Morning finally struck, the rays of sunlight were the only thing in their room making a conscious effort to wake them from their sleep. Yet, with a rude awakening to his day, Lass was quick to take a quick peek at Ikarisa's entire body overtaking his spot, her clumsy self combined with his fatigue that made him sleep heavily had knocked him half--out of the bed.
"Hmph?! What the-" he said in a surprised voice, as he fully dropped out of bed.
"Hnn-", Ikarisa stretched as she pushed him off, rubbing her eyes and waking up slowly, "What happened?"
"God damn airhead..." he whispered, "Nothing. I just fell accidentally.", he got up slowly, speaking in an irritated tone, "Sorry for the harsh wake-up.”, he grunted.
"Are you alright?" she said as she finished waking up, realizing what had happened.
"I'm good.", he then started thinking, "Just got bulldozed while asleep."
"Huh? How?"
"Yeah, I wonder how. Whatever, I can't properly start the day without breakfast anyway.
"Hnn...ah! Well then, what time is it anyway?" she said as she stretched some more.
A simple glance was all that it took for Lass to completely disregard his routine of breakfast to kickstart his day.
"Tourney at 10:45 and it's 10:05. Great, we're late.", he said in a somewhat surprising, calm manner as he jumped back up.
"Wha-" she tried to get her act together.
Before Ikarisa could bother getting worried, Lass had already put on all of his armor and gear provided by Anya, giving her the room to change into her clothes.
"Forget it, I'm ready. Get yourself ready as well to start the day, whenever you wish."
"Oh, wow...you're fast! But wait, what about me healing you after the match?"
"If I make it back alive, you can do that here, not at the arena's locker rooms. We don't need to have a lot of back and forth around the city."
"But you already got up and at it so fast, it's not fair for you to be the only one pumped and excited!"
"I prefer 'efficient', and it's not my first time waking up late or working on a tight schedule. Nor is it my first time handling something so stupid...anyway, stay here and watch TV, ok? Do not get out there by yourself. One face recognizing you that shouldn't yet, until we figure this out, and it's going to get way more complicated than what it already is. Time has me worried enough as it is, I can't have you on top of it.”
Not allowing her to speak another word before closing the door behind him and hastily making his way out of the building and toward the arena. All that with a heavy heart, knowing full well of the dangers ahead and haphazardly trying to piece together a plan to face them, in what little time he had to work with.
"Lass does look kinda cute when he's worried like that!", she said to herself, chuckling. "Won't you agree Lilith?" she said as she let out a long sigh, “Oh...right. Just an...image of the real thing.” she paused in her own words, almost as if being yelled at to quit her dreams and excitement.
A moment of silence covered the room as the goddess vaguely realized that the one she was calling out to was nowhere to be found. Yet, despite the lack of a physical presence, a faint voice in her head caused her to answer its every call with a bone-breaking melancholy washing over her as she did, trying to find comfort in it. And then, as she got up, a small gaze along the living room table caused her to drop her thoughts and turn them into worry.
"Lass's armor? Wait a part of it, the gauntlets?! He must have forgotten it!", she was quick to panic, "Ah, what to do what to do. No this isn't the time to stutter! I've got to get the armor to him before he gets injured!", she said as she patted herself on the cheeks, "Right! Rules are meant to be broken for a good cause anyway!"
Dressing with what was right in front of her, managing to hang on despite her self-sprung stress, the goddess was quick to follow right behind Lass.
However, on one of the busiest days of the week, between an event as luxurious as the one she was heading at, the sea of people she soon found herself afloat in was just as quick to remind her that this world could drown her amidst the bubbles of every face's breath. That said, her self-control and management of her public-feared panic gradually faded with every step, before rolling downhill the closer she got to the arena.
"I-I...I don't know the city. I'm lost!", she screamed to herself amidst a panic attack, as she desperately tried looking for a phone to look up the local maps.
Her voice was quick to draw attention from bystanders, all of them almost simultaneously turning around to face her, making the situation marginally worse.
"Ehe-he, It's nothing! I am perfectly fine, sorry!", she said as she blushed and dashed off, "Great, I don't know where I am. No...what if I never find my way there and he gets hurt because of me or he gets injured so much that I can't heal him or even dies-" she kept mumbling to herself.
Just then, emerging from the previous crowd of onlookers behind her, a tall, shadowy figure approached her from behind, eventually reaching up to her and covering her all up. Freezing and not saying a word, anxiously waiting for the shadow to speak first, Ikarisa's face turned to that of pure horror, clenching her fists. Her anxiety and stress peaking to the point where her fear completely disappeared, she grit her teeth as she prepared for an all-out assault.
She still trembled as images flashed by her head, "You w-won't take me.", she silently said.
The shadow finally spoke, "Hey, I heard your voice back there and got worried. Something wrong? Lost, perhaps?"
"Yes.", she replied firmly, in an attempt to show courage.
"Well then, in that case-" the figure closed in, getting all the way up to Ikarisa.
"What else do you want from me?!" she yelled as she turned around to attack, her face changing to that of a scared child.
"Why, to help ya of course!" Anya appeared.
"Huh?! Ana? I-I mean, Anya?! The girl we saved...haah.", she relaxed her body and mind, "Goodness...you scared me so much."
"Hmm? Scared how? I know I'm a bit taller than average but...ah, anyway! Yeah, I heard you screaming on my way to the arena and I came to help. I mean, who wouldn't with the way you started screaming? Plus, morning drinking with my buddy is over so I've got plenty of time if you need a tour or something.", she noticed the gauntlets in her hands, "Say, what's that you're holding?"
"It's Lass's armour!", she got back into the hang of things.
"Hmm...did the suit of armour I got him not fit, or was it not his style?"
"Well, actually he woke up late with me. So he kinda forgot about it. He told me to sit in the hotel room and watch him on TV if I wanted but...I can't watch him take a beating without this! He can suffer serious injuries!”
"Ah, I see. Well, in that case, let's rush! I've got a good friend of mine from the Reingard royal ranks standing by the back door of the arena, and I’m sure that she will vow for me so we can go to the participant's locker room and deliver it directly. But with how everything is set up, we must hurry up!" Anya said as she finished the drink she had in her hands.
"Did something else happen?!" Ikarisa curiously asked.
"Well I was a bit late too, so I watched the beginning parts of the tournament from my phone ‘till I got to the stadium. Nothing announced yet, except the poll of the competitors and the randomized round selection for the first few rounds. And according to the drafts done Lass is in Phase 1, Round 1!"
"Alright!" she said as she gasped and started to run alongside Anya.
"Helping god on her way to find her friend who entered a tourney like this. Haha! She won't believe me for sure after we blackout at the bar later. But yeah, no worries Ikarisa, follow me!"
Running at top speed and using Anya's expert finesse to wiggle through the crowd, they covered a lot of ground quickly compared to Ikarisa's pacing while alone. Excited fans, investors cutting the line, and every bit of camera trying to get into the arena, their job did indeed become increasingly difficult the closer they got. However, upon reaching a certain point where the entrance was barred as it headed to the locker rooms, they were able to go faster again as the crowd thinned, with the guard personnel seemingly ignoring both of them as they saw them just run in.
And as they desperately looked around in the locker rooms, calling out Lass's name, they failed to find him, quickly walking up to the entrance of the place that led into the arena in a final fit of desperation to find him. All the way down, on the dirt floor where the metal stairs ended and at the center of the arena, Lass was standing tall before his opponent and between them on a floating platform, the announcer excitedly waved at the roaring crowds.
Despite their best efforts...they were both late. And now, amidst the cries of everyone around them, sitting at the benches and seats directly above, all they could do was watch from one of the best front-row seats in the arena. Lowering down from his moving platform, the announcer had placed himself between Lass and his opponent, getting ready to set the tournament off.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome, all to the Knight Of Knights tournament! The excitement! The plays! Everything is going on down right here, in this very arena! And to skip the rambling and get down to business, here comes the first of our competitors! From the lush rural areas of Terra, weighing above 300 kilos combined with his heavy armor, at 2.65 meters tall, and with strength said to bend mountains we have the towering challenger, the Giant Troll, Rafgo!"
Having the arena filled with everything from humans to in-between Obsulyte users from all across the continent, the crowd was quick to jump off their seats and cheer for the presented challenger.
"Great just what I needed, another brute. As if my recent mental trauma and possible psychotic episode triggered by one wasn't enough.", he sighed as he looked at the crowd.
He took a deep breath as he tried to better assess the situation. He could not get away, never mind walking off the stage, before what little sense of pride and shame he had left rounded back to kill him afterward. It was now or never.
"Everyone was quick to cheer, this guy must be both a regular and strong. Yet why am I feeling that besides his strength I'm forgetting something…", Lass said as he nibbled on his hastily made sandwich.
"And on this side, standing at just 1.81 meters tall, and weighing at only 81 kilograms without his armor, the one who will make your last sight be your lifeless body, a casket of your extinguished soul, the small town rising star, Lass Leviere, The Decapitator!"
Taken away by the frankly ludicrous introduction, a more barbaric than excited roar echoed from the crowd, as Lass's introduction caused the blood of everyone to reach its boiling point, with him instead being dumbfounded by what he heard.
"That son of a bitch did not just mesh both me and Risa's words into the introduction...naah, no- come on. Oh my god...for real?", he died inside as he began stressfully gulping down his sandwich.
The announcer approached Lass amidst his stress.
"For being a new guy, I take it you browsed a lot of art forums or listened to way too much metal, right kid?", he chuckled.
"So this entire tournament is indeed a shitshow with no quality control. Figures for letting that slide through.", Lass answered back boldly.
The announcer got irritated, "Bet. This is my city, kid.", he turned to the crowd as he smiled evilly, "Well, then it's time for the battle to- hold up a second! Village boy! You can't be eating in the arena!"
"So you're telling me that I can be wielding all sorts of lethal weapons in what's made to be a public space, but the egg sandwich I bought off of the arena's kiosk is out of the question?"
"Exactly! However, I will forgive you because this is your first time here, and I suppose your first time in the big city! But the sandwich will be confiscated!", the announcer said as he grabbed Lass's sandwich.
"Hey, what the hell?! That's the last of my pocket change you bastard!"
"Too late! Fight!", he said as he gulped down Lass's sandwich whole.
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"Do people here not respect a man's morning routine?! What the fu-gyah!", he tried to speak with utmost anger, before getting smacked by his giant enemy, futilely trying to raise both his hands to block what little he could.
"Little boy. I will crush!"
"D-Damn...that speed. Dammit! My gauntlets! That's what's missing...but this pain. I thought I'd be rolling on the ground by now. My Obsulyte…", he thought, surprised as he hurried to get up.
"Wow, what a hit! Can this be the end in an instant?!", the announcer spoke in anticipation.
"Crush!"
As Rafgo was smacking the ground trying to pulverize Lass, the crowd cheered him on and on.
"This idiotic brute's strength makes up for his nonexistent brain. Come on, evade this before sustaining more damage damn you!", he scolded himself, barely evading the onslaught of attacks.
"Pure human weak! Crush, crush, crush!", he screamed as he ripped entire parts of the arena ground, lodging them at Lass.
"Shit-gyah!", he let out a growl as he failed to evade, getting hit by a massive rock.
"Woah, a direct hit! What a show! Will the village boy even be able to get up?! Is this over already?!"
"Damn...this-", he started to get back up, being in awe of himself, "What? It...didn't hurt as bad? Hehe...", a faint spark of confidence lit up inside him, "Ok, never thought this was possible for me to sustain at all. Is Obsulyte really that amazing? Never using this before was...no, head in the game. I took hits for free, but delivering any form of damage back with how he's geared, combined with his muscles obviously hinting towards being an Obsulyte-user himself...", he quickly analyzed as he got back up.
Just when he thought he was out of leads to solve the puzzle, something echoed in his head. A voice, unknown yet familiar at the same time, started to speak. Not the one he was used to. Not "him", back to torment his soul again. But someone entirely new. A part of him that bridged almost instantly to his mind after he started coming to the realization of his Obsulyte's true strength.
"Draw the sword-", he could make the words despite the faintness of the voice, "-it's the only way."
"My head...what? More voices? Different ones...", he grabbed his head amidst his confusion.
"Don't dwell on that. Draw the sword.", the words became louder.
"Ow, what the-", he said as he got electrocuted by grabbing his sword, his nose starting to bleed as he could feel his blood pressure rising all in his head, "Dammit my head...damn, this feels awful!"
"Relax, loosen your muscles, and breathe. Don't tense up before pulling the blade."
"Thanks for telling me to relax with this thing standing in front of me- hmp!", he briefly came back to his senses as he answered back, rolling beside an incoming boulder.
"Oh for the love of- part of you or not, you ruined the moment.", the voice got fed up, "Just listen to the voice in your head and draw the damn sword the way I told you already!"
A conversation done in an instant was all it took for Lass to get back on his feet, getting agitated himself as he got smacked around like a toy up until that point, now facing his enemy with nothing less than pure killing intent.
"Wow! He is already back on his feet! The newbie seems to be determined to win!", the announcer excitedly yelled.
"Crush!", Rafgo screamed as he ran at Lass.
Patting the blade and refusing to draw it Lass had taken a newly crafted stance waiting to counter the upcoming attack. However, this time he heard a voice again. Not the one he didn't know about. But "his" voice.
"I've had just about enough. This pathetic being ends here."
"You again...no. I'll do this on my own. My demon won't take charge of this. That's final."
"Seriously? Fine. Suit yourself."
"And here it comes! The fatal blow-eh?!", the announcer stopped his sentence in surprise.
To the crowd's surprise, Rafgo’s ground-shuttering fist was stopped in an instant. Having smacked his relatively small-sized fist against Rafgo's considerably larger hammer of both hands united, he firmly held his stance as his uppercut motion came to an end.
"Hmm. Now is my turn.", Lass said as he grabbed and threw Rafgo above his head.
"What?!", Rafgo yelled in surprise.
"Three moves is all it takes.", he said as he punched Rafgo upwards, jumping and chasing after him. "Checkmate!", he screamed as he finished him off with a powerful punch, directly in the middle of Rafgos face.
Lass's punch was enough to not only knock out and send the large-sized man flying but to create a powerful gust of wind going its way. The ground forced all his momentum to come to an immediate stop, Rafgo lay unconscious in the middle of a small crater, with Lass landing right beside him. He knew very well of this feeling he had resurfaced today, and he, although mixed in his emotions about the situation, also knew it had to be done. However, he could not help but feel happy that despite whatever the voices told him to do, his mercy not to aim for certain death prevailed, adding to the surprise of it all. And he, much like the crowd, was stunned at the results.
"Oh-ho, can't wait for her to hear about this one. Man, this season will be hella exciting!", the announcer cleared his throat, "Ladies and gents, a star fell upon us to quickly rise back to the top! We have a winner!
Breaking the silence and announcing the victor the announcer was quick to make the entire stadium roar in the cries of glory.
"Man, what a start to it all! The threat of an instant K.O. from both sides, the underdog versus the pro, the midget against the giant! What a match! Go ahead and relax village boy, for there are many more exciting matches to be had, especially in this bracket!"
Despite how quickly the match ended, Lass found himself exhausted from having to manage both himself in battle, as well as those voices that interrupted him in between, being mentally overworked from finding himself between constant, important choices. Heading back to the locker rooms, he felt his way around his forearms, hurting from him overusing them to block incoming hits, grunting briefly before turning around to see a couple of familiar faces.
All of their anxiety fading away from knowing that they were all alright and alive, Ikarisa was quick to use just a fraction of her powers to help him back to full health even quicker, taking a deep breath of relief as she finally came to realize that despite it all, everything would be ok.
"Told ya! After a bit of morning drinking my friend is quick on favors!", Anya said as she smiled.
"Whew...you're fine. I genuinely thought the worst. Sorry for not being quick enough to reach you in time before the match.", Ikarisa said, rushing to hug Lass.
"What's on your end that you need to apologize for? It was my mistake to leave in a hurry and forget the armor in the first place. That said, why are you here?! Didn't I tell you-", Lass's words were cut short by one swift look at the frightened face of the Ikarisa.
"Urgh...no, I'm not hurting anymore. I'm fine.", he said as he took a deep breath.
"Daw, so cute!", Anya said with a smirk on her face.
"How about you shut it? I'm trying to give her the memo, and you're not helping. Don't get any ideas yourself either, because it sure isn't that kind of relationship.", Lass said angrily at Anya.
"Hey I'm not the one worrying about your health, am I? Though if I were in your position, I'd also happily accept a cute-lookin' shorty like that running around me in circles!”
"I-I just...admire him.", Ikarisa said silently, “This presence…he’s also here. I’m so happy!”, she whispered.
"Sure you do, I admire him as well now! That was a really exciting battle! Much like when you saved me and my sister!", Anya gave Lass a thumbs up.
"Oh right, Lass, what was that?", Ikarisa asked.
"Wish I had an answer myself. I simply touched the sword Anya gave me, and then some psychosis took over me. I felt a small bolt of electricity coming from it and it zapped me. Then all the rest happened."
"Perhaps it was an overflow? Where I come from Wolven people do tend to exhort massive amounts of Obsulyte with basically every move. Hell, you could have a wolf's tail and ears like me but haven't shown it yet!"
"You should be the one answering the questions rather than adding to the pile...you were the one who gave the sword to me." Lass said.
”Wait…she's a what? Ikarisa asked.
”Anyhow, welcome to Riza. Some genetic mutations occurred, blah blah, now we have Canis, Calis, and all that.”
”Hey, it’s how we go by!”, Anya folded her arms.
”My ass. Those are just the generalizations, Wolven also contains numerous other ‘species’ and it’s the same with everything else. I swear to god, everyone is identified with a new species every day nowadays. You want to feel special on account of not indeed being special, huh?”
”Look…to be fair, you have a point. Can’t even publish an ID nowadays without someone getting a ticket off at the species section…”, Anya sighed.
” Never mind that. We have way larger issues than this, and you’re adding more questions to the pile than we're answering.”
"Well then, let's get some questions out of the way like I said we would! Ehm. I'm Ana Golver! Greatest first-hand material provider in all of Riza! My favorite pastime to help out with the business is exploring dark, monster-filled ruins...the relics inside might just strike the jackpot! So uh...I don't really...know much about that sword.", she got anxious, "I don't really know much of anything that goes down there, despite my research that is. And to be honest, it is a marvel how all this history is just lying there in times when flying metal ships are up there. All undocumented too, but that's not a surprise considering just how many resources are pumped into national defense or wars over anything else after all these years"
"Golver? Ana Golver? As in the daughter of Gado Golver, the head of the World Economy Administration and the Trading Union? CEO of Golver Industries?", Lass got surprised.
"Yep, that's me! Everyone's a favorite wolfy merchant with prices of a steal for both seller and buyer!", Anya said with a business smile across her face. "Though, I'd rather not bring my father into this. Or anything else for that matter...", Anya said silently.
"This is certainly interesting. I was supplied with all sorts of minerals by your father from your company. In-depth knowledge of almost anything we purchased."
"Art of the trade. The more you're trying to sell something, the more you end up researching on it to promote it properly."
"That being said, you really don’t know anything about this sword? Like at all?"
"All I know is that I got my ass kicked trying to rip it off Kaci on one of my regular loot runs. That and the fact that it's emitting substantially high amounts of Obsulyte? Or some sort of demon aura? The novelty still very much stands, but I haven't figured that out completely. Hell, I was supposed to visit the ruins of where the Beacon Tower once was, and despite my best research on the thing, I think there is a surrounding area with other ruins or something because I got so sidetracked. I actually think I didn't even go to the actual tower in the first place. So weird...", Anya tried her best to think back.
"What?!", Lass and Ikarisa both yelled in surprise.
"You mean to tell me that you gave me a sword with one of the most dangerous substances in the goddamn world on purpose?! Are you trying to kill me?! Who knows what the hell this thing has been through or who it was wielded by...", Lass said in remorse.
"Hey, chill! As I said I didn't have time to research it properly. The reason I said that is because my favorite pastime after the ruin exploration revolved around testing and researching, so it did feel somewhat familiar to my specimens. That being said I did give it to you because for one, even with the naked eye this thing seemed extremely valuable besides the rust it gathered which was a fitting reward for rescuing me and my lil' sister!"
"And two?", Lass folded his arms.
"I may or may not have been threatened by a telepathic voice to give you the sword else shit was going to go south. And I was morbidly curious about how things would play out if I gave that thing to you after your display when killing the Enmity.", Anya said silently, hoping Lass would gloss over her words. "But hey all's well that ends well right?"
"Oh, ok. So that's also the voice I heard. Cool. I hate you.", said Lass.
A small pause and awkward silence came, as Lass had stopped for just a moment just gazing at the sheathed blade...something inside of him spoke of familiarity overwhelmed by a sense of regret and fear.
"Well anyway. You did use the powers of it and you managed to come out unscathed so...does that mean you are compatible with whatever powers it's got?!", Ikarisa excitedly said.
"Hmm about that. I love exploring the part of the archives that are hidden away from the public, and from what little I scrambled together on it upon my return, there isn't any way someone could obtain such powers in such a manner. In other words, the sword cannot give powers but it can help manipulate already existing ones, precisely as an industrial Obsulyte conductive weapon does today. The specifics of its functionality are unknown though, but this shows a few things about the scale of the technology worked back then."
"So you mean to tell me...I could use these powers all along, but lacked a proper conductor for it? Then what use are they without a tool..."
"Lass? Is everything ok?", Ikarisa wondered, her eyes glued to the blade.
"Like I said when I first stepped in here, I'm fine.", Lass said as he tried to avoid showing his worries. "That old bastard...his death's on me isn't it?", he silently whispered, quickly snapping back into the conversation, "Anyway. What are you doing now?", he said looking at Anya.
"Ok, so. The power signatures from this sword were entirely different from all my other demon and corrosion-filled items in stock! Still connected in some way tho. So I thought of experimenting a bit!", said Anya as she scanned the sword.
"Experiment how?"
"You'll draw the blade on the next match, obliterate anyone you're up against, and help me gather combat data on it!"
"So in common folk language, 'you'll be my lab rat'?"
"More or less, yeah you got the point.", she nagged him.
The last words coming out of Anya's mouth were enough to set Lass into a fit of rage.
"Uh oh...Lass wait!”, Ikarisa tried to calm him down.
"So you mean to tell me: you picked a random stranger, at a random time and gave him an extremely dangerous weapon just like that. And now you want them to risk their lives for some of your hastily planned, bullshit experiments?!", Lass screamed at Anya.
"Sounds about right so far.", Anya made it dead obvious she was trying to get on his last nerves, him falling for it entirely.
"You reckless moron! What do you mean 'sounds about right'?!What if that someone wasn't me? A serial killer?! Some weak bastard not able to survive the power surge?!"
"I mean...true. Wow...uh. That's actually such a big misstep, oh my god.", Anya said with a worried face.
"Yeah, screw me for spouting logic, right? Yeah, I'll be your lab rat, mutt. At this point, I have to, just to make sure you won't screw anything else up!", said Lass as he facepalmed and collected himself, "Nobody got hurt, so at least we don't have to look back on the catastrophes this could have caused."
"Nobody hurt except the giant Enmity you pummeled to near death!", said Anya with excitement.
"Hey, I'm not the one handing dangerous weapons to everyone! I could have even not known how to control it! And since you like researching all this crap, consider this too then, smartass: in an alternate universe, the person facing me died and we all ended up behind bars.", said Lass trying to defend himself.
"Yeah, pull as many Scrodingers as you want on me, buddy. My tail is that of a proud wolf's, not a cat's. And for the record, despite the lack of control like you said, you did anyway.", she said with a smug.
"Why you annoying-", Lass tried to smack Anya over the head.
"A new challenger!", Anya giggled as she easily evaded him and grabbed his hand.
"What?", Lass got confused, as he instinctively gripped her back.
"Bring it! Got some combat experience on my own, thanks to dungeons and ruins!", she cockily said as she released herself from Lass's grip and took a fighting stance.
To both of their surprise before the fight could even break out the most unusual person stepped in to end it.
"Enough! Lass! Anya! Both of you stop this nonsense at once!", Ikarisa got fed up with both their childish behavior.
"Huh?", Lass was surprised.
"Don't give me that "Risa" now, Lass! Listen, I know Anya's plan is beyond risky but we have the means to back it up and it's our only bet on finding out about what powers you have and what the sword's backstory is! You will go ahead and do the testing just as planned and should anything happen I'll step in and heal any injuries you get! So please, both of you quit acting like children, and let's move forward that way. Lass, you yourself said you were looking for answers, right? Anya is currently the best option you have for getting any of said answers!"
"Fine. We will do it your way.", Lass calmed himself down, surprised by Ikarisa’s actions.
"I'll let you know all the details after the match.", Anya took out her tablet.
"You better...and don't think this is over!", he angrily said.
"Was hoping myself it'd drag on.", said Anya chuckling, still nagging him.
"Unbelievable...", Ikarisa said as he facepalmed.
Before another word could be said and another fight could break out they were all stopped yet again by the loud calls of the announcer.
"Next match will be the small-town boy, Lass, versus Victoria’s own lance master and army officer, Kalimo!", yelled the announcer.
"I'm off then.", said Lass as he turned around and walked towards the arena.
"We'll be cheering you on, big guy!", Anya cheered.
"Do your best!", Ikarisa cheered him on, "And stay safe!"
And so, despite the circumstances, the games continued as the crowd got more and more excited over what the results of the upcoming match would be. Be it the underdog story or the rising talent, everyone wanted a piece…
"I'd wish that for his opponent, shorty. With powers that differ from what his signature is giving...this might as well be cheating.", Anya said in a silent, serious tone as she looked at the results of her tablet.
