Chapter 19: The Summoner Is the Weak Point
"THE MATCH BEGINS!"
The referee’s voice echoed throughout the Arcadia Arena.
Thousands of students watched from the stands.
Teachers.
Adventurers.
Guild members.
All waiting for the same thing.
To see what would happen when the famous Little Fat King fought for real.
And so far...
Absolutely nothing was happening.
"..."
The Fat King slept under a tree.
Aurelion watched the scene.
Then he looked at Kael.
And finally at the creature floating behind him.
The Celestial Mirage.
"I think I’ve figured it out."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Hm?"
"Your cat doesn’t want to fight."
"I don’t want to study either."
"And yet they force me to do it."
"Good point."
"Thanks."
The Mirage disappeared.
And a second later it appeared behind Kael.
"DAMN IT!"
Kael rolled on the ground.
BOOOOM.
The explosion of light shattered the spot where he had been a moment before.
The entire arena reacted.
"He aimed for the summoner!"
"Not the cat!"
"Is that legal!?"
The referee raised a hand.
"Completely legal."
"THAT’S CHEATING!"
"It’s not."
"IT IS TO ME!"
Aurelion smiled.
"If your creature doesn’t want to participate...
then you’re the most logical target."
Kael froze.
Because...
He was right.
"I hate it when people are right."
The Mirage disappeared again.
And reappeared above him.
Kael ran.
The creature descended.
BOOOOM.
The tree behind him exploded into pieces.
"RUN, BIG BROTHER!"
shouted Luna from the stands.
"THAT’S WHAT I’M DOING!"
"RUN FASTER!"
"THAT DOESN’T HELP!"
The crowd began to get excited.
Because for the first time since Kael had appeared...
He couldn’t solve everything with a cosmic slap.
He was struggling.
For real.
The Mirage reappeared.
Kael jumped onto a rock.
Then another.
And then used the uneven terrain to hide among several trees.
Aurelion watched in surprise.
"You’re better than I expected."
"Thanks."
"I thought you were a fraud."
"THAT’S NOT A COMPLIMENT!"
"Now I think you’re just crazy."
"Damn it, now you’re stealing my lines!"
The stands exploded with laughter.
Even some teachers were laughing.
But while everyone was having fun...
Aurelion was beginning to notice something.
Kael really wasn’t bad.
He wasn’t powerful.
But he wasn’t useless either.
He just had never had to fight before.
And yet...
He kept dodging attacks from an A-rank creature.
"Interesting..."
murmured Seraphina.
The teacher next to her nodded.
"He has good instincts."
"Instincts?"
"The poor learn fast."
"If they don’t..."
"They don’t eat."
Seraphina fell silent.
Watching Kael.
As he ran between trees.
Covered in dirt.
And clearly terrified.
The Mirage reappeared.
This time right in front of him.
Kael turned.
Stepped on a root.
And fell flat on his face.
"OW!"
"..."
The entire arena fell silent.
"I never said it was elegant."
Kael defended himself from the ground.
The Mirage raised a paw.
Preparing to attack.
And then...
The Fat King’s ears twitched.
WHAP.
A paw appeared.
It struck the Mirage.
The creature was sent flying several meters.
Not far.
But enough.
Kael blinked.
"Did you just save me?"
The cat turned its head.
As if it hadn’t heard anything.
And went back to lying down.
"Meow, meow..."
"He definitely saved me."
Aurelion had seen it too.
Interesting.
The cat did act.
But only when Kael was in real danger.
Not when given orders.
The Mirage got back up.
"Fat King."
The cat ignored Kael.
"Fat King."
Nothing.
"Fat King."
Nothing.
"Please."
The cat opened one eye.
"Ah!"
"You like that one better!"
"Meow."
"Noted."
The Mirage attacked again.
And the chase continued.
Several minutes passed.
Kael was exhausted.
Sweating.
Breathing hard.
While Aurelion barely seemed tired.
"This is unfair."
"A little."
"Thanks for admitting it."
"You’re welcome."
BOOOOM.
Another explosion.
Kael rolled on the ground.
"I’m starting to hate you!"
"That usually happens."
"Often?"
"More than it should."
The stands laughed again.
And then...
Something happened.
Luna stood up abruptly.
"LET’S GO, BIG BROTHER!"
She waved a banner.
A shirt.
And a flag.
All at the same time.
"YOU’RE THE BEST!"
"YOU’RE AMAZING!"
"YOU’RE THE COOLEST!"
Kael smiled.
"Thanks, Luna."
"DON’T DIE!"
"THAT’S NOT ENCOURAGEMENT!"
Then...
Another voice rang out.
And the entire arena froze.
Seraphina Vale had just stood up.
She wore a white shirt.
Elegant.
Expensive.
Ridiculously expensive.
So expensive it was probably worth more than Kael’s entire house.
And in the center...
There was a giant image of the Little Fat King sleeping.
Absolute silence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Even the referee was staring.
Even Aurelion.
Even Kael.
"What the hell...?"
Seraphina raised a fist.
And shouted.
For the first time.
"LET’S GO, LITTLE FAT KING!"
Silence.
"FIGHT!"
Silence.
"YOU CAN DO IT!"
Silence.
"I BELIEVE IN YOU!"
The entire crowd stopped breathing.
Because it was the most emotion Seraphina had ever shown in her entire life.
And it was...
For a cat.
Kael watched the scene.
Then he looked at Luna’s shirt.
The one Luna had made.
A horrible drawing.
Crooked.
Badly painted.
And with his name misspelled.
"KAIL"
"..."
Then he looked at the Fat King’s professional shirt.
"Why does he have sponsors?"
"Because he’s adorable."
answered Luna.
"I’m adorable too."
"No."
"That was cruel."
The Fat King opened one eye.
Looked at Seraphina.
Looked at the shirt.
Looked at Kael.
And went back to sleep.
"..."
"He doesn’t even care."
murmured Kael.
The match continued.
The Mirage reappeared.
Attacked.
Kael dodged.
Tripped.
Fell.
Got back up.
Ran.
Improvise.
And little by little...
Aurelion began to respect him.
Because he was still there.
Still getting up.
Still trying.
Even knowing he was at a disadvantage.
"Hey, Kael."
"What?"
"Now I understand why Seraphina pays attention to you."
"Hm?"
"You’re entertaining."
"I don’t know if that was a compliment."
"It was."
"Perfect."
Then something strange happened.
The Mirage appeared once more behind the Fat King.
It tried to pass by.
Ignoring him.
As always.
And for the first time...
The cat opened both eyes.
Its ears perked up.
Its tail stopped moving.
And an invisible pressure swept through the arena.
Aurelion stopped smiling.
Because he felt something.
Instinct.
Danger.
For the first time since the match began.
The Mirage also stopped.
Staring fixedly at the cat.
As if it had just realized something terrifying.
And for some reason...
Kael had the feeling that if the Fat King decided to get up right now...
Something very bad was going to happen.
Very.
Very bad.
"Oh..."
murmured Aurelion.
For the first time.
Completely serious.
"So that’s the problem."
The Fat King slowly closed its eyes again.
And lay back down.
But the feeling remained.
As if everyone had just glimpsed the tip of an iceberg.
And beneath it, something much, much bigger was waiting to wake up.
