'I'm definitely at a disadvantage against that Rick who Thomas told me about, he's a genius with sharp instincts, he probably have great equipment like his teammates and on top of that have an active native skill...'
Henry was sitting on his bench and watching the few who caught his attention fighting, the fights were happening 4 at a time and his turn came every half an hour or so and until now he hadn't met any hurdle, he was constrained to use his dagger during his last fight but he still hadn't shown all he could do yet.
Every time he saw Rose and Rick fighting someone he understood a bit more what being an elite of the galaxy meant, since he had came this far he was obviously an elite too but he hadn't fought with someone that could be considered a true elite until he came to Reso, the difference between people from his planet and from other planets of Trish galaxy was insane !
'Will that item I bought yesterday be enough to win against these guys ? I have to think of something else in case it doesn't work the way I want ! I'm going to lose if I fight like this...'
'Eh...?'
Henry came to a realization, for some reason he had been overthinking everything and his mind had been clouded by the pressure !
'What kind of outside factor system ?'
'Fuck ! Can you do something about it ?'
'I see... then can you know who it is coming from ?'
'I see... it's ok I'll find out soon enough.
System, will the flask lose its effects if I mix it with something else ?'
As him drinking the content of a flask now would create suspicions he headed to the restrooms and mixed it with his water bottle, this way he would be able to drink it without anyone being suspicious, at the same time he had to find who was trying to harm him !
'It's either someone who have something against me or someone who's afraid of meeting me in the incoming rounds.'
During the next twenty minute Henry tried to look for someone in the waiting area for contestants who was acting suspiciously, to use this kind of native skill he believed there must be some kind of restriction such as looking at your target, or being close to them.
Actually he didn't know if that was true but since he didn't have any other hint he started by using that method, except Rose who looked at him quite often he couldn't find anyone else who fixed him and he was almost sure it wasn't Rose, for some reason he believed she wouldn't do this kind of stuff. Of course he didn't know her so he might have been wrong but he would rather give her the benefit of the doubt.
He wanted to check amongst the crowd in the stands but it would be like finding a needle in a haystack! There were 50 000 people watching the game and cameras on top of that, what if someone watching the event from the Uninet could do it ?
'I'm starting to have a headache ! Fuck !'
Finally Henry realized that he was so focused on that that he missed a whole fight of that Rick from the Capitole and decided to focus back on the tournament, since that person couldn't harm him due to the system he can focus on the tournament and think about it later.
While his next fight was approaching Rose came, sat next to Henry and said.
"I think someone who doesn't want me to go further in the tournament is trying to make me lose."
Henry looked at her surprisingly, so he wasn't alone ?
"How does he do ?"
"I can't focus and it's frustrating me !"
"We're probably targeted by the same person, I've been feeling the same thing since a few minutes ago."
"Do you think it's someone who isn't confident in winning against us and is trying to make us lose before meeting him ?"
"I don't see any other reason, if that Rick is being targeted too then it means he's aiming for the best three."
"I don't trust that guy, I think he would answer yes even if we ask him and he's not."
Henry was surprised, this meant that she trusted him and for some reason he felt happy.
"Henry from planet Buton against Rick from the Capitole !"
After awhile Henry's name was called, suddenly his eyes became unfocused.
'I'm being targeted again ?'
He picked his bottle, drank it in one gulp and focused back !
'Alright I have 7 minutes until the effects fade, I can't take a bottle with me on stage and there is no break once the fight start so I must win in less than 7 minutes !'
"I have to go, I'll find a solution after winning against him."
Henry smiled and Rose felt it was weird he was so confident when he wasn't even sure he would be able to focus during the fight.
"Good luck."
That was all she could do now, wishing him good luck. There was no other way to help him and delaying the fight might result in a automatic forfeit, although complaining about a psychological attack was a decent idea there was no way to check something like that so it would probably be useless and end up in him fighting in that state anyway.
"Thanks."
On the stage walked a young man around the same age as Henry, he wore a silver armor that protected most of his body however the shape was very weird, some parts that shouldn't be there around the arms and legs were attached to it.
The boy had long blonde hair cascading over his shoulders, deep blue eyes and a perfectly shaped face. When he walked on stage not only people from the Capitole but a lot of girls from the audience started screaming and cheering.
On the other hand Henry had got only a small amount of cheers from his friends but they were drowned in the cacophony made by the other group !