There were no cheers, no boos, and no sounds at all. Just the shocked silence of the crowd.
They thought they would see a fight for the event, not a one-sided beatdown.
Oliver had so much potential that many had faith he would achieve great things. All to for it to end because he made a single foolish mistake.
His water magic was a bad matchup against Alex's lightning magic. Everyone believed he would've realized that and not relied on his magic. However, he did exactly that, and he paid the ultimate price for it.
Alex and his family left the arena together and went back to their Inn room for the day.
"That was amazing, Alex!" Raven said.
"Congratulations on your victory, young master." Kaede said afterwards.
"Im so glad you're okay." Eve said.
"You did it, Alex; you saved Raven like you said you would." Anna commented.
"I told you I had it handled; he was overconfident in his talents that he never nurtured. Truth be told, if he trained at all, he would've put on more of a fight, but he bought into his own hype and paid the consequences. He asked for the life or death duel, and he lost, simple as that." Alex explained.
He didn't feel sorry for Oliver; this was his fault in the end. Alex was simply stronger than him.
Alex, however, did have one more thing to do, so he turned to the girls and said
"Hey, you all should rest up for our trip tomorrow."
"Where are we going now?" Anna asked.
"Well, we can't stay here; I'm more than likely the most hated man in the city currently. Tomorrow we start to head towards the royal capital to see Aunt Lyanna. She's the only family we have that we can rely on. Hopefully she will let us stay with her." Alex explained.
"Aunt Lyanna? I haven't seen her in years. It'll be good to see her and Amelie again." Raven said.
"Exactly, so we need to rest up. I'm going out to gather some supplies and stuff; I'll be back soon." Alex said.
"Do you want someone to go with you? After all, you said it yourself—you're the most hated man in the city." Anna said.
"I'll be fine; I may be hated by the people, but they know not to try anything. I put fear in the crowd today for them to think twice about that." Alex said.
"Okay, but please be safe." Anna said.
"I will, now you all get some sleep." Alex said as he walked out of the Inn door and back into the city.
*Meanwhile at the Tarren Mansion*
"Dammit!" Duncan Tarren yelled out.
He was very angry after losing his son in such an embarrassing way.
"That Alex Blackwood...he must pay." he proclaimed.
Duncan suddenly opened his eyes as if he had an idea appear in his head. He walked over to a single sheet of paper in an envelope with a red skull on the front. After seeing exactly what the paper had on it, he smiled sinisterly.
He had received the envelope a few years ago but never had to use it before, but now he had reason to.
"Well, this should take care of my problem for me... but first Im going to finish this whiskey."
Duncan proceeded to get drunk, waiting to deal with his problems in the morning.
*Elsewhere in the Mansion*
"Why Oliver? Just why?"
Ellen Tarren was in her personal room, away from her husband, so she could be alone. Randall was crying in his room after seeing his brother brutally killed in front of him, while Duncan was getting drunk in his study.
Ellen was the most sound of mind, but she was still down. She just lost a son. She was never close to him, as he favored being around his father, but she still loved him.
Ellen knew Oliver had his faults; he was a fool. He didn't take his responsibilities seriously and was fed with a silver spoon as "daddy's boy". He could commit an atrocity, and Duncan would cover it up and act like nothing was wrong. Ellen had suspicions that such things had happened but could never prove them.
Ellen was sitting at her desk just thinking, but something abrupt scared her.
It was a lightning strike right outside her window, but not just any lightning. It was purple lightning, which she was now all too familiar with.
"Hello Ellen."
Ellen turned her head around and saw Alex standing in the corner of her room.
Sweat started to go down her cheeks, she was scared of what he would do to her. He truly put fear in the hearts of many after his display, and it's not very common for someone to break into a woman's room with innocent intentions.
"It's okay, Ellen; I won't harm you; I have no reason to attack you." Alex explained.
"What are you doing here?" Ellen asked, still scared.
Alex sighed before looking into Ellen's eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Ellen thought she misheard him; did he just apologize to her?
"You're sorry?" she asked, still confused.
"Yes, I'm sorry." Alex reiterated. "You deserve my apology. I heard from my sister that even though you failed to do so, you tried to help her when she was trapped in this mansion, and after that, I killed your son in front of your eyes. So I'm sorry."
"I still don't understand why you would not only break into my room but also apologize to me." Ellen said.
She didn't understand Alex at all; his actions didn't make sense in her eyes.
"I'm not a monster, Ellen, despite me acting in that way. I do feel guilt, regret, sadness—all those emotions. I'm not some cold-hearted killer. Ellen, there is something you have to understand about me. I would do anything to protect my family. Even if I had to go to war with the world to do so, I would do so without a second thought. Your son and husband interfered with that and tried to force my sister into a bad situation. You know how that feels."
Ellen nodded. She knew exactly how that felt; she was forced into the same situation in the same way, but no one stood up for her like Alex did for his sister. Ellen, despite still feeling a mix of emotions, started to calm down in Alex's presence, almost as if she knew he wouldn't harm her.
"Now, Ellen, I gave my apology. I don't expect your forgiveness; if I were in your shoes, I would never forgive me. However, there is one thing I must warn you about. Don't let your husband do the same thing with Randall as he did with Oliver. Keep him honest and humble. I know your husband will try to attack me in some way after he sobers up from his whiskey-inspired nap. If you're wondering how I know, it's because I looked into his private study before coming here." Alex said.
"Why would you give me advice? The Tarren family will strike against you again, and there's nothing I can do to stop it." Ellen said.
"Don't stop it then; no matter what your husband tries, it'll fail. He still underestimates me." Alex said.
Alex walked towards a window in the room and gave some departing words to Ellen.
"By the way, a woman as beautiful and as kind as you is way too good for a weak man like him."
Alex jumped out of the window and disappeared from sight after a lightning crackle.
"What was that last part about?" Ellen said still very confused.
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AN: A shorter chapter today, as we're preparing for the next arc to start. I do have a lot of planning to do because to be honest, I never thought I'd be writing a 30+ chapter book. Honestly when I wrote the first chapter I expected this never to get any views or anything, next thing I know a month and a half later I have over 50K views. So this project went from a short term shot in the dark to now a long term story and I have many things I have to plan. I dont know when or how the story will end yet or how certain arcs will go but I have plenty of ideas floating around in my head.
Also would like to say I'm also going to be releasing another story which I would say should be coming out in Fall 2023. I have very early things already written for it. It's going to be very different from this story in setting. It will be another harem story of course though, seems that's going to be my genre so keep a eye out for that, might even drop teasers for free on my discord and patreon so check those out.
If you want to support me and any future projects I do please join my discord and/or patreon. Every dollar I can make on patreon will go to future commissions for official character art( if you have artists recommendations please tell me)
My Patreon at the lowest tier is only a dollar and every dollar matters especially for someone like me who is on a very tight budget and can't afford things like commissioned art.
Thank all of you for your support!
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Patreon:
https://patreon.com/Alex_Blackwood628
Discord:
https://discord.gg/97ejzvAGKb