The Author's POV

Ci Clank—!

Closing the door behind him, Kevin got out of his apartment. Taking a deep breath, he stared at the scenery before him with lethargic eyes.

Closing his eyes for a brief moment of time, he soon opened them again and proceeded to head down.

"There you are, Kevin."

Waiting for him below was Emma who waved her hand in his direction.

Kevin's feet came to a pause. Staring at Emma who was waiting for him from below, Kevin's unfocused eyes became a little bit more focused.

'Emma...she's alive.'

Faint fragments of the vision replayed in his mind as he stared at her. Each time recollection resulted in a stinging sensation inside of his heart.

Smiling weakly, he nodded his head and greeted her back.

"Yeah...I'm here."

His voice was rather weak, but it was loud enough for Emma to hear. Of course, Emma was able to notice that something was wrong as her brows knit together.

"What is up with you? Are you okay?"

"...I'm good."

Kevin gave a short reply. Then, placing his hand on the handrail, he walked down the stairs of the building.

Not convinced by Kevin's words, Emma leaned forward. A worried look flashed across her face.

"…You don't seem to be okay? Should we have you checked?"

"I'm really fine."

Kevin raised his head and met Emma's eyes. They stared off for a good minute before Emma eventually relented.

"Alright, if you say so."

Staring into the distance, she flipped her hat backward.

"Let's go then. The others are probably already waiting for us."

Rummaging through her pockets, Emma took out a pack of gums. Taking one of the gums she placed it in her mouth and started chewing.

"Munch…munch…want one?"

Extending her hand, she offered one to Kevin. Raising his hand, Kevin politely refused.

"No thank you."

"Munch…munch…suit yourself."

Putting the pack of gums away, Emma blew a bubble gum and proceeded to head towards the center of the Issanor.

Pop—

"Ukeh!"

But just as she took two steps, her bubble burst apart and the gum splattered all over her face.

***

Today was the day of the conference tournament.

As the sun slowly rose from the horizon the atmosphere in Issanor became extremely lively and filled with excitement.

This was the event that everyone was eagerly awaiting.

Not just for the prizes, but for its meaning as well. It was the event that decided the fate of the alliance between the three races.

When I arrived at the main tournament square, the place was already boiling with noise.

numerous dwarves, elves, orcs, and humans alike gathered in groups as they chatted

the members of the other races who were fairly relaxed, every human wore an expression of nervousness and excitement. This was understandable however as the tournament held a lot

like they are already

the distance, I caught a glimpse

attention. They looked like famous celebrities surrounded by

all, not only were they extremely good-looking, but their talents and achievements at their age made them

a doubt, they were the future

lips as I

things just never

had seen it multiple

from the past, their shine never disappeared. In

are

my eyes away from them, I glanced around the crowd

but since I didn't want to skip my training session I decided to just go by myself.

being slow at changing

'I see them.'

at the far corner of the human section I caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. It was Douglas. Behind him

me, everyone was currently

had to hide his identity were Waylan and me. The others not so much. I was

I

"You're finally here."

immediately greeted by Douglas who had a calm smile on his face.

was a lot longer than I

fine. We're not

with the same

Leopold, Smallsnake, and Ryan who weren't planning on participating, Ava and Hein had

ago they were brimming with confidence. But as they stared at the people around them, their previous confidence completely

After all, there were a lot of talented people present today,

me

aiming for the top

item that only the winner could get and with it, I

"…hm?"

Melissa and the others heading in my direction.

definitely Melissa's

she was definitely coming to me knowing that it would attract the attention of

me. As they stopped, I

rolling my eyes, I asked in an

are you doing this

I didn't hide the displeasure in my voice as I tried

"…Doing what?"

feigned ignorance and pretended to not have understood the implications

"Here."

Melissa handed me a set of cards. Lifting her head, she nudged her head in the direction of

need it, I believe that your friends might

obviously referring to Hein and

take you up

cards from her. Then, turning around, I handed them to Hein and

the cards did as he saw me use them against John not too long ago, but Ava didn't so I spent the next couple of minutes explaining to them how the cards worked. Once I was done, the both of them looked at

head sideways, and staring behind Melissa and the others,

you guys seen Kevin by any

the type

maybe I was just overthinking things? Could just be that he was hanging out with Emma since

"They're over there."

as I was wondering about Kevin's whereabouts, Amanda suddenly spoke as

"Where?"

"There."

the direction of where she pointed, but my vision wasn't as good as hers so it took me a

long for

"Oh, I see them."

self, but Kevin looked a bit different

he sick or

only was his aura weird, but his hair was disheveled and his

looking at Kevin in the distance, seemingly having noticed my stare, Kevin raised his head and our

"…hm?"