Strolling in the market, I looked at the guards who were smiling at me with a gratified expression, and I smiled in return as I continued strolling up the alley. There were some other people I had grown familiar with in these 3 weeks of living here and while I was here, I helped quite a lot of people which enhanced my image quite a bit. In fact, my image grew enough to make me one of the important persons here however…
With fame comes jealousy and that creates unnecessary problems like…
"You look so smug for someone who can't even kill a mosquito," a bulky man spoke as he looked at me as if I were an insect. I observed his face carefully…
Brown hair, black eyes and clothing that had more gold than fabric, one of the high nobles of this area who had accumulated enough wealth to reach the main Asul city.
He had an average build with a slightly bulky mass and the dense water mana around him that was apparently visible gave up the fact that he was a water element user.
'Though, he is only relying on artefacts and isn't as strong as he seems,' I thought as I looked at him while also wondering what exactly he was trying to accomplish here. He smirked at me as he looked down on me and spoke,
"I have set up a battle between you and me in about 2 hours from now on. Come to the arena or else…" he spoke before moving away from here. I looked at him a bit stumped, wondering what was all that about.
About the arena, if I remember correctly Zuriel did tell me that it was a place where people test their strength and compete against each other, while it is also one of the ways to enter Asul if you can win the battle royal and prove your worth.
"Hey Zero, you okay?" I heard a voice of a young man coming from behind only to find the old merchant's son, Pleo, looking at me with a slightly worried expression. He had yellow hair with blue eyes and looked more like a hero out of a fantasy movie rather than the son of a local merchant.
Pleo's father was really sick with a parasitic stomach disease that was curable, but the cost was too much to handle for them, even after being filthy rich. I helped out Pleo's father while I saw him crying miserably a week ago all by himself.
"Yeah… I think so? He challenged me to a battle in the arena and threatened me to reach there in 2 hours or something," I said, recalling what he told me as I shrugged my shoulders a bit.
I then turned to Pleo, who was pressing his lips together in annoyance as he looked in that guy's direction that challenged me and narrowing my eyes at Pleo I asked,"What is it?"
"Well, Zero. You are new here so you probably don't know but there is this thing about the arena that only the locals know.." Pleo spoke and I smiled a bit as I understood what he was implying.
"Something along the lines of.. the fights aren't always fair and it is not just only a place to rise through the ranks but also to thrash people legally?" I asked, and he nodded with a silent sigh before he began pondering about something as he spoke,
"Maybe… if I can talk to my father… probably something can be done…" and I glanced at his worried face as I saw him genuinely caring about me.
"It is okay Pleo, I have my ways of solving this," I answered as I smiled, which made Pleo take a step back. He looked at me gulping,
"Dont' smile like that dude… that's scary." And hearing his answer, I ended up chuckling a little, which only made him more scared than before. I could only stop laughing at this point as I smiled and spoke.
"Don't worry, I can handle this."
He looked at me and then smiled as he nodded and spoke,"Okay, then I won't press any further. But promise me if you need my help with anything, you'll ask? I will be there for you if I can," and I nodded at him before beginning to walk away.
He too left from there while I pondered how I should utilize this sudden development to my advantage. Setting aside that noble guy, I myself was thinking about going to the arena to prove my worth… however, I should only use my own artefacts and not my full power to compete in this.
'Showing off too much is never good,' I thought as I pondered a little bit more before deciding that it is a good way to enter the arena this way as it wouldn't draw as much suspicion.
Right after that I saw a couple of familiar faces which made me almost run away from here, but still I did not do so… because Dion was walking this way along with Zuriel who was showing him around the place.
These days, I couldn't help but recall what happened three weeks ago.
[It is okay. My mom and dad also did that a lot. I am used to ignoring it, but it would have been better if you guys had slept on the bed and not on the bathroom floor. I had to do so much to bring you both back from the bathroom… I even asked sister Zuriel for help]
And that way both Zuriel and Dion knew what happened… I kinda felt like a lump had got stuck in my throat when I heard his words.
Apparently, that day, after he and Zuriel took care of us, Zuriel decided it would be better for Dion to sleep in her room while I was with Hygeia. At first I wanted to say no, but after what had happened, I could only keep quiet.
Zuriel was a bit angry at me but she sighed before muttering,"you are…" and trailing off as her face turned more and more annoyed. From that day, I had little interaction with those two, though I still kept checking up on them using my artefacts.
I then braced myself as I walked towards them and, watching me coming towards them, they smiled at me. Dion waved his hands, and I did too before we reached closer to each other.
"Brother Zero, how was your day? I have been hearing quite a lot about you from the townsfolk. People even started greeting me with smiles rather than giving me the creepy looks which they did previously," Dion said excitedly, as he looked at me in amazement.
Zuriel too looked amazed at what I did and I just smiled awkwardly before speaking,"Well… all that fame had brought me slight trouble too, I suppose."
At my words, Zuriel narrowed her eyes at me and her expression turned serious. I observed her face before sighing and explaining what had just happened. A few moments after I explained what happened, I could see the fury in her eyes before she sighs as she looked at me and speaks,
"Well… what is it that you want to do? Should I kill him, or maybe I should ask Nyx to bar him from this town?"
I saw the serious expression on Zuriel's face and I kinda blinked a little dumbfoundedly as I took a step back at her statement. I then stopped her immediately as I caught her hand and said,"don't do anything stupid, you idiot. I will deal with him in my own way. In fact, this arena thing is actually quite helpful for me."
Hearing my words, she looks at me as she removes my hand and says,"Tell me about it."
"No, I think I will keep it a surprise for now. Meet me in the arena in 2 hours and you will see," I spoke as I acted mysteriously and she glared at me a little before speaking,"just don't end up doing anything foolish and call me if anything is up."
I nodded before waving at Dion and Zuriel as I walked towards the centre of the market. From there, I bought many different foods, metals and anything interesting I could find. In the beginning, I wasn't even welcome here, but after helping almost all the people here, I could say that I was more or less accepted here. Not as much as Pleo respects me, but still enough to keep me from being boycotted.
As I was buying the things from the market, I noticed the white mark on my left hand. Recalling it was Lucifer who gave it to me as a part of our contract, I wondered if I could still use it in this timeline or something… then my eyes reached the green vines that almost reached that white mark. While they were only slightly visible on my left arm due to the sleeve, in actuality, they were present all over my left arm, originating from my heart on the left side of my chest.
Like that white mark, they too were as if a part of my skin and I kind of understood that it had something to do with me having sex with Hygeia 3 weeks ago.
I would love to ask her about it, but she still hasn't gotten up from that day. Except once, when she woke up a day later and entered into my chest, giving me these vines on my body. From that day, I could feel her sleeping inside me….
I could only wait at this moment for her to wake up and see what these vines exactly meant…
Afterwards, I finished my work in the market and saw that it had already been an hour and a half. I couldn't help but smile a little before walking towards the arena…
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om