Chapter 39 – What Is Happening?
'What a weird combo,' thought the young teenager. He was thinking something along this line, 'A common pet. I am right that he is poor' but that changed immediately to 'What a weird combo' when he saw the furball was big and the iron plate monkey was too fascinated with food.
Not only that, he immediately recognized that the white furball was not a normal common furball. It was bigger and had fluffier fur. 'A new species of furball? Or a furball that evolves? I never have seen or knew any furball this big,' thought the young teenager. He was intrigued by Fury.
He looked at Foody and was impressed too. He could feel that the Iron Plate Monkey in front of him was not normal. He was busy examining the skewer of baked fish cake but he exuded the aura of someone strong. Someone experienced in battle. Different from a common Plate Monkey that their focus was always food.
'Two abnormal pets… Maybe it is not because of the pets but the tamer?' The young teenager stared at Lucas's back. He had a feeling that the tamer was responsible for what had happened to the two pets.
'Sigh~' the young teenager sighed. Cold air came out of his mouth and he looked at the sky thinking, 'Why are the elders and patriarch sent us to this city? Suddenly wanting to establish a branch here?' the young teenager was confused.
'This is the Phoenix Clan's turf… part of it. This city is still under the Bee Clan. Are we having a turf war now? I saw some guy from the Fenrir Clan, Dragon Clan, and Griffin Clan a few days ago too. Is there something precious in this city??' the young teenager was more confused.
The young teenager was Ross Iterna. He was part of the Iterna Family. The Iterna Family was one of the four families in the S-Rank Clan, The Fairy Clan. He was not a special person of the family or the clan. He was just a normal member and an outer member of the clan.
Ross was of the same age as Lucas. He was fifteen years old too. A few days ago, he was ordered by the elders and patriarch of the Fairy Clan to move to Gyling City. The higher-ups at the Capital City ordered them to form a branch clan at Gyling City.
As someone without any power in the clan, Ross followed the order without complaining. In the beginning, he and his other clan members thought that this was just a normal thing but all of them changed their minds immediately when they found out that The Dragon Clan, Griffin Clan, and Fenrir Clan were in the city too.
Not only that, three days ago, someone powerful from the Main Phoenix Clan arrived at the city. From the rumors circulating, that powerful tamer from the Phoenix Clan moved to the city permanently. It was said that he was tasked to protect the city from the looming danger that was the unknown monsters. Even so, everyone seemed to feel that there was more to it than that.
'Whatever,' Ross was too lazy to think. He was just a no-name member of the clan. Whatever the higher-ups thought of was not his business. He did not mind moving to Gyling City at all. The city was the same as other cities too so he did not feel that much difference.
Ross had nothing to do at home and thus, decided to participate in the winter events. Not only him, but many members of the clan were the same too. There were even a few members of the Fairy Clan lined up for the same power competition too. Not only them, but other clans were also there.
As time moved on. More and more people lined up for the power competition organized by the weapon shop. The member of the Fairy Clan, the Dragon Clan, the Griffin Clan, The Phoenix Clan, and the Fenrir Clan lined up too.
Everyone that was not part of any clan that lined up was tense. "Why are there so many S-Rank Clan members here? I understand the Phoenix Clan but why are the other four clans here too?" one of the tamers in the line whispered to his friend at his side.
"You don't know?" the friend asked him.
"Huh? What is it?" He wanted to know.
The friends looked left and right. He got close to his friend and whispered, "Recently, other than the Phoenix Clan, the other four clans have established a branch in this city too," he was shocked.
"Something fishy is happening in this city…" the friend stopped for a bit before he corrected his sentence, "No, something is happening in this exact district. There is something in District 24 because all of them open a small branch in District 24. They had the official branch in other districts in this city but all of them had one small branch in this district."
"??? Is there something special here???" He was confused. The friend lifted his hand and shoulder and gestured he did not know. He was clueless too.
"Anyway. Mind your manners. We don't want to offend them. I saw a few days ago that a member of the Phoenix Clan deals with troublemakers in this shopping area. The clan had also declared that they will cover the security of this shopping area. This shopping area is one of the safest places around in District 24," the friend said and the guy nodded.
Ross looked at the front and the back of the line and he saw a few familiar faces from his clan. He nodded at them politely and thought, 'I guess I am lucky that there is no one from my clan that will enter the same category as me in this power competition. My chance of winning will be high.' Ross was happy.
He looked around more and spotted a few members from the other clans but from the aura they emitted, he knew that they were of different categories. He sighed in relief. It was hard to win a competition with many opponents from the strong clan. Luckily, he did not spot anyone that can threaten his victory.
In competitions or tournaments, there were usually categories based on the stage of the pets. For Lucas, since he only had Newborn Stage pets, he could only enter the Newborn Stage categories. The same with Ross. He was not a genius and just a normal member of the clan. His current pets were all at Newborn Stage. So, he would be in the same category as Lucas.
While Ross was looking around for a potential competitor, a boy walked beside him and shouted, "Brother Lucas!" Ross looked at the boy and the guy in front of him. He saw the boy had the Phoenix Clan emblem… it was silver.
"Hmm?" Lucas looked beside him and saw a familiar face. "Oh! Young master Qin Yun," it was Qin Yun that called Lucas. He was by himself and his old butler was not with him.
"Brother Lucas, I told you many times to drop the 'Young Master' when you call me," Qin Yun smiled. Since he lost to Lucas and came to terms with his losses, he started to frequent the nursery per the elders and patriarch recommendation. Since then, he started getting close to Lucas during Lucas's shift at the front counter.
"You are a Young Master and you are part of the Phoenix Clan too. If I drop the 'Young Master' title, it will be rude to the Phoenix Clan," Lucas smiled. He knew the Phoenix Clan was powerful and they were on a friendly term too. Even so, he was just a small figure and needed to mind his manner in case the clan decided to sever their friendship.
"No, no, no! Brother Lucas and your family are our clan's friends. As friends, there is no need to mind about this," Qin Yun refused to accept Lucas's reason. Lucas smiled.
"Well… Are you going to participate in this event too? If so, we are going to be rivals," Lucas asked while smiling. Lucas knew that Qin Yun's only pet, Raillow was a Newborn Stage. So, if Qin Yun participates with the event, they would be rivals.
"Yes, I am and I want to beat you in this competition!" Qin Yun was pumped up. "If only this is a battling competition, I will be able to have a rematch with you. Unfortunately, this is not a pet battling tournament," Qin Yun sighed.
"If you want, we can practice battling later," Lucas suggested.
Qin Yun's eyes lit up. "Really!!!" He was pumped up. Raillow had progressed a lot and he wanted to see if he could beat Lucas. "When?" Qin Yun asked.
"Hmm… I am not sure. For now, I want to focus on winter events. Maybe after school starts? If you see me at the front counter, you can ask me for a battle," Lucas smiled. He indeed wanted to focus on the winter events.
"Ok! That is a promise," Qin Yun was excited. He looked at Fury and said, "Fury, Raillow will battle you again soon. Be prepared." He was not surprised with Fury's size as he had seen him many times before and the old butler said that it had evolved.
While Lucas and Qin Yun were talking, Ross was dumbfounded. 'Friend with the Phoenix Clan? This boy with a silver emblem lost to this white furball?' Ross was confused and shocked. 'Who is this guy?' Ross wondered.
A few members of the Phoenix Clan passed by and when they saw Lucas and Qin Yun, they bowed politely at them. Ross had thought that it was because of 'Young Master Qin Yun' but they looked more respectful towards Lucas.
'…' Ross was speechless.
As Ross was in his world, the front door to the weapon shop opened. A man with a big build came out of the shop and said, "Those that want to participate in the competition, please register at the right side of the shop once you get in." After that, he let people inside the shop.