Over the next few days, Kael frequently contacted Elon to ask about scrolls for the Apollo Hidden Realm, but the search turned up nothing.
There were plenty of other level 30-plus Hidden Realms available, but Kael wasn't interested. He had visited several locations where Apollo Hidden Realm scrolls dropped in his past life, only to leave empty-handed. Kael could only sigh in frustration.
The drop rate for Hidden Realm scrolls had always been a mystery. Sometimes, hundreds or even thousands of players had to swarm a world boss just for a chance to snatch one. Other times, a player could loot one from a broken chest on the side of the road. Some Hidden Realms only saw two or three parties enter, while others were packed with hordes of players.
The community constantly theorized about the drop mechanics. Some believed it was tied to the server's average level. Others thought it depended on the world quest progression. Many just chalked it up to pure luck.
Lately, Kael's luck was terrible. Aside from the Land of the Behemoth scroll he snagged in Blackheart Grotto, he hadn't seen a single one.
Out of desperation, Kael posted a massive bounty through Elon: "One million dollars for a Goliath Boar Hidden Realm scroll."
The Goliath Boar was the second-toughest in the Apollo Hidden Realm series. The monsters inside ranged from level 45 to 50. Normally, a scroll wasn't worth anywhere near that much, but Kael needed it for a perfect Class Advancement. He had no choice.
The bounty stayed up for a week, but no one reached out to Elon.
Kael worried the scroll drops were tied to the world timeline. The next major event was The WarChief invading the towns, which would only trigger when the mainstream player base hit level 45. If the scrolls were locked behind that event, he was in for a long wait. Right now, average players were barely scraping level 30. It would take them two or three months to reach 45.
"Two or three months... that's going to be boring," Kael muttered.
He sighed and decided to grind a few more quests. Maybe he'd get lucky and bag a scroll.
Suddenly, two system announcements flashed across the world channel.
System: The First Grand Tournament will begin soon. For details, seek out the relevant NPCs in any main city or towns.
System: To help players prepare for the Grand Tournament, the [Arena] mode is now open. All players are encouraged to participate.
The brief announcements hit the player base like a bombshell.
"Holy shit, a tournament!"
"The tournament isn't live yet, just the Arena."
"What the hell is the Arena?"
"Stop asking and go find an NPC in the towns!"
Players swarmed the towns. The system had thoughtfully spawned numerous NPCs to answer questions, and the mechanics for the Arena quickly became clear.
The Arena featured two modes: [Ruthless] and [Fair Play]. Each mode had its own leaderboard and was split into three brackets: 1v1, 5v5, and 20v20. That made six categories in total.
The brackets didn't have separate leaderboards, but winning awarded different point values:
· 1v1: 1 point per win (Max 20 matches per day)
· 5v5: 3 points per win (Max 5 matches per day)
· 20v20: 15 points per win (Max 1 match per day)
Players ranked on the [Ruthless] or [Fair Play] leaderboards based on their total accumulated points.
· [Ruthless]: Players fought with their current gear. No restrictions.
· [Fair Play]: All players entered naked and used Arena points to purchase gear specific to the match.
In both modes, players were barred from bringing in outside Potions. Exclusive Arena potions could be bought with points before a match began, but they vanished once the battle ended.
Information on the Grand Tournament was scarce. Neither the schedule nor the exact rules were posted—likely a deliberate move to build hype.
As the rules circulated, the forums exploded.
"Ruthless mode is a meat grinder. If you run into Dawnbreaker, just surrender."
"Haha, I love the Fair Play rules."
"Time to put Dawnbreaker in his place!"
"Beating him once would give me bragging rights for a day."
"A day? Try a month."
"If I beat Dawnbreaker, I'd get interviewed on national TV."
"Mom, I'm going to be famous!"
Reading the chat, Kael smiled and shook his head. He knew [Fair Play] was only relatively fair. If the system truly wanted absolute balance, it would have reset everyone's skills and stats to zero.
Kael's advantage wasn't just his gear. It was his class, and his titles. Titles weren't tied to equipment, which meant their stat bonuses carried over into the Arena.
He pulled up his character sheet and reviewed his titles:
· [Mara’s Honey Cake]: Five core stats +5
· [Vanguard of Defiance]: Five core stats +5
· [Champion of Crescent City]: Five core stats +10
· [Fourth Chieftain of the Blackwind Brotherhood]: Five core stats +50
· [The Blackwind Champions]: Five core stats +130
· [Dauntless Marshal]: Five core stats +200
· [Savior of Beryl Creek]: Five core stats +100
· [Guardian Elder of Behemoth's Watch]: Five core stats +200
· [Mayor of Starlight Town]: Five core stats +500
· [Blessing of Elunara]: Five core stats +1000
· [Blessing of the Whispering Clouds Staff]: Intelligence +300, Spirit +300
That was a flat boost of 2,200 to all five core stats, plus an additional 300 to Intelligence and Spirit.
Without wearing a single piece of gear, he had an extra 44,000 HP (Constitution x 20) and 13,200 Attack Power ((Constitution + Agility + Strength) x 2). Other players had titles, sure, but their bonuses were nowhere near his. And that was ignoring the raw stat difference between his level 41 character and the average level 30 player.
Which mode first? Fair Play or Ruthless?
The choice was obvious: Fair Play. With everyone supposedly starting from scratch, Kael's unequipped base stats gave him a crushing advantage. If he let his opponents gear up in Ruthless mode, things might actually get unpredictable.
Kael headed to the Arena Guide in Starlight Town. The area was packed with players. Fortunately, it was a safe zone with player collision disabled, so he walked right through the crowd.
"Greetings. Do you require information, or do you wish to enter the Arena?" the NPC asked.
"Enter the Arena," Kael said.
Two options appeared on his interface: [Ruthless] and [Fair Play].
"Fair Play."
Another prompt appeared: [1v1], [5v5], [20v20].
"1v1."
In a flash of light, Kael was teleported to a small, Roman-style colosseum. Standing directly across from him was a rather sleazy-looking Diviner.
The man stared at Kael, trembling as he forced out a greeting. "K-Kael... what a coincidence."
It was none other than Orion.