“…Why did we come to the stupid Arena?” Cecilia mumbled, and for the first time in a while, Alnea could understand her frustration. After all, she had come to the Arena to vent out her feelings, but all she got was a one cat show from Forne. Just like her last battle, the cat took down her opponent before he could even react, stealing the man’s fortune while it was at it. It satiated its hunger, but left Cecilia’s Heart hanging in frustration.
“…It’s alright,” Alnea said, as he walked on the streets of the Lost City with Cecilia and Yuri, searching for a new place to stay. “You opponent was too weak anyway. He would have been done for in a couple of moves.”
“…That makes me even more frustrated,” Cecilia said with a complicated expression on her face, while the dumb cat rested in her arms, digesting its meal.
“Why?”
“…Forget it,” Cecilia said, letting out a heavy sigh. “It must be my retribution for beating you up all the time.”
“…I am not going to fall for your tricks.”
“What tricks are you talking about?”
“The one—
“If you two have forgotten, our priority right now is to find a room to rest, and not to flirt in the middle of the street.”
“Who is flirting with him?”
“…I would like to concur with her on this one.”
“…How many buildings did the two of you check?”
“…Three.”
“…Four.”
“Do I need to say anything else?”
Alnea faked a cough, before rushing into another building towards his right. He had long recovered from his exhaustion in the Trials, at least enough to win a free battle in three moves. And that was under the premise that he was supressing himself, trying not to show most of his abilities. Climbing some flights of stairs to check for empty rooms did not pose him any problems. Finding an empty room though…
This was the fifth building he was searching. Counting the buildings that Cecilia, and Yuri just went into, they had searched a total of seventeen buildings. Yet, none of the empty rooms they found were close to each other. They were always either on different floors, or even in different buildings altogether. Whether it was for convenience, or for safety, they had to stay together. So, they could only give up on all the empty rooms they found, and keep searching.
“…Is it because of the Arena?” Alnea said, turning around to look at the towering building in the distance. Staying so close to Arena must be convenient… He supressed the errant thoughts running amok in his head, before walking out onto the streets. Not so coincidentally, Cecilia and Yuri also walked out onto the streets at the same time. And from the expression on their faces, he knew what the result of their search was.
“…We should have asked Tia where, and how to rent a mansion,” Alnea said, sighing at the missed opportunity.
“We can ask her tomorrow,” Yuri said. “For now, let us focus on finding a room to rest. Or do you want to experience the feeling of homelessness?”
“Only if you let me sleep on your laps.”
“…Pervert.”
“…I knew I should have kept you away from Serena.”
“…I was joking,” Alnea said, laughing awkwardly at reaction of the girls.
“We are not.”
“Pervert.”
“…Forget it,” Alnea said, noting down his grievance in his head. One day…
“Should I say that kids nowadays are too confident in themselves, or are the three of you just simply ignorant?”
A voice laced with disdain and contempt rang out in the air, breaking Alnea, Cecilia, and Yuri away from their own little world. Frowning at the voice, they turned towards its source, and found a man dressed in a white robe walking out from one of the buildings.
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“…Zain?” Alnea said, recognising the man who was taunting them.
“Oh, so you are not too ignorant.”
“What do you want?” Cecilia said, staring at the man with a sharp, cold gaze.
“Do you even have anything that I could covet?” Zain said with a sneer.
“Then mind your own business, and leave us alone.”
“…Oh, I plan on doing just that,” Zain said, turning from sneering at them to gloating at them. “After all, none of you three will have a good future in the city.”
“…If you have anything to say, then just say it,” Yuri said, looking at the man with blank expression on her face. It was as if she felt no emotions, whatsoever, at the man’s taunts. Only Alnea knew how angry she was at the moment.
“Getting impatient already?” Zain said, sneering at them once again. “How have you survived the Origin Sea till now?”
“Let’s leave this crazy man alone,” Alnea said, grabbing Cecilia’s and Yuri’s hands before they could rush at the man, and beat him up. He was not opposed to the idea of teaching crazy man a lesson, but they were in the Lost City. And they had to abide by its rules. They could have also challenged the man to a fight in the Arena, but that would mean listening to the man’s drivels till they beat his consciousness out of him. Not worth it.
“…Are you running?” Zain said with a laugh. “Seriously, you should consider tempering your Heart more often, or you might end up getting devoured by the Origin Sea.”
…Or maybe it was worth considering.
“You have been deliberately taunting us for a while now… Are you trying to enrage us? To force us into breaking the rules of the city? Are you also a dog of the Lotus clan?”
“Lotus clan?” Zain said, laughing even more hysterically, shaking his head. “Let alone a declining Orthodoxy like the Lotus clan, even the Origin clans are not enough to make me bow down to them. As for me forcing you to break the rules of the city… I think that the three of you are just too self-righteous. If I was trying to force you out of the city, I would just have issued a Blood Challenge.”
“And you would have been kicked out of the city by us.”
“It looks like you are delirious too,” Zain said, shaking his head. “Forget it. I was just thinking of informing you of the danger that you are facing. But it looks like you do not need my help.”
“The danger we are facing?” Alnea said, before sneering back at Zain. “I guess some Peak Stage False Wanderers of the Lotus clan might be targeting us. Maybe, they have even acquired some external help. Is that how you learned of the danger? Because they invited you to deal with us?”
“The Lotus clan?” Zain said, laughing back at Alnea. “If that is what you think… I hope that you are alive the next time we meet.”
“…Forget it. It would be better if we do not meet again. Or I might not be able to control myself from tearing your mouth.”
“…You are quite sharp mouthed yourself,” Zain said, grinning at him, before turning around, and walking towards the Blood Arena.
“…What is his problem?”
“…He is just lonely man, seeking attention and affirmation from others,” Yuri said, shaking her head, before the sharp, cold light returned to her eyes. “But it still does not give him the right to talk down to us.”
“…Let us just forget about him,” Alnea said, refusing to let go of Yuri’s hands, afraid that she might rush to the Blood Arena to challenge the crazy man. “We have not even found rooms for ourselves, and there is so many things that we have to discuss.”
“…We do need to discuss a few things,” Yuri said, nodding at his words, while glancing at the buildings around them. “I am afraid that we will not find three rooms next to each other so close to the Arena.”
“…Then let’s go back to where we got our first Rooms,” Cecilia said, still sounding a little grumpy because of the missed chance to beat up the crazy man. “I do not want to live near that crazy bastard anyway, or I might end up beating him to do death.”
“Language, Lia,” Alnea said, flicking Cecilia’s head. “We should not degrade ourselves to the same level as that crazy man.”
“…You are not setting a great example yourself,” Yuri said, with the ends of her lips curving upwards in a smile. “Anyways, we should not stay here for long. We never know who might challenge us to a battle.”
“…I have been walking on these streets for the past half an hour, but why has no one challenged me yet?”
“…They might have challenged you if they knew nothing about Forne. But after tales of your battle spreads, except Peak Stage Wanderers, who else will dare to challenge you in the Arena?”
“…Forget it,” Cecilia said, sighing in distress, as she looked at the cat peacefully sleeping in her arms. “Let us just search in other areas.”
Having made up their mind, all three of them left the area around the Blood Arena, and made their way to the area around the Sixth Blood Hall, where they finally found what they were looking for. Three rooms, all adjacent to each other. None of the rooms were on the ground floor though, so they were not able to experience what the guard had talked about. And judging from how precious the rooms on the ground floor were, they not going to experience it any time soon either.
However, none of them felt any pity, or regrets about not being able to stay on the ground floor. For them, staying together was more important than experiencing some unknown benefits. Besides, Tia had said that there were some resources in the Blood Hall, which were worth millions of Blood Coins. What benefits could a room worth two Blood Coins bring them? Better concentration? Peace of mind? Help in tempering their Hearts?
Using external help for any of those things would be beyond stupidity. Not only would it make them dependent on those external help to calm their Heart, but it would also weaken their will. Rather than wasting their time in seeking such useless, and superfluous benefits, which would bring more harm than gains, using their precious time to get more training was a better idea. Yet, before they could train, there one more thing that they had to do. Discuss their gains in the Trials, and plan their next move.