1373 The Innocent Misunderstanding
The day of competition arrived.
The venue was, unsurprisingly, a huge mini-world which had forests, lakes, mountains and of course, deserts, hot and cold.
[It's not a new thing that happens only once in a millenia.]
The cheerful voice of the host rang in the air, spreading across the audience seated around in a huge stadium.
There were multiple giant screens floating around in the air, showing them what's happening in the mini-world.
There were a total of 120 contestants appearing for the competition, most of them from third grade.
The crowd favorite was Prince Robert, younger brother of Rudolph and practically the strongest student despite being only a first-grader.
But there was a dark horse. One that people were talking about more and more as time passed.
Telor Xon Navak.
It wouldn't be a big thing if a third grade genius won against a first grade genius. But this guy, the one who stayed in the academy for longer than even some faculty members, he's different.
"Telor! Telor! Telor!"
As Varian stepped into the center of the stadium and walked to the glowing silver-red gate, the crowd erupted into cheers.
Even though he recieved so much support, Varian's expression was dark.
"Can you maintain some distance?" He groaned under his breath.
"Do you hate me that much?" Miss Calamity once again put on a pitiful expression and almost started crying.
The cameraman, a nasty bastard, took full advantage and recorded this. The crowd quickly came up with their own theories and started booing.
Varian sighed and jumped into the gate. Covering her mouth to hide her smile, Miss Calamity followed.
Since they entered almost at the same time, they appeared near each other, on a huge plain with purple and green grass.
[The rules of the competition are simple. The 120 of you will be reduced to 50. Then, we'll match you against someone, pulling the number to 25, then to 13, 7 and so on. The match ups will continue until the final winner is decided.]
"Now you must be thinking, how do I become the lucky guy who gets a free pass from 25. It's simple, you have to knock down the greatest number of players in the first phase.]
Varian's figure already blurred by the time the host's words were finished.
The mini-world, despite being called mini had a surface area a thousand times larger than earth's.
Moreover, their powers were all equally suppressed in this place through some special means.
As a result, even if they used their powers without holding back, they would only be able to break a mountain and not the entire mini-world.
Unlike others, Miss Calamity didn't try to eliminate anyone. She simply followed Varian and watched on with interest.
In these two weeks, she discovered that this 'spy' was much more interesting than she initially thought.
And she vaguely sensed that Varian's real strength was a big bizzare. Sometimes, it went even lower than the low rank 7 that Telor was supposed to have. Other times, he could easily beat even a high rank 7.
There was something odd about him. Something unique she never saw in anyone.
'And he still feels familiar…why is that?'
Varian changed too much in too little time. It was impossible for Miss Calamity who saw 'Constantine' as a mere rank to equate him with this man who certainly got the strength of a rank 7.
No matter how clever she was, there was no precedent, absolutely none for a rank 4 to reach rank 7 in such a short period.
The students were absolutely amazed at Telor's ascent from low rank 7 to mid rank 7 despite it happening on the solid basis of natal treasure.
And what natal treasure did 'Constantine' have? None. He's not even a Palarein.
So, even though she was reading Varian's life signature, her subconscious filtered out him having any association with 'Constantine'.
Yet, the familiarity he gave was undeniable.
Without even intending to, Miss Calamity began a quest to quench her curiousity. And it was no longer for the sake of relaxing for her divine rank. She genuinely longed to find out his secrets.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The mini-world seemed to be swept by a coalition of storms all at once as large spots of destruction appeared in a blink.
The screens displaying the candidates still active in the race quickly fell to 80 and then 70 before experiencing a sharp and sudden fall to 50.
In the middle of a desert, more than ten students with broken arms and legs laid unconscious.
Prince Robert dusted their filthy blood off his clothes and paused when the corner of his eye saw the numbers on the floating screen in the sky falling from 70 to 50.
His intuition told him that this guy was going to be his competitor.
And that guy…was currently sitting in the middle of a fainted student group. Varian was indeed the candidate who took down twenty students at once. It was all thanks to the glowing sword in his hand.
It released waves of life power that struck the students, reached their brain and knocked them out.
It sounded simple but it worked only because Varian seemed to have an extremely precise understanding of how the brain and consciousness worked—a domain of soul awakeners.
"Y-You didn't tell me you can do that!"
Sitting on a log of blue wood, Miss Calamity waved her legs and complained.
"…Aurora, how old are you by the way?"
"Eww, it's rude to ask a lady's age!" She looked at him with contempt, as if she couldn't believe he was such a person.
"You're a rank 7, no? So you lived at least for more than 500 years. Shouldn't you be more...mature? If anyone sees us, they'll think I'm baby sitting you." Varian shrugged and walked to the center of the mini-world, where large translucent stages began to float.
"What do you know?" Miss Calamity ran after him, almost with vengeance. "90% of the time we stay awake is spent practicing or fighting."
"Even that 10% makes for 50 years. And mind you, 50 awake years. That's something only people who are over 75 years old achieve. You don't even act like a 30-year old, much less a 75."
"D-Different races mature differently. It's not my fault!" His words seemed to have poked something sensitive as Miss Calamity began to adamantly defend herself.
"And what do you mean mature anyway? I am serious about the serious stuff. Why can't I be carefree when it's about trivial things? Huh? And are people only mature if they react like a zombie to everything? Like you, Mr. Zombie Face?"
Varian took a few deep breaths to avoid getting angry.
"Ah yes, the great mature guy who has trouble with anger management. If I'm immature, what does that make of you, a guy who gets angry at an immature woman?" Miss Calamity continued with a victorious smirk.
Varian looked at her, shook his head and continued walking.
"Hey hey hey! What do you mean by that look?"
And she followed him.
*** *** *** ***
[The system will assign opponents to everyone here]
There were a total of fifty floating stages, one for each candidate, randomly moving in the sky.
The names began to be displayed quickly and Varian saw his match soon and accordingly, the floating stages connected before expanding, forming a perfect fighting arena for the candidates.
[Falling out of the arena, being incapicated, declaring defeat—any of them will disqualify you. Good luck.]
Varian cracked his knuckles and prepared himself for his first fight. But the opponent turned out to be a four-foot girl with purple skin and an esoteric tattoo.
Yuor Quin.
"…Hello?" Varian waved his hand with an awkward expression.
Yuor looked at him and bit her lip before sitting on the stage and bawling her eyes out. "Wooo! Why? Why does it have to be this bastard?! Aaaa!"
"…"
Varian rubbed the back of his head in embarrasment.
He was only mean to her that day because he wanted the audience to see a thrilling fight. But Aurora went overboard with her words.
And seeing this girl cry, Varian felt like he made a kid cry, even though she's older than his great great grandma.
So, he stepped forwards her in a gentle motion and took out something from his pocket.
"Want a candy? Oh, this is called lolipop. Don't bite it, lick it and enjoy it."
Varian said in good will. This worked even for kids who cried like their life depended on it.
'Oops, but she's not a ki—'
By the time he realized that, Yuor was already looking at him with a furious gaze and a blushing face.
What was this man trying to do here? Holding out something like that? She had to lick it? In front of all people?
This…This…really…
"Hey, hey, there's a misunderstanding here." Varian quickly raised his hands. "You don't have to taste it here, do it at your leisure in your ro—"
"I'm not licking your thing!" Yuor yelled and then jumped off the stage.
Her loud words attracted the attention of students on other stages. They all looked at the lolipop in Varian's hand and then at Yuor who was running away to the exit.
The guys gave him a thumbs up while the girls either blushed or glared at him with contempt.
Varian looked at the lolipop in his hand with an innocent expression.
'Why are you all like this?'
[Host, you are being corrupted by that rank 9 woman.]
'Exactly, System! I am the innocent guy here!'
[Let's agree to disagree.]
'You traitorous bi—'
