The name Klaus Park had gained a lot of traction during the week of the NIST Tournament, and the comments about the similarity between his smile and Kaizen's had gained even greater proportions than he had thought possible.
However, he was determined not to pay attention to such rumors, thinking that sooner or later they would fade away. There was no proof that he was in fact Kaizen, and the only people who could do anything about it to change it were Klaus himself or Hónghé Holdings. And Kaito knew it was no coincidence that Charles Richards called him the night of the day those rumors surfaced, obviously it was a reminder.
Anyway, besides the thrilling individual archery competition, several other sports were being held, attracting the attention of the public from all over the world and making the event a real hit with the audience.
Just as the Archery Departments had two different disciplines to compete in, the other departments such as Athletics had speed races, long and high jump events, weight throw and javelin throw. The athletes showed impressive skills, breaking records from various youth competitions and surprising the audience with their strength, speed and endurance.
At the end of the second day, the state of Alabama proved to be the best in athletics and took the top spot in the athletics table with 7 gold medals. In second place was the state of Nebraska with 4 gold medals and finally New York with 2 gold medals.
It was a surprise to many that New York was at the top, but two geniuses won their competitions with undoubted mastery.
Thus proving that with the proper space and encouragement, even youth athletes from states with less incentive for such competitions, could be truly impressive.
In addition, several other sports were also present on the first two days of the tournament.
On the soccer fields, intense and really exciting games were played, with players of such an impressive technical level that it did not only catch the attention of universities, but also of professional teams around the world.
Basketball was not left behind, with matches of breathtaking play. One talented foreign boy in particular caught the attention of the state of Florida because although he was American, he was still invited and it was a big surprise because, like Klaus Park, he was not even known.
Even the swimming competition brought exciting moments, with swimmers breaking personal records and showing the importance of the physical endurance acquired in recent months.
And as it could not be missed, the New York Dagger Disputation Society, led by Ashley Cox, had a special appearance at the NIST Tournament during the intermission of the opening Hockey match on the evening of the second day.
Ashley, the skilled Dagger Dispute player who was ranked in the national TOP 10, challenged the national TOP 2 man and narrowly won. The local audience was fascinated by the intensity of the duels of this game and the mastery of the players, who did not use their virtual skills, but the natural agility of their bodies and their reflexes.
All the competitions were being broadcast live to the whole world, gaining millions of viewers, who followed every exciting move.
The national NIST Tournament had become a sporting event of global proportions because there were so many different things going on at the same time, and so the webnet was literally buzzing with comments about this competition.
For his part, Klaus could not wait and had to work hard to fulfill his promise to Charles Richards to reach level 200 within a month. Even though he was far from home, he took his old NeuroGear in his backpack to Los Angels, so between his breaks he plunged headlong into the world of Rise Online.
Luckily, the outskirts of the Tretidian Capital had many farming areas, and one of them was the vast forest called the Twilight Woods, known for harboring a wide variety of creatures that provided the necessary challenge for Klaus to hone his aim and receive a good amount of XP.
When Klaus entered the Twilight Woods, he was greeted by a mysterious and gloomy atmosphere. The dense vegetation created eerie shadows, and the sound of branches breaking underfoot echoed among the trees.
The main trail was winding and lit only by the soft light of sunset.
"According to Andrew, there are several creatures that inhabit this area, I hope he's right." Klaus said to himself and it wasn't long before he spotted an unusual type of creature called the Forest Stalkers.
As far as he knew, Forest Spreaders were agile and stealthy creatures, with glowing eyes that helped them camouflage themselves in the vegetation, and greenish fuzz on their primate-like bodies. When Klaus saw one of them, his first reaction was to grab his bow and arrow, preparing for their first confrontation in the Twilight Woods.
Carefully, he approached the Forest Stalker, keeping crouched and silent. The monster seemed not to have noticed his presence, which gave him an advantage. Klaus decided he would make a sneak attack, aiming for the creature's head for an instakill. Therefore, with a smooth motion, he released the arrow, and it flew towards the target. The arrow hit the Forest Predator squarely, and then the monster disappeared.
[You have killed a Forest Spreader. You have gained +4000 EXP].
Kaizen smiled with satisfaction as he saw the experience message. It was a good amount of points to start with, especially when he used the experience boost potion. He quickly retrieved his arrow from the creature's body and moved on, in search of more Forest Scouts to hunt.
…
Edited by: DrHitsuji
If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa tre on.com/Nando Falske
More character images in:
https://discord.gg/ bpqq9u4gS8
Like it? Add to library!
Don't forget to vote with Powerstone to support the book if you like it you like it...