Originally, Quinn Steelsoul was going to prove to everybody of his superiority, and show himself as the guiding light for his family's revival after decades of decline.
He was going to compete in the final batch of the most talented contestants and destroy them as the world watched.
But now, he was a part of the first batch, on a one-track mission: vengeance on Aurelius Augustus Astrea. He was going to mercilessly crush him without holding back any of his upper stage power.
After the most humiliating event of his entire life, shattering his pride and reputation, he had changed.
No longer the extremely high temper and irascible thug, he was now only a high temper and irascible thug with some capability to remain calm in pursuit of his goal.
Thankfully, no one provoked him in person during the wait for the opening of the stadium.
They knew he didn't lose from being weak, but from arrogance and being deceived. They didn't want his vengeance as well.
Who knew what might've happened if they did.
As he made his way around the vast realm, he moved at a moderate pace, not wanting to use too much stamina.
Everyone avoided him the moment they caught sight of him, they didn't want the smoke. Pretty much everybody already knew what Quinn's goal during the exam was—or rather his target.
There had only been one person to stand strong before him, intending to challenge. He was Miyaura Murama, with his dual blades drawn in a rather carefree manner.
"Move it. My target isn't you," Quinn announced in a gruff tone, completely dismissing the man.
"But my target is." Pointing his blade at Quinn, Miyaura continued, "why don't we work this out?"
Quinn narrowed his eyes, evaluating Miyaura.
'Upper stage cultivation… He's not so simple, is he from a powerf— wait! Isn't he the boy who walked with Aurelius earlier!?'
"Who are you."
"Someone excited to fight and beat you," Miyaura nonchalantly replied as he approached closer.
Quinn didn't have much of a reaction despite being undermined, his anger management classes coming in handy. He was only annoyed at not being given an answer to his question, which was more of a demand.
As he prepared to speak up again, Miyaura rushed in, initiating the fight. He was quite eager to fight someone actually at his level.
Quinn clicked his tongue and activated his Arcanum, metal covering and hardening his skin at several points.
'This should be easy. I doubt he can break through my defenses. With dual blades, he can't put much power into them. Does his Arcanum fill that weakness?' Quinn analyzed.
He wasn't the same incredibly brash warrior as before, taking into consideration possible tricks up his opponents' sleeve.
Miyaura launched a flurry of strikes with his blades with intricate footwork, avoiding every blow he received in retaliation.
Despite the numerous hits he dealt, clinks and clanks ringing out, only scratches marring the metallic skin on Quinn.
'Hmph, just like I thought—he can't deal any damage with those twig arms. I'll still be careful though, he hasn't revealed anything that might be his Arcanum.'
Quinn began moving more aggressively, faster and fiercer. However, the boy he faced started maneuvering differently.
Miyaura's physique—the Yin-Yang Conduit—activated, allowing him to instantaneously react to Quinn's movements and respond in the best way possible.
In the real world, the audience was abuzz, almost all eyes on the fight between an overwhelming favorite and a nobody.
"He's matching strike to strike with Quinn! He might not be injuring him at all, but the way he fights is incredible! The moment Quinn begins his move, he's already reacting and countering!"
"Who is he? Does anyone know?"
"How can such a talent remain unknown?!"
"Wait! Wasn't he the guy beside Aurelius when he walked in? Do they have a connection?"
Miyaura's maneuvers infuriated Quinn, watching this nobody so effortlessly and efficiently dodge his attacks whilst launching counterattacks at the same time.
This was an Exalted combat art he had practiced for his entire life after all, being one of the few people at their age to reach upper Expert stage mastery—the same level of Aurelius' mastery, though one stage lower than Miyaura's.
'He didn't move like this before… Wait! This must be his Arcanum right?!'
The realization struck Quinn like a thunderbolt and a smirk crept onto his face.
'Let's end this quickly then.'
He began moving and attacking more recklessly, allowing a few slashes to cut into his non-metallic skin and directly blocking attacks with his armored skin. Previously, he had only let the blades graze.
Then, a sound rang out.
Shhhkkkk—
A yang infused blade triggered a resonance, cleanly severing his hand and forearm.
And it wasn't over, in Quinn's momentary shock, he froze for a slight second, which let another strike carve a semi-deep wound into his stomach.
Convinced of Miyaura's lacking attack potency, he had been far too careless. Now, he paid the price for it.
With only one usable arm, the fight still dragged on, but it didn't last long, and Quinn was eliminated.
The spectators went dead silent.
They struggled to process what they saw.
Quinn Steelsoul, had lost… To a nobody much less.
"w-was he a fraud?" someone murmured.
***
Some time later.
Man, how long has it been? It's impossible to tell with the sun statically sitting in the same spot all day.
Each batch only has two hours to fight in the first stage, and I was still looking for Rose Windward.
Two hours may sound little, but it's more than enough for the purpose of the first stage: allow contestants to get into 2-3 battles to show off their skill and let AI determine whether they're fit to move onto the second stage.
By my best estimates, I assume around an hour has passed already.
During that time, I met a few more arrogant fellows who wanted to put me down and I slapped them. I also moved from the forest into a plains area.
Due to the wide area, it was quite chaotic with many battles occurring simultaneously everywhere, which I didn't like.
So, I was going to quell it.
With my endless mana and stamina from Aether Reaping Vessel, this was going to be fun.
Hopefully the chaos will draw Rose in. Making only one biome after half the test drained my hope of just looking for her.