"I apologize for the scene, sir. I hope you don't take it to heart"
After leaving the hall, the receptionist quickly apologized for the burly man's actions. Towards this, Xander nodded indifferently. He seemed unmoved by what just happened. Even if he was, he didn't have the time or the luxury to do anything about it. Right now, the most important thing to do would be to participate in the limit breaker challenge, attain the three wishes and leave with what he needs as quickly as possible. There could not be any mishaps throughout.
While thinking of this, the receptionist lead Xander through a series of hallways, where they met a few more experts. But the encounters became less and less frequent as they got closer to their destination. Soon, Xander found himself in another hall.
This hall was empty compared to the previous one with only a grey-robed old man sitting behind a desk, seemingly bored. But then he saw Xander and the receptionist walk in, and his eyes lit up.
He smiled, " Jennifer, what a surprise. You came to see me ?"
Actually, the old man was quite skeptical about that. The middle-aged receptionist named Jennifer hardly visited anyone during working hours unless it was related. And looking at the youth next to her he was more certain that it was. It was just that...
'Isn't he a little too scrawny?'
Towards this, Jennifer also smiled and shook her head," No. You know I won't come here for such a reason. I'm only here because the sir beside me wishes to take on the limit breaker challenge"
"Oh", the old was surprised. He looked back at Xander for deeper inspection. But the more he looked, the more gloomy his face got. And soon enough, he looked back at Jennifer with a bit of anger and confusion in his eyes.
"Hey, Jennifer, don't tell me you got deceived by this brat. He's only an ordinary level person. In fact, he can't compare to the average adult"
He really couldn't understand. It's not that there haven't been cases like Xander before. In fact, according to statistics, every day, about thirty percent of the people who came to the coliseum were hopeful desperadoes and suicidal maniacs who took on risky challenges to try out their luck only for them to get slaughtered for overestimating themselves. Their battles could even be considered the comedy section of the coliseum. So it wasn't much of a shock to see a young feeble man like Xander come here and throw his life away.
But why was Jennifer escorting him? Even if she was just a receptionist, she wasn't obliged to do so for every Tom, Dick, and Harry that walked through their doors. And knowing Jennifer's personality, the old man was sure she wouldn't do such a wasteful thing. So why?
Thus, the old man looked back at Xander, his confusion growing with every second.
Meanwhile, Xander had also taken the time to observe the old man. With a glance, he seemed like your average senior in his late sixties - nothing out of the ordinary. And yet, Xander could sense a physical presence far surpassing the limits of the average man emanating from him. It circulated around his aged figure like an extension of his body and was condensed to the extreme.
Xander's gaze could not help but turn solemn as his instincts kept on sending warning bells, reminding him that he would pay a costly price should he provoke the old man in front of him.
'He's an awakened level expert- an extremely powerful one at that. As expected of the number one battlefield of the Underworld.'
"You don't have to worry about that. Just send him to the arena. I'll tell you about it later"
Just then, Jennifer gave her reply, gesturing for the old man to just do his job.
And so, despite his doubts, the old man could only walk toward the wall behind him and insert a key into an inconspicuous hole. Then with a twist, he activated a few mechanisms within, causing the wall to open up to reveal yet another hallway.
"Take the path down the hallway and it shouldn't be long before you get to the limit breaker arena. There you can issue your challenge", Jennifer took this time to instruct Xander on what to do next.
Towards this Xander nodded, then walked into the new hallway. The wall closed up behind him soon after.
With Xander gone, the old man turned to face Jennifer, his face full of interest and doubt.
"Alright, explain yourself"
*****
A woman stood on the roof of a three-story building adjacent to the Coliseum, a frigid atmosphere seemed to surround her as she stared at the entrance of Battle King Paradise with a sharp gaze and a hint of murderous intent.
"Are you sure it's him you saw?", turning to the clocked figure on her right, the woman asked, her voice calm without any fluctuations, "You do know that the Mistress will punish you severely should you be wrong"
Shuddering slightly, the cloaked figure nodded and quickly spoke in a strangely genderless voice steep in veneration and fear, "Yes, I know lady Lidia. And although I'm not sure of my guess, I still think it's better to try rather than ignore the matter"
Lidia nodded and remained silent. The cloaked figure was right. Should it be true that Xander was still alive and they had done nothing about it despite having clues, the Mistress would flip if she find out. Even she wouldn't be able to forgive herself should she neglect this matter and let that vile spawn live to see another day. After all, there were still debts to be paid and grievances to settle.
The cloaked figure saw her in deep thought and remained silent. Everyone knew that Lady Lidia had the most grudge against Xander right after the Mistress. As to why it was so would involve delving into matters that happened over four years ago. Matters she would rather not delve into to avoid Lady Lidia's ire. All in all, what happened back then wasn't pretty and Lady Lidia had been hating Xander ever since.
While the cloaked figure was a little lost in reminisce, Lidia once again nodded, having managed to calm herself down a bit, "Alright, I'm sure you've heard enough. Form a perimeter around the coliseum and look out for anyone suspicious. Be careful not to get into conflict with the people of Battle King Paradise. The Mistress doesn't want any trouble with Lord Stalin."
As soon as the words came out, several cloaked figures immediately zoomed past her and quickly disappeared into the night, leaving her and a dumbfounded cloaked figure alone on the rooftop.
Clearly, the seemingly genderless entity hadn't noticed their presence from beginning to end. A thought that sent chills down her spine about the resourcefulness of his or her employer.
Lady Lidia didn't notice this though, her gaze still set on the coliseum's entrance as a maniacal smile grew on her face.
'Alive huh? Let's see if you can entertain me some more, hehe'