Reborn With A Technology System In A Fantasy World-Chapter 270: Witty Prometheus (1)

The arena was a landscape designed to disorient. It was a vast desert under a simulated triple-sun sky that bathed the arena in harsh, blinding light.

But the most prominent feature was his opponent.

Opposite him, perched high on a mountain, was DreamWeaver. It was a nightmarish sight, a colossal arachnid, its bulbous body covered in iridescent chitin that shifted colors like oil on water.

Eight long, spindly legs ended in razor-sharp points, and a cluster of multifaceted eyes glowed with a hypnotic, pulsating light.

The holographic crowd, millions strong, roared in anticipation.

<"WELCOME BACK TO THE CRUCIBLE, FOLKS! WE HAVE A MATCH FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS TONIGHT!">

<"IN THE RED CORNER, THE MASTER OF NIGHTMARES, THE REIGNING VICE-CHAMPION OF THE GOLD LEAGUE... DREAMWEAVER! AND IN THE BLUE CORNER, THE ROOKIE SENSATION WHO JUST DETHRONED THE WATCHER... PROJECT_PROMETHEUS!">

<"This is insane, Jim! Project_Prometheus isn’t stopping! He’s going after a bigger fish immediately! But DreamWeaver is a different beast entirely. I don’t think it’ll be an easy one, but it sure will be entertaining!">

~GONG!~

The match began.

Instantly, Adrian’s [Omnisense] screamed a warning. He didn’t think; he moved. He threw himself to the side just as a glob of white, sticky webbing shot past where his head had been a microsecond before, moving with the speed of a bullet. It struck the sand behind him, sizzling and expanding rapidly.

<"LOOK AT THOSE REFLEXES! DREAMWEAVER ISN’T WASTING TIME! HE’S ON THE ATTACK ALREADY!">

Adrian soared into the air, his thrusters firing, but the prickly sensation at the back of his neck didn’t fade. ’Something is off.’

He tried to zip away, to gain altitude and distance, but he was too late. The dozens of web-shots DreamWeaver had fired weren’t misses.

They were traps. As they hit the ground and the floating rocks, they exploded, releasing a thick, cloying black cloud that expanded with terrifying speed.

Adrian was engulfed. The cloud was heavy, clinging to his suit, obscuring his vision. He was forced to land, coughing violently as the gas seeped through his filters, his eyes watering.

He staggered as his vision blurred, the world spinning around him.

<"PROJECT_PROMETHEUS IS DOWN! I REPEAT, PROMETHEUS IS DOWN! THE DREAM FOG HAS HIM! WHAT ARE WE WITNESSING, FOLKS?! IS THIS THE END OF THE ROOKIE’S STREAK?!">

DreamWeaver didn’t give him a chance to recover. Seeing its prey vulnerable, the massive spider descended from its web, scuttling towards him on its eight legs with a terrifying, jerky speed. It closed the distance in mere seconds, its mandibles clicking in anticipation.

It leaped, soaring through the air, its razor-sharp legs poised to impale the staggering human.

<"IS THIS THE END?! DREAMWEAVER GOES IN FOR THE KILL!">

But just as the arachnid’s shadow fell over him, the coughing stopped. Adrian looked up, his eyes clear and cold as a smirk touching his lips. He had baited the trap.

He raised his hand, the Mana Gun already materialized and charged. He didn’t aim for the head or the legs. He aimed directly upwards, at the soft, unarmored underbelly exposed by the creature’s leap.

~PSSHHH!~

A blast of pure, concentrated Dantian mana erupted from the barrel. It struck the DreamWeaver squarely in its thorax, the softest part of its body. The impact was devastating.

The blast threw the massive creature off its trajectory, sending it spinning through the air to smash violently against the shimmering plasma barrier at the edge of the arena.

The spider slumped to the ground, its legs twitching, then went still as it signaled its resignation.

<"UNBELIEVABLE! ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE! DREAMWEAVER WAS THE WITTIEST, UNTIL PROJECT_PROMETHEUS CAME ALONG! THIS IS HISTORY! THIS IS LEGEND! ALIENS OF THE CONCORDAT, WELCOME PROJECT_PROMETHEUS TO THE GOLD LEAGUE, AND HE DOES IT IN STYLE!">

Adrian floated above the arena, watching the defeated creature being teleported away. ’It’s a pity he survived,’ he thought to himself. ’Not like I was going for the kill, but another Void Crystal would have been nice.’ He shook his head, erasing the greedy thought. ’No. Focus.’

Without wasting time, he left the arena, reappearing in the Gold Lobby. He was now officially a Gold League fighter, but he wasn’t done.

He needed five wins in his new league to seek another promotion. But Adrian knew his raw physical strength was still lacking compared to the top-tier Gold fighters, so he adapted his tactics.

He carefully selected his opponents, choosing only those with soul or psionic-based abilities; his hard counter.

*** 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

[FIGHTER PROFILE: Project_Prometheus]

[CIVILIZATION: Sparkborn (Tier-1)]

[LEAGUE: Gold]

[RANK: 21]

[WINS: 18 | LOSSES: 0]

[KILLS: 1]

A satisfied smile touched Adrian’s lips. It hadn’t been easy; some of the psionic fighters had physical backups or tricky environmental hazards, turning the fights into genuine challenges. But he had maintained his 100% record.

’Now, all that’s left is the final match,’ he thought. ’Then I’ll return to the Factory.’

He approached the registration booth, ready to seek another favorable match-up, when his PAD flashed with an urgent, intrusive notification.

[CHALLENGE REQUEST RECEIVED]

[FIGHTER: STONEDESTROYER has challenged you to a Ranked Match!]

Adrian blinked. It was the first time he had received a direct challenge. He was about to dismiss it when he checked the profile.

[FIGHTER PROFILE: STONEDESTROYER]

[CIVILIZATION: Golem (Tier-6)]

[LEAGUE: Gold]

[RANK: 1]

[WINS: 999 | LOSSES: 112]

[KILLS: 0]

Adrian was truly baffled. The numbers told a story of a warrior who had seen everything. 999 wins. He was one win away from a milestone.

Given the situation, the only logical thing for Adrian to do was reject. The Golem was clearly a physical powerhouse, the exact type of opponent Adrian was currently weak against. He wasn’t sure he could defeat the bottom of the Gold League in a fair, physical fight, let alone the Rank 1 champion.

But even with that logic screaming at him, a part of him wanted the challenge. With zero kills, it was clear StoneDestroyer wasn’t malicious. He had nothing to lose but a number on a screen.

’I haven’t yet seen the true physical ceiling of this league,’ he reasoned. ’What better way to find out? It will give me a benchmark for Platinum.’

He made up his mind. "Accept."

The white light took him instantly.

<Match Confirmed. Transferring to Arena 01: The Grand Crucible.>

When he materialized, the noise was deafening. This wasn’t a normal arena. It was a coliseum of stone and magma, the air thick with heat. The crowd was chanting a single name, over and over, a rhythmic, cult-like roar that shook the ground.

<"STONE! STONE! STONE! STONE!">

StoneDestroyer stood on the opposite side. He was a towering, fifteen-meter-tall construct of living, animated obsidian and magma, a golem of ancient design. He was a fan favorite, a legend of the Gold League.

<"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE MOMENT WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR! STONEDESTROYER IS ONE WIN AWAY FROM HIS 1,000TH VICTORY! AND HE HAS CHOSEN THE ROOKIE PHENOM FOR HIS MILESTONE MATCH!">

<"Don’t write off Project_Prometheus just yet, Jax! He defeated The Watcher! He defeated DreamWeaver! He’s the giant-killer!">

<"Maybe, Bob. But haven’t you noticed? He hasn’t displayed any real, raw power. He wins with tricks and counters. I don’t think those little attacks of his will even scratch the obsidian hide of the Destroyer. This is a bad match-up!">

<"There’s only one way to find out, folks! Let’s get ready for the GONG!">

~GONG!~