"Next, the tenth preliminary match of the men’s division, Red, Yang Yu versus White, Vorquis."
The sound emerged from the broadcast and instantly energized the audience on-site, their long-awaited match was finally about to begin.
The spectators eagerly anticipated Yang Yu, the man who had brought blood and storms to the Library, and what kind of surprise he would bring them this time.
The audience in the stands were not familiar with Vorquis, even after repeatedly scrutinizing him, they couldn’t recall when such a figure had joined the All Things Library.
The All Things Library’s examination of its members was extremely strict. If Vorquis had joined the All Things Library through the Martial Arts Exam, there likely would have been some rumors.
But now, aside from knowing that Yang Yu had conflicts with this man, they knew virtually nothing about Vorquis.
That is to say, he could very well be a VIP invited by the All Things Library.
Once one person realized this, the idea spread like a tornado tearing through a parking lot.
The surrounding crowd grew more eager, wondering how the dispute between Yang Yu and Vorquis would conclude.
The elders of the All Things Library were also closely watching the match, most curious to see if the Hero possessed the strength to easily knock down the man standing before him.
Most of the Special Measures Committee’s elders didn’t have a favorable opinion about Yang Yu and even wished for his utter defeat.
Initially, because Yang Yu was willing to act as a middleman to negotiate with the Fairies, these elders had quite a favorable opinion of him.
However, after the All Things Library and the Fairies reached a consensus to compromise, Yang Yu said that since the issue was resolved, he no longer needed to stay at the All Things Library, He requested to have the advanced library membership that was supposed to be given to him exchanged for a substantial monetary reward calculated based on a Monster Tamer’s rates.
Originally, the Special Measures Committee created a unique advancement path for Monster Tamers to prevent too many of them from seeking refuge in the All Things Library and discovering the underground affairs of Fairyland.
For Monster Tamers to become a three-star advanced member was incredibly challenging.
Yang Yu demanding that his entitlement to become a three-star advanced member be converted into an equivalent amount of money was akin to putting a knife to their necks, forcing them to give up everything in their pockets.
How could they bear this?
Luckily, after bargaining with Yang Yu, the Special Measures Committee agreed to not deregister his membership and always welcome him at the All Things Library under the condition that "if you don’t agree, you will have to retake the library exam every time you use the teleportation device," after which Yang Yu agreed to take only a small portion of money as compensation for the three-star advanced membership.
While the resolution was satisfactory for everyone, many in the Special Measures Committee harbored strong feelings about it.
They felt Yang Yu was too audacious and needed a significant setback to be reined in.
However, this didn’t mean they rigged the match by purposefully pairing Yang Yu against the Hero.
The encounter between Yang Yu and the Hero was purely the result of impartial drawing.
In contrast to the delighted spectators in the stands, Yang Yu began his preparations unassumingly, his shield and sword already in hand.
He knew the Hero’s attributes thoroughly, just as the Hero likely knew his.
Two days ago, after a detailed description from Iyas, Yang Yu had a bold conjecture.
The Hero might be a fellow player like him.
This wasn’t unsubstantiated; Yang Yu had been suspicious ever since he first accessed the Hero’s attribute bar. A level 28 Strength could either result from innate gifts or from having all upgrade-derived attribute points being invested in Strength.
Yang Yu became further convinced after hearing from Iyas, who revealed that Vorquis spotted Iyas’ elf identity only after she had issued a classic task flag by saying, "Show me if you can do it," and also that the Hero shared a peculiar quirk of randomly flicking his wrist in mid-air.
Combining these factors easily led to the conclusion that the Hero was checking for task details, hence figuring out Iyas was an elf.
Truly worthy of a Hero, with an exceptionally impressive growth in attributes.
To completely reduce him to just a unit of combat strength measurement, there was still a very long way to go.
Yang Yu had quite a few free attribute points left, and by investing them all in Speed, he might be able to outpace the Hero, toy with him if not win outright.
Yet Yang Yu had never moved to use those free attribute points.
Since his current attributes weren’t much different from an ordinary warrior’s, it was best utilized properly.
It would be ideal to let the esteemed Hero forever regard him as an inconsequential character, thus securing ample time for his own development.
So, Yang Yu planned to confront the Hero with his current panel attributes like any ordinary person, exhausting all his efforts and racking his brain to cope with the nearly insurmountable adversity.
"Nice sword and shield. Not fleeing the fight last minute came as a surprise," Vorquis scoffed as he drew his sword from his waist, "Let’s see who is truly worthy of Miss Iya!"
"Thank you for the compliment. But I advise you to give up on trying to take her from me!"
Yang Yu lifted the corners of his mouth, his smile tinged with a hint of taunt,
"You’re not worthy of anyone."
The pale blue light shield slowly rose, segregating the combat platform from the audience section, as Vorquis smirked coldly,
"You’re only arrogant now. Once you experience what real power is, you’ll understand what an insurmountable gap is, realizing how lowly your own strength is."
"I am fully aware of how lowly my strength is. If you lose to me, wouldn’t that make you less than dirt?"
The match hadn’t officially started yet, but Yang Yu and Vorquis were already exchanging pre-match trash talk, and yet neither managed to provoke the other.
In such moments, the first one to get angry loses half the battle.
"Take your positions, maintain the distance, ready! Begin!"
With the broadcast’s command, white light radiated from both Yang Yu and Vorquis, generating shields equivalent to their current Life Values, and the battle was on the verge of erupting.