body. His hunched back became straight.

The dark circles under Melzer's eyes faded, and while his hair remained the same, he tied them to prevent interference during battle. "Child, you're battling an Elite Ranker. Do not use such predictable moves."

"Really?" Arthur asked innocently before a vicious smile blossomed over his face. Immediately, he slid towards Melzer, propelled himself using his left toe, and forcefully swung his body towards the man.

Then, he infused his right foot with mana before landing a kick on Melzer's shoulder.

"What…" Melzer was confused by the sudden development. Arthur's speed, although incredibly slow compared to his prime, could fool him now that he'd reduced his strength greatly. Such speed was unparalleled for a beginner.

Before he could react, another foot neared his face. However, noticing the mana encompassing the shoe, Melzer prepared to punch the back of Arthur's knee. Unfortunately, the latter forcefully brought his body to the floor before the former could land a hit.

Then, the crimson-eyed man landed a fist beneath Melzer's chin, forcing spit to escape his lips. Along with spit, blood emerged, too.

"You said predictable, right?" Arthur asked, letting out a faint smile. His body exuded a dangerous aura that sent chills down Melzer's spine. Although considerably weak to Melzer's actual strength, reducing his strength brought him down to the same level as the crimson-eyed man.

"Aren't you going to use that longsword of yours?" Melzer inquired, backing away to recover from Arthur's relentless barrage of hits. To be honest, the barrage was as dangerous as could be expected from a newbie.

No, it was much more powerful.

'The guy's mana circuits are something else,' thought Melzer. "Your name is Arthur, right? Anna's child?"

Arthur nodded before unsheathing his longsword from the leather scabbard. It shone under the bright sun, and infusing the blade with mana only invigorated it. The pristine, white blade was majestic.

"Anna… Magnus, too, right?" Melzer asked, using the questions to inspect the crimson-eyed man's mana circuits. They ran across his entire body at tremendous speeds for a newbie. In fact, Melzer predicted they were as powerful as that of a player who's reached the tenth floor.

"Yes," replied Arthur. "Do you know about the lanky man who roams around the fields?"

"Lanky man…" Melzer thought for a few seconds before it finally clicked. "You're talking about Kyler's son. Yeah, he wanders the area in search of monsters or beasts. He says it's to improve his strength and unlock mana."

"Well, I killed him," Arthur frivolously announced, locking eyes with Melzer. "If I win, will you guarantee to take care that no backlash reaches my family?"

"You… what? You fucking killed him? He's Kyler–an executive of the Millers's–son, for god's sake. Do you know the backlash of killing such an entity?"

"I do," replied Arthur stoically. "It's the exact reason why I'm telling you to prevent any backlash from reaching my family. Just say a beast killed him."

"If you win, I'll say that," said Melzer. "Do you have his corpse…"

An awkward silence descended upon the battlefield, and neither of the combatants attacked the other. Melzer's expression crumpled by the second, and his face paled rapidly at Arthur's response… no, lack of response.

The two didn't converse after that development and simply charged at each other, eager to exchange hits.

Arthur swung his longsword horizontally, yet Melzer weaved after an endeavor to evade the former's other simultaneous moves. "For an Elite Ranker, you sure are good. No wonder Asgard took pity on you."

"Pity?" Melzer scoffed, rolling his eyes. Suddenly, mana spilt from his body at terrifying rates, and the man approached Arthur. "Pity… let's see if what you said was correct. This… the Norns gave me this… [Thread of Binding]." 𝒃𝒆𝙙𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Immediately, strings or threads shot from the man's palms. The threads were black in color, and had a faint trace of the power of fate within them. Arthur's eyes widened… why did the Norns value a mere Elite Ranker?

The crimson-eyed man had been wrong. What exactly was Melzer's identity in Heaven's Spire?

Elite Rankers were players who'd crossed the twenty-fifth floor but hadn't crossed the fiftieth floor. Asgard was a High-Ranking Clan, which meant their influence ran from the ninety-eighth floor down to the first floor.

Why would they value a player who hadn't even reached the fiftieth floor?

Of course, reaching the fiftieth floor was an endeavor of its own, yet Asgard had long passed such an endeavor. Their endeavor was toppling the Demons and Angels and taking control of the ninety-ninth floor, similar to Arthur's ambition.

The Norns were arrogant, and the Divine Rankers of Asgard were prideful. Arthur didn't believe they simply 'liked' a random player and offered him their blessing. It had something to do with the Norns… who could see the past, present, and future…

As the strings approached Arthur, the man didn't flinch.

"It's been a while since I used this skill."