Chapter 67: Chapter 67
“What a fight, eh, ladies and gentlemen. Shall we begin round three right now, or should we take a break first?” the man in a fancy suit asked with a teasing tone. “Continue, continue, continue”, the audience yelled out in unison. “Okay, since my beloved audience wanted to continue, let us begin round three straight away”, the man in a fancy suit clapped. Then, smoke started to surround the arena. “Ladies and gentlemen, please prepare yourself for the incoming round that’s about to unfold”, the man in a fancy suit said.
When the smoke dissipated, the arena was repaired to how it was before, “Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, let us begin round three!” the man in a fancy suit spreads his arm wide.
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A few minutes earlier,
Eru came back inside the west wing specialized waiting room in shock. He couldn’t believe what he had seen earlier. It was still etched inside of his mind how dominating the flamboyant man was. A pack of C rank monsters along with what looked like a B to A rank monster cannot do anything to the man in a fancy suit. Buddy vibrated; it was concerned towards its master. “You’re worried about me, Buddy? Don’t be. That would be my motivation for becoming stronger”, Eru said, trying to soothe the black sword on his waist.
Eru walked towards the ben in the waiting room. He took off his shoes, sat on the bed before taking a lotus position. ‘I’ve got to get stronger, much stronger,’ Eru thought in his head as he began to meditate. Eru tried to increase his cultivation of aura. He began to refine his aura, making it purer by the minute. Eru’s aura began to thicken, even more, his small core becoming denser and denser by the minute. Time passed by, and without Eru knowing, a knock could be heard from behind the red double-door.
Eru opened his eyes; he walked slowly towards the double door, “Yes?” Eru asked. “Mr Eru, right? It’s your turn to fight”, The voice behind the red double door informed. “Okay, give me a second”, Eru replied while tightening his gloves and his boots. He checked everything that he could, nodding before opening the red double door. When Eru opened the double door, he saw the man in a fancy hat, the flamboyant man that decimated the pack of harpies without sweat, was now standing in front of him. The man in a fancy suit gave a warm smile towards Eru, “Follow me, please, Mr Eru”, he said. On the corridor, Eru kept glancing at the man in front of him. Sensing Eru’s gaze, the man in a fancy suit adjusted his hat, “No need to be nervous, Mr Eru. I’m just your humble, ordinary announcer”, he said as if he could read Eru’s mind.
“Oh, I’m sorry about that”, Eru apologized. The man in a fancy suit just smiled, “Oh, please don’t apologize. I’m merely stating a fact”, he said. “So, you’re the special invitee from the army?” the man in a fancy suit asked. Eru nodded in replied, “Hmm, the old man judgement usually was right”, the man in a fancy suit said as he observed Eru in more detail. “Old man?” Eru raised his eyebrow. “Yeah, old man Simba. We go way back”, the man in a fancy suit smiled in reminiscence. As they walked nearer the corridor’s end, the man in a fancy suit patted Eru’s back, “Good luck! Please came out when I called out your name”, he said before disappearing on the spot. Eru shook his head, “A man of mysteries, don’t you think so, Buddy?” Buddy replied by buzzing on Eru’s waist.
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“Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, let us begin round three!” the man in a fancy suit spreads his arm wide. “From the east corner, another tournament veteran. This time, our seasoned finalist from 2 years ago made a comeback after suffering a terrible injury”, the man in a fancy suit sad with melancholy. “But, now, she had recovered and came back stronger than ever. Please give your applause to the Cherry Blossom Swordmaiden, Lana Valentine”, the man in a fancy suit waved his left hand. Fireworks bloomed while the smoke turned pink.
When the smoke dissipated, a pink-haired woman was revealed. Like Kojiro Mushashi before, Lana Valentine also wears a white kimono alongside a dark blue hakama. But instead of wearing socks and straw sandals, Lana Valentine wore wooden sandals. Her ponytailed pink hair flutter in the air, and her expression and pose made her look heroic. Then, on the audience stand, a bunch of people from the crowd held up a long banner. ‘LANA VALENTINE FOR THE W’ it said on the banner. The same people also chanted a song for the pink-haired lady once she came out.
“We love you, Lana; we do. We love you, Lana; we do. We love you, Lana; we do. Oh, Lana, we love you”, they chanted loudly, bringing giggles from other people on the audience stand. The pink-haired lady down below at the arena facepalmed herself, “Those fools still exist”, she murmured. The man in a fancy suit laughed in the special platform, “What a warm welcome back chant for miss Lana Valentine. For those of you who don’t know, after suffering terrible injuries, miss Lana Valentine became an Adventurer and toured the world, increasing her strength”, the man in a fancy suit informed while tipping his top hat.
“And for our next contestant, is also an Adventurer. A prodigy among prodigies. A young man of seventeen years old but already an Aura Master. He’s still unknown for the moment, but he’s already contributed to solving some cases for the Adventurer’s guild. So, ladies and gentlemen amongst the audience, please give your applause to Eru “, the man in a fancy suit waved his right hand. The smoke dissipated, revealing the figure of a young man. The young man had raven-coloured hair and amber coloured eyes; he wore a dark blue jumper and dark brown pants to complete his outfit.
Eru walked towards the centre of the arena. He felt the atmosphere around the colosseum, “I’m kinda nervous right now”, he murmured. The black sword, Buddy, vibrated itself. “Thanks, Buddy. What am I going to do without you” Eru said with a smile. Eru handsome and youthful looks attracted a few ladies in the audience stand. Cheers and applause started coming in when Eru arrived in the centre of the colosseum’s arena. Eru stood opposite the pink-haired lady. ‘She’s strong’, Eru could feel it from her demeanour.
“Right, are the two fighters ready?” the man in a fancy suit yelled out. Both Eru and Lana Valentine nodded in reply. “Begin!” the man in a fancy suit swing his hand down. Eru and Lana Valentine both jumped backwards. Eru drew his sword from the scabbard, revealing the black sword majestic sight. Lana Valentine, too, drew her katana. The white katana she unsheathed had a red pearlescent on it, making the katana a spectacle to marvel at. The black sword, Buddy, in Eru’s hand trembled. “I know, Buddy. That sword had a lot of kill counts; it reeks of blood”, Eru said; his eyes warily observed the enemy in front of him.
Eru was right to be wary, as Lana Valentine expression and the feeling one got from her changed drastically from before. A baleful aura surrounded Lana Valentine, causing Eru to slightly flinched. The man in a fancy suit squinted his eyes, as he did not expect such baleful aura to come out from Lana Valentine. When he saw that Lana Valentine was about to rush at him, Eru lowered his body, assuming a defensive stance; Eru was getting ready for his opponent attack. What Eru was preparing for did come through; Lana Valentine approached Eru fast, her body was even lower than Eru, readying a vertical slash upward.
Eru took a step back before meeting Lana Valentine’s katana with his own black sword. When the two blades clashed, a spark of red and black filled the area around them as both of them got flung backwards at the same time. Eru did a flip, landing safely on his feet before he used his aura to enhance himself to charge back at Lana Valentine. Lana Valentine, too, managed to stabilize herself, but she saw a charging Eru heading straight at her when she did. Their blades met again, creating the same red and black spark between them as they both got flung away again.
“What do we have here, ladies and gentlemen. Neither fighter can’t hurt each other as whenever Eru’s black sword and Lana Valentine’s red katana met, they both repelled each other. How will each fighter deal with this situation, I wonder? Let us watch and see”, commented the man in a fancy suit. Both Eru and Lana Valentine grunted; they looked at their respective swords with a puzzled expression on their face. Buddy vibrated cluelessly, “What do you mean you had no idea? No matter, we’ll find out after beating her”, Eru said to Buddy, preparing himself for a fight.
However, what Lana Valentine did next was outside of Eru’s expectations. Lana Valentine dropped her stance; she gave Eru a deep look as her mouth slowly opened up, “Who are you? And why do you have that sword?”
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