"Ah, man, that felt good!" Alan exclaimed loudly in an extremely undignified way.
However, unlike before, none of the nobles even dared whisper anything against him.
All the onlookers averted their eyes from Alan's, having clearly witnessed what he did to that young man.
"I'm back." Lucian appeared, holding two cones of ice cream in his hands.
"Ah nice." Alan smiled and quickly took one cone for himself, before rapidly licking it.
His behaviour was most definitely questionable, but no one said anything anymore.
"Alright, Lucian, do we know where we are going?" Alan asked
"Yes." Lucian merely nodded and led the way.
But Alan already finished his ice cream. "Oi Lucian, get us more ice cream."
"No."
"Why the fuck not."
"You said to save money."
"That shit don't count for ice cream."
"And I forgot what shop I got it from."
"You're useless…"
…
After a while, the duo stood in front of a large structure.
It resembled a colosseum but was decorated more lavishly.
There was a large crowd of nobles walking in and out of the entrance of the place.
Above the giant entrance gate was a sign, it read.
[Tournament Finals!]
[Arlo Von Valenheart Vs Tyrece Alpin]
"The prince's name is Arlo?" Alan tilted his head.
Although he knew about the prince, he just never learnt of his name.
Valenheart was the signature surname that only belonged to the members of the royal family so it was fairly easy to see who the prince was.
Soon, Alan and Lucian walked through the entrance door.
Inside was a large reception with a long red carpet on the floor and a chandelier on the ceiling.
Sometimes Alan thought the nobles just spent too much money on pointless things, such as right now.
There were two hallways, in the centre of it was a desk, behind it sat a young man.
"Yo." Alan walked up.
The man raised his gaze and settled it on Alan's face.
"How may I be of assistance."
"Do I have to pay for watching the match."
"Yes." The man nodded. "One gold coin."
"I fucking hate this district." Alan muttered under his breath.
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Nah nothing." Alan tossed two coins, one for him, another for Lucian.
The man accepted the coins, then bowed, gesturing towards one of the hallways.
"That way leads to the audience, please enjoy yourself."
"Yeah, yeah." Alan waved him off and walked down the hallway.
…
"Why is it so stacked?" Alan grumbled the moment he walked into the audience seats.
The place was incredibly large, the audience seats circled around a massive arena.
Most of the seats were full, Alan and Lucian passed through the herd of nobles, eventually finding two open seats at the front.
"How lucky." Alan said, then flopped into his seat, Lucian followed soon after, sitting beside him.
"Oi Lucian." Alan called out. "Who do you think will win."
"If the second prince happens to lose, I will be immensely disappointed in the royal family."
"I agree, these guys surely have to be strong." Alan nodded, then remembered something. "If I remember right, the fourth princess is as strong as us, right?"
"Yes." Lucian confirmed.
Gavin previously mentioned a while ago, the fourth princess awakened even before Alan, and apparently the daughter of the grand duchy Caelis was also at a level with Alan and Lucian.
And thus both Alan and Lucian had much anticipation for meeting them.
As he was lost in his thoughts.
"OWUAAAAHH!!"
A wave of roars burst out in the audience.
"What the hell happened to their elegant demeanour?" Alan raised his brows, confused by the sudden outburst.
Then he looked at the arena beneath.
Approaching from one of the entrances was a young man.
At the same time, the announcers voice rang out.
["Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the second prince of the Northern continent, Arlo Von Valenheart!!!"]
He had short blonde hair neatly groomed and styled.
His features were sharp and incredibly handsome.
However, his eyes were a bright blue, unlike the usual blue eyes of nobles, his looked as if he held the sky within them.
"Kyaaaa!" Some ladies in the audience started squealing the moment he walked up.
"Oh come on, he ain't even all that." Alan grumbled.
He was sure that even his own looks were quite good, hmm, yeah it was definitely the blindfold diminishing his charms.
["And his opponent for the tournaments finals, please welcome, Tyrece Alpin!!!]
Another wave of cheers broke through the audience, but it was noticeably less than when the prince arrived.
From the opposite entrance came another man.
His hair was a medium length of black, while his eyes were a shade of green.
"Looks like it's starting." Alan muttered, looking at the two with curiosity.
He wanted to see what was expected from those at his age.
And soon the announcer announced.
["The two participants are now facing each other."]
Then after a moment.
["The duel begins!!!"]
…
Arlo stood before another man.
"So you're my opponent for today, I see." Arlo calmly stated.
"Likewise prince." Tyrece replied, offering a small respectful bow.
Without speaking much further, Arlo drew his weapon, a plain silver sword.
Responding in kind, Tyrece pulled forth a curved blade, his weapon of choice.
["Begin!!!"]
The moment the announcement boomed, the pressure within the arena shifted.
Arlo's blue eyes flared, a golden ring ignited around his pupil.
His hair begun drifting upwards, his muscles tensed in growing power.
The air surrounding him quickly fired up, engulfing the environment in sudden heat.
It was his Affinity, Arlo awakened with the affinity of Solar, the very sun itself supported him.
Bang
Arlo lunged, the ground beneath his feet caved in under pressure as he burst forward in a blitz.
Clang
But Tyrece reacted in time, smoothly bringing his blade to parry Arlo's, but the impact shook his bones.
Quickly realised he was outmatched in pure strength, he twisted his wrists he redirected Arlo's blade sideways.
In that brief gap, he drove his elbow into Arlo's stomach.
Thup
But it was grabbed by Arlo's left hand.
Pivoting on his heel, Arlo brought his feet into a high axe kick, golden flames erupted across his shins, coating his feet in a layer of blaze.
Then he brought it down in a blink of an eye.
BANG
The ground erupted in flames, but it wasn't the usual kind, it was a golden flame that melted the floor.
Soon the smoke slowly parted, clearing itself, revealing the two contestants.
Arlo stood perfectly upright, his posture pristine, while the clothes were completely untouched by the heat.
And a distance away from him, Tyrece was struggling to stay up, he was down on one knee, his clothes scorched in several areas.
But a swirling current of wind surrounded him, protecting him from the flames.
It was his affinity, something relating with wind.
"Hah…hah…" He was breathing heavily, then from his kneeling position he drew his blade, sending forth a horizontal arc.
Whoosh
The wind reacted with his slash, within moments it developed into a curved projectile rushing towards Arlo.
However, Arlo was quick, before it reached him, he dodged to the side.
But Tyrece was already there, lifting his sword high above his head, the wind spun around his blade powering up a devastating attack.
Thup
However, Arlo didn't allow it to happen, before Tyrece could bring it down, Arlo struck his hand with the flat of his blade.
Clang Clang
The sword dropped from Tyrece's hands before settling to the ground.
Without pause, Arlo launched a quick hook right to Tyrece's jaws.
Soon, Tyrece's eyes rolled back into his head, his consciousness vanishing.
Thump
And Tyrece collapsed.
Arlo smoothly turned around and flapped his wrists in the air for a moment.
Then walked off without any particular reaction.
["And the winner isss ARLO! VON VALENHEART!!!]
…
["And the winner isss ARLO! VON! VALENHEART!!!]
"OWWUAAAAA!!!"
The crowd erupted into another wave of cheers, all celebrating the winner of the tournament.
"Eh?" But Alan's expression was somewhat bored. "Alden is definitely stronger…"
In his mind, he thought of the average fighter of his age group would've been someone like Alden.
But right now, he was immensely disappointed, he didn't know what he expected, but he assumed the royal family would be strong.
"Maybe I am just the weird one." Alan muttered.
"No, even I am disappointed." Lucian supported Alan.
"Right? These guys are trash."
For some reason, it never crossed their minds that they were actually the weirdest people in the room.
"Oi Lucian." Alan's face lit up with an amazing idea. "Let's go meet the second prince."
"Why?"
"Well he is the brother of the fourth princess, so he should know how strong she is."
"Fantastic idea."
"Yeah, let's go see him."
And so the two of them left the audience and took a slight detour.
…
In a quiet hallway, a single set of footsteps echoed against the marble walls.
Arlo, his face, was calm as if his winning position didn't even matter to him.
In fact, it didn't, he only participated to judge the strength of his current generation.
But they didn't live up to his expectations.
"None of them were even close." He muttered to the empty air, his voice heavy with disappointment. "None even as close as them…"
"Oh? As close as who?" Suddenly, a casual voice echoed through the silent hallway.
Arlo's head snapped up, his eyes narrowing to scan the two people.
One young man, he walked with an aloof smile, his hair fell to his shoulders and his eyes were wrapped by a piece of black silk.
The other was someone whose hair was pure white, his eyes were teal, looking at Arlo.
"Who are you two?" Arlo tensed, within moments he already recognised the two of them were stronger than him.
"Calm down, we just want to talk." Alan waved his hand, then with his other hand brought down the blindfold, revealing his eyes.
"Zevril?" Arlo's eyes widened in recognition, then narrowed again. "Alden is staying at the royal castle currently, Alvin isn't on this continent."
"So who are you." His brows were knitted together.
"Relax, I'm Alden's half brother."
"Half brother?" Then Arlo remembered something he heard when he was very young. "The bastard of the Zevril?"
"What the hell." Alan scoffed. "Just call me Alan."
"You are the sheltered bastard, you?" Arlo's eyes were in disbelief.
Alan standing before him was clearly stronger, much stronger, and so was the man besides him.
"Why you have to make it sound like that?" Alan asked. "But yeah, I am."
"So you two are also one of them..." Arlo muttered.
"What?"
"Talking about the geniuses." Arlo smiled. "Those like my sister and the daughter of Caelis."
"Oh?" Alan smirked. "That's why I'm here, tell me how strong are those two."
Arlo paused, his eyes scanning Alan and Lucian seriously.
After a moment of silence, he replied.
"They're stronger, just from impression." He stated. "You might beat Iris, but you're nothing against the fourth princess."
His voice was calm, it wasn't mocking or any arrogance, he spoke his true opinion.
"I see." Alan smiled, pulling his blindfold back to his eyes. "That's good then."
"Why is that?"
"Who knows." Alan shrugged. "I really want to meet them."
"Oh, you don't have much time then."
"What?"
"Those two have been plotting something together." Arlo tapped his chin. "They aren't exactly too secretive about it, they are definitely preparing to leave the continent."
"The hell?" Alan tilted his head in confusion. "Why would they suddenly want to leave."
"How would I know?" Arlo dismissed it with a shrug and resumed walking, passing by Alan and Lucian. "I assumed I'll see you two again?"
"Yeah." Alan smiled, then followed Arlo.
"Wait, why are you following me?"
"Well, we came from that way?" Alan pointed down the hallway. "We're also going to the exit."
"Oh…" Arlo kept his face composed, though his eyes betrayed slight embarrassment. "I see."
What followed was a long awkward silence that stretched down the hallway before they finally separated.