The first fighter to walk forward is the friendly face of the shield, Max. From being on the verge of death less than an hour ago and completely exhausted, it looks like they healed him up nicely.
"You're more of a fighter than I thought... Are you from the Royal Guard? A country leader in disguise or something?"
He lets out a laugh, but I don't respond.
I'm very fatigued from the use of my Red Hydra's buff, and the majority of my energy is being used to scan the room and keep myself from limping or looking hurt in any way.
Max stands next to Sia, and Ace is close behind them. Far off in the back of the room, Mr. Wright talks with a few of the newer fighters, logging in their fight records and signing them up for future events. Monk stands by in the back of the room silently staring at me but doesn't move forward.
Sia speaks up as I take a step off the platform.
"You were really something out there, what's the trick? How'd you beat the 7th Stage? Monk will never tell us how he kills those things, you have to let us in on the secret."
I smirk inwardly beneath my mask, then finally respond.
"I'm not sure what the trick is either, I'd love to ask that man the same question."
I get some confused looks back, but that doesn't stop Ace from walking forward and putting out a hand.
"I didn't know you were such a skilled swordsman, I apologize for not introducing myself earlier."
I nod and shake his hand.
"No problem. Your speed and precision in the ring is some of the best sword technique I've seen myself as well. I'm impressed."
We release our grip, and Max interjects again.
"You know, we're going to get dinner in the gold district tonight, I'm sure you won more than enough to afford a nice meal." He chuckles. "Would you like to join us?"
I shrug and think to myself. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea. Picking their brains and asking normal higher-tier city goers about the inner workings of this place could be exactly what I need to do right now. Every one of us has a platinum wristband after tonight.
Considering the amount of money making potential in the ring and their fight records, I'd imagine they have well over 10 platinum too. However, no one wears the color of the Royal Coin. For some reason, no wristband changes color automatically like it did back when I hit over 100 gold. This and many other things confuse me about the city.
"Sure, a meal in the gold district would be great. I'd love to join."
We all begin to walk over to the back of the room together just as the newbie fighters leave and we're met by the man in the white suit.
Each fighter lines up single file without him saying a word as they register and log their names for the next event scheduled tomorrow night.
Once the single file line comes to me, he looks me in the eyes through my mask and speaks up.
"You put on quite the show there, kid. I'm glad I put you last, I knew you'd be a fun wildcard performance. However, you certainly out performed by expectations."
His eyes look up and down a silver tablet in his hands before looking back up to me.
"Would you look at that, over 10 platinum in a single night. Not bad at all... so, What do you say? Are you interested in signing up for tomorrow's showing too? I'm not so certain you'll be able to fool the regulars in the crowd for such incredible odds like you did tonight, but you can see the earnings will be considerable."
I stay silent and think about the offer.
Coming back into the arena again would be a money machine. Even if the odds are always in my favor, just on the percentage revenue share the event provides, I'll still be earning hundreds of gold per night.
However, I need to stay focused on my mission to get to the center of the city.
"I'm sure there will still be a slot open for me in the morning, right? I'm going to need some time to think about if I'll be coming back."
He lets out a light sigh, tapping the silver tablet and looking up at me with a curious gaze.
"Of course. Come by any time, I'll be looking forward to seeing you fight in another late-night event."
At this, he turns around and walks up the stairs, waving goodbye to everyone.
"As usual, wait a few moments before you all leave. You know better than I do how fans get sometimes. I'll open the golden gate entrance for anyone of you that would like to use the stadium-only pathway. If I don't see you until a later date, I'd like to say thank you for visiting Valor City."
The coat tails of the white suit disappear up the steps as we're all left in silence together.
Ace, Max, and Sia all start to slowly climb the stairs, but I turn my head around to still see Monk staring at me with a serious look on his face. It's not an intimidating gaze, it's more one of concern mixed with curiosity.
Once he sees me turn to look at him again, he begins walking over to me in a slow and calculated fashion.
The young bald man stops less than 2 meters from me and bows just like he did in the ring, then whispers under his breath in such a low tone that it's nearly impossible for me to hear him.
I boost my senses momentarily to make sure I understand what he says.
"Thank you for the help, you have set them free, 114 down, 886 to go. Be careful who you side with, even the strong can fall to its curse. This city is not what it seems."
At this, the man comes up from his bow and walks up the steps past the 3 other legacy fighters patiently waiting for enough time to pass after following in Mr. Wright's footsteps.
I myself am frozen in place trying to figure out what Monk possibly meant by those words.
It's clearly a warning relating to the opponent I just faced. 114 Ghouls defeated is the exact message I received for taking out one of the monsters, meaning he receives a similar message when defeating them too. The mention of a curse is related to the Lich King's curse on the monster's status, but how would he possibly know this without some kind of appraisal skill or seeing the buff on their own status?
I want to open my mouth to ask him more, but before I shake myself out from the slight daze, he's already left the ring and disappeared into the crowd.
Letting out a confused sigh, I wait on the steps wracking my brain for ideas before Max finally speaks to break the awkward silence.
"Alright, that's enough waiting, let's head to the golden gate and get some good food. I'm craving barbecue, how about all of you?"
There's two replies from Sia and Ace as they walk up the stairs to follow.
"Works for me."
"How about Elen's place? Can't go wrong there."
They all nod and agreement.
I follow close behind, pushing Monk's warning to the back of my mind and focus on extracting more information about this city itself during our upcoming dinner.
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Author's Note:
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