Chapter 237

Chapter 237: Radiance of Light

From the fiftieth floor onward, five floors were gained per victory and five lost per defeat.

Ten consecutive wins allowed promotion to the hundredth floor where new rules took effect.

That realm became the true paradise for genuine experts.

Through this ascent, gladiators faced endless opponents and diverse battle formats—beast fights, competitions, group clashes—each step unfolding as its own thrilling gamble.

The Sky Arena showcased this gamble to the people and profited from it.

Thrill-seeking audiences paid money for varied excitement.

For gladiators, this path offered trials and combat.

Yet Midi cared nothing for such "battles." His past and present life’s struggles dwarfed any arena’s mimicry. This wasn’t his true purpose.

His goal lay in entering the Stormy Region to seize the Sea of Clouds’ core territory and resources.

Finding the Rothschild Guild served merely as preparation.

Entering the Sky Arena counted only as preparation for that preparation.

Time mattered here. Having wandered the Sea of Clouds for a year, Midi finally held a lead. He’d waste no more chances.

His plan was simple—reach above the hundredth floor in one day.

Quick results saved time, built fame, and intimidated others. Why refuse?

Ten straight fights meant nothing to his Extraordinary Awakened state. Protracted battles might tire him, but instant victories? Mere meditation healed any strain.

After crushing the black-scaled Dragonkin in thirty seconds, Midi fought thrice more, hitting the seventieth floor instantly.

When he tried pushing the alluring dark elf attendant for faster arrangements, arena executives intervened. They begged him to slow down.

Not that his speed shamed the Sky Arena—quite the opposite. A once-in-a-century talent like him sparked discussions, curiosity, marketing potential. They could craft him into a mythic hero.

But even golden opportunities needed packaging time.

Midi moved too fast. By the time wealthy crowds gathered for his promoted legend, his climb would’ve ended. Nothing left to hype.

Thus, rarely-seen directors approached Midi, bargaining. Delay your rise, they pleaded.

In exchange, they’d boost his victory rewards to match hundredth-floor expert standards immediately.

Reaching the hundredth floor in one day versus three mattered little to Midi—a whim’s difference. But free benefits from merchants? He’d take them.

Scanning the pterosaur-skin prize list, Midi’s eyes locked onto one rare material:

Radiance of Light.

This Sea of Clouds specialty—a sunlight-crystallized stone—bore light attributes. On Arad’s surface, alchemists used magic arrays and magic veins to condense sunlight. Yet air-refracted, cloud-filtered rays yielded only impure "Essence of Light."

But three skymiles high, the Sea of Clouds’ condensed light became true Radiance of Light.

The Radiance served many uses: Enchanting weapons, alchemy, potion-making.

For Midi, its purpose distilled to one phrase—

Power.

As an Awakened One of Extraordinary Awakening, Midi possessed immense power, yet after a year had passed, he discovered this came with a cost – his leveling progress appeared extremely slow. To be precise, the accumulation needed for his Extraordinary Awakening powers far surpassed that of regular Awakened Ones.

This made sense – the nourishment required by a towering tree naturally dwarfed that needed by fast-growing bamboo. Rather than an "extra cost" of awakening, this was simply the natural outcome.

The consequence was clear: Midi, hailed as Arad’s "first Awakened One," found himself surpassed in levels by many adventurers over the past year.

Midi, Fina, and Alice remained at level 51, while across Arad, numerous adventurers had reached level 52. The record holder, a leveling-obsessed warrior from Bantu, had slaughtered countless magical beasts in the Sea of Clouds to reach level 54 in mere months!

While everyone knew levels didn’t equate true strength, the Iron Triangle of Belmar remaining at level 51 inevitably sparked speculation. Had something gone wrong during their awakening? Such doubts led many factions to consider challenging Belmar and the Hawk Brigade.

Though unconcerned personally, Midi as a ruler desired faster progression. The Radiance of Light material offered this opportunity. Furthermore, reaching higher levels would require two more rare crystals – Dark Radiance and Fang Radiance, as detailed in King Bacal of the Tyrant Dragon’s notes from the Seventeen Halls of the Azure Rock.

Humanity’s limited resources meant after a year in the Sea of Clouds, Midi still hadn’t seen Radiance of Light. Now it lay before him. Even the unflappable Midi felt his heartbeat quicken, though he maintained composure, casually scanning the prize list while memorizing every detail about the crystal.

Post-hundredth floor rewards offered 100 grams per victory, exchangeable through either wins or 1000 competition points. These arena-exclusive credits could convert to universal Sky Coins, but not vice versa. More battles meant more Radiance of Light.

Having won four consecutive matches with unclaimed rewards, the arena allowed Midi to choose from the hundredth-floor catalog – a clear goodwill gesture. He promptly selected Radiance of Light, converting all competition points into it.

"Mr. Blade seems quite interested in Radiance of Light," remarked an arena director, eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

"It serves my purposes. The more acquired, the better. Name your price if the arena wishes to assist." Midi’s light smile revealed need without desperation, presenting it as important but replaceable. This approach encouraged cooperation over extortion.

As expected, the director nodded solemnly. "Continue winning and cooperating with our schedule, and we’ll prioritize supplying this material."

"Deal." Midi agreed without haggling.

The first shipment arrived at his 70th-floor quarters. After security checks and deploying demon arrays, Midi examined the contents of an ornate demon-sealing box. Four victories and arena privileges yielded only dust-like particles – insufficient to form proper crystals, but enough for testing.

Channeling White Crystal magic, he drew the glittering powder into his palms. Closing his eyes, he began carefully circulating the energy through his body.