[Fiona's POV]
I stared blankly at the screen, the system panel glowing with the news of the tournament.
[ATTENTION!!]
[The Rising Star tournament will be held one day from now; all players of Planet Mythos, Harun, Prismaris, and Gelumarion will participate in this tournament]
[Qualification: All players who joined this month until 5 days ago, compulsory participation]
[Format: World Tree Format]
[More details will be given during the start of the tournament; all players have 24 hours to prepare]
I heard Boss Max's comment, "Finally something interesting."
I also got excited a bit because I would have the chance to showcase the skills and techniques I learned under Boss and take a giant step towards being strong enough to not fear anyone.
I looked at Lirra; according to the announcement, she can't participate, but just to confirm, I asked, "Can you participate in this, Lirra?"
"No, this kind of tournament is specially for new players from planets, so I can't, but there are other tournaments or events I would become eligible for in the coming future." Lirra explained.
I nodded. Boss looked at us and stated his thoughts: "We have 24 hours; we don't need rest, so we will use this time to push us to the limit so that we can clear the 15th floor before the tournament starts. Any questions?"
I raised my hands slightly and asked, "We can clear the dungeons, labyrinths, and domains, but what about the RI we need for every floor?"
He smiled slightly and answered, "I have enough RI for the next few floors, so we don't have to worry about it. Anything else?"
Lirra and I responded negatively via shaking our heads.
Boss Max further added, "Let's move forward then."
We teleported to the 14th floor, and our streak continued with the addition of Lirra as an Assassin. She had yet to work on her skills specifically related to Assassin; she was learning how to kill someone as effortlessly as possible.
When it came to effortlessly dispatching their enemies, even an Assassin may need to get a lesson from Boss Max.
I was also focusing on improving my skill use and better control over both my affinities. I was still slightly worried about my 'low talent,' but I was hesitant to ask Boss about it.
I already am much more powerful than before in all departments except my improvement in talent. Boss had told me he would do something about it, and I felt uneasy bringing up that topic when we were speeding through the floors.
There were no proper cities or any towns on the 14th floor, only scattered settlements of goblins and hobgoblins. Hobgoblins were enhanced versions of goblins, with the former being better in physical and magical capabilities than the latter.
We entered the final domain of the 14th floor; the system panel flickered to life with information.
[Domain Name – The Gloom Hollow]
[Terrain type – Cavern-Forest Hybrid]
[Boss Monster – Priestess of Verdant Choir]
[Recommendation – 15+ party members, poison resistance or immunity]
The entrance was a large opening of a cave that led underground with poisonous roots and flowers glowing overhead. I stepped forward and asked, "Boss, I want to take the lead on this fight. I promise to try my best to not slow down our speed."
The boss responded immediately, "Okay, it will be good and much-needed practice for you to polish your skills. Lirra and I are immune to poison; you have high regeneration due to Boundless Nexus, but the poison might slow you down. Wait a few moments..."
I already had guessed that Lirra, being related to plants and decay, should be immune to such negative statuses, and well, Boss is Boss, but is he going to give me some potion or artifact? As I was thinking, a system panel appeared; the information on it left me a bit flustered.
I was pleading to him inwardly, 'When will you stop doing impossible things like it's a regular Monday?'
I glanced again to confirm and check details of the 'thing' I received from Boss.
[Title received from Player Max]
[Title – Origin Immunis]
[Title granted as blessing by Player Max]
[Effects:]
- All negative status effects; Physical, Magical, Spiritual, Mental, Karmic, Temporal, Divine, Abyssal are permanently nullified.
- This Immunity can't be negated, reversed, bypassed, suppressed, overwritten, analyzed, or copied.
- Your existence rejects all types of corruption, decay, influence, possession, disease, poison, debuff, curse, sealing, and control.
- You are recognized as a PureFrame Entity.
I laughed bitterly at myself. I thought, 'Here I was worrying about my talent, and I got something I couldn't even dream of. Most players in this tower would kill for something like this. Even the top 10 families would probably go on a rampage for this. But he is giving me this just because I don't have poison resistance.'
I looked at him; Lirra was eyeing us both, but currently, even after promising myself multiple times. I was blown away by feats of Boss Max again.
I asked, "Thank you, Boss. I am starting to find it difficult to say thanks to you. I just want to ask, only out of curiosity, is there any limit to what you can't do, Boss?"
He smiled and answered, "I am searching for that limit myself, but considering I am the LimitBreaker that will be hard to find." He chuckled at the end, and I could only smile at this.
Lirra impatiently asked, "Will somebody tell me what is going on, and what are you thanking him for?"
I didn't respond, because I didn't know what to say. I only showed her the system panel about the new title with information.
Her eyes widened like never before; she took a deep breath and spoke, "People usually solve such problems with potions, tonics, and whatnot, but here it is solved by giving never-heard-before titles. I really got sucked into some unexplainable shit. I mean, I can't even feel jealous of you over this. Huh....."
She just sighed and took out her dagger for a fight, denying to think further about such universe-bending work. Boss Max gave us the go, and we entered the cave entrance. I took charge, and Boss Max and Lirra helped me from being surrounded by monsters on all sides and ambushes.
In early zones, I fought a unique creature made of a mix between a serpent and a centipede. They were very ugly, even according to monster standards. I focused on the gaps between their scales to take them out in the quickest way possible.
I focused on my strengths, i.e., precision, flexibility, and an agile fighting style. We cleared the zones like three prongs of a trident with me in front. After 'serpentiede,' we faced tree monsters with huge trunks as bodies, which released roots and vines to crush or cause negative statuses.
But the title given by Boss had already made me fearless, so I went ahead to use my Light Affinity and hybrid skills to slice the tree monsters. Lirra was adapting better with her daggers, LifePetal and ShadeClaw, and as for Boss, well, I stopped glancing at him. He just strolled like this cavern is his backyard.
Finally, we came face-to-face with the boss monster, the Priestess of the Verdant Choir. She was humanoid but had a total lack of intelligence, only instinct. Unaware, she attacked with negative status effects first, which gave me a first chance to do some damage. I ran through her attack like nothing and slashed my AetherBlade at her torso.
She screamed and tried to throw hands and also entangle me into roots, but my sharpened blade, due to coated water mana, cut through them like butter. She finally tried to stop me with her hands, but I used light control skill to bind her; I drove my blade straight into her heart, ending her life.
I took a deep breath and exhaled as I killed the boss monster. It took almost an hour more to clear the domain than our regular schedule. I was ready for some kind of punishment or harsh words, but his words brought a strange happiness and relief to my heart.
He said, "Nice, Fiona. You have come a long way; keep going like this."
I just nodded as we were teleported to the 15th floor with few hours remaining in the start of the tournament.
[Max's POV]
We were clearing dungeons and labyrinths one after another, but my only thought was to clear the 15th floor as quickly as possible. I didn't even look around the Hobgoblin empire; any other time it would have been fascinating, but I was strapped for time.
I wanted to enhance the talent of Fiona and, if possible, send a message to Revanya to watch for me when I reached the finals. The system told me that the final fights in the tournament will be broadcast to all planets and residents of the lower floor in the tower.
As I finally killed the boss monster of the last labyrinth of the 15th floor, but before I could get any message of rank up or floor clear, the system panel popped up with a different notification.
[Preparation time over. Players will be transported to the Tournament Area.
[10...8...]
I looked at Fiona and Lirra and hurriedly said, "All the best, Fiona. I want to see you in finals, and Lirra, choose the best hotel for your stay."
[3...2...1]
[All qualified players will be transferred to the World Tree]