Tia did not understand what Cecilia was mumbling about. Still, she did not hesitate in reaching out to take Cecilia’s Blood Card and placing it on the scanner resting before her. The scanner was unlike all the scanner he had seen in the city though. Instead of shining like the other scanners, it just displayed a few symbols on its surface. Was it the scanner that was different, or was Tia using the scanner in a way that he did not know about?
“All ten Trials of the Initial Stage Trial Space has been cleared perfectly,” Tia said, before smiling at Cecilia, and handing her Blood Card back to her. “I knew you could do it. Just wait a moment.”
Turning around, Tia reached to the cupboards built in the wall behind her, and scanned her Blood Card on its lock—a black box— before opening the cupboard, and taking out a red, oddly shaped piece of a metal. From the first glance, the piece of metal looked like a large coin as thick as his finger, and in the form of a circle. On a closer look though, it looked nothing like a circle. Or a coin.
The only reason it even resembled a coin was because the piece of metal was flat, and had too many sides, making it seem as if all the sides were seamlessly connecting with each other, forming a circle. And unlike a coin, it did not have any number on its surface denoting its denomination. Neither did the piece of metal have any symbols, or emblems demarcating it as a coin from a particular region. Instead, the only symbol on its surface was that of a fist, surrounded by all sorts of weapons, including, but not limited to swords, spears, bows, and even cudgels and halberds.
“This is a Martial Style Medal,” Tia said, handing the red piece of metal to Cecilia. “It is also referred to as Warrior Medal. Because whether it is the Aspect Trials, or the Warrior Trials, their rewards is the same. A Warrior Medal.”
“…That’s convenient,” Cecilia admitted, as she took the medal from Tia, before turning towards him. “Let’s see who gathers more medals next time.”
His master used to say that he was cheeky. However, lately, he had been finding Cecilia to be even more cheeky than him. He did not tear her mask though. It was hard for her to calm down on her own. If he was forced to coax her again…
While Alnea was staring at Cecilia, Yuri stepped forward, and handed over her Blood Card to Tia, and said, “Please help me next, Wanderer Tia.”
“What help? This is my duty,” Tia said. Yet the smile on her face grew even wider at Yuri’s request. That was until she placed Yuri’s Blood Card on the scanner. Reading the details on the scanner, she lost her smile in a fraction of a moment, turning to look at Yuri with disbelief. Thankfully, she was a True Wanderer, and quickly controlled her emotions, before putting on a smile once again. A smile, that was even more radiant than before.
“Wait a moment,” Tia said, before opening the cupboard behind her once again. This time though, instead of just one medal, she took out seven, and brought them all to Yuri. “One for perfect clearance of the Trials, and seven for breaking city wide records. Eight in total. Is that right?”
Before Yuri could say anything, all the Wanderers around them, even the ones behind the counter, and the ones on other counters, all turned to stare at Yuri, sporting the same disbelief that Wanderer Tia had earlier.
“Seven city wide records?”
“Did I hear correctly?”
“Are you sure that you did not make any mistakes, Tia?”
“She looks younger than sixteen…”
“I had barely become a Wanderer when I was sixteen.”
“…Origin above, what kind of a monster is she?”
“I remember now! It is not just her. All three of them are monsters…”
“What? Blood Challenge on their first day in the city?”
“Defeating their opponents before they could even make a move?”
“…Where did these little monsters come from?”
…Little? Why did everyone like to call him little? He was not that small, right? At the very least, he was taller than most of his peers. Even Cecilia and Yuri were only about his height. Alnea did not mind them calling him a monster, but did they have to call him little?
If not for the Serenity of his Heart, he would have already lashed out at those ignorant Wanderers. And since even he could suppress his irritation, Yuri could do it too. Even Cecilia was able to control herself. Only the dumb cat felt a little threatened by all the ruckus, and was on its guard, warily glancing around the hall.
“…Thank you, Wanderer Tia,” Yuri said, ignoring the blatant comments being directed at them, before putting all the medals in her pouch. Fortunately, the medals were small enough to ‘fit’ inside the pouch, and did not make the pouch look like a storage pouch. After all, exposing their storage devices in front of other Wanderers was not really a wise idea.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“What about you, little brother? Are you not going to collet your medals?”
“…I would prefer if you would call me as just brother, or as Alnea,” Alnea said, handing his Blood Card to Tia.
“I will keep that in mind… Alnea,” Tia said, letting out a short laugh, before placing his Blood Card on the scanner. Moments later, her smile blossomed to its widest, as she looked at him with a light shining in her eyes. Opening the cupboard behind her, she took out nine medals, and handed them all to Alnea.
“One of perfect clearance, eight for breaking city wide records. Nine in total. Is that right, Alnea?”
After the uproar caused by the number of Martial Style Medals Yuri received, quite a few Wanderers had gathered around them. Even those who were far away were still paying attention to what was happening. And from the corner of his eyes, Alnea even saw Martha looking over with interest. Not at him, of course. Still, when Tia brought out nine Martial Style Medals, even she could not help herself from looking at him in surprise. And when Tia announced how many records he had broken, the Blood Hall burst into an even greater uproar than before.
“…Eight city wide records?”
“Coupled with the seven that the girl broke… Fifteen new records have been set in just one day?”
“Did you not say that they came to the city just a day ago?”
“They broke fifteen records in just one day?”
“And this is just their first Trial…”
“How many more records are they going to break?”
“Give them a couple of years, and they will surely enter the inner city.”
“…I think a couple of years is too long. Maybe a year will be enough…”
“…It is difficult.”
“Maybe they are talented, but they are still too young after all.”
“Unless they reach the Peak Stage in one year…”
“Sixteen year Peak Stage False Wanderers?”
“Do you think that reaching the Peak Stage is so easy?”
“Or do you think everyone is like that crazy serpent?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“How many crazy Serpents are there in our Sector?”
“…Serena Serpia?”
“Who else?”
“…I do not know if they are as talented as the crazy serpent, but I do know that one of them is wearing the robe of that crazy serpent’s clan…”
“…Serpia clan?”
“…Fuck!”
“Optah’s stink!”
“Quick. Ask the new Wanderers to go to the Trials, and check out the new records…”
Ignoring the crazy Wanderers falling into madness, Alnea quickly put all his Martial Style Tokens in his storage pouch. Although the bit about big sis Serena did ignite his curiosity, the gossip was soon drowned out in all the other useless chatters. And he had no intention of listening to the mad Wanderers calling him as a monster.
“Thank you, Wanderer Tia.”
“There is no need to be so polite with me,” Tia said, smiling at him with a strange light shining in her eyes. Was it greed? Or anticipation? Maybe both…
“Like I said before, I was just doing my duty.”
“…Regardless, you have my gratitude, Wanderer Tia. You can come to me when you need my help in the future. If it is within my power, and not against my convictions, and Heart, then I will not refuse.”
“…Then I will not be polite with you,” Tia said, withdrawing some of the light from her eyes, adding a bit more warmth in her tone. Glancing around the Blood Hall, she added, “The Blood Hall is a bit chaotic right now. And soon, those who learn of your achievements, will come seeking you. Some of them might solicit you, while some of them will threaten you, but all of them will be your rivals. Especially since you do not wish to stay in the outer city for long… I know that you must be excited to exchange for some resources, but it would be best for you to leave the Blood Hall for now, and come back after a while.”
“…Thank you for the reminder,” Alnea said in unison with Yuri, while Cecilia was trying to soothe Forne, picking it up from the ground, and caressing its back. Useless cat… After giving Tia a nod, they turned around, and began making their way out of the Blood Hall. And in the way, they crossed eyes with Martha. From the complicated look on her face, it looked like she had yet to recover from what had happened the night before. So, in the end, they decided to just give her a nod, and be on their way.
“…Where are we going next?” Cecilia said after they had walked out of the Blood Hall. There were still a lot of Wanderers around them, but compared to the Wanderers surrounding them just a while ago, their numbers had reduced by more than four fifths. Most of the missing Wanderers had gone back to talk with the seniors of their clan, while the rest had decided to stay in the hall. Besides, they were not talking about anything too important. It did not matter if a few Wanderers overheard their next plans.
“Depends,” Yuri said. “We can explore the city, fight in the Blood Arena, or return to our rooms to rest. In any case, we should not stay here.”
“Rooms…” Cecilia mumbled, before looking up in the sky. Enn had already risen, and was going strong, making its way towards his zenith. “Even if a day has not passed, the time should be close. By the time we reach our rooms, they should become unreserved… How about we look for a mansion?”
“Do you know how to look for a mansion?”
“…We should have asked Tia about it…”
“…I am not going in there again.”
“…Forget it. We can just look for another room. It is only one Blood Coin anyway.”
“Right. Blood Coins. How many Blood Coins do you two have now?”
“…A little over seventeen hundred.”
“…A little less than seventeen hundred.”
“…We are going to the Blood Arena.”
“…Why the sudden change?”
“…Because I want to beat someone up.”