I continue my walk down the hall until I reach a door that leads to the outside. I walk outside of the door to see Valerie and Jincheng, waving from a bench.
"Ryukii, over here!!"
I make my way over and take a seat on the bench.
"So how do you feel? Feeling pumped for the next round?"
(Though, I may have won, I still need even more training.)
"I guess I feel like I need train more on my raw swordsmanship."
"Wise choice my boy. But don't think you'll be surpassing me with just training, hahaha! I may look old but I'm still getting stronger by the day!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Anyways, since you've been here before, what's the next round gonna be like?"
"I don't remember. I never really bothered to come to or pay attention to the tournament."
"How helpful. Anyways, the next round doesn't happen until tomorrow so what should we do for the rest of today?"
"Actually, I have some business to take care of so I'll leave you and Val here. Don't get too comfortable now, hahaha!"
Jincheng walks off, leaving Valerie and I on the bench.
"I think I'll just head back to the inn."
I get up until I feel a hand grab my arm.
"Oh no you don't! You aren't getting away from me that easily!"
(Shit.)
"What do you mean by that…?"
"I already have everything planned."
Valerie latches onto my arm, refusing to the let it go and pulls me along with her to whatever destination she had in mind.
"Ugh, you're so pushy."
~15 minutes later~
Valerie led me back out to town until we eventually stopped in front of a building that looks abandoned.
"Here we are!"
"What is this place?"
"Just come in and see, you'll love it, trust me!"
"I don't trust you or whatever you have planned."
Ignoring my remark, Valerie swings open the door to reveal a straight hallway with a double door at the end of it.
"Prepare to be mind-blown!"
"Uh huh."
We walk to the doors and Valerie opens it excitedly.
"Woah."
What lies behind the double doors is a large room with a glass cover on top of it and in the middle of the room is a patch of grass supporting a beautiful tree. The tree sparkles with pink and purple and it's green leaves look divine as if it was planted in Heaven. The wood of the tree has a texture as if it was made by professional painter. Needless to say, the tree was extravagant and extraordinary.
(This tree…)
"Beautiful isn't it? I found this place when I was wandering around town."
"Do you always just walk into, at first glance, abandoned buildings? Sounds like an easy way for something to go wrong."
"I just sensed something was in here. Otherwise, I would've walked pass this place. I still don't know who's taking care of it but it's kept it's beauty for years now."
"Yeah, I can see that."
"Hey Ryuki?"
"What is it?"
"Do you think my dad would be proud of how well we're taking care of the inn."
"Yeah… I guess so. I would. The place is well maintained, the beds are comfy, and the food is delicious. What more could anyone ask for? Although I was wondering why no one was there."
"Hehe thanks. We've actually been closed for two months due to financial struggles. We're trying earn some more money so we can reopen. Heh, even the dress I wore to the party was my mom's. We let Jincheng in because we owe a great deal to him."
"I see."
We stood there in a long moment of silence, silently enjoying the presence of the tree and each other.
(Valerie. Shes an eccentric and energetic girl. We've only known each other for a few days but I can tell she's a very sweet person on the inside, as annoying as she can be sometimes. She reminds me of a gal.)
"Ryuki?"
"Yes?"
"How did you meet Jincheng? I've known him for a portion of my life. He and my father were good friends but he never took in a student before. He said he never would as it would be a waste of time. How did you get him to train you?"
"Well actually, I didn't get him to train me. By chance, he found me in my camp and saw something in me, so he offered to train me in swordsmanship."
"Wow, really? You must be pretty amazing for him to offer to train you himself."
"Guess so."
We stood there in silence once again.
"Do you know why I approached you the night of the party?"
"No, you didn't even have a single clue who I was at the time. I assumed you were just one of the type of girls who'll approach anyone they find interesting."
"Actually, I kind of did."
"We've met before?"
"Not technically but I saw you once a while back. I was out gathering herbs for cooking right outside the kingdom. I watched you kill a cow with magic I've never seen before. It was so incredible I couldn't help but stare in awe. I watched as you left with the corpse back into the forest. When I saw you at the party, I couldn't help my curiosity."
"So you hugged me like I was a family member you hadn't seen in a long time?"
"I bet you loved feeling the lovely embrace of such a pretty girl, didn't you?"
"No, it was creepy."
She laughed, her voice echoing in this room with only us and a tree.
"Anyways, should we be heading back? I'm getting kinda hungry."
"Yeah, I was actually planning to eat before you kidnapped me."
"Hey! You came here on your own free will."
"You forcefully dragged me here, did you forget?"
"Did I? I don't remember. Heehee."
I sigh and we both walk out of the building.
~The next day in the arena's waiting room~
(Shouldn't be long until I'm called up.)
"Ryuki Tetsuyo and Arnold Hylinspurg, please enter the room to your left."
We both enter the room and step on the separate magic circles. The magic circles, once again, takes me to a room full a different weapons and a single door.
(Maybe if I show off a bit and attract the attention of higher ups, they'll give me a nice ride to the academy. On the other hand, if I brutally crush this guy, they might want my head for embarrassing him. What to do. What to do.)
"Contestants, you may now come out."
I open the door and walk out to a big crowd full of cheers. On the other side is Arnold, gripping his sword.
"Hope you're ready for this!"
"Now! May the second round of the Annual Gratsudale Tournament begin!"