This is surely turning into some crowd, isn't it? On my left side, you have Zin Vathek, Kilika Rouran, and Angelica Rogner. Three prominent figures in their own right. Then you got members of royalty, Princess Alfin and Princess Klaudia. After them are the two children of the Divine Blade himself, Estelle Bright and Joshua Bright. Then you got other interesting people like Emma and Scherazard. Aurelia joined in not too long ago. And now, you have Kevin and Ries from the Septian Church joining the VIP stands!
Sherryl was already well underway with her battle against Rixia. The moment Kevin and Ries arrived, we all saw Sherryl blast Rixia toward the other end of the Arena, causing the roaring crowd to cheer loudly. It didn't look like the victor had been decided quite yet. Rixia spat out a mouthful of blood, but managed to recover. I had a close look at Sherryl to see how she was faring, and I saw little bits of steam escape from her lips. It wasn't loud enough for the crowd to hear it. She really is like Luffy from One Piece, huh?
I think I know Sherryl's element now too. She resonates with the element Earth!
There was one thing to point out was that Combat Orbments were not allowed in this tournament. While the Bracer Guild and the Royal Army do have access to them, they're still heavily regulated as a result of the Hundred Days War. In due time, they will become more and more available. In the games, you could use your Combat Orbments to fight. Until then, I am not sure if they'll be allowed. We'll see.
Time started to flow before our eyes. Rixia tried to gain the upper hand in battle, using her mobility as her deciding factor. She jumped around the Arena from one end to another, delivering attack after attack with her chains and her sword. Sherryl, surprisingly, blocked each attempt, and kept her ground while pushing Rixia. While there is the saying "A powerful offense is a good defense", what happens if your defense prowess is through the roof? Reminds me of a certain anime in my past life where its main character invested all their points into defense, and easily blocked all challengers alike to come out on top. That is exactly what happened here.
Rixia couldn't penetrate Sherryl's defenses. Rixia's body wracked up damage, and became riddled with injuries. Standing her ground, Sherryl delivered one final blow onto Rixia's body, and blasted her away to the other side again. BANG!
"Ugh...", Rixia uttered, and spewed more blood out of her mouth. Her strength fleeted from her body, and felt her energy rapidly drain. Her vision turned blurry, and let out erratic breaths of hot air. She struggled to stand by keeping her sword lodged into the ground before her. Unfortunately for Rixia, that last moment caused her to become unconscious. Plop.
Rixia fell face first into the grass below her, and passed out. Sherryl let out some deep breaths, which included some more steam escaping from her lips. The steam ended, and she wiped the blood away with her hands. Straightening her belt, she poised for the crowd. They cheered, seeing the victor decided.
Sherryl had won!
Seeing the victor declared by the announcer, I took this moment to stand up from the crowd. I did not want Sherryl to see us by the time she leaves the Grand Arena with Zin. Zin saw me do this and asked a question.
"Are you sure you don't want to remain behind with us?", Zin asked, wanting to be sure.
"Nah. The time is not yet ready. Sherryl's training is not complete. Until then, we will not meet each other. I still stand on this decision.", I answered.
"Very well. You still are firm on your decision, so that is what we will respect. I take it you have other places to visit after, so this is where we will part ways. Perhaps we'll encounter each other again in the future. Please stay in touch with what you decide to do with those trials of yours.", Kilika said, and smiled.
"You got it.", I happily said.
"And dont'cha forget about us!", Kevin exclaimed. Right, he wanted to be involved in the Vermillion Trials too. He had a broken shield mechanic that you could block two attacks, so having a powerful support like that will be a welcome addition. Moreover, he's a Stigma user. "Ya'll can come to the nearby Church and we'll come a'runnin'!"
"You're just looking for another excuse to not do work again.", Ries retorted after Kevin said that.
"Haha. This won't happen for a while still. I'll definitely reach out to the Church when it's time.", I said while laughing.
"With that, you know how to reach out to me too, Naoto. I look forward to seeing you improve your skills. I haven't picked the site yet to have our duel. It'll be one for the ages and we need a crowd to act in kind.", Aurelia said and grinned at me.
"We'll see.", I said back at Aurelia. After saying that, Kloe looked at me.
"Either way, we still have places to visit now that the Junior Division matches are over now. We ought to excuse ourselves.", Kloe said to everyone.
"Uh-huh. Naoto here is showing me around Grancel City. I'm looking forward to where you bring us next!", Princess Alfin happily said.
"And I've been hired by Colonel Richard to escort you around, so where you go, I follow.", Scherazard said while looking at me before she shifted her eyes at Zin. "Speaking of which, can you pass that message along to Elnan at the Guild, Zin? It was sort of dropped on me. I'm sure he's received the paperwork by now."
"No kidding? The Colonel requested an escort?", Zin questioned, raising his eyes at Scherazard.
"Sure did. I could pass the role onto you, if you're interested.", Scherazard suggested.
"Nah. I'll go report it to Elnan. You continue escorting the prince around the capital.", Zin said, quick to shake his head the other way.
"Yay! So Schera will continue with us. We're exploring the city along with Naoto so where he goes, we go.", Estelle said.
"Pretty much what Estelle said. It was nice to see you again, Zin.", Joshua said with a nod of his head.
"Likewise. You kids have fun out there. Stay out of trouble you hear?", Zin said, smiling back at us.
"No promises.", I simply replied.
"I look forward to our next meeting, Naoto!", Angelica happily said to me.
"Likewise, Angie.", I answered.
"It's a darn shame ya'll are leavin' now, knowin' we just got here and all. But ya know how to reach out to us, like I said.", Kevin said, nodding his head. Hearing that, we nodded our heads at him. "Oh, right. I almost forgot. The mademoiselle asked me to pass this along to ya, Yer Highness.", Kevin continued, drawing my eyes back to him.
"Oh?", I asked, gaining interest. After asking that, I saw Kevin reach toward his neck, only to pull out a pocket watch-like device that had a violet plate over it. I saw the symbol of the white falcon crossing over a large Phoenix. A crest that I've learned to adopt as my own for being both part of House Phoenix and the Auslese Family.
"...That is!", I exclaimed, not expecting to see my Combat Orbment in a place like this. I left it to Elie as a promise that we would meet once again after she wraps her own business up. To think it would be with Kevin Graham of all people...
"Haha. Sure enough, ya spotted this immediately. Guess it belongs to Yer Highness after all. I'm just a mediary, passin' it back to its original owner. Along with a message from the mademoiselle. She's all settled in school now. She felt like it was time to return it to ya.", Kevin said, explaining the situation to me.
"I see. When you can, let her know that I said thank you.", I happily said, and accepted my Combat Orbment from Kevin.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has received Custom Generation III - Combat Orbment (9 slots) from Kevin. Gamer Naoto now has access to Arts again and Quartz again. Please adjust the Combat Orbment as desired.]
Hearing that single Gamer Notification, I smiled. I still haven't gone into depth of my Gamer System recently knowing how much time has passed and all, but once this little fun ends, I think I'll have enough time to do so. I think it's about time to deck out my Combat Orbment. I've already started to accumulate some custom Quartz not shown in the games, so I'll be very interested to see what they all can do. My Stats are already through the roof, so this will make my battles even more wild.
"Can do. Welp we did what we came here for Ries. Why don't we hit up a couple of shacks?", Kevin asked his partner. As if responding to him, we heard a faint growl of a stomach, causing Ries to blush.
"You just had to mention food again. But I do not mind.", Ries said, feeling embarrassed. Hearing that caused us to laugh.
"Then let us be off, everyone.", I said, causing all of us to nod our heads. We said our goodbyes, and began to disperse from the VIP stands. Yet, before we entered the building, I felt a gaze land on my body. It didn't feel hostile. More like, wanting to find out more about me. It was beginning to make my skin crawl. It felt weird.
I stopped in place, causing Emma to look at me.
"Naoto?", Emma uttered, seeing my eyes shift toward the left to the opposite stands. She traced my eyes, and saw a lone figure standing amongst a crowd of people that was beginning to leave, just like us. The moment our eyes locked with each other, their eyes curved upward into a crescent moon. Oh how I don't like that type of gaze. That's the gaze of a snake. I saw that it was a man who was wearing a blue-indigo suit. He had his hands calmly placed behind his back. I recognized the man immediately. I was initially surprised, but Rixia was here. And where Rixia goes, this man is sure to follow. I'm just not sure if they've established the proper connection by now.
"Cao Lee...", I uttered the name. Right as I uttered those words, I saw Cao Lee look directly at me, showing an interested look in his eyes. He saw my lips move. I wonder, did he know what I said just now?
"Is that someone you know, Naoto?", Emma asked, curious. Hearing that, I quickly shook my head.
"It's nothing. Let's go, Emma.", I said to her.
"Okay!", Emma responded. We soon joined up with the rest of our group, and entered the building while descending a flight of stairs. As for the other stands...
An eastern-style robed man approached the man who observed me from afar a moment ago.
"Is something the matter, Master Cao?", The man said, his tone polite. The first man seemed to be around nineteen or twenty years old. Still quite young, but he was from a prominent martial arts family who ruled Calvard's underground. Together with many other families. All in secrecy. He also wore some glasses. Pushing his frames upward a bit, he laughed.
"Haha, oh it's nothing. Just a couple of respectable individuals I seemed to have spotted over yonder. I did not think His Highness and Her Highness were amongst the crowd today. Then again, this celebration is of Her Majesty's, so it does make sense, in a way.", The man said, and smiled.
"Is that right? I didn't notice at all. To think Liberl's Crown Prince and the Princess would watch the battling here in the Grand Arena. It seems they left just now.", The man beside him said. As for the first man, his eyes landed upon Zin and Kilika, and laughed again.
"Hahaha, such an interesting crowd of people. His eyes then landed on the victor, who was still regaining her breath from the earlier battle. He saw Sherryl, currently kneeling on the grassy floor. She had a smile on her face, knowing that she had won.
Seeing the man silent, the second man called out to him.
"Master Cao?"
"It is quite unusual to have not one, two, nor three, but four Taito practitioners all gathered around like this today. It does make sense, seeing this tournament recruits such talent far and wide to display one's skills. Today's match additionally showed an abnormal amount of skill compared to previous ones I have witnessed. I do wonder, how would this winner fare against the techniques of the Lu Family?", The man asked with interest, only to push the frames of his glasses upward again.
"Just say the word Master Cao and we will send out a notice to the winner.", The second man said, and cupped his fists together. Hearing this, the first man laughed.
"Haha, now now. Let us not be too hasty. It is clear this individual is related to the Crown Prince. Her training is already well underway. But if we do happen to send out an invitation for her to join Heiyue, His Highness would owe us a favor...", The man said, and grinned.
"Doesn't this girl already have a teacher?", The second man asked, confused.
"That is very true. It is not unheard of for a disciple to have several teachers at once. Many people like to cross-reference different forms of martial arts to develop their own. Alas, now is not the time to consider this. We have our own mess to deal with.", The first man said, and sighed. He then looked at the second man. "It is about time we shift our attention to Crossbell State and find our prospects there."
"So it's time. Those mafia bastards won't know what will hit them. Just say the word, and I will mobilize Heiyue, Master Cao.", The second man said, and cupped his fists again.
"Excellent.", The man said. He then had one last look at Sherryl. He then landed his eyes on the fainted indigo-haired girl, who was currently receiving treatment by the assisting staff. "That style...could it be?"
Sadly, the man quickly shook that thought aside, and slowly wandered into the building, and departed. Eventually, this man will make a name for himself inside Crossbell City. He belongs to a crime syndicate who is quite renowned in Calvard. He is Cao Lee of Heiyue!