Chapter 832: Permanent Guest
Azazel, Azaron, and Malrik could be seen sitting together within their Luxury Viewing Box. They had just finished listening to Thomasinho and AlyxAtlas, who were both done with their announcement.
"It’s a shame they had to stop the Inter-Empire Competition here. Things were just getting started and becoming truly fun," Azazel spoke with a sigh as he shook his head.
Azaron stayed silent for a moment before replying, "I already knew the break was coming. As both Hosts had said, unawakeners can’t cheat biology. We Crownstar Life Rankers can keep going for a month with ease if we want, but they can’t. We even have children here, so a day was the perfect amount of time," his tone calm as he drank his wine. "Although I’m guessing that most of them won’t even be able to get much sleep because they’ll all end up talking about everything that happened during the past four days," his eyes shifting towards the ranking displayed on the screen.
"Can’t deny that," Azazel said in agreement as he knew that most of these people would probably end up getting only four hours of sleep at most because of the adrenaline, excitement, and overwhelming discussions that would inevitably continue long into the night.
Azaron didn’t speak anymore. He simply remained silent.
"Although I haven’t said it before, your son is truly impressive, far more than I imagined," Azazel spoke again, his eyes shifting towards Asher, who was discussing with William and the rest.
Malrik, who was seated within the room, didn’t speak, but a wide smile was plastered across his face. He was brimming with excitement as he watched Asher dominate throughout the Qualifier Round.
"The really impressive one here is your daughter," Azaron stated. "She is able to kill everything with a single glance. What sort of ability even grants such ridiculous power?" he asked as though he couldn’t achieve the same feat if he wanted to.
Azazel smirked at the mention of his daughter as he replied, "Why tell you when you can find out in the next twenty-four hours? You will be surprised, and I’ll be waiting to see your shocked expression," his tone almost smug, for when it came to his daughter, Azazel was a proud father who never tried to hide his love or admiration for her accomplishments.
Azaron felt an itch to have an off-the-books bet with Azazel on who was going to win amongst their children. But after thinking about it for a moment, he sighed and gave up on the idea for a few reasons.
Firstly, Azazel was destined to become poor after his daughter lost the Inter-Empire Competition. What money was he supposed to pay him, Azaron, with when he had become a pauper? Yes, Azazel had made a few thousand platinum coins by betting on Asher’s live battles, but that was no different from loose change to Azaron. If they were going to make a bet, it had to be worth millions.
Secondly, if they made the bet and Azazel lost, the man might happily sell his house just to come up with the money. Since he would have nowhere else to stay afterward, Azazel might simply decide to move into the Wargrave Estate as a "permanent" guest. And Azaron wasn’t ready for that sort of nightmare.
Lastly, Azazel was his friend. He couldn’t bring himself to make the man go bankrupt, even if the opportunity presented itself.
But Azaron said none of this aloud. He simply kept those thoughts to himself.
"What about the rumours that your daughter was born with her Astra veins already activated? Is that true?" Azaron finally asked. He wasn’t exactly one to pay attention to rumours, but this particular one seemed far too intriguing not to ask about.
"It is," Azazel replied. "Although I had to seal her Astra veins and only fully unsealed them when she turned fifteen," his tone calm and content. "Although Ari wasn’t born with any special physique like you Wargraves, her body naturally adapted to her awakened Astra veins right from birth, making it somewhat special by default. Even while her Astra veins were sealed, her body simply kept growing stronger and stronger as though it was constantly preparing itself for the day the Astra veins would fully be unsealed," a smile touching his lips as his eyes rested fondly on his daughter.
Azaron didn’t argue with that logic because it simply made perfect sense. After all, the body and the Astra veins had to keep up with one another. You couldn’t take the Astra veins of a Crownstar and infuse them into the body of a Soulstar Life Ranker. The recipient would simply die from the overwhelming burden.
Although Azazel didn’t say it aloud, he also suspected that his daughter naturally gained immunity to every form of poison and toxic substance because of her unique Astra veins, though he had never bothered putting such a theory to the test. How could be poison his own daughter?
"Why didn’t you unseal them earlier? Maybe at the age of ten, or even twelve or something?" Azaron asked. After all, from the little he had seen during these past four days, someone with Arianna’s temperament had certainly been mentally mature enough, even back then.
"Sigh... her mother didn’t agree," Azazel spoke with a sigh. "She kept going on and on about the world. That the world made the Awakening Age fifteen for a reason and all that. I couldn’t really do anything but comply," he shook his head as he spoke, though there wasn’t even the slightest trace of regret in his expression.
Azaron simply smiled faintly before the smile vanished. He perfectly understood where Azazel was coming from. Women held a certain level of control over men, a kind of influence that most women instinctively recognised. Azaron knew that if he had been in Azazel’s shoes, he too would have had little choice but to listen to his own wife.
"I guess everything worked out fine regardless of when you fully unsealed her Astra veins," Azaron stated.
"It did. She is twenty-one years old now, and in her third year at the Academy, she has made tremendous progress," Azazel replied with a nod, unmistakable pride evident within his voice.
Seeing Azaron remain silent afterward, Azazel continued, "Don’t you think your son is eyeing my daughter?"
"What do you mean?" Azaron asked.
"Don’t play dumb. He provided her with food, wine, water, and even talked with her for four hours straight," Azazel replied. "He never did that for any other student. His clone simply eliminated every other student who got close. Clearly, he is trying to steal my daughter’s heart," his tone playful, though there was genuine curiosity hidden beneath it.
Azaron simply smirked as he replied, "Weren’t you the one who said that your daughter doesn’t talk to men or even exchange words with them? Yet she walked into my son’s tent, and even when she was told it wasn’t a Positive Zone, she didn’t turn around and leave," Azaron countered with obvious satisfaction.
Azazel chuckled softly before replying, "You’d better be ready to open your family’s secret vault because I’ll be taking my bride price from there. And also, I’ll be needing a rematch with you before I approve of their relationship," his tone amused as though he could already picture Asher and Arianna as the perfect couple.
Wasn’t it every bros’ dream to see their children marry each other, or at the very least become the closest of friends?
"We have an entire day. We can begin the spar right now," Azaron stated as he began to rise to his feet.
Azazel shook his head as he replied, "Although I would love to, I can’t. As you know, there are too many things on the line here. We both need to remain in our peak condition before the Inter-Empire Competition resumes," his tone carrying an unusual degree of seriousness despite the smile lingering on his face.
Azazel’s words made Azaron pause mid-motion. He sighed before sinking back into his chair once again.
As for Malrik, he simply remained seated in silence, contemplating whether he should go and meet Asher or not. Ever since arriving here, he hadn’t spoken much because he didn’t want to intrude upon the strange yet amusing dynamic between his father and his so-called best friend. Instead, he simply leaned back in his seat, quietly enjoying their endless banter while occasionally glancing towards the screen where Asher and the others continued their conversation.
