Within a quiet, ambient room in a student dormitory on the artificial island, a boy opened his crimson eyes, blinking for a few monts as if still sleepy.
His hair was ssy as he let out a long yawn.
"Good morning, Kyun."
He muttered, as the bird perched atop a stand beside the window replied back to him. After fixing his ss with Amyra, Kyun had returned.
He raised his body from the comfort of the soft mattress, which seed to call his na sweetly, asking him to nap for just five more minutes but he knew better than anyone, if he gave in to that temptation, he would be late for the main event today.
So, he turned around sharply, looking at the mattress one last ti.
He didn’t waste any more ti after that and quickly went through his daily routine, taking a nice cold shower. After drying himself thoroughly, he got dressed in the pure black uniform of the academy.
Normally, during tournants, they were allowed to dress however they wished but today was different.
Today was the long-awaited quarter-finals, and to showcase the talented students and advertise the academies that aided their growth, all students who had made it this far were compulsorily asked to wear these uniforms.
Alden didn’t really mind much.
"Perfect."
He looked at his reflection one last ti before leaving his room as Kyun followed after him wordlessly.
Alden looked at the peaceful streets around him.
He could hear the soft sounds of people walking past, children giggling with their parents and rchants haggling over their goods as he glanced at Kyun flying beside him.
Yesterday, after his match, after he had pushed Aziel under the bus and exited the arena, Seles had asked him to have a chat.
He had actually thought, for once, that she was going to say sothing useful, given how serious she seed but unfortunately, it had been just another one of her useless antics.
She had just kept blabbering about getting to know him and how he should go easy on Cedric.
He knew better than anyone that that bitch didn’t care about anything at all, so he didn’t understand why she would even say that.
What was she even getting on about...?
He walked peacefully as Kyun circled in the clear blue sky above him. On his way, a hand wrapped around his neck.
He had already sensed who it was, so he hadn’t bothered dodging.
"How could you even do it, bro...?"
Aziel said, his voice filled with frustration.
"How could you throw under the bus, you traitor?"
Alden just smirked at him. "Sotis sacrifices are needed for the greater good, my friend."
"Greater good my ass. You’re just jealous of my handsoness these days, that’s why you’re always trying to get into problems." Aziel narrowed his eyes.
"Whatever sails your boat, buddy." Alden replied casually. "In any case, weren’t you going out with Cecelia today...?"
Aziel understood that Alden was clearly diverting the topic, but he shook his head and gave in anyway.
"Yeah, I was actually on my way to the portal zone to et Cecelia when I saw you." He said. "I wanted to curse you, to demotivate you during your match today, but I guess I won’t be able to do that anymore. Tsk."
Alden just shrugged.
—
They talked, and soon enough, they reached the point where the road split toward the arena and the portal zone. After saying goodbye to Aziel, Alden resud his walk toward the arena.
The streets were especially buzzing today, as flags of countless academies could be seen on either side. Nurous drone caras flew across the sky, capturing the entire artificial island again and again.
Alden didn’t care much, even as countless eyes from bystanders were focused on him. He had beco sowhat of a celebrity now, though not in a good way.
Although his performance in the tournant had been spectacular, people were still calling him a playboy who toyed with the hearts of two beautiful maidens.
So people were even clicking his pictures, but nobody actually dared to approach him. He just ignored them and kept walking. Soon enough, he arrived at the front gate of the arena, where countless reporters had gathered.
Nyx was already there as well, standing in front of the gate, facing a reporter who seed to be asking her so questions she clearly wasn’t in the mood to answer.
Just then, her gaze landed on him and a wide smile appeared on her face.
"Hey, Alden." She waved her hand in his direction.
Ahh, dammit.
Alden cursed in his mind.
He knew that even that simple action from her was now going to be twisted into sothing completely different by the dia.
But after a mont, he just sighed.
Well, it’s not like I can fall any lower now since I am already at the lowest point.
So, he waved back.
"Hey, Nyx."
He walked in her direction, but before he could even take a few steps, a crowd of reporters completely surrounded him.
"Alden, I have a question... What are your thoughts about fighting your brother?"
"What is your relationship with Nyx?"
"Are the rumours about marriage talks between you and Princess Amyra true...?"
They kept throwing questions at him as Alden sighed once more.
"The day is quite nice."
That was all he said before using Shadow Step, dissolving into his own shadow and reappearing so distance away.
The reporters, mostly consisting of low-ranked awakeners, were confused for a mont before they spotted him standing right in front of the entrance.
Nyx was beside him as well.
He looked at them once and waved before entering the arena. As soon as he stepped inside, a loud roar from the crowd greeted him, an audience unlike anything he had seen before packed into the arena.
"Damn, how many of them are even there...?"
He muttered unconsciously, completely oblivious to the fact that the day was going to be anything but nice as, among the crowd, countless demons were already lurking, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.
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