Lu Cang walked into the arena.

The arena was not only a place for those with Battle Professions to compete, but also an entertainment venue for ordinary people to watch the fights.

The crowd in the arena was mostly adults; even if there were children, they were always accompanied by adults to watch the matches.

There wasn’t another soul who had come alone like Lu Cang.

"Little brother? Can I help you?"

the receptionist asked, looking at Lu Cang, who was just a little taller than the counter.

"Miss, I’d like to register as an Athlete."

"Ha, little brother, you said you want to become an Athlete?"

"Could you... be in the wrong place?"

"You have to be a Reincarnator to register, you know."

Lu Cang took out his Adventurer’s Badge.

"I read that you can use an Adventurer’s identity for a quick registration. That should work, right?"

The receptionist took Lu Cang’s Adventurer’s Badge.

She saw that the outer ring was multicolored...

’A Legendary Level Adventurer’s Guild?’

The inner ring was gold, which meant Lu Cang was already a Golden Level Adventurer.

’How could a Golden Level be in a Legendary Level guild?’

’No, wait, how could this child be a Golden Level Adventurer?’

"One moment... little brother."

"I’ll just need to verify this."

Despite her doubts, she placed the badge on an intricate Array.

A soft light began to glow.

Lu Cang’s information materialized like an illusion.

[Lu Cang]

[Profession: Level 2 Mage]

[Adventure Level: Golden Level]

[Age: 8]

[Note: Direct disciple of Izparut. Discretionary permissions granted for accepting quests exceeding his adventure level.]

[Note 2: An early Reincarnator under the charge of Kumironi.]

Above the text was Lu Cang’s headshot.

The receptionist glanced back and forth; it was a perfect match.

It was the same person.

’He’s actually an early Reincarnator handled by the legendary Kumironi?’

’This is the first time I’ve ever seen one.’

’He’s so young.’

Kumironi didn’t perform early Reincarnations lightly, as she herself was always traveling and adventuring.

Without Kumironi’s continued assistance, those early Reincarnators would have to wait until they were sixteen to advance further. That waiting period was an agonizing process for them.

As they grew older, their Spirituality would gradually weaken, and they would ultimately become ordinary.

The process of falling from a genius to a mediocrity was excruciatingly painful.

Some might even seek illegal channels for reincarnation just to maintain their Spirituality.

Because of this, unless the circumstances were truly exceptional, Kumironi would never preside over an early Reincarnation Ritual.

"My apologies. I didn’t realize you were an early Reincarnator."

"Here is your identification plaque."

It was a circular insignia, imprinted with his name: Lu Cang.

When he infused it with Magic Power, the words "0 Wins, 0 Losses" appeared.

In addition, he received a tournament schedule and a win-streak reward list.

"Oh, there are rewards."

’Level 2—Mage Class, 50-win-streak reward, a Magic Expansion Crystal?’

’Oh, that’s the thing that increases your max Magic Power.’

Iz had mentioned that while most Mages dreamed of getting one, it was useless to him.

’100-win-streak reward: Ancient Root Mage’s Notes.’

’I wonder what its actual value is...’

’200-win-streak reward: Star Demon Robe. Seems like a pretty good piece of equipment.’

’300-win-streak reward: a Tier Two Spring of Origin?’

’What’s this? Whatever, I’ll just ask Iz about it later.’

After the 300-win reward was the one for 500 wins.

It was listed as a "Grand Mystery Prize"...

A vein throbbed on Lu Cang’s forehead. ’Who cares if it’s a mystery or not!’

Besides the rewards for matched-play win streaks,

there were quite a few other tournaments with generous prizes.

Hmm?

Lu Cang’s eyes scanned the list and landed on a Level 4 tournament. The champion’s reward was...

’A Prophet Professional Secret Scroll!?’

’Isn’t that a legendary unique Profession?’

’How did it end up as a prize here?’

’Isn’t its value a little too high?’

Lu Cang glanced at the other Level 4 tournaments; their prizes were worth around 50,000 Gold Coins.

This Prophet Professional Secret Scroll was clearly in a different league from the other rewards.

"Miss, was the prize for this Level 4 tournament entered incorrectly?"

Lu Cang asked, holding the tournament booklet out to the receptionist.

"Oh, that one."

"That’s the War God Cup."

"Every year, the War God personally designates one tournament and offers a reward of terrifying value. Last year’s prize was the All-Resistant Silk, which is even rarer than Void Spirit Star Wood."

’So that’s how it is.’

’It seems the gods of this world are not to be underestimated. Their very existence means they are constantly interfering with the world.’

’Thinking about it that way... the months of Death and Destruction seem especially grim.’

"Can I sign up for this?"

Lu Cang asked.

"Eh? You want to sign up for a Level 4 tournament?"

"But you’re only Level 2 right now."

"You can... but the War God Cup attracts a lot of geniuses. It’s not going to be that simple, you know."

Lu Cang grinned, showing his teeth. "Hehe, it’s the taking part that counts."

The receptionist thought for a moment. "That’s true."

’No one dies anyway.’

’So it doesn’t matter if he participates.’

However, she didn’t really have any expectations that Lu Cang would achieve much.

The gap between Level 3 and Level 4 was a huge hurdle.

A Level 3 could only influence small-scale team fights, whereas a Level 4 could already affect the outcome of a small-scale war.

Even an ordinary Level 4 Adventurer could handle a Tier Three King Level Demon with ease. A slightly stronger Level 4 Adventurer might even be able to solo a Tier Three Monarch if they spent enough time and effort.

And that wasn’t even mentioning the geniuses among the Level 4 Adventurers.

Especially Lu Luwei, who already had a 5,000-win streak and could be called the most outstanding Archer of her generation.

If she hadn’t been born two years late, she might already be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Izparut.

Lu Luwei was probably planning to advance to a Level 5 Archer after this War God Cup.

She was last year’s War God Cup champion, too.

With her in the running, the championship was a foregone conclusion.

"However, little brother... the registration requirement for the War God Cup is that you must be in the top 100 of your level bracket’s rankings."

"Your current ranking doesn’t meet the requirement yet."

’So I have to grind my rank.’

"Thank you, Miss."

"Oh, right, this is for you," Lu Cang said with a sweet smile as a jar containing a Slime specimen appeared in his hand.

"Ah? What’s this?"

"It’s a small gift I made myself. A Slime specimen lamp."

"Well... thank you?"

’What a strange gift.’

Although she didn’t know why Lu Cang would give her a lamp made from a Slime, she accepted it anyway.

After giving her the gift, Lu Cang looked toward a giant gate to the side.

The Battle Arena had two main gates: the Gate of the Spectator and the Gate of Battle.

Through the Gate of Battle, you could create your own arena room and wait for an opponent to join, or you could search for rooms others had set up and join them.

Of course, you could also just directly match with an opponent.

Generally speaking, only matches against randomly paired opponents counted toward your official record.

It was too easy to cheat wins and losses in self-created rooms.

The Battle Arena offered many conveniences for combat, but if you had to name the greatest one...

...it was that you couldn’t die.

You could fight with reckless abandon, without any fear of the danger of death.