The Competition continued as the days went by. People fought and died. Some performed well and some didn't. Those that performed well rose steadily in power as the months went by reaching rank 9 too. They all avoided the mountain at the center of the Arena like a plague. They know that Soverick has defeated the rank 10 on it and is officially Rank 10 now.
The monsters of the arena gradually increased in power without Soverick's presence to cause an unnatural spike so the competitors gradually became stronger with time. Their fear of the mountain didn't change when some of them achieved rank 9. Soverick defeated the only rank 10 monster that will ever appear in the arena and has become a rank 10 himself. They also have not forgotten that Soverick defeated the rank 10 monster as a rank 9. They determined it to be a bad idea to cross him.
The only way to become a rank 10 is to kill the boss of the arena. Since Soverick has done that, there is no hope of becoming a rank 10 for anyone else. The route of killing many monsters to advance won't work to achieve rank 10 because rank 9 monsters are very rare. No one can hog one to themselves when they appear. The competitors had to share and people stole kills.
Everyone that takes part in killing a monster earns scores for it but it's the person that deals the killing blow that earns the power of the death mark. It was slow going for a while with very few rank 9 competitors. They were content with doing nothing and waiting for the survival challenge. But the number of rank 9 competitors increased steadily until it reached 10. It was then that rank 9 monsters stopped spawning. And it was then that they started to get ideas.
Ten rank 9 competitors who are also very talented now have nothing to do after rank 9 monsters ceased to spawn. There is no more danger and threat to them within the competition. Well, there's one threat but he is taboo. Or he used to be taboo when they had other more sensible and safer things to do. He might not be a taboo anymore now that there are ten rank 9 with only one of him and now that they don't have anything else to do. There is actually only one way to find out.
It is said that idleness is the devil's advocate. There is no devilry involved in what is about to happen, but idleness surely had a hand in it. These talented and stupid people got together to talk about the proverbial elephant in the Arena. They met at the foot of the mountain too so that they will be able to quickly climb it once an agreement is reached. It is very clear what they have come to discuss.
One of them asked the others. "So what do you guys think? It can work right?"
She is the one that called for this meeting. She has shared her plan with them and now is asking for their opinion.
Another one asked, "How sure are you about your hypothesis? A lot is riding on it. Our lives depend on its validity."
He is just one of the other 9 that answered the call for the meeting. He isn't so sure about the feasibility of the plan. He wants to know if the plan that the lady proposed is certain to work.
The first one replied, "I am 100% certain. I have a reliable source."
Most of these rank 9 competitors have a faction that they lead. Some of them were helped to reach rank 9 by their faction so that they can represent their interests. The female battle sage monkey that called for the meeting happens to be part of a faction that hates Soverick. She has the largest faction composed of thousands of people and these people all want to kill Soverick. She called this meeting so that Soverick can be killed.
Her source of reliable intelligence is from one of her zealous followers who has been monitoring Soverick's fight. They discovered something that might be Soverick's weakness. It has bolstered their confidence. They might not be so confident if they had seen Soverick's fight with the last boss. Had they seen his fight, then they wouldn't consider attacking him at all. It is as they say, Ignorance is bliss.
A third person spoke, "So you're saying that his gravity manipulations won't work as long as we can resist it by manipulating world power? That means that we need an artifact from this world."
People have found that they can create weapons and artifacts themselves. This world functions similarly to the real world and they have had a year to explore it. Some crafters among them succeeded in creating powerful weapons but they can't compare to the weapons of this world.
The only way to access world power is to be bestowed an artifact after killing a monster that is two ranks above your rank. The plan to kill Soverick is based on using world power to resist his manipulation of gravity. The person that thought of it determined that Soverick couldn't control the dragon because of its ability to manipulate world power.
The female battle sage monkey answered in the affirmative. "Yes."
She is sure about the information and she is willing to bet her life on it for the chance to put Soverick down.
"In that case, I am out."
"Me too."
"I don't have an artifact. I guess I can't join you."
3 people voiced their decision not to participate in the attack since they don't have an artifact bestowed to them by the world. These people are ignorant about Soverick's power. They believe that his gravity manipulation is his most powerful arsenal and that they need world power to resist it. The ones without artifacts cannot join in then. They have been saved by the lack of artifacts.
