"That's it, registration is complete," the girl said, returning my daggers. "Now I'll explain the rules. The fight takes place in one of thirteen arenas. Each arena has a high-level mage of light or earth who will not allow the death of one of the participants. However, if they don't manage to intervene in time and you don't manage to cancel your spell, resulting in the opponent's death, you forfeit your winnings, and the organization of underground fights Jiaxing So takes over all matters concerning the deceased. You should also know that if you win, you will receive a sum of money depending on your rank. There are five ranks in total, from smallest to largest: iron, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Opponents are matched by rank. Each rank also has its own separate rating, both within the entire organization and its branches. You can participate in fights until you reach the highest level, as fights involving mages of such a level are difficult to conceal. Is everything clear?"
"Yes, can you clarify how to move from one rank to another?" I asked, as this was very interesting.
"To move to a higher rank, you need to win a hundred battles, or reach the top of the branch's rating," the girl replied.
"Thank you, and how can one move up in the ranking?" I asked, this also interested me, as I wanted to take the top spots in each rank before moving to a higher one.
"The total points earned from each fight are taken into account. You can get up to ten points for one fight, if you win. If you lose, you can lose up to ten points accordingly. The number of points per fight depends on how quickly the fight ended, how badly the winner was injured, whether they used artifacts or not, and what level of magic they showed," the girl explained calmly, a rather interesting method. But this means that in one rank, you can get a maximum of only a thousand points. I looked at the leader of the branch's rating in the iron rank and saw that he had over two thousand points, the bronze had five, the silver eleven, the gold sixteen, and the platinum an unattainable thirty!
"Excuse me, but how is it that the rating leaders have more points than is possible, if after a hundred wins, they immediately move to the next rank?" I couldn't help but ask, as it simply didn't fit in my head.
"Ah, I apologize, there is one more condition for moving to the next rank: you must have the corresponding cultivation, or you must defeat someone from a higher rank," the girl replied apologetically.
"I see, then what is the distribution of cultivation levels by rank?" I asked, understanding the whole situation. Those at the top of the rating simply don't have the proper cultivation to move to the next rank, but their combat skills are so high and they are so lucky that they can defeat stronger opponents, but not from a higher rank. Well, if someone too strong appears, they simply quickly jump to the next rank without fighting the leader.
"Iron rank – beginner level. Bronze – intermediate level of one element. Silver – both elements at intermediate. Gold – one or two at high. Platinum – all three at high, at least one at the second stage," the girl quickly rattled off. A logical distribution, I must say.
"And how do the fights proceed? Is there, for example, a two-on-two or team fight?" I asked, a more important question at the moment.
"Yes. There are three types of fights. First, one-on-one, where you can get a maximum of ten points. Second, team versus team, where the team receives points equal to the number of opponents' team members multiplied by ten, and then distributed to each team member according to their contribution by the judges. And third, one versus a team, this type of fight is rarely chosen," the girl replied, while taking a metal plate, the size of a small token, that was brought to her.
"And why is the last one rarely chosen?" I asked, I had thoughts, but I wanted to clarify.
"For teams, it's not a bad type of fight, as they can get a number equal to the number of team members multiplied by ten, but for solo fighters, it's not very profitable. Because in addition to having to defeat the team alone, you will also lose as many points in case of defeat as your opponents will win. However, solo fighters still go for it because if they win, they will receive a number of points equal to the number of opponents multiplied by ten," the girl explained, after which she handed me the metal plate and said, "This is your iron rank token, it shows that you are a participant in the fights and with its help, you can register for fights. Would you like to register immediately?" she asked, and I looked at the old man who had been standing quietly aside the whole time, studying the information on the screen opposite.
"I wish to register my student for a one-versus-team fight," the old man said calmly, which almost made my jaw and the consultant girl's jaw drop. Although, what could a team of beginner mages do to me?
"As you wish," the girl replied, slightly stunned. Well, even though I am an intermediate-level mage and correspond to the silver rank, I only came today, I'm a novice, and I'm immediately going to fight a whole team, albeit an iron-ranked one.
"Your opponent is the team 'Fiery Phoenixes'," the girl replied after a couple of minutes.
"May I ask, how is the opponent selection done?" I decided to clarify.
"Teams submit applications for which fights they would like to participate in tomorrow. If there is no suitable opponent, the fight does not take place. If someone wants to register for a fight, an opponent is sought in the corresponding rank and matched according to their power level, so that the opponents are equal," the girl replied, just as I had thought. "Proceed to the waiting room of the third arena."
After that, the old man and I left the girl in a slightly shocked state and headed to the waiting room. I vaguely heard, as I was leaving, her say to someone, "Remind me to find out the result of Asura's fight with the Fiery Phoenixes." It's quite amusing, when we approached the exit of the hall, I turned around and looked at the screens hanging above the registration desks, one of them showed ongoing or scheduled fights. At the very bottom, a line appeared: "One-versus-team fight: Asura versus Fiery Phoenixes."
Also, under my name, my points appeared, which were zero. But under the names of my opponents, five lines with names appeared, these are clearly all the team members. Their highest number of points was one hundred and twenty-three, the lowest seventy-one. I don't know if that's a lot or a little, but I don't think it's a very strong team.
"Jiaxing Yun, listen carefully," the old man said when we entered the waiting room. "This team is clearly not your opponent, in fact, there isn't a team in the entire iron rank that could fight you. Although, perhaps, if you combine a couple of people, including the rating leaders, it would make for a rather interesting fight," the old man mused thoughtfully. "But that's not important, you won't be able to advance much even if you fight against iron teams, you need at least bronze. However, unfortunately, you won't be able to challenge anyone from bronze until you have ten consecutive wins. So, you need to fight as effectively as possible in the iron rank, quickly moving to bronze, where you can train consistently against bronze teams. By the way, a team is considered bronze if at least one person in it has reached bronze."
"I understand, teacher, but why didn't the girl say that I wouldn't be able to challenge someone from bronze until I win five times in a row?" I asked, thinking for a moment.
"Yes, because you didn't ask!" the old man shouted at me slightly, and I felt like a complete idiot. "And it doesn't matter for you, the main thing is that I know this rule. By the way, your mask is made from the bone of a dragon-winged alligator, so it shouldn't fall apart from intermediate-level magic, don't worry," the old man said, as if nothing had happened.
I was in shock! A dragon-winged alligator, that's a commander with dragon blood, even if it looks quite ridiculous, it's very strong! It belongs to the senior commanders, and in terms of defensive capabilities, to the highest! One of its small bones costs about two to three million yuan on the market! It's clear why I give the old man so much money, he's not just a miser who begrudges money for his student, I've seen how many herbs he has, and he still charges me money.
"Thank you, teacher, for such an expensive gift," I said, bowing slightly.
"Ah, well, I'll recoup the money with your victories, and also from bets, especially today's, it should bring a good profit. And you must defeat all iron teams without using intermediate-level magic. Get ready, and I have to go," the old man said and left. He is a miser, I thought about him a little dejectedly.
About ten minutes later, I was invited to the arena. As I walked down the corridor, I heard a slight noise coming from somewhere above. When I came out of the rather dark corridor, I found myself in a circular arena fifty meters in diameter. The walls surrounding the arena were made of steel, and the floor was sandy. Near the walls, a moat was dug, in which a couple of people were located. Most likely, one was a supporting mage, and the second was a healing mage. The stands were separated from the arena by a barely visible barrier, which is logical, of course, quite a lot of spectators had gathered for such an insignificant fight, almost half the arena. They were probably attracted by the fact that an unknown person immediately challenged a whole team, how strong is he to dare such a thing?
"An unknown participant has appeared in the arena, he introduced himself as Asura, the blood god of battles, and immediately, in confirmation of his name, challenged a whole team!" said the commentator, his voice spread throughout the arena via speakers. I don't remember introducing myself as the blood god of battles, but oh well, it sounds cool, so I don't mind. "His opponents today will be the team 'Fiery Phoenixes'! This is a team well-known to all of you, which appeared two months ago, they have good cohesion and are confidently moving up the tournament table, practically without defeats!"
I glanced at the opposite side. From the same corridor as me, a group of people emerged, dressed in red jackets and pants, and white t-shirts. A look of realization towards me was noticeable on their faces, however, I clearly felt that all of them were no higher than the beginner level, although there were a couple at the peak, but this team is definitely not my opponent. Couldn't they find anyone stronger?