"System, upgrade all the spells to max levels" Michael just sat there beside Claire while looking at his status window. He had 500,000 badass points that were waiting to be spent.

  [Wonderful. Of course, the system cant upgrade the existing spells and skills to max level]

  "Not max max, just upgrade them as much as you can with the points I have"

  He wouldn't have chosen to upgrade the spells and skills if he didnt hear the MorningStar and Golden valley is prioritizing to eliminate him from the tournament. With his current self, fighting several disciples who were above the Core Formation level 5 without using his full Lucifer form was not a fight he could win.

  Instead of strategizing to deal with each and every celebrity disciple like Alex or Celina, Michael decided to go with the ultimate plan- power triumphing over everything.

  [Upgrading the spells and skills to the max level would make the tournament boring and easy Host. You'd be invincible among Core Formation stage warriors]

  "That's a bad thing, how?"

  [Just saying. Now what spells and skills do you want me to upgrade first?]

  "Responsive shield, Ignitia, Lightning dash. Upgrade them in the same order"

  [Wonderful. You'll be temporarily thrown out of the system's interface and feel a tingling pain in your brain]

  "What?" Michael was stunned to hear the system. However before he could ask why, the system interface disappeared from his eyes.

  "Another elimination for Alex and Celina" when he exited the system, Michael heard? James Hall's excited voice. He looked around to see the disciples of MorningStar screaming as loud as they could to cheer Alex and Celina. On the stage, Alex and Celina moved in perfect rhythm like they were dancing. Every time they got closer to an unlucky participant, either Celina knocked out the participant with a single punch to the side of the jaw or Alex threw out the participant like the participant was a sack of cotton.

  "They are really making the round one look easy," Ishihara said,

  In the big mirror, Michael saw Alex look in his direction for a moment before spartan kicked one participant off the stage.

  "Argh" abruptly a muffled cry escaped Michael's mouth when he suddenly felt an excruciating pain in his head.

  "Son of a b-" he almost cursed the system out loud. The damn system told him he would feel a tingling pain but what he felt was not tingling. It felt like someone stabbing his brain with a rusty nail.

  "Brother, did you say something?" Cindy asked with a concerned look on her face,

  "No, argh" yet again, he grunted. This time, Claire turned her head,

  "Excuse me" Before he could blurt out another cry of pain, Michael stood up and left his seat.

  "Fuck you system" On his way to the hall below the arena where some disciples and mentors were strategizing away from the eyes of the people, he cursed the system.

  He climbed down the stairs fighting the pain with all his might. Many disciples from the small sects greeted him but he completely ignored them.

  He hoped the strategizing hall would have less crowd than these stairs.

  Fortunately, he had APD to inject him with healing potions that somewhat lessened the pain. Soon, he started to sweat like he was locked into an oven.

  Navigating through the labyrinth of corridors, Michael finally entered a spacious hall with several groups of disciples in various armors and uniforms. They all looked extremely tense. Michael looked around the hall for a few moments before his eyes fell on a small lion's head which spit water through its mouth. Above the little lion head, they had a mirror hanging on. Now that he looked around, he saw several structures like these. He guessed that the nervous participants could wash their faces and freshen up a little before walking to the battle stage.

  "Is that Ghost?"

  "Yeah, it is. What's he doing here?"

  "Stay away from him. Did you see what he did to that guy?"

  "I never thought a gentle-looking guy like him would be so cruel"

  "Shhh, he's gonna hear us"

  Although Michael didn't notice her among the disciples, Sabrina noticed him. She wanted to kick those who were bad-mouthing him. Unlike most of the disciples here, Ghost earned everything through his hard work, Sabrina admired that about Ghost. Moreover, She felt immense gratitude towards Ghost for saving not only her but also her mother and Andrews.

  "Arggh, fuck how long is this upgrading gonna take?" Michael gripped the edge of the sink so tightly as lines of cracks started to appear in the pearl white sink.

  Letting go of the sink, Michael took a handful of clear water to wash the sweat off of his face. He kept splashing water onto his face until he saw a familiar face in the mirror standing behind him.

  "Miss Sabrina '' Michael turned back with water running from his face onto his black turtleneck.

  "Here" Before Michael could get the towel from his space ring, Sabrina reached out her handkerchief to him.

  "Thank you" Michael was in too much pain to argue with Sabrina over a handkerchief. The male disciples who were dying to get Sabrina's attention ever since they got here became so jealous of Michael.

  Not only did she voluntarily go to talk to him but also gave him her handkerchief so he could wipe his face with it.

  "I want to ask you something if you don't mind" Sabrina opened and closed her mouth several times before finally speaking these words,

  "Shoot" Michael felt somewhat better after washing his face. The pain in his brain slowly started to ease. Michael took out a leather drinking pouch from his space ring. While Sabrina was forming her words, he took a long sip from the pouch. He then leaned on the wall behind him.

  "I know Aelia is not competing in the tournament but if she did, do you think I still have the chance to win the championship?" Michael was genuinely surprised by her questions. Moreover, she seemed like she was looking for his approval or something. Michael was not the only one who was surprised. Her friends seemed stunned. Sabrina was kind of a girl who was independent, strong and someone would even say arrogant. However, right at this moment, she seemed so obedient and meek in front of Ghost.

  They had never seen her act like this before.

  "First of all, you don't need others to tell you the odds. Second, Aelia is my girlfriend, so my judgment will be biased. Third, you're good, you even have the chance to win this thing but if Aelia was here, that championship would have belonged to her"

  Many raised their brows hearing Michael's words. Some even expected Sabrina to get mad except her face split into a wide grin,

  "Thank you for being honest with me"

  "Anytime Miss Sabrina" Michael took another sip of water,

  "And please call me Sabi"

  Michael didn't say anything but handed over the handkerchief back to her before leaving the hall. She stared at Michael's figure disappearing around the corner. Just a few moments, after Michael left the hall, Andrews came to her side.

  "What did you ask him?" Andrews was afraid she discussed something related to him.

  "I asked him the same question I asked Noah,? do you think I still have the chance to win the championship if Aelia competed in the tournament with me?"

  "Oh" Andrews felt stunned and relieved at the same time,

  "Noah said I will win the tournament no matter who is in the tournament, I knew he was lying so I won't feel discouraged"

  "Yeah, he's your brother, he's supposed to motivate you" Andrews said to see Sabrina reveal a gentle smile,

  "What did Ghost say?"

  "He said I don't need others to tell me the odds and because Aelia is his girlfriend, his judgment would be biased" She paused for a moment,

  "And Aelia would have won the championship if she was here"

  Andrews frowned. Unlike Noah, Andrews didn't know what Aelia was capable of. As far as he believed, Sabrina would win the Body Strengthening stage championship without a doubt.

  "You guys always pampered me because im family, it was refreshing to see someone telling me the truth without sugar-coating it for me"

  Andrews saw the smile on her face getting brighter as she clenched the handkerchief tightly against her chest.

  "What are you getting at?"

  "I don't know, he was like a brother I never got"

  The bond of siblings ran deep and strong in the Hunt Family. Sabrina had the same Hunt family gene in her body. Hence she deep down felt a connection with Ghost.

  Somehow Ghost reminded of Noah despite their contrasting personalities. Sabrina couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity with Ghost.

  Because of that, after the tournament, she wanted to find out about Ghost's origins through her sister Rowena. If anyone could find out about Ghost's parents or his past, it would be the Holy Maiden of Skyhall, her sister.

  ***************************

  Meanwhile, Ghost returned to his seat freshened up. The pain in his brain was still there but it was way less than before.

  [Congratulations, the spell Responsive Shield has been upgraded to level 8]

  [Host is now completely immune to any spell attacks of a Core Formation stage warrior]

  [Warning, Legendary spells cast by a Core Formation level can still do some damage!]

  Finally, Michael let out a grin. Resting his head on his hand, he looked at the blue-haired youngster on the same stage as Ashton.

  "I'm gonna destroy your precious little Thusia brick by brick"

  *******************************

  Before you get mad at me for not releasing a Gaya chapter that might be interesting than the tournament to some of you, let me tell you this, the next chapter will feature the long-awaited battle- GHOST VS ALEX!!

  ********************************

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