"Today's the day."
Sol was lying on his bed reminiscing about yesterday's events. After returning to the knight headquarters, he spent some time with Aron and his ever growing group of friends. They spent the evening celebrating in the dining hall, telling stories of their adventures and why they were joining the knights now.
While reminiscing about last night's fun, a knock came from the door.
'Are the clothes here?'
It was early in the morning, but in just three hours he was going to have to be in the arena. He hoped Terrence was able to finish in time, but even he knew it was a big ask to make a magically enhanced outfit in less than half a day's time.
Sol got up and opened the door to reveal Aron. He was unable to hide the look of disappointment on his face.
With a mischievous grin, the pugilist asked, "Were you expecting someone else?"
"Yeah… Went to the place you suggested, and he said he could do it on time, but I still haven't gotten the clothes."
"Oh? You mean THESE clothes?!"
Aron took out a wooden box and handed it to Sol. His eyes widened in surprise as he didn't expect Aron to have it.
"Woah, thanks! But why do you have it?"
"Heh. Long story short, I bumped into the delivery man. Made some light conversation and found out he wanted to finish his deliveries early today so he could watch the tournament. So, being the kind and benevolent man I am, I told him I would deliver the packages that were for the royal knights, and here I am!"
"So he just gave you all his packages?"
"All 21 of them! You're the last one I had to deliver. I would've been here sooner, but I got distracted talking to some noble lady, sorry about that."
"No wait, that wasn't what I meant. He trusted a complete stranger to just deliver them?"
Sol couldn't comprehend the delivery man just trusting someone he randomly met to deliver all his packages. He could only assume the delivery man was very eager to watch the fights later today.
Aron shook his head, "Nah, I know him."
'Oh, good.'
Aron continued, "Yeah, I met him at a bar once."
'You're still basically strangers!'
Sol couldn't understand how Aron could earn the trust of strangers so easily. It was like he had a talent or skill for it. He had noticed this before with how easily Aron quickly became friends with everyone he met. There was just something about him that made others easily trust him.
"Well, thanks again. I should change into it and head over to the colosseum."
Aron nodded, "I'll get out of your hair then. Good luck!"
The pugilist spun in place before heading off to meet with some other recruits who were going to watch the tournament.
Sol took the box and placed it on his desk before opening it.
"Oh! This is perfect!"
[Song of the Wind
Rare
Defense: 40
Durability: 750/750
Skills:
[Wind Favored] Lv 6, [Mending] Lv 6]
The chest piece was a natural dark green shirt that had a refreshing feeling to it. It was layered and tailored to fit closely to the body, with a wrap-around design and secured with belts and straps. The form fitting pants were brown with an elaborate pattern around the thighs, giving it a rich texture.
After putting it on, Sol cast the water spell [Mirror Water] to see his own reflection.
'I look like some kind of hunter, but I kinda like it.'
Besides the aesthetics of the outfit, the functionality didn't disappoint him either.
[[Wind Favored] Lv 6: The winds actively assist you in every action. Overall speed is increased by 30%.]
[[Mending] Lv 6: The clothes slowly repair themselves over time using ambient mana. Can be accelerated by inserting the wearer's mana.]
[Wind Favored] functioned similarly to the beginner wind spell [Tailwind], but better. The resistance from the wind was equally negated, but the push the wind provided was much stronger. If with [Tailwind] Sol was able to leap 50 feet without any skill, then with [Wind Favored] he could jump 80 feet instead. The only downside was that the acceleration provided by the enchantment was purely physical, unlike the agility attribute that also increases reaction speed. This meant the wearer had to be careful not to lose control of their speed and accidentally launch themselves into a wall.
Sol gave himself one final look before storing his previously worn clothes in his spatial ring. He also put away his Immunizing Belt, as it was a unique item, and he was only able to use two. He wasn't worried about not having the belt for the tournament. While it had good skills, they weren't needed for the competition. He doubted anyone would use poison after the Commander's subtle warning, and [Status Cleanse] had been slowly becoming more obsolete as Sol leveled up some of his passives. While there were a few status afflictions he had no way to counter, he didn't think the belt had more potential value than the Blessed Boots of the Sky.
Done with his preparations, Sol left his room and made his way out of the royal palace through the service exit. The main gate he first entered the palace through was rarely opened, either for large events like the knight selection or for the royal family and other important individuals.
Sol made his way through the loud and busy streets toward the Lionell Colosseum, named after a hero from the early years of the kingdom.
As he neared the large colosseum, the crowd became denser and denser until he found it hard to move closer. Sol tried to skirt around a few people, but it was too clustered to move past them.
'Damn. Am I going to be late?'
A feeling of anxiety rose within him as he realized that it might be a possibility. Before the panic set in, he realized he was overthinking it.
'Wait. I can just use [Burrow].'
Sol immediately sank into the ground and propelled himself toward the side entrance of the colosseum reserved for fighters and employees. While traveling through the dirt and stone, he realized he could use [Terra Manipulation] to speed himself even further. With a little bit more mana, Sol traveled even faster, fully negating the movement penalty of [Burrow].
'Oh, this is pretty useful. Now that I think of it, I can even launch attacks from underground.'
More ideas of how he could use his newly evolved skill passed through his mind until he reached the side entrance. As Sol emerged from the ground, a shriek was heard.
"Ah! Who are you! Don't make me call the guards!"
The one Sol inadvertently scared was the colosseum employee in charge of watching the side entrance.
"Sorry about that, miss. I'm actually one of the contestants."
Sol quickly showed his token, which served as identification, and calmed the woman down. After apologizing for misunderstanding, the woman directed him toward his waiting room, which also had a window view of the colosseum's arena. He took a seat on a luxurious couch as he looked toward the spectator area, where people could be seen funneling in and taking their seats.
"Might as well relax for a bit. I have the last fight of the day."