“Oz, Carmen! We are over here with your grandparents!” Hannah shouted as soon as she saw Oswald and Carmen enter the VIP room. She ran towards Oswald and hugged him. “Good job on making it to the semi-finals. I didn’t think you would make it!”
“Thanks, Hannah!!” Oswald said, hugging Hannah back and kissing her. “I’ll try to make it to the finals!”
“Then I hope you do it!” Hannah said, pulling back from Oswald. She started petting Carmen on her head. “Good job, Carmen! You did well!!”
“Yeah! ALthough I lost to Selene, she taught me to sense Magic Power!” Carmen said with a happy tone. “So in a way I won! And do you also feel strange when trying to sense Magic Power from Oz and you feel nothing?”
“I mean it was strange at first, but I am used to it now.” Hannah responded.
“I mean what did you expect to feel from a magicless guy?” Oswald asked with a playful tone. “Of course I don’t have Magic Power!”
“Good job, Ozzy!” Aria said. “Did you do so well because you want me to not be your bodyguard anymore?”
“That’s not it.” Oswald said, turning red. “I think I need you as a bodyguard for longer! I still have lots to learn from you!”
“Did you ask Joseph?” Aria asked. “He is the one who gives orders.”
“I talked to Dad yesterday and he said that it was fine.” Oswald answered. “I just didn’t want a bodyguard because I didn’t know what kind of person would be assigned to me, since Grandfather Victor was the one in charge of assigning them in the past.”
“Makes sense.” Aria said. “I am going to the buffet, I am pretty hungry!”
As Aria left the seating section everyone looked at her.
“She is quite the character, I must say!” Alondra commented.
“What are you talking about? Aria is the coolest. Wait for me Aria!” Melanie said before following behind Aria.
“Grandma, Grandpa! It’s nice to see you two!!” Oswald said as he hugged Juanita and Eusebio.
“I wanted to see you two so badly!” Carmen said, also hugging both of them.
“Oz, Carmen, you did well! I am so proud of you!” Juanita said, touching Oswald’s left shoulder and Carmen’s right shoulder. “Carmen, even though you lost, you did amazing! And Oz, make sure to give it your all in the next match!”
“Have you seen your Mom around?” Eusebio asked.
“She should be somewhere around here alongside Dad.” Oswald answered and then she saw Liliana approach them. “She is coming this way!”
“Mom, Dad, I am glad you could make it!” Liliana said, smiling. “My two children did excellent! You know this is the first time in the history of this tournament that two siblings made it past the Qualifiers! I am proud of you two, you did your best out there!”
“Where is Daddy?” Carmen asked.
“The Pope and the Holy Knight accompanying him had to leave. It appears something happened at the Temple of Oreto. So your Dad is dealing with that situation. And he is also with the representatives of the Moon Guild, Jin Choi and Ayano Hashimoto.” Liliana answered.
“Great, it looks like they succeeded!” Hannah whispered to herself.
“Did you say something, Hannah?” Oswald asked.
“I was just thinking about what we should get from the buffet.” Hannah lied. “We should head now. I am getting hungry.”
“I am in the same boat as Nana. Let’s go eat!” Amy suggested.
“Oz, let’s go to that special VIP buffet that was promised on these VIP tickets.” Jack said, taking out his VIP ticket. “These are so nice, they are metallic and the people with general admission only get digital tickets. HEHEHE!”
“Yeah, I like the little Pia’s around the corners!” Aurora added. “Whoever designed these tickets has my respect!”
“Thanks, Aurora!” Carmen said.
“You designed them? You did a good job.” Aurora said as she took out a permanent marker from her purse. “Can you sign mine?”
“Oh yeah!” Carmen said, taking the marker and the ticket and signing the ticket. “Here you go!”
“Awesome!” Aurora said. “This ticket is more special now.”
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“Let’s go and eat!” Oswald said.
“You guys go ahead without me, I’ll stay with my parents.” Liliana said.
Oswald nodded and the seven guys and gals headed straight for the buffet. As soon as they approached the buffet, they could smell all kinds of delicious food. Oswald became focused on the breaded shrimp and quickly grabbed a plate. He filled his plate with breaded shrimp, then he put some carrots, broccoli, and corn on top of the shrimp. He also grabbed a glass of strawberry lemonade. He spotted Aria and Melanie happily eating ribs and sat on the same table across Aria. Hannah followed him and sat next to him. Her plate was filled with two steaks and shrimp fried rice. Her glass was full of taro milk tea.
“Are you not eating any vegetables?” Aria asked, looking at Hannah.
“I’ll grab some later.” Hannah responded. “All the food options here are so good.”
“You couldn’t expect less from the Deus Family.” Aria said. “They do love to show off their wealth. I mean this tournament is to show off their young talents. Showing off is the main skill of being a Deus.”
“Is that true, Oz?” Amy said as she sat down next to Melanie.
“I guess.” Oswald answered. “Carmen should be able to answer that better than me.”
“I am not like that.” Carmen said as she sat down next to Hannah, then she thought about it for a few seconds. “Well, I am somewhat like that. I mean everyone loves to show off to some extent.”
“I am with Carmen on that one.” Alondra said, sitting next to Amy.
“This table is big enough for everyone.” Jack said, as he and Aurora sat next to Carmen. “Thanks Aria for finding it!”
“I figured everyone would follow Melanie and me, so I just sat down here after getting my food.” Aria responded.
“Good thinking, Ms. Aria.” Amy said. She then took a bite out of her wagyu burger and ate some of her fries. “This burger is so delicious and these fries taste like they were made with peanut oil, so they are extra good.”
“You grabbed a whole chicken, you must be hungry, Carmen!” Jack said, looking at Carmen’s plate.
“So what, huh, Jack?” Carmen said, glaring at Jack. “Why are you eating so little, just having a couple pieces of fried chicken and a side of mashed potatoes?”
“Did I say something wrong, Aurora?” Jack asked.
“You should not say something about how much a girl eats.” Aurora responded, holding Jack’s hand. “Just eat for now. Carmen will just be angry with you for a bit.”
“Excuse me, I am just going to sit here!” Selene said as she sat down next to Oswald.
“Why are you here?” Hannah glared at Selene. “You’re not even a friend of Oz or Carmen.”
“Why so hostile … hmm? Oh yeah Hannah.” Selene responded. “I am just here to observe Oswald. You know, understanding the competition.”
“Selene, you’re here!!” Carmen said with a big smile. “Thanks for teaching me how to feel Magic Power.”
“No worries, that made our match more fun!” Selene said. “Aria, who do you think will win?”
“Leon will win the tournament.” Aria said. “Oh you were walking about your match! Then it could go either way. But if you rely on your long range, Ozzy will dodge and use your openings. Then again if you go short range, that’s Ozzy’s specialty! So do as you like.”
“That’s good insight!” Selene responded. “I guess I better think of what to do. But I only have about 65 minutes to think!”
“Oz, please beat Selene!” Hannah said, looking at Selene.
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do my best!” Oswald responded, smiling.
“With that attitude, it seems our match will be fun!” Selene said. “Make sure to perform better than how you did against Joshua or I’ll win too easily!”
“Well, I don’t have anything against you, so I won’t be trying to humiliate you.” Oswald stated, with a smile. “I’ll try to counter anything you’ll throw at me!”
“That’s what I expect.” Selene stated, with a smile. “I hope Leon doesn’t underestimate Hinako or else he might lose!”
“Yeah, there are no records of how she fights!” Oswald said.”And by looking at her fight against Robert she looks formidable and she could have studied all the material there is about how Leon fights!”
“We’ll just have to believe in him!” Selane said.
“Leon will win because he is amazing!!” Carmen said, with a big smile. “He is my role model of an adventurer. He is amazing and people are saying he could become even more powerful than my Dad, so I trust his abilities!”
“Then if it’s Oswald versus Leon, who would you support?” Selene asked.
“I mean … I would want Oz to win, but Leon is clearly beyond his league!” Carmen answered.
“That is the truth, but I want to go against him just to see how big is the gap between him and I!” Oswald said. “I believe we have the same goal, right?”
“Yep, I know I will lose against Leon!” Selene responded. “But I am curious about feeling his power as his opponent.”
“Ozzy, then win against Selene. I haven’t been training you for two months just for you to not make it to the finals.” Aria said. “As I see it the match can go to either of you. So figure out a way to win, you’re way smarter than me.”
“You’re lucky, you have this many friends!” Selene said, looking at Oswald. “I only have my Mom and Dad to cheer on me. After this tournament, I guess I’ll try to find some friends. It sure seems nice to have friends.”
“Why don’t you become our friend, Selene?” Amy said. “Ms. Aria is our friend and she is a High Ranking Adventurer. And there is Carmen and Oz, so you would fit right in.”
“Yeah, I can brag that I have three rich friends. HAHAHA!” Jack laughed.
“As long as you are not like the other Deus, then I guess you’re fine.” Hannah said.
“We can go to Moon Cafe.” Aurora added.
“That does sound nice!” Selene said. “I never been to Moon Cafe, but if you guys go with me, I’ll go!”
“Then, let’s go tomorrow!” Oswald said. “Or does anyone have plans for tomorrow?”
No had an objection to the plan and they began to exchange contact information with each other. With about 55 minutes until the beginning of the semi-finals, Oswald and Selene were thinking about the strategies they would use in theri upcoming match against each other.