"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Rowan slammed onto the floor of a hallway, far from the dorms.
"Owwww..." He rubbed his butt as he stood up.
In front of him stood a door labeled 'Familiar Room'.
"Oh. This is where he said to put you." Rowan spoke.
"Are you seriously going to leave me here!? What about untitled?" Onyx spoke, a little nervous.
"I don't think I have a choice bro. Looks like you're going to need to babysit him."
"Get the fuck outta my way."
The voice Rowan was hoping to never come into contact again was heard from the side. Kira walked to him with the same annoyed expression. The hallways were thin, barely giving any space for two people to walk by each other.
*bark!*
Untitled started barking from where it was in Rowan's hoodie.
"Ah, so you kept it?" Kira mumbled as she walked by Rowan. He was on his way to close the door but still heard what she had said.
'What? How does she know about untitled?' Rowan thought as he turned around to the room of animals. They were all turned towards the screen watching the fight that was unfolding. 'Could it be she was the one watching me?'
Rowan's brain blew up with all different thoughts. 'It could be that Tanon was just walking the same path as me and found the dead guy. She didn't have to be watching me directly. Plus she doesn't seem like the type to stand by and watch as people get attacked.'
"Ugh!" Rowan groaned as he threw his head back. The few strands of hair on his face flew back onto his head.
"What?" onyx asked.
"I think Kira was the one watching me, not Tanon." Rowan spoke.
"What does it matter?" Onyx spoke uninterestedly. "Whether she watched you or not, will it affect your ability to go fight?"
"It's not about that..." Rowan said. "... I was kinda hoping to recruit her to my crew."
Rowan looked over at onyx's expression to see him with his jaw dropped. His eyes were wide and he just couldn't make a sound to explain how ridiculous of an idea that was.
"N-not now! Like at the end of the competition! She doesn't even like me right now." Rowan tried to explain.
"WHY!?!?" Onyx said with a completely confused expression. This was sprung on him out of nowhere and he was so surprised.
"I don't even know honestly. She seems to be someone who really knows this world and I have a feeling that we're...Alike?" Rowan himself didn't understand where this was coming from.
"Well good luck with that." a voice spoke from under the two.
Rowan and onyx both looked down to find a creature that resembled a meerkat and red fox at the same time.
"Oh, it's a ksiemd!" Onyx said.
'Some of these names are like 'Tryphuji!' and the others are like 'jdjekssjmdjddj'.' Rowan thought. "It's almost like whoever made this world-or the heavenly beings or whatever it is- is terrible at coming up with names.'
"Kira has been scouted by many different crews and she ended up rejecting them all." The animal continued. "I don't think she has any interest in that stuff."
"Who are you?" onyx asked, looking down on the creature.
"My name is ken. You might recognize me as Tanon's familiar." Ken answered.
"That's perfect! See onyx! A friend." Rowan spoke and tried to unwrap onyx from his neck.
Onyx still didn't want to get left in the room so he tightened his grip. While Rowan was struggling to get onyx off his neck a sudden roar came from the tv.
"OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Everybody turned their attention to the screen that still broadcasted Hunter and Massin's fight. Hunter had thrown an uppercut at Massin.
'If that hits me it's over!' Massin thought.
He dodged backward, Hunter's fist barely missing him. The huge gust of wind created had knocked off Massin's hat now revealing his face to the crowd.
"..."
The loud crowd that defended people with their cheers was now completely silent. They were all shocked by what they were seeing.
Half of Massin's face was skeletal. There were no features, no hair just the skeleton. He had black hair and pure black eyes. There was not even a speck of light behind them. He wore a black glove on the side with his clothing covered.
Hunter was just wearing a red jersey-like shirt over a white hoodie, making his hair pop out. He had on jean pants and simple sports shoes.
"Woah. What happened to him." Rowan asked, intrigued by Massin's appearance
"He's a 'Gashadokuro'," Onyx explained.
"Yeah, their kind isn't really liked by the people. That must be why he was trying to cover himself up, even though it decreased his performance." Ken spoke.
He's been watching this fight for a while. Not once did Hunter use any type of power or show any signs of skill. He was just reinforcing his fists and feet with Ahi and attacking like that. Hunter never used the power scaling machines either to check his manifestation. Ken thought it might be because this was his second time so he already knew but it was as though he didn't have one at all. What was more interesting was that Sky, The number 1, seemed to be focused on Hunter's performance more than usual.
"Since both Hunter and Massin are relying on regular strength this fight is pretty even and has dragged on for a while." Ken spoke again. "Looks like it's finally about to end."
"BOOOOOOOO"
"GET OUTTA HERE!"
"PEASANT!"
"SLAVES!!!"
The crowd went into an uproar as Massin in a panicked manner tried to run for his hat. This caused Hunter to take the opportunity and attack. He sped up and zoomed behind Massin, giving him a strong knee to the face as he bent down for the hat.
"Freaking racism?" Rowan questioned.
"The Gosho people in the odokuro galaxy are heavily looked upon in this world. There isn't even a particular reason. People woke up one day and just decided to hate them, saying they bring bad luck or something." Ken explained. "It's honestly very sad."
Rowan watched as Massin laid there, bloody and knocked out. The people threw trash and spat all sorts of curse words at him.
'What the hell?' he thought to himself. 'I thought this was a world of entertainment, where the only thing that mattered was your rank and popularity. Who would have thought I would find racism here as well.'
"Well, I gotta go get ready for my fight." Rowan said as he finally got onyx off him and put him down. "Cheer for me from here, Alright?"
"Shut up. I hope you trip and fall after leaving me here." Onyx replied a little mad.
Rowan chuckled and left the room.
*CLIK!*
The door locked behind him and Onyx looked around the room to see all kinds of different animals he had never seen before. It makes sense as he was from the south region of the district and these animals came from all around. The room was pretty big and there was such a variety that he was getting a little dizzy.
'They must be abandoned or their person still hasn't woken up...' he thought since there were supposed to be only less than 10 animals.
"Heh. It might be a little intimidating at first but you'll get used to it." Ken spoke. "Most of us have been here since day 1 so we got cozy."
He started running to the front a little, hopping onto the bigger animals to get a better view. Onyx followed in his lead, sticking close as he wasn't a fan of large crowds. They finally reached a corner where a big black dog with cat-like features was resting.
"Hey, Ciaran!" Ken spoke to the black animal. "I brought a friend!"
Ciaran opened her eyes and looked toward the two. Ignoring them, she closed her eyes again and fell asleep.
"That means 'Hi!'" Ken said to Onyx as he chuckled.
'Ugh, Fuck my life.' Onyx thought already feeling drained.
On the other hand, Rowan left the waiting area to get ready for his fight. But first, he needed to put his cloak away in the room. Once he got there Kira was already on her bed, chatting on the system.
"No fight for you today huh?" Rowan spoke as he eased into the room.
"Yeah. Something about the little bitch chase having to go back to his galaxy." Kira said then looked at Rowan. "I'm sure you know which player that is."
"Of course I do! It's the guy with the red nails and fangs right?" Rowan said as he took off his cloak and put it on his bed. 'Thank God I ran into him when he was leaving his dorm.' he thought, remembering the guy who stormed out of the room next to theirs.
*bark!*
Little untitled started waking up from his sleep, stretching himself out in the hood. 'Oh, I forgot about you!' Rowan thought as he grabbed the little Tryphuji.
"So what is his name then?" Kira suddenly asked.
"W-what?" was the only thing Rowan could reply with.
"Itzcomleyx. His level isn't higher than mine and since you are my friend that means you should be able to see his profile. So what is his name?"