I wake up a while later after taking a nice short nap and walk downstairs.
(That smell…)
I follow the smell to the dining area.
(The smell seems to be coming from the area in the back. Must be the kitchen.)
I look over to see Jincheng and Valerie chatting.
"Why hello sleepy head. Everything's almost done, just another 15 minutes."
Valerie walks up to me and observes me for a bit.
"Hey… you're not from around here, are you? I'm just noticing."
"Yeah… I… came from somewhere else."
"Wanna tell me where?"
"I… do not.. remember. Yeah. Forgot what it was called. Memory problems, you know?"
"I see…"
"Anyways! I'll be heading outside for some fresh air. I'll be back shortly.", I say before walking out.
(I'm glad I managed to enter the tournament right before the registrations were over. I wonder what my first opponent will be like. Only about twenty people actually entered as it said on the paper.)
About 15 minutes later, I get back up and walk into the building. Once I open the door, the smell of fresh food bombards my nose. I walk into the dining area and on the table I see meat, boiled vegetables, and rice.
"Yo come on Ryuki. We already started eating.", Jincheng says motioning me to sit down in the chair next to him.
I walk over and sit down while grabbing one of the plates and filling my plate with meat. I then start eating like a madman while everyone watches me.
"Woah calm down there boy. The food ain't goin anywhere."
Valerie giggles.
(I would've never imagined eating like this back home. Even though mom was financially stable, she was pretty strict on having too much food.)
I finish scarfing down the pile of meat that was on my plate. While I'm about to get my second helping Jincheng stop me.
"Now now Ryuki. You're gonna have to wait until we're done if you want seconds."
"Fine..."
Jincheng and Valerie finishes eating their plate after a couple of minutes while I wait eager to grab some more food. The second they put their forks down, I instantly grab some more of the meat and start to dig into it.
"This is a new side to him. He looks like he hasn't ate in weeks."
"That's how he is. You put anything that smells good in front of him, he'll forget manners and respect and clean that plate fast while looking for more stuff to eat, haha!"
I finish up the second plate and I look at the big plate where the meat was to see it's all gone.
"Hey, where'd the rest of the meat go?"
"You ate it all, silly.", Valerie says.
"Oh…"
"You should get some sleep. The first round of the tournament is tomorrow. You're going to be put up against someone random so you're going to have to be careful during these battles. They could be unpredictable.", Jincheng says.
"Yeah I got it. I'm heading to bed now."
"Goodnight Ryuki."
"Get some good rest."
"Goodnight."
I walk back upstairs to my room, close the door, lie down on the bed, and fall asleep quickly.
~The Next Day~
"Get up."
I feel someone shaking me.
"Ughhhh"
"Come on boy, get your ass up."
I slowly open my eyes to see Jincheng.
"Oh huh, it's already morning?"
I rub my eye and yawn.
"Yes, now go take a shower and get dressed. Got a big day ahead of you."
"Alright then."
(Man I slept like a baby. Haven't slept that good in long time.)
He exits the room and I take my clothes to head to the shower. After cleaning up, I take a good look at the clothes I had gotten from the store.
(How many people will be there watching? It's being held by the king and queen themselves so there's definitely going to be a majority of the entire kingdom watching. I'm getting cold feet.)
I put on my clothes and after fixing up my hair, I head downstairs. I see Valerie sitting down at a table.
"Seems like someone's finally up, aren't they?"
"Was I asleep for that long?"
"Well yes you were. The first round starts in about two and a half hours from now, so you better hurry up and get there. Don't want ya missing it now. Especially since I'm looking forward to watching you."
"Yeah yeah, I'll be there. Anyways what's for breakfast?"
"Oh we have some toast and jam. You can eat that. Mom is busy right now so she isn't here to cook."
"What kind of inn only has toast and jam for breakfast. And you can't cook?"
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"I'll just grab some bread and head out."
I head into the kitchen and see some slices of bread on the counter. I help myself to two slices and leave out the inn. I find Jincheng already waiting near the entrance.
"Alright ready to go?"
I nod.
"Hey don't forget about me.", Valerie says while putting on her shoes.
We make our way to the area of the arena.
~1 Hour Later~
We arrive at a small building.
"What is this..?"
"This is the coordinates listed on the pamphlet."
"You didn't get it wrong did you?"
A man in a black suit suddenly approaches us.
"Hello, are you participants of the tournament?"
"Yes I am. Those two are watching."
"Please follow me."
I wave back at Valerie and Jincheng before following the man inside of the building. Inside of the building is a shop full of different things like furniture and other stuff. He takes me to the back of the store where there's a bunch of different rooms. He walks into a room where there's a giant ball and some other things.
"Please place your hand on this magic ball so we can evaluate your magic power."
(My mp stat is one of my highest set stats in Gratsudale Online. But unfortunately, in this world, my stats don't seem to be the same as in the game.)
I place my hand on the magic ball.
…
…
...
(The ball didn't even change colors.)
"Is there an issue with this magical ball thing?"
"I can assure you there is no issue with the ball."
"So how come nothing happened."
"That's because you did not do all of the steps."
"You said place my hand on the ball. I did exactly that. What else?"
"You need to release magic inside of the ball for it to work."
"Oh. Yeah."
I once again place my hand on the magic ball but this time I release my magic power. I look up to see the ball is pitch black.
"It's black. What does that mean?"
I look back to see he's absolutely horrified.
"Sir? You alright?"
He calms himself down after a while.
"Yes um, just who are you again?"
"Oh I'm nobody. I'm just here to test my sword skills against some strong people."
"Y-Yeah. Anyways follow me. I'll tell you your results once we're done with everything."
"Alright then."
We both exit the room and he leads me to another room with different things in it from axes, swords, spears, and other stuff.
"Please leave your weapon here. We will give it to you during your turn. Do not worry. We will make sure it's safe."
(I would leave it here but the sword is important to Mrs. Iradale. I can't leave this sword anywhere that isn't near me.)
"Sorry but I'd like to keep my sword on me. I can't let this sword leave my side."
"Sorry sir, but this is simply for safety purposes. If you're worried about it then I will deliver it to you personally once you're in the starting room.
(Can I trust this guy?)
"Alright fine."
I hesitantly hand over the sword and he takes it and leads me to another door. He opens it and it's completely empty inside.
"Transportation."
A magic circle forms underneath us and I shut my eyes trying to avoid the light from blinding me. I open up my eyes to see a giant room with a bunch of different people. Everyone notices that I just came and stare at me.
"So this is the 20th participant?", some guy says.
I turn over to him as he walks up with a smirk on his face.
(He's wearing some armor that looks really expensive.)
"Doesn't look so tough to me. He's just a kid."
"If I'm not so tough what does that make you? A complete coward?"
I hear oo's from the crowd of people formed watching us.
"Ha! He's got some confidence in em. I like that. I like that so much that I choose you to be my opponent for the first round!"
(You can choose opponents? I never knew that.)
I hear murmurs from the crowd but I can only hear a couple of things they're saying.
"Man that kids done for."
"I feel bad for him but I'm not crossing paths with Vario again."
(So his name's Vario huh?)
"I didn't know you wanted to lose that quick."
He laughs for a couple seconds before stopping and walking up right in my face, trying to intimidate me.
"Well, I'll see you in an hour. Maybe if you beg right here right now, I'll let you off with your limbs intact."
"Kiss my ass."
"Bad choice of words. I'll destroy you. Should've begged when you had the chance. Now your egos gonna get you hurt!"
With that he walks off and everyone slowly goes back to what they were doing. I still overhear some people talking about what had just happened.
(I better wait until the results of the test.)