Chapter 269 - Unfazed

Rudra was at floor 35 , when the first participant missed to beat the clock at floor 50 . Rudra as a contestant was naturally unaware of how others were performing , however if he did know , he would have been very shocked at the level of performance everyone was giving.

In the mock rounds , he himself only reached level 51. Hence without a month of training , it was basically what he could have managed too. It was to be noted that he had much higher stats and levels than the one eliminated , however it was still a matter to be taken to mind. The world stage was not easy.

Rudra though , was unaware , even when he would fail to beat the clock , he would only be teleported outside and shown his score . Only when everyone's challenge ended , would he know if he won or lost.

There was no benchmark to overcome , there was no gaurantee , that if you clear this floor you will win gold medal. Every floor you needed to give your best and hope that it was enough to win the medal.

But the masses started to drop out in the fifties , many many contenders failing the 51-57 range. Meanwhile , Neatwit and Parallax had successfully completed level 59 and we're heading to level 60 , while Hammerhead and Rabada were going strong at 57.

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Derek Ray : another one bites the dust Lee , the Scott could not beat the clock , level 55 seems like the doom of players , 15 have failed to cross it now.

Lee Dixon: absolutely Derek , between level 51-57 74 contenders have been eliminated , the players find it very challenging to maneuver through.

Derek Ray : Well , we now have medal favourites , In the first place is the Irish enigma 'Parallax' , currently at level 61 , he is the leader of the tower climbing group.

Lee Dixon : What a player Derek , this guy only now faces monsters comparable to his level , at level 61 , monsters between level 80-90 spawn on the floor. Will he make it to level 71?

Derek Ray : We don't know that yet Lee , however close behind him we have the Japanese player , Neatwit . What about him Lee , the guy is barely level 68 , however his skills can put the level 82 parallax to shame. Truly a excellent player.

Lee Dixon : He is a favourite for bronze Derek , but I think the 60's will be his deathbed , in such a short time , to clear the floors with monsters 15 levels above you , impossible.

Derek Ray : What you said holds true for even Hammerhead and Rabada , the 60's , who will go how far? How will clench the medals amongst these four? It all comes down to them !

Lee Dixon : Ughhh , I think ur mistaken there Derek , there are 5 contenders still climbing the tower , Shakuni is still at level 47!

Derek Ray : ..... , My apologies , what in the world is that guy doing? , AI please cut the feed to player Shakuni.

The feed changed from parallax to Shakuni.

The clock was ticking down , apparently he had cleared all the monsters on the floor , and had about 30 seconds left till the clock reset. He was squatting on the floor , with his sword in hand , seemingly just watching the clock tick down.

Derek Ray : He has cleared the floor , but is waiting for the last moment to climb ... Do you understand the reason behind this approach Lee?

Lee Dixon : No Derek , seems useless waste of time to me!

Derek Ray : We will cut back to him if he makes it into the 60's , no point in looking at him as it sits right now. Let's go back to parallax.

The feed cut back to parallax

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Rudra did have a reason to wait for the clock to reset everytime before climbing , while it was true that it was beat the clock challenge , and the goal was to climb the highest and not fastest and that it gave time to gulp potions and restore stamina. However that took about 10 seconds at max , he did not need to wait 30 seconds for it.

Rudra's reasoning was different , he understood the game like noone did , his analysis was on another level. In the practice games , he tried rushing up the tower many times , and what he analysed was , when you fight continually level after level , you get into a fighting rhythm.

You enter a fight with a rhythm and you exit a fight feeling more rushed , and into a faster rhythm. Alongside the pressure of beating the clock , your natural fighting style becomes faster and faster and faster , untill it's no longer your fighting style.

You become frenzied and you become sloppy in fight. The tower is tricky , some floors need to be cleared at full speed , while some defense type beasts are to be handled with hitting their vitals. Rushing in blind against them , while chipping damage would only cause difficulty in clearing the level.

Rudra waited everytime for the clock to reset , to make sure he did not get into a rushed rhythm of the tower , that he mentained his own fighting style. He took the challenge one floor at a time , literally , and made his mind reset after clearing every level.

Every beast needed to be handled in a different way , and one could not be carried away in a rhythm. It was the doom of a player.

Unfazed of what the world thought about him , Rudra was only focused on what he thinks was right. His goal was the gold medal , the useless gossip before that did not matter!

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( Meanwhile Neatwit's POV)

' Damn it , Damn it , these monsters are too strong , 63 was the highest floor i have climbed in training ..... Is this my limit? '. Neatwit thought

He was really struggling to clear floor number 63 , only one minute remained on the clock , while 7 monsters were left alive.

Neatwit's motivation coming into the game was different than others , although he wanted to make his guildmates proud. His main goal was to look down on his father. His goal was to show Ambani that his bastard son was more talented than his real son could ever be , and make him despair in his choice to leave the twins.

Fuelled by anger , Neatwit went berserk with his sword , he was a person who was a firm beleiver that a man could be destroyed but not defeated. He would surpass his limits here and now , if he would loose he would loose , however he would not loose in desperation , he would loose magnificently.

Dropping all signs of defense , Neatwit went all out with his attacking . His hp took constant hits , however he dealt equivalent damage. With only 10 seconds left , he did successfully clear floor 64 , immediately downing a advanced health potion , he charged into floor 64 , deciding to go all out from the start.

The world was watching , as Japan cheered him on. Rabada had failed to cross level 63 hence as it stood , Japan was gauranteed a bronze medal at the least.

If Neatwit continued to climb , it was well and good , if Rudra surpassed him somehow , it was still well and good , at the very least , a bronze was gauranteed for the Japanese , as they had 2 contestants in the top 4 .

And the best case scenario that excited the people was ..... Could they walk out with two ?

/// Do check-out my new fantasy book , Rise of the dragon emperor, search for it word for word and you will find it in ///