“Do you have any plan to face Saule?” Brendu, lying on a sofa reading some kind of news on her tablet, asks me.
“No.” My answer is honest. “I haven’t thought of any kind of strategy, I’ll just go and win.” I don’t stop moving my body while answering, I’m doing a small fencing warm-up exercise.
I’m usually resting during the recovery days between matches, I don’t want to overload my body or anything like that. I’m also happy to have a few days to relax, I’ve been training almost every day this entire year.
There are only certain exercises I do no matter what day it is, it’s part of my routine. Some of them include fencing, flexibility, mana and Imra control.
“Do you want to sneak off to the fair again? I don’t understand why you like going so much.” Brendu looks at me with some curiosity. She’s right, in my free time I’ve mostly gone to the fair, very few times I’ve changed activities.
“It’s always fun, every day there’s something new to discover and new food to try, and I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to attend such a massive fair.” I like discovering new food or trying something different, although my main reason is actually the second one.
When all my friends graduate, I’ll most likely stop attending school, I don’t have many reasons to keep coming. Returning to my family’s territory will load me with responsibilities for a while, and sooner or later I’ll probably start living with the girls.
My time will gradually decrease for this kind of activity, it will be completely drained between becoming stronger, helping my family, and maintaining a healthy relationship. This is the best moment to enjoy something like this.
She lets out a sigh, she understands my point of view, but she doesn’t share my excitement about going to these events every day. I’m not really a fan either, honestly I like staying at home quietly, I only do it because my instinct tells me it’s right.
“Today I’ll pass, there’s a lot of new and interesting news. I’m sure I’ll receive a call from my father soon, he always contacts me when the world is restless.” Brendu is taking several notes while reading each article, she must stay updated on all kinds of topics. I’m grateful I don’t have those kinds of duties.
“I’ll bring you some dessert when I come back.” I give her a kiss before leaving.
“I hope that’s the only thing you bring, you’re forbidden from bringing another girl.” She pinches my arm before letting me go. I can only roll my eyes before turning around and leaving, I don’t plan on looking for another woman, I already have enough problems and I’m not adding another one to the list.
“There’s even more people today…” I murmur in awe as I look at all the people walking around.
The number of people hasn’t stopped increasing these days, it’s as if the incident from a few weeks ago never happened. I imagine people didn’t feel the impact directly since no civilians were involved, another reason must be the news about increased security, the empire and everyone involved worked hard to spread information about the reinforcement of the tournament’s security.
In the middle of the crowd I can perceive that people are following a pattern, most of them are heading toward where the shows are. I can hear people talking about the great performances being presented.
I get quite curious and follow the crowd around me, if it’s a good show it will be worth watching. The only downside of so many people around me is not being able to use my Personal World at full power, if I try my brain will explode, the amount of information would give me a massive headache.
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“How embarrassing…” My voice is just a small murmur among all the excited people around me.
The show is about the quarterfinal battles, they’re focusing especially on three of them, and I appear in one. I can see an actor dressed to resemble me as much as possible, imitating my movements.
“That actor is very handsome, the show’s owners are being very generous by putting someone like him to play Maki.” I turn to see who said that. A brown-haired guy is the one speaking, he’s surrounded by three girls and two guys, they all look like they come from wealthy families.
He’s wearing very expensive clothes and has a very arrogant face. I’m in a paid area, everyone here has money.
“What are you saying? Maki is even more handsome, that actor doesn’t do justice to his beauty.” A blonde girl beside him replies.
“Yes, we went to his last fight, he’s much more handsome.” Her brown-haired friend also jumps in to defend me.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” The first guy responds unwillingly, just waving his hand as if he doesn’t want to continue the conversation. They seem happy to have won the argument just with words. The rest of the group is just laughing.
“You’re very popular. How does it feel that everyone talks about you?” I turn quickly when the person finishes speaking.
I turn to see a young man, not older than thirty. Slightly long white hair, hazel eyes, and a very handsome face, his body looks to be in perfect condition. When I look at him I don’t feel anything, only a strange depth, I don’t feel any pressure at all.
This has only happened a few times before, this kind of feeling has occurred very rarely. This person is at obsidian rank, I have no way to prove it, but I have no doubts either.
“It’s a nuisance, sometimes I’ve even thought about quitting the tournament just to stop adding fuel to the fire.” I answer honestly, fame can be a real pain.
“I understand… going out with some object to hide your appearance isn’t comfortable.” He replies with a smile.
I look at him carefully, his facial features remind me of someone, I’m just not sure who. I’m certain I’ve heard of or met someone with similar traits somewhere.
“Do you think you have a chance to win the tournament?” I don’t feel any discomfort from his questions, my instincts aren’t warning me of anything.
“Yes, more than any other participant.” I answer honestly, I don’t want to cause any trouble in a place like this, there are many eyes around us.
I hadn’t noticed before, but around us there is a thin layer of mana coming from the white-haired man in front of me. I wouldn’t have been able to feel it if he hadn’t allowed me, it’s a perfect use of mana, it feels like part of the natural mana around us, I don’t feel any difference.
“I’ll bet on you in your next match, make me earn some money.” He starts laughing and gives me a mischievous look, as if he had just found a stack of bills on the ground.
“I’ll do my best.” I raise a thumb to make my intentions clear. “By the way, can I know your name?” I try not to show any emotion in my voice, just simple curiosity. He already knows who I am, there’s no point introducing myself.
“I’m nobody important, just a simple person looking to make some easy money, I also like meeting promising people.” He replies without looking at me, his gaze returns to the show in front of us, he seems to be genuinely enjoying it.
I avoid rolling my eyes in front of him, obviously he’s someone very strong and high rank, there’s nothing simple about him. I keep talking because he hasn’t removed the mana curtain, he doesn’t want our conversation to leak.
“A simple person? If you’re simple, I don’t want to imagine what I am.” I stop looking at him for a moment and focus on the food in my hands, my burger is getting cold.
I hear a muffled chuckle. “I try to be a simple person at the moment, I want to get away from the hectic life, I just want a short period of relaxation. It’s a shame I can’t do it for long, my older sister would beat me up.” He looks at his watch and for a moment I see fear in his eyes.
“I have to go, make me earn some money. Good luck in your next fight, we’ll see each other soon.” He pats my back, winks, and disappears from my sight as quickly as he appeared.
Will we meet again soon? Those words echo in my head. Why do I only attract weird people? This guy seems like a gambler, a very strong one capable of killing anyone here with just a slight movement of his finger.
An older sister capable of beating him? The fear in his eyes wasn’t fake, he truly fears her to some extent. At the very least she must be the same rank to dominate him like that.
White hair, hazel eyes, possibly diamond rank, and he has an older sister of the same rank. For a second I think he might be using some device to change his appearance, but I discard it, he didn’t seem to be wearing anything like that.
My mind wandered for several minutes, I couldn’t focus on the fair anymore. On my way back to the apartment to ask Brendu, a person came to mind, maybe his sister has the same facial features. I stop at the door. “Damn it, why do I only attract problematic people?”