"Fail?"
Aurora glared at Caldor.
"What do you think!?"
"Haha, alright sis! Pay up."
He stretched his arm towards Ember who frowned.
"Not coming?" she asked, staring at Aurora.
"I have no idea. Told her we're leaving with or without her in thirty minutes."
Ember turned to Caldor.
"Wait."
"Urgh, it's just going to be a waste of ti. The Atticus we know is best at everything he does. If he breaks a woman's heart, I expect it to be perfect!"
"Wait."
On Ember's persistence Caldor was forced to wait. They had made a bet earlier on if Aurora could get Zoey to leave. …
"Are you ready, son?"
"Yes, Dad."
A large man placed a firm hand on his son's shoulder and gazed right into his eyes.
"I want you to know that you've made our family proud. Made proud."
Nate returned his father's proud look and smiled.
"Thank you, Dad."
"Good luck, son."
Saying his goodbyes, Nate left the training room to see a procession of his other family mbers, uncles, cousins, aunts, all staring at him with proud looks.
"You're amazing!"
"Good luck!"
"Make us proud, son!"
"Kick their butts!"
If it had been the old Nate, he would've basked in this glory. But after losing the one he considered a brother, he'd lost a part of himself that enjoyed narrow minded things like this.
He was the first one in their family to achieve what he'd achieved. Grandmaster at twenty years of age, it was an extraordinary feat!
None of them would've ever imagined it. Now, here he was representing the whole of Novareth in a competition between different worlds.
This was everything he'd ever dread of, but sohow, he felt hollow.
As they sang his praises, he settled for a modest smile and curt nods as he left. Regardless, one word stuck in his ears even after he entered the hover car and moved a significant distance away.
'Proud, huh.'
He had made them proud, yet Nate felt no sense of accomplishnt in the slightest bit.
He stared out the window with a distant gaze. Though there was nothing there, he could've sworn the perfect image of Lucas appeared before him, staring with those sa tired eyes and smile.
Nate clenched his fists.
'Are you proud?'
…
Thirty minutes later, after saying their goodbyes, Aurora, Ember and Caldor gathered in front of the mansion where an airship was waiting.
As they got to the airship, they turned and stared at a particular training building in the distance.
"Doesn't look like she's coming," Caldor said with a shrug. "Why don't you save us so ti and pay up, sis?"
"Wait," Ember said.
"Urgh."
Just like the duo, Aurora's eyes were focused on the door leading inside Zoey's training room. Her hands were clenched, and she didn't realize when she began whispering the sa words.
"Co on…"
A minute passed, but no one stepped out.
"She's a no show. Let's go, we're going to be late…"
At Caldor's words, Aurora tightened her fists and the temperature around her rose.
'Should I energy her?'
She wanted nothing more than to go in there and drag her out.
'No. It's her choice.'
She took a deep breath and turned. "Let's go."
Caldor cleared his throat and wisely kept quiet. He had known her enough to tell when Aurora was pissed.
But as they entered into the airship, they couldn't help but widen their eyes.
"Hey."
Seated on one of the few seats was Zoey, already strapped in.
"What the hell?" Caldor scread. "How did you get here? Are you a ghost?"
He looked around in panic.
"You ca," Aurora said, while slowly releasing her clenched fists.
'She must have entered the airship before we left the mansion.'
"I did."
The two t eyes for a few long seconds, then Aurora smiled and chose a seat.
"Good."
Ember also did the sa, leaving only Caldor standing. He stared at Zoey like he was staring at a ghost.
"Hey, Aurora," he whispered. "Poke her to check if she's real."
The three ladies ignored him completely.
Eventually, when he saw they had no intention of answering, he sat down beside Ember.
As he was about to settle down, he saw Ember stretch her hand towards him.
"Pay up."
Caldor's eyes widened. He had lost the bet!
"Shit."
…
"This… this is so beautiful."
Nathan's eyes lit up brightly at the numbers currently displayed on his tab.
"It's spectacular, sir. And it's only the first day!" A slender woman wearing a tight-fitting blouse and long skirt said with excitent.
Nathan took in a shuddering breath, then turned to his assistant.
"Belle, after this, I'm going to give you a huge promotion! Your idea to host this event was the best you've ever had."
"Ah, thank you so much for your praise, sir! I was only doing my job…"
"And you did it splendidly!" Nathan took another look at the numbers. Everything was higher than he would have ever imagined. He basically made money from everything, tickets into the coliseum, bets, streaming rights in other regions, and even here in Novareth.
And more importantly, the coliseum was located at the far end of the city. Prior to it, he had bought every store around it and filled them with only essential goods everyone would need. He'd hiked the prices to an exorbitant amount, and people had no choice but to pay.
Though they had announced that today would only be for introducing the teams, millions had still flooded the grand coliseum!
Despite its size, the coliseum was packed with people from all over Novareth. Seats were filled, and many were forced to lap their loved ones, while others even stood.
"Belle, I swear, you were sent to from the heavens!"
"Thank you, sir."
Nathan's eyes lit up as the screen turned on in front of him, accompanied by the booming cheers of the crowd.
"Oh! It's finally starting!"
On it, multiple airships were approaching the coliseum.
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