Following the examples that he had seen, Alnea stretched his Spirit towards the platform he was standing on, and conveyed his intentions, urging the platform to move. And the platformed did move. Slow at first, hesitant in its actions just as he was hesitant in his thoughts. As he grew accustomed to the movements though, the platform soon sped up and reached the main platform just moments after mental patient.
“Do you know who the kid is?”
“…No, but I know the man.”
“Who is he?”
“Brandall. An Intermediate Stage Wanderer from the Sixth Blood Hall who is about to break through to the Advanced Stage.”
“So strong? Then why is he in such a sorry state?”
“…Apparently, he made some mistake in the Black Desert Trial, leading half a dozen Wanderers of his clan to their death.”
“Black Desert Trial… What clan is he from?”
“The Lotus clan of Rianra.”
“Them? No wonder then.”
“Did he trick the newbie to earn some Blood Coins and repay his debt?”
The Wanderers discussing Alnea had not truly intended their words as questions. Yet what the guard said next still cleared away their confusions anyway.
“Let me confirm this once again. Blood Soldier N zero six zero seven three six eight, have you issued a Blood Challenge against Blood Soldier N zero six zero eight four nine nine?”
“I have.”
“Blood Soldier N zero six zero eight four nine nine, do you accept the Blood Challenge, or do you wish to leave the city?’
“…I came to the city just a few hours ago. Would it not be a pity if I were to leave so soon?”
“Just answer my question. Do you accept the Blood Challenge, or do you wish to leave the city?’
“…I accept the Blood Challenge,” Alnea said in a solemn tone, to which, the guard responded with a nod. The crowd though, erupted in an uproar.
“…Blood Challenge?”
“Are we going to witness another Blood Challenge?”
“No, even before that, why does the Brandal have the leisure to issue a Blood Challenge in the first place? Is he not loaded with debts to his clan? How can the Lotus clan allow him to do as he pleases?”
“…Given how crafty those people are, I would not be surprised if he was doing it on their orders.”
“But… Who is the kid then?”
“He looks like a newbie… Why can he make the Lotus clan go after him with such hatred?”
“How would I know?”
“Don’t you have any information?”
“Interesting,” Zain said, looking at the stage with a smile, before snorting at the rambunctious crowd. “Look at the kid. How long has it been since he became a Wanderer? And how long has it been since he came to the Lost City? Even he dares to risk himself in a Blood Challenge. I dare say that if someone issues a Blood Challenge against you, all of you will choose to leave the city. No wonder you are so weak.”
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“…Watch your mouth,” said a man in a brown robe. “Just because we have been tolerating you for a while does not mean that you can say anything you want.”
Zain laughed in disdain, and was about correct the man’s misconception about himself, when the guard finally spoke once again.
“You look new… Do you know the rules of the Blood Challenge?”
“Some,” Alnea said, glancing at the mental patient. His enemy. “Regardless, as long as I knock him down, and render him incapable of fighting, it will be considered as my win, right?”
“…That is one way of putting it,” the guard said. “Blood Coins are important, but so is your life. And your future. Do not throw it away for just some momentary pride.”
“I know,” Alnea said, nodding along with the words of the guard. In essence, they were the same as the advice his master had given him after they had dealt with the Heterodox Wanderers. To not throw his life needlessly, and retreat when necessary. That was how the world of Wanderers worked. And to some extent, Alnea agreed to that philosophy. After all, what he had done after his Spirit Test, running away from the Lotus clan, could also be considered to be as sort of a retreat. But…
Glancing around, Alnea found the other guards rushing in to declare the winner of other battles. And after they dealt with the Wanderers on stage, they called Yuri and Cecilia for their Blood Challenges. All because of the Lotus clan. Even in the Lost City, they still could not stop themselves from bothering him. And he had had enough of running. Turning back towards the man in front of him, Alnea entered his Spirit State, and braced himself for the fight.
“Then you can start.”
Alnea did not even bother with what the guard was doing. The moment he heard the guard’s words, he urged his Aspects and rushed towards his enemy. The man in a tattered red robe. Probably from the Redbud family. Even the glow of his Aspects around him was red. However, the man was not exactly a Warrior. So, instead of rushing towards Alnea, the man jumped away from him, while preparing his Arcana, all the while taking out his Glyph Disc and Carving Knife.
After all, the Wanderers of Lotus clan generally specialised in the path of Scholars. The Arcana was probably just a way for him to buy some time for himself. A control type Arcana then, Alnea thought. One with either a field effect, or individual target restraining abilities.
Predicting the attack of his enemy, Alnea immediately directed his Aspects to the soles of his feet, while slowing down, giving enough time to his enemy to prepare his Arcana. Not because he was overconfident. But to fool his enemy. From how he had been behaving, the man should have taken him to be just an Initial Stage False Wanderer. Yet the man still did not rush in, deciding to deal with a Wanderer an entire Stage weaker than himself with his strongest combination.
A mental patient his enemy might be, but he was not careless. Probably because of the mistakes he had made in the Black Dessert. Or the warnings that the Lotus clan might have given him. In any case, without using his strongest means, dealing with the man was going to be a headache. So, Alnea decided to deceive his enemy, deliberately appearing to be weak and slow. And as he had expected, the man did not suspect anything, and continued preparing his Arcana.
Of course, the man never stopped retreating, maintaining a certain distance from Alnea. And the moment he finished preparing his Arcana, he stopped in place, and looked at Alnea with a grin, before condensing a net of fire in the air. An Arcana with a field effect. From the high temperature of flames, and its large range, coupled with how thick the threads of the net were, the Arcana looked to be of the Intermediate Grade, or even High Grade.
Not an Arcana created by the man then, Alnea noted, changing his plan once again. Since the man dared to use an Arcana that he did not have complete control of, how could Alnea not give him a present? Smiling at his enemy, Alnea urged the Aspects on the soles of his feet to boost his jump, as he charged directly at the net of fire descending upon him.
He did not meet the net headfirst though. Instead, the moment that he was about to meet the net, he flipped in the air, and stepped on the threads of fire with his Aspect covered legs. Not for long, of course. Not to mention the ground trying to pull him back with all its force, he was not strong enough to ignore the damage from an Intermediate Stage False Arcana. And that too, of at least the Intermediate Grade.
Still, his Aspects earned him a fraction of moment. And that fraction of moment was enough for him to lock on to his enemy. Blasting all his Aspects against the net, Alnea used the counter momentum to shoot towards his enemy faster than even the Sky Streaming Style. He was so fast, that he reached his enemy before the poor man could even realise what was happening.
For a moment, Alnea felt pity for the man. Making mistakes in the Black Desert Trial, being forced in debt, and then being ordered to act as pawn just to test his limits, the man sure had a rough fate. But the pity was there for only a moment. After all, if the man had dared to fight against his fate, then he would not have been forced into his current predicament. Most importantly, the man wished to be cruel against him. And to those who were cruel against him…
Alnea unsheathed his sword in one clean motion, and using the momentum of his body, added even more strength to his swing, even as he added Aspects to the blade of his sword, allowing it cut through the ‘Wind’ and making it ‘Cry’. In the next moment though, it was the man who was crying, as he was sent down to ground with a wound that stretched across the entire width of his stomach, and the blood pooling around his body.