A young woman with a long ponytail and green clothes ran across the woodland, three men were in hot pursuit. She ran across a tall cliff, a dead-end that allowed the men to catch up with her. She prepared herself for a fight.

“Come. I’ll make you regret looking down on a woman,” she said to her attackers.

“Lady, we- GWAHARGH!!”

The men slumped down after being hit by some white-ball thingy that moved very fast. A man, tall, blonde, handsome, wearing stylish white and red clothes emerged slowly from the thickets.

“Hello there,” Tanael greeted. “Are you hurt?”

“...I don't need your help,” the woman with the alias Viper Lady said. “I can defend myself.”

“Not hurt then? That’s a shame.”

Viper Lady thought what was the shame about it? She felt something wasn't right.

“And your character… Strong Female Character?” Tanael mused, a hand on the chin, looking at her from head to toe.

“...You’re the type that thinks women are weaker than men?” She spat out poisonously.

“Oh no, not at all. But in the Fables where there are characters like you, the rest of the cast are incompetent clowns, especially of the male gender.”

A slight change in the air. The man bared his teeth in a grin.

“I always wondered, what if a man just barged into the story? Not just any man, a real man. Not some silly, bumbling, idiotic trash that serves as a prop for the Strong Female Character to flex the soul-destroying wokeness of the Fable’s creator. Will there be some eldritch cosmic force that reduces my competence?” Tanael pondered the secret of the universe.

“I don't know what crazy thing you’re talking about but-”

“Viper Lady, 82nd place. I’m here to take your spark.” Tanael cut in. “Formal Challenge. Will you surrender it obediently, or must I beat you first?”

“EAT SHIT!!!”

Viper Lady created a giant spectral snakehead bigger than Tanael’s body. The teeth-laden maw opened wide. There was some kind of black mist surrounding her body that wasn't there before. She suffered somekind of a weakening effect.

Arte - Vengeful Spirit.

A ball of white tore the snake to pieces and hit the Viper Lady’s stomach while her eyes widened with shock.

“Gahckh… ” She fell to her knees, spouting blood. Not only because of the enemy’s attack but also because of the backlash of her Arte being broken.

“Oh? You’re still alive. Ah, life-saving treasure. Can it block this?” Mercilessly, Tanael continued.

“Arte - Soul Sting.”

“AAAAAHHHHHhhh...”

Her left earring turned to dust. After inserting his curse for future blackmail, Viper Lady lost consciousness after a wail. Motes of light like fireflies came out from her body. At some distance the men that Tanael defeated earlier also emitted spark shards.

“So, spouting feminism doesn't give you universal greatness.”

I understand now. It isn't that men are better than women or vice versa. It’s just bad stories and bad characters, Tanael absorbed the spark shards as he lamented the way Earth’s entertainments were laced with political agendas the way stray dogs had fleas.

Sigh. They didn't make movies the way they used to be.

***

Viers’ victory wasn't purely based on his abilities. The Formal Challenge mechanic also had a role to play.

Viers goaded Viper Lady for a Formal Challenge but she didn't accept. Thus she got weakened and became easy pickings for Viers.

Those who’d lost against other trial takers couldn't be challenged again for 6 hours. Aletro was giving them a grace period to gain more spark shards by questing.

From today onwards, the Formal Challenge became the center of the matter in a fight between the spark holders.

In battle, one side can issue for the battle to be ‘formal’. If the other side refused, the battle became ‘casual’ but the act of backing down was penalized by 50% debuff of his or her ability. Their stats would be cut in half, their Artes would only be half as effective. Those who were afraid to commit were at a disadvantage before the battle began, dimming their prospect of victory. In a casual battle, the winner got 10% spark shards from the loser’s possession.

When both sides accepted, the battle became formal, it became much more sacred. The Formal Challenge consisted of two matches as a whole. The first match was something normal, a clash between two sides. The loser would lose 30% of their spark shards but the loser could challenge to fight again. If so, the winner couldn't refuse.

This was where the Formal Battle got interesting.

The loser’s power would be doubled for the duration of the second fight. If the loser lost again, they would have lost 100% of their spark shards and the twice defeated could no longer gain spark shards until the end of the first stage of the trial, effectively ending their career.

But if the loser of the first match won the second match, the redeemed victor would regain all of the shards lost in the first match back plus a 50% spark shards cut from the second match’s loser.

Viers read the rules of the Formal Challenge with great scrutiny over five times.

This heavily disadvantages the stronger side so the issue is whether the winner of the first round can defeat the loser so thoroughly until they are unfit to battle in the second round!

Without saying, Viers was not the only one who realized this.

Even then the risks were immense on both sides. The ensuing matches were assuredly brutal and serious to the knife. Even if there would be no deaths, grievous injury and permanent loss were very much possible. That was why Formal Challenge was a serious matter.

What Aletro changed in the 1.5 patch update was they now could make Formal Battle to be their default mode in a fight. If they got attacked and the other side didn't similarly have the Formal Battle stance, the other side would suffer a -50% ability penalty from the start.

On the fifth day, questing properly was something far away from the black spark holder’s minds.

Those with confidence in their strength naturally chose to always go with Formal Challenge. These men and women eyed others like wolves eyeing sheep.

Viers Isuel was one such person and he was on a hunt.

In the Quantum Main Hub, there were numerous aerial dog fights reminiscent of the Star Wars space battle, without the lasers. Truthfully, it was more like people playing flying tag. When the ‘it’ gave someone a hug of death, the individual or group burned their quest card to forcefully transport their prey to the hunting ground. Most of the ‘tag’ players were the black spark holders.

Tanael was among them.

***

In a quest space, there was a dome of wood and plants. Someone was inside the defensive Arte and the other was burning the dome from the outside.

“Hahahaha!” Tanael was using the bazooka flamethrower he looted from the Marakkus’ vault. “Burn, baby, burn!”

“Damn it Tanael! Why are you so persistent? I don't want to fight you!” The guy glowered. The wooden protection wouldn't last much longer.

“But I do, meatbag! I’ll get your shards, put a curse on you, and blackmail you for more shards! Wahahahaha!” Tanael set bazooka to spit hotter flames.

The guy was in a dilemma. If he fought Tanael who had the Formal Challenge stance, he would get -50% penalty. Even at full strength he wasn't confident winning against the infamous soul blackmailer, let alone at half strength. That was why he didn't want to fight, he wanted to run and retreat.

But how could Tanael let his prey go?

“Why are you so focused on me! I don't even have that many shards!”

“Your name offends me,” Tanael grinned.

“DAAAAAAAAMN IT!!”

Youallsucks screamed in indignation as his dome broke, and gave battle before getting spectacularly trashed by Tanael. The name he casually made became his doom and he cursed his stupidity. He didn't dare to answer with Formal Challenge. Better 10% spark shards plus 70 shards blackmail than any other options.

Youallsucks was only one among many. Tanael aimed his mainly swine-butchering cleaver at fat pigs with silly names.

Eat Shit, EEEaziii, Big Boss 69, Mr. Great, and so on.

Naturally, Tanael blackmailed them all after putting them in their rightful place in the food chain. He also told them about the reason they got targeted by him, their names.

“Give up, meatbag I Am Number One and meatbag 303. In regards to our past relationship, I’ll let you off with 10% and 50 shards blackmail instead of 70.”

“I refuse! I, no, WE have our pride!” I Am Number One stood before 303. Tanael suspected these two were brother and sister.

“Fine, prepare for a beat down. For the record, I don't like your name, Number One. If you want to boast, boast correctly. Like this, I Am Number Four!”

After 10 fights plus blackmails, Tanael was ranked 4th, his highest record yet.

There were setbacks as well, Bright Sun, Lord Ultimate, Blue Orchid, and a couple others. After the initial clash, Tanael and the other party did not choose to continue. If both parties back away, there would be no penalties. This was a common occurrence when the top rankers met one another.

“Green Scorpion…”

“Tanael.”

The two were talking on separate banks of a river.

“I never thought you would hide your great strength so deeply. I wonder, what else have you kept hidden?” Green Scorpion sneered.

“Meatbag you might be, this is not the time for us to clash. If the time comes, I’ll come for your head,” Tanael turned around to leave but he felt something odd.

Tendrils brushed upon his mind like paint on a canvas. He stopped his steps and turned his face to Green Scorpion again. Tanael recognized his look of surprise despite his best efforts to hide it.

“Well, well… You’re a mind user,” Tanael gave him a green, piercing gaze.

“And you have always active mind defense, praiseworthy foresight. What is your background? Which organization backs you?” Green Scorpion was similarly observing him.

“...We will meet again.”

Tanael was the first to leave the staring contest. He had better things to do.

Green Scorpion just went up in his kill list.