"So, what's your plan this time?" Dimas asks.
Both he and Alastor are by Amon's entrance waiting for Lilee to catch up.
"I don't have one. I've tried aiming one of the competitors at you but it wasn't until later that I realized it was unnecessary. Everyone in these tournaments will try to beat you regardless of what I ask of them. It is a tournament after all. Then, I asked the judges to not sponsor but from the looks of it…" Alastor looks at the Journey Satchel. "That was also a waste of time."
"And I'm supposed to believe you're not gonna try anything funny?"
"Believe me or not, think of it from my perspective. I have no idea why you are choosing to participate in the tournaments nor what you will get out of it. However, the chances of you making it through all 12 tournaments are practically zero. You have no Brío and your only teammate is a healer. Now if by some miracle you actually manage to reach the Champion fight, you still have to fight my surrogate and that is a fight you will certainly never win."
Dimas grits his teeth. Nothing pisses him more than being called a weakling, especially from someone who doesn't even fight their own battles. "Too cowardly to fight me yourself?"
"No but it'll be a waste of my time and energy." Alastor takes out a pocket watch. "I'll be leaving now."
Soon a crowd of fans swarm around Alastor, meanwhile Dimas slams his fist against the stone wall behind him.
Maldito sea!
Lilee finally catches up. "What's… wrong?" She gasps like a fish out of water.
Dimas takes a deep breath. "Nothing. Let's go sign in for the tournament."
As much as Lilee wants to know what put Dimas in a sour mood, she stays quiet. For one, she needs to catch her breath and two, Dimas has forgotten about buying weights for Lilee.
Amon wasn't too different from Onaq in terms of how city-like it was. Less merchants lining the streets, but it was certainly more colorful. Every building had multiple splashes of colors on them. Multiple murals decorated the city, most of them Dimas would even be willing to call unique and imaginative. If they weren't about Alastor that is. The atmosphere was also more relaxed and quiet compared to the festival-like spirit of Onaq.
"You know, the more of your world I see… the worse your hometown starts to look." Dimas says while studying observing a wall mural filled with red eyes.
"It's a fairly new town!" Lilee puffs her cheeks. "Besides, it's not fair to compare my Forest Edge to a city like Amon! Amon and Emon were founded by artists, of course it'll all look beautiful."
"Whatever." Dimas sees a road leading out of Amon and to the stadium. "Let's go Lil-"
Dimas turns around to see Lilee staring at a painting store.
"Dimas! Look!" Lilee excitedly points at something inside.
Dimas walks over to see a black and white drawing of his fight against Sebastian. The drawing captures the moment Dimas landed the finishing blow.
"It's you!" Lilee looks around at the other paintings. "And those must be other final fights!"
A few of the paintings, like the one with Dimas, were on the tamer side. There's others that look like scenes from epic battles. The drawings did a great job at capturing the Brío Arts used.
Dammit Corvus… Why couldn't you have picked some world filled with pushovers?
"Want to buy your painting? We have the Crild for it." Lilee looks at Dimas. It's obvious she wants it.
"Hell no." Dimas dismisses the idea with a wave of his hand.
"Why not?! Think of it as a souvenir!"
"I already do. That's why I'm not getting it."
Lilee pouts as she stomps behind Dimas towards the stadium.
"You two are here early!" A judge with a green scarf hands the duo's fighter cards back to them. "Every other team participating in this tournament is probably still celebrating."
"So?" Dimas shrugs.
"That's fair." The judge returns to his clay sculpting.
"Oh my…" A judge with a cyan hair ribbon appears from behind her canvas. "I love that strong aloof vibe! I feel like drawing a snowy landscape now!" She tosses her unfinished painting aside and grabs a blank canvas.
"You may have heard word of a quarrel between Emon and Amon." The final of the judges looks up from her embroidery creation, she has a green bowtie. "Please know we are handling it alongside Alastor and it will not interfere with the tournament."
"Don't really care." Dimas steps outside.
"Not snowy… Frozen solid, where heat is nothing but a word!" The cyan ribbon judge grabs another canvas while tossing aside another unfinished work.
Lilee nudges Dimas. "Can you at least be formal with the judges?"
"Nope. I don-"
"Hey, there!" A man runs up to the duo. "How would you like to stay at Emon during the competition?"
"No!" Another man comes out of nowhere. "Amon has better accommodations!"
"Emon has better food!" This time a woman comes running.
"Amon has a better atmosphere!" Another man joins.
Soon the duo is crowded by two large groups. One group from Emon and the other from Amon.
"This is a bit too much for me." Lilee says to Dimas.
"I got this." Dimas raises his fingers to his lips.
Dimas whistles over the crowd. Everyone goes silent.
"Here's the deal. Anyone who can provide the best room for the lowest price gets my business."
The crowd yells over each other, beating one another's prices. Lilee sighs and shakes her head. Taking advantage of the situation is not what she had in mind.
"Everyone, calm down!" Alastor's voice booms over everyone else's.
Great…
"This is not proper behavior for towns hosting a tournament. From now on no one is allowed to harass the fighters over lodgings."
Everyone in the crowd hung their heads in shame. What a humiliating experience to be scolded by the champion. If Alastor wasn't staring at them, a few of them would likely cry.
There goes my chance for getting a great room for dirt cheap.