Chapter 341: Spicy Commentate

———Lynda———

<10: 59 am>

*Slurp*

Ahh… Nothing like a nice warm bowl of noodles. Even better with a bloodsport to watch… said someone watching the gladiator games all the way back then… Pretty sure noodles were invented by that time, I think.

“Feels like it’s gonna take a while until a new fighter shows up.” Trener remarked before he resumed eating.

“That’s fine. Everyone is focusing on eating and it’s hard to feel bored getting a nice warm bowl of food.” I said. We can have a small meal break before witnessing more fighting. “Hmm… Hopefully whoever goes next isn’t stuffed with food. I wouldn’t discount Emmie causing them to vomit it all out.”

“Eugh, don’t say nasty things like that.” Rousi said. “So… when will they show what other stuff is on the reward list?”

“It’s going to be something unpredictable. I wouldn’t dare to speculate.” Kroin gave his opinion on the matter. “As things stand, we could only sit around and wait for that.”

“Well, that’s just more of what we’re doing anyway. With all the food we’re gobbling up it’s not like any of us are going down there anyway.” I pointed out.

“...By the way, does Emmie not need to eat at all? She has been standing there all day.” Trener pointed out.

“Beats me, who knows how that woman ticks.” I replied, probably knowing more than them that you should never assume what Emmie is capable of. You’re just setting yourself to look like a fool if you assume too much about her.

“There will probably be a lunch break, at least. I know we all get to eat now, but surely the staff and her needs break.” Kroin makes a guess on the matter. “Either way, if something comes up, I’m sure they can pause the event for a while.”

“<Oh? It looks like someone is raring to go, maybe a post-meal workout?>” Rico commentated as the next person came up surprisingly quickly… Oh, it’s that guy.

“I guess someone like him is gonna come up eventually.” Histon remarked with a hint of annoyance. I know he can be a bit annoying, but he’s not really worth giving that much attention to. Let’s just enjoy our meal.

“He’s a pretty tough guy, he can back up those barks.” Trener came to the monkey guy’s defense despite also getting inconvenienced by him a few times.

“I mean I killed him easily back in that survival game. He seems like a chump to me.” I said semi-jokingly. I know he’s probably part of the top half of students in terms of strength, but compared to me he felt really weak.

“Yeah, compared to you.” Trener said, clearly annoyed at my obvious attempt to downplay that guy. He doesn’t deserve that much respect, but I guess he feels like he should be fair and partial right now… even though we’re not really influencing anything here.

As for how he’s actually doing, he is fighting her barehanded. Since she doesn’t have a giant scythe that could easily cut his limbs off it’s not really a suicidal move.

I know that fighting unarmed isn’t such a death sentence in the world of magic, but that’s only the case the higher the power level is. At the level they’re playing at, the disparity in weaponry can be felt.

The fists covered in flames aren’t really comparable to an actual weapon. He lacks the range needed to confront her and he is obviously inferior to her in regards to agility.

“He is taking the beating pretty well.” Kroin said, as if having no idea about what to actually say about the match itself. The battle is very simplistic without much to focus on. He doesn’t really use projectile spells or have a very specific approach to battle. He lacks a gimmick for Emmie to bounce off, and since Emmie can’t use any of her gimmicks right now, it doesn’t generate much spectacle on its own.

Raw strength going at each other can only do so much to make people excited. If that’s all it needs maybe wrestling doesn’t need to be so fake…

“He’s not bad in terms of raw power, but he looks so clumsy.” I said, not having much to say about him either.

“Looks like the strongest contender so far, not gonna lie.” Trener remarked.

“That’s sad to think about.” I said in response.

“It’s hard for him to not climb up when he’s so persistent.” Histon commented. “There are a group of students very averse to fighting. He’s not going to be near the bottom by default.”

“…Had to wonder what it’d be like if he annoys your sister instead of you specifically.” I wondered out loud since I’m really that starved of things to say.

“It’s pretty obvious.” He calmly answered despite the obvious answer he’s talking about being the opposite of that. I don’t want to imagine how bad the beef would be.

“...So isn’t he just wasting mana covering his fists in flame like that forever?” Trener asked.

“He had learned to create explosive punches and it does start with his fists on fire. I guess he just wants to make it look like he could explode at any time… Or maybe he just thinks it looks cool.” I don’t really know what is going on through that guy’s head. I’d rather not make any more assumptions or give him any grace.

“Probably the latter, if we’re being honest with ourselves.” Kroin added. “He’s probably far from the only one who finds the spectacle in battle to be one of its main appeals, and in this case it’s far from being impractical when Emmie is holding back so immensely, and if she wasn’t, he wasn't going to last anyway.”

Anyway, I’m going to order soup. It’s still winter so anything hot is really tasty right now.

There’s so many things to order, I think I’m going to try more noodles but with spicier broth this time, just to make it feel extra hot.

I ordered it and it immediately spawned in front of me. This looks really hot. I got the Chinese spice one, it should be pretty numbing on the tongue.

*Smack* *Tumble* *Thud*

Meanwhile Evan got smacked in the face and was sent flying. He wasn’t really doing much outside of tanking attacks and missing every single punch he threw out. The most impressive thing he’s doing is tanking the damage since strictly speaking he should be stronger than those two, even if I don’t want to think about that.

“Still not a single person that makes Emmie even try.” Kroin remarked. That’s not surprising, the gap between her and the average student is probably not too different to her and that army… That sounds weird, I’m pretty sure not everyone here can take out an army that massive. I’m sure there are students here that can do that, but it’s only a small percentage.

“Hiss…” I let out a sharp exhale as I ate the bowl of noodles. It’s really numbing. Weird sensation, but it’s not bad as long as I order something to wash it down later.

It seems that being used to pain from battle doesn’t help with the pain in my mouth at all. I guess it’s all based on which body parts of yours that are used to pain.

*Smack* *Strike*

This time it seems like he is down for good. He has taken a lot more punishment than the other challengers, which is impressive but also shows that he’s not the best at navigating a fight in the first place. Maybe he’s too used to brute-forcing through obstacles, since there aren’t a lot of things that can challenge us outside of deep in dungeons or Fantarban Realms.

“<Looks like our challenger is down!>” Rico said before going on the usual routine.

“Ack!” I didn’t order the hottest option here! This is quite tough to eat just halfway through. I'm pretty sure mastering magic helps you learn to instinctively dull the pain to some degree, it’s why even when taking critical damage a combatant can still think somewhat rationally instead of breaking down into a panic attack.

“Are you alright?” Glery asked unprompted.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” It’s just spices, those can’t kill me.

I then glance up to look at the screens displaying the score, landing at 601. That is surprisingly less than I thought considering the higher display of power. The clumsy performance must have dragged the score down quite heavily.

“Too bad your sister can’t keep her number two spot, but that was bound to happen eventually.” Trener remarked.

“She still has room to grow.” Histon calmly replied. She’s only a year younger, why are you talking like she’s half your age?

Anyway, this dish has quite an intense taste and spice level. I really need something that can cure the spiciness lingering in my mouth. I need a drink quickly.

“I think that could be said about everyone here.” Kroin remarked. “Still, the fact that she’s not old enough to explore the dungeon on her own hinders her quite badly, not that the facilities here are bad substitutes for training. Real combat experience can greatly improve one’s capabilities.”

“If anything… The fact that that monkey guy didn’t even perform as well as her friend says a lot.” I said, having to pause for a drink since it’s gonna take a while to shake off the spiciness. “Also, we did hit another score threshold, still nothing good on it, just points to spend later.”

“There's gotta be something good behind it with how high each goal is.” Trener said. “...I’m still stuffed, so I’m not going. Anyone here wanna go?”

“I’m good.” Histon replied. Most of us just ate or are still eating, there’s no way any of us are going down there right now. It’s gotta be someone who still hasn’t eaten, and who that is, I have no idea. Maybe we need to wait a while before someone feels comfortable fighting after a meal.

“...By the way, do you think anyone is gonna believe the story about Emmie? Some people are already yapping about it online.” Trener shifted the topic since no one is willing to entertain the idea at the moment.

“Heh. As if. No one is going to believe it at the current world stage.” I answered with a scoff before taking another sip of really sugary lemonade. “The power creep hasn’t set in for most of the world yet, they are taking certain feats for granted and not thinking about how absurd it is. Like how a lot of people still don’t realize how ridiculous the idea of building something this large and intricate in less than a single night is.”

“Indeed. They will realize it eventually, but right now humanity at large simply will not accept it.” Luik spoke up. It’s been a good while since she said anything. “If they continue to turn a blind eye to it, they’ll face nothing except destruction.”

“Your wording is quite melodramatic, but you’re not wrong.” I remarked. I don’t think it’s going to get that bad because the most destructive phase has already passed, but we don’t really know enough about the state of magic development to be confident about that.

Either way, this place is well-protected. Outside of going out for a tour, there’s not much for any of us here to worry about.

“The next guy is already here.” Trener commented as the next challenger teleported to the main stage. “Doesn’t look impressive, honestly.”

“They can’t all be winners. It’s already impressive that there are weak people willing to fight.” Kroin replied to that remark.

Despite his protest, no one here is actually willing to comment on the fight itself, since the current challenger has even less to talk about than the last guy. It’s just not worth paying attention to compared to the food we can order or other stuff we could talk about, and we already burn through a lot of topics already, and we sure as hell aren’t gonna talk about homework now of all times.

I wonder if these weaker guys just never step foot in a dungeon and only have their P.E. class experience to rely on. I don’t doubt the effectiveness of it, but compared to others that have experience outside the mandatory class there is going to be a massive noticeable gap.

“Over already?” I said in slight surprise, just because it feels like there is a steady power climb up to this point, but this new guy is only on the level of the first few cannon fodders. “It’s only been like two minutes max, right?”

“That’s just embarrassing…” Luik said, clearly getting second-hand embarrassment.

“Yeah, no kidding… Where did she go?” Before I could finish my sentence, Luik had already disappeared from her seat.