Chapter 62: Chapter 62
“You’re joining the competition?” Rex asked the young man beside him. “Yeah. The guild master force me”, Eru said with resignation. Rex raised his eyebrow, “Oh yeah, you’re in pilgrimage, right?” Eru nodded, “I didn’t know that it’s called a pilgrimage, but yeah. They told me I needed to go on a journey across the kingdom and get the letters of approval from every branch in the kingdom.”
“It’s that bothersome, huh?” Rex put his hands across the back of his head. “Nah, it’s not. I like it. I always wanted an adventure”, Eru said. Rex looked at Eru weirdly, “I guess every person had their dreams”, he paused, “Nowadays, though, people don’t tend to become adventurers”, Rex said. “Because of the pay, right?” Eru rubbed his chin. Rex nodded, “Not just because of that. Nowadays, it’s really easy to become whatever you wanted because of the advancement of magi-tech.”
“Yeah, the job availability increased because of that. It will always be going to happen as technology advanced”, Eru said with experience. “Hmm”, Rex pondered, “You speak as if you know what’s going to happen.” Eru chuckled, “A simple observation”, he said. ‘I can’t very well say that I’m from a different world where technology has advanced, right’ Eru grinned. “True, true. So, what do you think about it? Magi-tech, I mean. Sure they helped people do tasks easier, but many people would lose their job once a certain technology was completed”, Rex said.
Eru looked at the ponytail-haired man beside him in wonder, “You think deep for a simple captain”, Eru quipped. Rex scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, “Haha, a man must think for the future, right? Besides, I’m not planning to become just a captain, you know”, Rex said with a serious tone. “A man with ambition”, Eru praised, “Good luck on that, my man.” The two converse as they climbed the tower.
Once the duo was in the Colosseum entrance, they found that it was already empty. Eru approached the receptionist, “Hello, I’m here for the Great Fighting Competition”, he informed. The receptionist fixed his glasses, then he looked at Eru, “To watch the fights, go to the right of me, and there should be an elevator that will take you to the roof” the receptionist glasses sparkled. Eru scratched his cheek, “Uh, I’m here to participate, actually.” The receptionist stared at Eru like he was a weirdo, “It’s already noon. You’re late. The preliminary is already over”, the receptionist spoke with fragmented sentences.
“What!?” Eru eyes boggled out, “I’m late!?” The receptionist nodded, “Yes, you are. You’re disqualified already. If you don’t have anything else, you can go wait in the spectator stands, or you could go down and leave.” Eru hung his shoulder low, “What do I do now….” As Eru was about to leave, Rex approached the receptionist, slamming his hand on the table, “Is the competition already started?” he asked while glaring at the receptionist.
The receptionist trembled when he saw the fierceness inside of Rex’s eyes. Then he noticed that Rex was in the army, judging by his uniform while the stripes on his arm suggested that he’s a high ranking one. “R-round one hasn’t started yet”, the receptionist said, stuttering in his words. “Then, you can put him as a special guest, right? Put it as a favour from the army”, Rex said. “Uh, I have to talk to my superior”, the receptionist said nervously. “Go on then”, Rex waved his hand while the receptionist left.
“You don’t have to do that, you know. I don’t want to participate anyway”, Eru said. Rex smirked, “Well, I kind of wanted to see what the man that defeated a 5th Grade Aura Master was capable of.” Eru shook his head, “Really, why do I always meet busybodies everywhere”, he sighed in resignation. After a while, the receptionist came back with a woman with blond hair. The woman has an uptight but beautiful face, and her hair was tied up in a topknot. The woman fixed her glasses, revealing her beautiful amber eyes, “You’re with the army?” she asked while staring at Rex intensely.
“Please, like you don’t know already who I am, Chloe” Rex looked back at the blond-haired woman stares. “You’re still as selfish as always, Rex”, Chloe, the blond-haired woman, sighed, shaking her head. “Well, no one knew me best except my father and you”, Rex grinned, revealing his white teeth. “So, what do you want this time?” Chloe asked. Rex warped his hand around Eru’s shoulder, “Let this guy participate. My father and I can vouch for him.” Chloe divert her attention at Eru, “This guy?” she observed Eru closely.
Eru waved his hand and smiled weakly towards the blond-haired woman’s stare, “Hiya”, he said. “Your father vouched for him?” Chloe turned back her attention towards Rex. Rex nodded his head softly, “Yeah. You might not know, he’s a 1st Grade Aura Master at the age of 17, 18?” Rex turned his head slightly at Eru. “I’m 17”, Eru replied. “Yeah, 17. He’s a prodigy, see?” Rex said. Chloe was taken aback for a moment before calming herself down, “So? He didn’t turn up on time”, she said, firm in her decision. Rex scratched his head, “Yeah, well, that’s because of us. That’s why I’m telling you, let him participate as a favour from the army.”
Chloe pondered for a moment, “Sure, I can allow him to participate.” Rex expression brightened. “But, if he cannot get into the final, you need to compensate me with something”, stated the blond-haired woman. “Sure, I’ll do that”, Rex concurred. “Hey, you”, Chloe adjusted her glasses, “Tell Alan to add one more participant for the competition”, she barked. “But, ma’am”, the receptionist mumbled. “But, what?” Chloe glared down hard at the receptionist, making the latter sweat his ass off. “Yes, ma’am”, he said as he quickly ran away.
After the receptionist was gone, Rex got close to Chloe and hugged her, “I’m sorry I’m not around so much”, he said softly. Chloe’s face reddened, “Not in public, dimwit.” Rex smirked, “Why, you don’t want it?” Chloe slowly shook her head, “Not really.” Eru felt awkward standing there. He raised his hand slightly, “Am I third-wheeling here?” Rex had a cheeky grin on his face, “You kind of yeah.” Eru walked away quietly, “Fricking love birds”, he mumbled.
===
Eru waited outside the colosseum, sitting on the bench of a nearby park. “Fucking love birds”, Eru clicked his tongue. Buddy vibrated beside him, “You agree too, Buddy?” Eru held the black sword up. Buddy buzzed as if agreeing to Eru, “Yeah, you’re right. But not now, though. I still wanted to go on solo”, Eru replied. The black sword vibrated in his hand, “Someone’s coming?” Eru raised his eyebrow.
Then, as if by cue, a young man with a ponytail appeared behind Eru, “Yo, you waited long?” Rex raised his hand. “You love birds done?” Eru inquired. “Yeah, she wanted you to come to the waiting room”, Rex informed with his thumb pointing inside. Eru slowly stood up, “Sure,” he paused, “She your girlfriend?” Rex shook his head, “Nah, she’s my wife”, he proudly said. Eru tilted his head slightly back, “Your wife? Man, you’re moving fast.” Rex grinned, “When you like each other so much, why wait longer, you know?” Eru nodded in understanding, “Yeah, I get ya”, he said as he walked back into the colosseum alongside Rex.
Inside the colosseum, Chloe led Rex and Eru towards the waiting room. To get to the waiting room, they used the elevator to the roof. Once the elevator arrived, the trio’s met with three forked paths. Chloe led them to the left, passing through dozens of people before arriving in front of a red door. “Here it is. Take this”, the blond-haired woman gave a pin to Eru. “What’s this?” Eru wondered as he inspects the pin closely. “A prove of attendance for special invitee”, Chloe explained shortly.
“Special invitee?”
Chloe nodded, “Right. Every Great Fighting Competition, there will always be a special invitee either from the adventurers guild or from the army”, she said. “Usually, those spots were given to a powerful figure or a rising star. There are only two of those pins. They each represented the army or the adventurers guild. The one for the adventurers guild was already taken, so I could only give you the one for the army”, Chloe explained to Eru.
“So, I’m the army representative this year?” questioned Eru. Rex nodded, “Yeah. We wanted to give you the adventurer’s pin, but it was already taken. So we had no choice but to give you the army’s on.” Chloe opened the red door, “Here you go.” Inside, Eru saw a giant double door on the right side of the room. He also saw a sofa in the middle, while a bed was placed on the left side. “It’s strange, though. Usually, the adventurers guild did not participate in the GFC. If they do, they usually go through the preliminary like anyone else”, Rex wondered. Chloe shrugged her shoulders, “Who knows…. All I know is that he’s rumoured to be the rising star of the adventurers guild.”
“So there’s someone other than me wanting to become an adventurer?” Eru curiously asked. Chloe shook her head, “No, apparently, he’s a full-fledged adventurer.” Rex pumped his fist against Eru’s shoulder, “Good luck, buddy”, he said before leaving the room with the blond-haired woman. “W-wait, how can I know when I will be called?” Eru tried to ask the duo, but they already left by the time Eru finished his question.
“Fucking lovebirds”, Eru murmured.
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