"This year's tournament seems to be quite the catch…"

"Yeah, three recruitees managed to climb up to the top ten and one of them is in the top fifteen, back then it would be quite good if one evn entered the top twenty…"

"It's not that strange though, two of the ones who managed to reach the top ten seems to be both sword wielders and dual element holders, they seem to have the same elements as well…"

"I know right, that's quite shocking! It's even more so when you realize they didn't come together…"

"The earth element master also seems to be quite strong for a pure elemental practitioner, these three should be able to get quite a high ranking even within the top ten!"

"Let's wait and see first, there is also that sect member from the 'Elemental Blade Sect' who seems to be quite dangerous in his own way…"

"Ah, that's right, I almost forgot about him…"

`~~`~~`~~`

Without much suspense, the last round we were in turned out to be indeed a ranking segmenter…

Those who managed to win all three fights like me and that water halberd sect guy were put automatically into the ranks of top 5 segment, those who lost one match like that earth practitioner and the dual element swordswoman were put in the top 6~10 segment, with those who lost two matches like the fire fist guy being in the top 11~15 segment and so on…

This was obviously explained by the organizer…

"This brings us to the last stage, which you already know as the 'Ranking' stage! This stage will be naturally unlike all previous rounds, though it's a bit similar to the 3 battles system, with the difference being that you will battle everyone in your ranking tier, meaning that everyone will participate in four matches…"

'A round robin…?'

Through the organizer's broken explanation, it wasn't hard to see that the last stage will be all made out of round robins which finally added some sense to this chaotic luck dependant tournament, otherwise, it would feel like the organizers and the overseeing sects are total idiots.

'At least they used common sense when it came to the positions that would receive the prizes or the appreciation and praise…'

"Once this stage is done, you will receive the rewards according to your ranks, so make sure you give it your all, after all, this will decide whether you would receive more attention, support, recognition, and most importantly resources!"

The organizer left quietly after, without any of his usual farewells, probably because this stage isn't supposed to take long if the matches were only supposed to take the same time they did during the whole tournament.

A few minutes after the organizer left, one of the referees came to us as he announced…

"Every tier round will take place in an individual ring, those of the first tier please come with me…"

'Hmmm…?'

"Yes, those in the first tier are those who have won all battles in the last round…"

'Mhm…'

As the first five of us left the platform, we noticed that there was a small like of chairs close to every ring…

"You will wait here and watch the ongoing matches and be ready for when it's your turn…"

'I guess they can also change the decoration without relying on those earth practitioners…'

"Please hand over your tags so they can be directly modified for this current round."

'2?'

As I received my tag back and looked at the number that was assigned, it made it look as if they were trying to continue the trend of me having a number that can be divided by 2 like 666 and 222, this number was just 2, but it seemed like their reason for giving me such number was something else…

'They believe that I'm likely to only get the second rank probably…'

It was as if they were giving us numbers according to the rank that we were likely to get, as if they were holding some sort of a gambling competition instead of a recruitment tournament. This also explained why they would ask us to hand our tags for direct modification instead of a random one like they always did…

"First battle, No.2 Vs No.5!"

'Whatever…'

`~~`~~`~~`

"No.2 wins!"

'That wasn't bad…'

After going through three of my four battles, I could finally feel that I have gone through a good warm up as the three I fought were actually at least at the standard of that dual element swordswomen…

They weren't actually dual element holders but they were all dual practitioner who practiced both elemental and weapon arts to a strong degree.

Of course that didn't mean that I was forced to do much either, it only was a bit troublesome to dispatch them using only one strike, but two or three were merely enough to the job…

The matches as a whole were ordered in a way so that one won't have to fight two matches without rest in between, so far only three matches were left, with the one against the No.1 water halberd sect guy being their last…

Oddly enough though, it seemed like the match before it also had No.1 participating in it, so they should be planning on giving him a rest before the last match, maybe to the point of using it as an excuse to build up suspense.

On the other hand, the recruitees on the other rings seemed to be doing quite well too, as the dual element swordswoman and the earth practitioner seemed to be vying for the top in the tier 2 ring, and the fire fist guy somehow seemed to be dominating the tier 3 ring…

'At least the last battle should be quite worth it…'

As I was watching the battle of No.1 against No.4, I wasn't bored anymore seeing how No.1 fought as his practice seemed to have reached quite the high stage, in fact, the participants have been acting true to their numbers so far, as the ranking was likely to be as they predicted, but that was only if…

'I guess I can act as a darkhorse for once…'

"