This rest day was a day filled with expectation. The shape of the final matches had been made clear. Anticipation was thick in the air.

Helio Udunes expertly chopped the onions and then threw them into the large wooden bowl with the shredded potatoes. His left hand squirted oil into the bowl while his right grabbed a handful of mixed salt and spices and tossed it on top. With experienced movements, he brought a wooden spoon into the bowl and churned the base ingredients for his famous Orchard Hash.

Rather than human movements, his hands had achieved something close to a machine-like precision as he furiously pumped away at the ingredients. The long tendons of his forearm stood out in sharp relief as he engaged in the labor-intensive act. He didn’t consciously count the number of times he churned and spun the potatoes and onions, but his eyes closely followed the color and consistency.

If someone had been counting the number, they would have noticed that he set the finished bowl down on the aluminum table after the exact same number of stirs as he had with the previous batch. But even then, his hands didn’t rest. Helio turned to the layered hash that was already sizzling on the griddle and expertly began cutting off square portions that spat out grease.

Finding a minute imperfection, Helio frowned. He added a pinch more of shredded cheddar cheese on top of one of the squares.

Because the seasons had finally, laboriously, began shifting deeper into autumn, the heat of the griddle and the sound of sizzling oil was extremely reassuring compared to the light dusting of snow outside. Individuals with glasses pushed through the wooden door and had their glasses fogged up. Even though most people in the Orchard had high enough Stats that the cold wasn’t a significant inconvenience, there was just something compelling about warmth; the streets generally housed only people hurrying from one shelter to another.

Aside from Helio working the grill, there were four people sitting in Helio’s small restaurant. There were two cramped wooden tables and sets of chairs that he had barely been able to squeeze into the lot given to him, but strangely all four of the customers were sitting at a single table. They were crumpled like sardines, but no one seemed to mind. That was just the way that it was.

Their voices were loud, so it was quite easy for Helio to keep track of their conversation. At first, Helio had believed that they were purposefully trying to include him and was slightly touched. But as he understood these people better… they were simply loud.

“Oh, Alana has been a Legend for at least a year now, since when the Ghosthound cast aside Donnyton,” Liam was saying with a deep frown. His hands were resting on his bulging stomach Liam was a Zone 1 native, and claimed to have obtained his Class from East Providence. For those who cared about such things, this was apparently quite prestigious a claim. “Heh, this Li or whatever might look flashy, but he’s newly arrived at that type of strength. I have no doubt they will lose quickly in the next match.”

Liam had large hands and thick fingers. He used those almost sausage-like fingers to poke the table every few words, as though to emphasize his point.

Helio turned his attention from the cooking hash to the next batch in the bowl. Narrowing his eyes, Helio consulted his Skill. Then he took several smaller pinches of spices and mixed them in more carefully. Personally, Helio didn’t believe that Liam was anything close to one of the original members of Zone 1. He was, to put it bluntly, quite weak. The air around him held not even a whiff of an image.

But Helio was exactly the opposite of these people; he was a very quiet person.

“Are you sure? Were you there? I was sitting directly behind the Zone 1 side of the stands so the attack was coming right at me.” Cleary was a sharp-eyed woman who seemed to be constantly looking at the exit to the restaurant while she was here. Helio always wondered whether she was dreading or anticipating someone’s arrival. She didn’t wear a wedding ring or have a tan line, but Helio suspected all was not settled in her personal life. The woman continued to talk with a wide-open mouth, completely obviously to Helio’s sharp but brief glance. “That attack was powerful. I think that they can at least make it to the finals with an attack like that.”

Sluuuuuurrrpppp. Ning sucked deeply at her straw, her eyes on the table. Of the four, the woman from the Great Sea Zone didn’t speak much. For that reason, Helio liked her the best. But that didn’t mean he liked her very much, in the end.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

He walked out from behind the grill with a pitcher and poured her another large glass of lemonade. She didn’t even acknowledge him; this was simply his role. Helio turned away and placed the pitch back on the shelf. Then his finely honed Skills from cooking prodded him to return and check on the hash once more.

Evater, who was a veritable wall of flexing muscle, shook his head with enough force that his ponytail bobbed behind his head. He was from the Zone 32, but had gotten his Class and training from the Refuge. “Impossible. The finals? At least on this subject, Liam is right. They might have shown they have the power of a Legend, but do you think any of the people they will be fighting aren’t at that level? These people can level a city just like that.”

Helios slipped his spatula underneath the cooking hash and checked the bottom; it was golden brown and perfect. He moved the chunks of finished hash to four plates.

“Lucifer, Hank, and Alana,” Cleary said, counting on her fingers. “They are definitely Legends. But the Ghosthound only had to intervene in that one fight in the prior round. Doesn’t that prove how powerful the Huangs are?”

“Bah, that’s only because the other fights were more one-sided. That fight was just the best matchup. If that chinaman hadn’t been so wild, he would have just lost,” Liam harrumphed and crossed his arms. Helios brought out the four plates and set them in front of everyone. For a brief while, the conversation was stalled as people began to eat. Helios truly relished the silence.

He opened up a cooler and pulled out a few more lemons. He could already see the level of Ning’s lemonade in her cup sinking downward toward empty. With a small knife, Helio sliced the lemons in half and squeezed their juice out into a bowl.

The four didn’t have any reason in particular to be friends, but there was a betting house next to Helio’s restaurant that was the common point between them. After several tumultuous rounds, these four winning gamblers simply made it a habit to head here and gossip after all the bets were tallied.

They all were locked into a strange competition outside of the actual competition; who between them had the most insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the contenders? And that competition was only becoming more vicious as the number of participants was narrowed down. With only eight duos remaining, Helios’s four customers were determined to prove their superiority over each other.

The matches before, even to Helios’s casual observation, had been rather straightforward. But truly, these last sixteen individuals were overwhelming.

...well, fifteen individuals and a horse.

Still, Helio was not someone who enjoyed violence. The tournament was simply a necessary evil. That was the sort of world they now lived in.

“But Zone 32 is pretty much the clear winner,” Evater said with pride. “We have six out of the top eight spots.”

Liam grimaced. “Yes well, five of those six are duos with ties to Donnyton. And Donnyton… is special.”

“I’m honestly surprised no one from a bubble city made it even to the top 16,” Evater rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. “They are supposed to be pretty powerful, aren’t they? People said they would move into the Zones and push regular Classers out of military roles. But where the hell are they now?”

“People from the bubble cities come in two types,” Liam announced. His sausage-like finger hit the table. “Murderers and layabouts. Neither has any real sense of morality. The strong ones are the criminals, so the Order Ducis crushed them without any restraint as soon as they scuttled into civilized lands. The rest are too lazy to make anything of themselves… oh, Helio, you are a special case. You do pretty well for yourself running this shop right? Keep up the good work.”

Helio smiled politely but didn’t comment. He had come from Mexico City before moving to the Orchard. And more than anything else, he was a professional. He pulled down the sugar and added a handful to the bowl of lemon juice.

“Mark my words,” Cleary said again, ignoring Liam’s prior comment. Her narrowed eyes flicked to the door. The door remained shut. “Zone 7 will get a spot in the top four. That attack was breath taking. They can make it.”

“No.” Ning raised her head slightly. She met Helio’s eyes and shook her cup. Then she turned back to the other three at her table and shook her head. “...Paolo and Kayle.”

With those words and the sight of Helio once more returning with the pitcher, she returned her focus to the task of annihilating the remainder of her lemonade. The others looked at her with sympathy. Paolo and Kayle had faced and defeated the representatives of King Phirun in the prior round and Ning had lost quite a lot of money.

But privately, Helios agreed with her assessment; Paolo and Kayle are very strong.

The table considered that. Finally, Evater sighed. “They might be Legend-tier too. I bet their images are strong. But don’t you think the winner will be Lucifer? That Giuliana’s no slouch either.”

“I just want to know why the hell they put Alana and Hank on the same side of the bracket,” Cleary grimaced. “They were my picks for the finals, right when the tournament started. How dumb can the Order Ducis be? Did they think someone on the other side of the bracket can rival them?”

“Paolo and Kayle,” Ning said again. Slurrrrrp.

Helio poured more lemonade into her cup with a completely straight face.