Alnea stood in the Arena, tracing his finger around the edges of his Blood Card, wondering where had he gone wrong? Was it when he became the Captain? Or when he set an unrealistic goal for himself? Though strictly speaking, the goal was not completely unrealistic, he noted, as he glanced at the details on his Blood Card.
N 06 08499
F I 7
000000
09832
000000
09832
011350
06841
019455
073489
0000000
150219
00000004796
Seventy three thousand… From a little under a hundred and thirty thousand all the way to Seventy three thousand, his rank in the Arena had indeed made quite a jump in the past month, but it was still short of the goal he had set for himself. Or the girls. Yuri and Cecilia in particular. Their ranks were not much different from his. After all, the time they spent in the Arena, and the number of times they fought was similar.
Regardless, if they could make a jump of around seventy thousand in the past month by just fighting three to four battles a day, another three to four battles a day should have allowed them to reach their goal. If the progression in ranks was linear, that is. It was not. The more their ranks progressed, the more Arena points they had to earn to progress even further.
Alnea still recalled how it had taken only ten thousand Arena points for his rank to reach around ninety thousand, yet nearly ten thousand points later, he had still not breached past the seventy thousand mark. Not to mention that the better their rank became, the tougher the opponents they faced, making their battles more exhausting every day.
Just fighting three to four times a day was already stretching them to their limits. Going further was bound to hamper their daily training. More importantly, just three to four more battles a day was nowhere enough for them to reach their goal. At the very least, they would have had to fight nearly twenty to thirty times a day, spending most of their time in the Arena.
Anxious as he was, Alnea was not stupid enough to sacrifice everything just to show everyone that he did not overestimate himself. Besides, even if he had made that decision, Yuri and Cecilia would not have allowed him to go through with it. And neither would have Vestia. Even though it was she who was supposed to follow his orders… In any case, his task was bound to fail from the moment it was conceived. Maybe if he had dug for more information, or asked his teammates for their advice, before choosing his goal…
In contrast, the rest of his teammates were progressing very smoothly towards their goals. Especially the five he had asked to venture into the desert. Just listening to the whispers of the Wanderers around him in the Arena was enough to tell him how much his teammates had progressed. Even on the streets, or in the Blood Hall, he could often hear Wanderers gossiping about Star Seekers. And what he could not hear was brought to his ears by Vestia. From information about alliances and conspiracies to something as simple as information about individuals, nothing could hide from her.
Recently, at his request, she had even begun digging into some legends of the city. With the help of Karl, of course. The invisible man, as Alnea liked to call him, was somehow able to lurk right in plain sight of other Wanderers, and gather all sorts of information. Mostly about who killed whom, who was plotting against whom, and all sorts of conspiracies. It was also why Alnea asked him to help Yuri with her recent investigations.
In any case, everyone had been doing a perfect job over the past month. Everyone, except him. The goal he had set for himself… Even when he tried his best, he just could not—
“…How many more days is it going to take?” Cecilia said, yawning, while stretching out her limbs, with Forne, standing on her small platform, mimicking her actions. “I am getting bored by the Arena now.”
“…Say that after you try fighting without Forne’s help.”
“…You are saying that as if I can control her,” Cecilia mumbled, squatting down to scratch its back. “And don’t you know what will happen if we don’t let her have her fill?”
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“…Still, you should try fighting one or two battles by yourself.”
“…It’s too troublesome. Besides, they are all just too weak. Even if I fight them, it would not bring me any benefits. Rather than wasting my time and energy, it is better that I let Forne clean them all up for me.”
“…Then don’t complain.”
“Why? I cannot even complain now?”
“…I am sorry,” Alnea said, letting out a sigh after he noticed the irritation in his voice. “I have been a little stressed lately.”
“How about I give you a massage then?” Vestia said, winking at him with a smile.
“If he needs a massage, then I can do it too!” Cecilia said, clenching her fists, and waving them in front of his face. Maybe, if it had just been Vestia who had made that offer, then he might have accepted it. But Cecilia…
“…Thanks for the offer, but I am fine.”
“…Is it because of the battle yesterday?”
“…No, that’s just a part of it. But don’t worry. I know that it was not my fault.”
“…It’s good that you know,” Yuri said. After a slight pause, she added, “What is bothering you then?”
“…The one month deadline is approaching”
“So?”
“…Ralph and the rest have already begun spreading the name of our team. Vestia has also gathered enough information. Even Karl has gained quite a bit in the past month. Only we…”
“We have improved our ranks by nearly sixty thousand places.”
“…But that is not enough. The rest of them are all in the top twenty thousand ranks of the Arena. Even Zain, after he broke through to the Peak Stage, has managed to make it to the top thirty thousand ranks. Only we…”
“It is not your fault, Alnea. We just started out a little later than others. It is only a matter of time before we catch up with them.”
“That is the problem. We don’t have time… I said that we will catch up with them in a month…”
“We are already fighting three battles a day. Sometimes, we even fight four times. And we have never lost. What more can we do?”
“But… I am the Captain. And I am the only one who failed the task…”
“It is not just you who failed the task. Cecilia and I failed too.”
“That’s because I set the target too high…”
“See? Do you not have your answer already? You just set our target too high.”
“…That is my fault as the Captain…”
“…It is your first time leading a team, Alnea. And back then, you were new to the Lost City. It is understandable that you made a mistake in your judgement. I am sure that everyone will understand.”
“…Being a leader is tough.”
“Now, do you understand how I felt back in the Night Canyons?”
“…I have reasons to believe that you deliberately pushed me to the position of the Captain to take revenge.”
“…Guilty as charged,” Yuri said, with a radiant smile on her face, charming enough to send him into a daze…
“…It is not fair.”
“What is not fair?”
“…Nothing,” Alnea mumbled, before turning towards Vestia. “Have you made any progress on the things I asked you check, Vestia?”
“…I have some leads, but it will take time. Especially if I want to do it without alerting our enemies, or… you know who.”
“Who?” Cecilia said, tilting her head in confusion, before turning towards Alnea. “Did you ask her to check something again?”
“…It is a secret,” Vestia said, giggling at Cecilia’s puffed-up cheeks,
“A secret of the city,” Alnea quickly added before Cecilia could make up some ridiculous stories in her mind, and punish him for his role in those stories. “And a secret that you already know.”
“…Are you talking about the—
“Not here,” Alnea said, cutting Cecilia off, before glancing at the Wanderers around them. “This not exactly the place to talk about such things. Especially if those said things can play a pivotal role in whether or not we enter the core city. If you are curious, wait until we go back to our mansion. I will have Vestia brief us on how much she has progressed in her search. But only if you promise not to look into those secrets.”
“Why?”
“Because I do not want you to make the same mistake I made a couple of weeks ago.”
“…Do you think I cannot do what the vixen is doing?”
“There is no shame in admitting our weakness, Lia.”
“I hate to interrupt, but if you truly want to keep the ‘secret’ you are talking about as a secret, then you better not discuss it easily. No even in our mansion,” Yuri said, bringing everyone’s attention to herself. “We know too little about how the city works. What are the principles through which the different facilities of the Lost City function? Glyph Arrays, or some entirely new power system?
“If it is Glyph Arrays, then it is fine. But if it is the latter, who knows if someone can use higher authority to take control of our mansion, and listen to our conversations through the walls? Like Alnea said, the secret may very well be the key in determining whether or not we enter the core. Maybe even… The less the people know about it, the better it would be. You can tell us about it when you have uncovered the entire secret, or when the time is right, but till then, you better keep it just between you and Vestia.”
To Alnea alone, Yuri added, “Of course, no one can peep into our conversation, so you can rest assured when talking with me.”