"What? Didn't find him?" William asked in doubt, and Ibra bitterly smiled.
"The place inside is grandiose, but for a reason one of the arenas is sealed."
"Sealed? You mean they prevented your senses from getting in?"
"I could get in, but can't see anything in detail," Ibra sighed, "we need to get into that arena first, check things over from inside."
"Hmm… It's great then that we already stood in a line," William didn't want to waste time here. Besides he wanted to get in as well to see his hypothetical team members that he never met before.
He was sure Smith was inside. And when he heard what Ibra said, he got the reason behind the latter not answering back. The organisers and owners of this arena were smart and made sure to seal any high-grade spirit masters' spirit senses. Like this, no one would be able to know what was going on inside until attending by himself.
As for why this seal was only applied for one arena and not others, it was clear to William. It must be the arena that got most attention from everyone, the one that got that proclaimed team with him in their roster.
Nothing stirred up his suspicion, not yet. And so, William and the other two stood in the line for half an hour, before their turn came.
"The prices of the tickets are listed here," as the three approached the front, a few men were standing around, shouting and pointing in a single direction.
There the three saw a grand board, one with black background and golden letters shining all over it.
The prices weren't that extravagant. The normal prices went from one thousand per ticket for the common seat, all the way towards one million for the VIP seats.
"Give me three VIP tickets for the arena number three," William got the number of the arena from the men standing out there shouting to organise the lines.
Their task was to facilitate the passage of those incoming audiences into the arena, guiding anyone and answering all the questions for them. And that was the main reason why lines kept moving fast.
"Ok," they knew that the common seats were all reserved. The proclaimed team from the Long Feather academy was fighting there for hours. And that attracted much attention. So, William went all out and bought the VIP tickets.
In his mind, this arena was another golden goose. Just by counting the amount of wealth this place gained just from a single day of work, only counting the common seats, was really scary!
"Sigh! I was too late before and let Panther be half a step ahead of me in doing this," William sighed, while recalling the much smaller Spar arena Panther constructed back at the city.
Unlike here, that arena wasn't as popular. That was thanks to the low number of spirit masters who loved fighting and such in the city.
A place where most of its residents came running away from violence and fighting was the worst place to construct such an arena. "I shall try and take it from him… Yes, I must do it before starting that portal project…" And in William's mind, he started to consider how to maximise his profit when he'd start building the portal zone.
"This way sir," the tickets they got were just golden scrolls, thick as if it was formed from ten scrolls on top of each other or something. It was sealed with black ribbon, with the word VIP written over that black ribbon in golden letters.
One of the workers here approached the three and started to guide them towards their VIP seats. When they arrived there, it was like a suite in the hotel, with around twenty seats inside.
Each seat got a magnified glass that the owner could use to see through the large distance and inspect the fight closer.
Spirit masters could use their spirit senses to inspect the ongoing battles at the stage. But using this glass method made them feel like they were standing on the stage, fighting with the teams down there.
"Ouch! That suits you, liar!"
"He deserved this! Claiming the prestigious Long Feather team is fake and doesn't have the real fox master… What a jerk he is!"
"Yes, that's what a real team shall do with such idiots!"
The moment William and the other two entered the suite, they heard such loud shouts coming from everyone inside. The place was filled with fifteen spirit masters. Weirdly enough they were stirred up for something happening on the stage down below.
"Ibra…" But hearing these words made William's heart clench. He instantly turned to Ibra, said in a serious tone and scary face.
"It's…" Ibra also felt the same, like William, like Lina, when he heard these shouts. They knew more than anyone else, knew that this team of that academy was fake and lying. As people here spoke about this, the three couldn't help but think about one person: Smith.
"Sh*t! Master, you need to look, hurry up!"
Lina also used her spirit sense, ending up seeing what Ibra saw and couldn't believe. She turned to William, urging him to go towards one of the glasses and see.
"Stay here," William said in an ice cold tone towards the worker who led them here, went to an empty seat, and saw through the piece of glass there.
The glass was in the size of one metre in diameter, made in the form of a big circle. One just needed to get closer to see what was appearing on its surface.
And there William saw something that made his body freeze right on the spot. The next second, his blood started to boil with pure and endless rage.
The stage had a large group of spirit masters, all wearing dark blue outfits, with an emblem of black feathers on their chest. They were close to one thousand in number.
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