We checked-in to our room and.. wow, what a fancy ass room. And a hole in my wallet. The room is massive for starters, more than enough for 5 adults to live in comfortably. There are 3 bedrooms and 2 washrooms along with a small living area and kitchen. We took the cheapest room, mind you and it was still massive in size. What a way to introduce Daisy to room rentals. She is definitely going to be judging all the small rooms in the future.
All 3 of us could have a room of our own, but of course Rose will be staying in the same room as me. Why would my wife be staying separately anyway? We are still lovey-dovey despite being married for 10 years.
What's better is there is space for both of us to do some basic training to prepare ourselves for tomorrow's tournament. Hm, we will need someone to look after Daisy while we attend the tournament ourselves and I know who exactly to look for. I hope he's willing to help out. Knowing him, he won't be joining the tournament himself.
Right, let's not get ahead of myself. I look forward to the food of this establishment that will be providing for dinner for us. It better be fancy enough to make me cry from the sight of it as I paid a pretty penny for this entire room. All in all, it better not sucked. I'm warning you, don't make me regret staying here.
***
It certainly did not sucked as it was really good. The food was prepared with love and care which brought up the taste of the food. Overall, certainly worth staying here. Not for long periods of time though or you'll go broke.
I lay on the bed and my body sunk in. How soft is this bed and what is it made of?? Will I be able to wake up tomorrow in time for the tournament with such a comfortable bed? Alright, now is not the time to be resting on the bed. I should check up on Rose and Daisy in the other room.
I peeked through the doorway and saw Rose chit-chatting with Daisy while combing her hair. They must had just finished bathing. I should have a talk with Daisy regarding the tournament tomorrow. She must be confused that both of their parents who were supposedly on a mission in this continent to talk to an old person would suddenly end up joining a tournament competing with other people.
"How's my two most beloved women in my life doing?" I asked them.
"Oh, Zen. You should take a bath, the warm water is kept for you. I know you prefer warm over excessive hot ones," said Rose with a smile.
"Thanks Rose. Is Daisy aware about the event tomorrow?" I asked.
"Yes she's aware. Obviously surprised too," she chuckled.
"Hey, little sunshine. You'll be able to see daddy and mommy duke it out with other people tomorrow. We are going to show you how powerful mommy and daddy is. I hope the both of us don't end up facing each other as opponent," I told her.
"It's okay. Mommy will kick your ass if that happens," she smiled.
"Haha, can't argue with that. Someone will be watching over you while we are sparring in the arena, alright? Do behave yourself as he is not really a man of humour," I told her.
"Don't worry about me, I'll behalf myself. You two have fun," said Daisy.
Huh, sometimes her maturity appears befitting for her age while at times she acts half her age. I really wonder how her brain works sometimes. I petted her and took a bath. Got to make sure I am at peak condition tomorrow. Can't afford to look embarrassing in front of Daisy.
I won't lie, a part of me wished that I might have a chance to compete against Rose. It's been a while since I fought with her properly and this tournament might be an excuse to test my strength. Can't wait to see who my opponents will be. I hope they do not disappoint me.
***
We had our breakfast at the fancy tavern since meals was provided for both breakfast and dinner. Before we meet up with the guy in question to ask him to help us look after Daisy, we have to find a suitable disguise for both of us. We stumbled upon a store that was selling omen mask that seems to fit what we were looking for. Both Rose and I browsed for whichever mask that would suit our personality. She decided upon a white fox mask that suits her overall white outfit. It was not her usual signature guild outfit but it was still white. I was struggling to find one that suits me until I saw a skeletal looking horror mask that was black and white. Now that would suit me and hopefully enhance my Fear spell when I cast it. I feel sorry for those unlucky souls that I would have to step on to face more powerful opponents. Something oddly unsettling about this mask is that it makes me want to scream "Bankai!" somehow.
Right, our disguise is done. Let us proceed to look for the person in question. He should be where he usually is at this hour. We went into a tavern called "Continental" to look for him. Just as I thought, he's here having his breakfast.
"Still having your daily meals here, Mr Wick?" I asked him.
"Fancy meeting you here, Mister Zen. This is one of the few establishments that is pet friendly. To what do I owe you the pleasure?" he asked as he petted his dogette.
"Well.. I was hoping that you can look after Daisy for a short while. Both Rose and I had signed up for today's tournament. And I'm hoping you wouldn't tell sensei that both of us are here?" I explained.
"Why am I not surprised? Very well, she'll get the best seat and security in the house when you two are in the arena. Is that the reason why you bought those masks though? Believe me, I am sure the master already knows you're here. Can't confirm about the tournament participation though for the both of you," he sipped his drink.
"Thank you. Consider this meal on the house as thanks for looking after Daisy," I bowed to him.
"Mr Wick, it's been a while," bowed Rose as she brought Daisy.
"Madame Angel, indeed it has. I'm sure the master would be delighted to see you," he said.
"Please.. call me Rose. I don't enjoy being called by my title especially from my close friends," she gave an awkward smile.
"Should we proceed to the tournament?" I asked Rose as I had paid for Mr Wick's meal.
"We can proceed together should you wish. I'm done with my meal," said Mr Wick as he stood up and brought his plate and cup to the counter. What a chad.
All of us headed towards the tournament location which was located inside a colosseum. Way bigger in terms of size than what the West has. They really love live actions here and the entry for these gets sold out almost immediately. I guess that is how they keep themselves entertained here. Nothing like smelling fresh blood from contestants, isn't it?
Rose and I checked-in for the tournament while Mr Wick escorted Daisy to where he described as the best seat of the house. Where in the world could that be, I wonder?
There was a long queue instructed by the receptionist for us to get our levels checked. What did they meant by levels exactly? We only had stats in this world and nothing that represents our level. Curious to see what they will be using for us to get it checked.
Both Rose and I had worn our mask by now. We needed to keep our identities hidden should we wish to remain anonymous. A couple of people were admiring at Rose while plenty of people were horrified by my horror mask. Better steer clear before I Getsuga your ass, heh heh. Either way, people were starting to give way for us to move forward most probably out of fear from me. We reached the counter and there was a giant crystal ball of some sorts that was held by some dragon statue. Very impressive to look at but otherwise obstructive. The queue could had been shorter if it was not for this statue.
"Name and designation?" asked the receptionist.
"Soong Jean-Wuu, outsider. Right behind me is Rosita Polaris with the same designation," I told him.
"Are you two together? Will you be fighting as a couple or something?" he asked.
"We can do that? Uh.. sure. We can fight together," I told him.
"And here I thought we might end up as opponents," whispered Rose from behind.
Was she hoping we could had sparred against each other? I guess I was not the only one who thought of it after all.
"Here is a gavel. Strike on the crystal ball gently and it will resonate your level to us," said the receptionist.
It was a small wooden gavel that felt normal without a hint of anything magical. Oh well, nothing else to do but to strike the crystal ball I suppose. Please don't break. I struck it as gently as I could and after a moment, the word "Level ???" appeared on the ball. The receptionist looked confused at first but checked his book. After a while, he started ringing his bell as though he was calling for someone. He instructed me to wait at an area that looked like a jail. Da hell? What did I even do??
Rose was concerned when she saw where I was heading but she kept calm and proceeded to do the same and struck the crystal ball. Once again, "Level ???" appeared on the ball. The receptionist shouted out loud "Again?!" and proceeded to strike the crystal ball to check on it himself.
I was watching from the partial wooden jail area and Rose was also instructed to come here after the receptionist had confirmed that the crystal ball was in fact working as intended.
"I guess the both of us are going to jail?" I chuckled.
"What did we even do? We just did as we were instructed," Rose sounded concerned by what had just happened.
"Nah, don't worry about it. I'll make sure nothing happens to us even if I have to destroy this entire city. Can't let my waifu get captured for no reason," I laughed.
"Haha.. there's no way you can do that. Peter is not going to let you rampage. And besides, he is stronger than the both of us. There is no way you can win," she chuckled.
I kept quiet after hearing that. How can she be so sure that I can't win against Peter? Neither of us had gone all out before. Not that I intend to do so but there was nothing in this world so far that tested me to my limits. Even I'm curious who would win if I fought Rose seriously. I had not been sitting back and skimping on my trainings for the past 15 years. While I kept lying to myself that I did not need to get stronger after I had beaten Tom, a part of me knew that I had to prepare myself to fight against the Demon King.
"Why are you thinking as though you can win? You can't, right?" she asked me once again.
I just looked at her with a smile. Not that she can see through my mask but she got gist of it. It was not long later that someone came over wearing a blue coat with the receptionist that sent us to jail. He even said "It's these two, officer" before stepping aside to let the officer inspect on us. Is he going to shout "FBI, open up!" or something?
"Let's see who we have here. Soong Jean-Wuu and Rosita Polaris, both outsiders. Curious names that deserves inspection indeed. You two are definitely going to jail," he said.
Before the both of us could say anything, the officer laughed loudly which made both of us looked at each other.
"Ahh, I kid, I kid. It's been a while since I exploded with laughter. This is definitely da bomb. So anyway, here is what happened. We had never had the crystal ball giving us such a response before. You two are definitely the first," he said.
"What do you mean? What was supposed to happen actually?" I asked curiously.
"Ah, the ball was supposed to give us a response between Level 1 to Level 10 which is determined by your strength. But in your case, you two are too strong for the ball to determine your level," he said.
"So.. we can't join the tournament for being too strong?" asked Rose with a confused look.
"Hm, that might not be the case. Do allow us some time to sort things out. Feel free to stay here at the VIP lounge in the meantime. If you need anything at all, just approach one of our staffs and we'll get you comfy," he said.
Both the officer and the receptionist began whispering to each other as they proceeded somewhere else. Is the officer joking? This is definitely not a VIP lounge. It's definitely a jail of some sorts by the design of it. But he did technically say that we are free to roam around but Rose suggested that we just stay put. What an awkward situation we are in right now. Being in jail with my wife for trying to join a tournament using our fake names.
"Do you think we'll be in trouble for faking our names?" I asked Rose.
"I don't think so. But I think this will certainly be brought up to Peter, so he will definitely be knowing that we had joined the tournament. Question is, will he humour us and go along with it?" she asked.
"Knowing him, I feel that he would. Why do you think there is this gladiator culture here? It is mostly due to him. Entertainment is pretty important here over anything else. So much for being a peaceful person, huh?" I chuckled.
"Well, everyone have their own entertainment to fulfil in this lifetime. I mean, it is mostly for entertainment sake and nobody dies from it. Besides, what else do they have here? They have limited resources and beauty as compared to the West. But, let us not compare with Marrydia. That city is built by the elves, mermaids and even the Underwater Dragon King altogether. It's incomparable to anywhere else" explained Rose.
Surprisingly, it did not take long for someone to escort us somewhere else. We were brought to what looked like a board meeting room. Uh oh, is Peter going to be in? Will our cover be blown before we even make it to the tournament rounds?
Sadly, yes. He was in the meeting. I just hope our mask and clothes were able to throw him off. We weren't wearing our usual clothings as those were kept in our fancy room. What is the point of being undercover if you wear something that is easily recognisable?
"Who do we have here? Little girl, do you happen to know these two?" asked Peter.
"Um, no. I don't know who these two are," replied Daisy.
Why is Daisy here? I thought Mr Wick was supposed to look after her and bring her to somewhere she can view the tournament safely. Damn it, did he betray us by spilling the beans?
"Ah, alright. So.. outsiders, what business do two strong individuals like yourself have in my city and not to mention joining the tournament? Are you trying to show off your strength?" he asked us.
I coughed and tried replying with a fake voice.
"Ehem, we just saw that there was a tournament being held and thought of experiencing it. We do not know our strength would be as strong as you say they were. We do not mind pulling out if it causes you any problems," I said.
"Oh, no problem at all. In fact, it would do me good for her to face against strong opponents. She had been getting too good lately, as a matter of fact under my tutorage. Be sure to give her a trashing for me," said Peter.
"Um, who exactly?" asked Rose.
"Don't worry. Once you see her, you will recognise her. Now let us discuss about your roles in this tournament. You two will be facing the last of the contestants that made it till the end. But my request is that Ze.. um, I mean.. Mister.. Soong Jean-Wuu? Aw c'mon. Pick a better name, would you? Now where was I? Ah yes, for Mister Jean-Wuu to fight first while Rosita would be fighting last. Would you comply to this simple request?" he asked both of us.
"Uh, of course. Sure," I responded. He obviously knows who we are.
"My men will escort you to somewhere you can watch until it is your turn to appear. I will keep Daisy safe with me. No worries," he smiled at us.
So much for being undercover. He saw right through us immediately. Oh well, no point in breaking our covers when he did not ask us to. I wonder who was he referring to? Under his tutorage? There are many that trained under him but he had declared that both Rose and I were one of his best pupils. Who else can it be? And I wonder who exactly will be trashed when we face one another. I am getting a little excited when Peter himself recognises her strength. Finally, a worthy opponent. Our battle will be legendary!