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.

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

fairly relaxed, every human wore an expression of nervousness and excitement. This was understandable however as the tournament held a lot more meaning to them

like they are already

distance, I caught a glimpse of Amanda,

the center of attention. They looked like famous celebrities surrounded by a bunch of fans, all trying to curry favor from

understandable, however. After all, not only were they extremely good-looking, but

doubt, they were the future

on my lips as I

just

scene was quite familiar as I had seen it multiple times back at the

fact that they had all grown up and were entirely different people from the past, their shine never disappeared. In fact, they shone

now...where are the

I glanced around

session I

girls being slow

'I see them.'

far corner of the human section

everyone was currently not wearing a skin

need to. The only ones that had to hide his identity were Waylan and me. The

clothes, I

"You're finally here."

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

a lot longer

fine. We're not in

the

Then, turning around I proceeded to greet the others. Apart from Leopold, Smallsnake, and Ryan who weren't planning on participating, Ava and Hein had nervous looks on their

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

understood where their worries came from. After all, there were a lot of talented people present today,

me

also aiming for the top

the item that only the winner could get and with it, I would have no trouble breaking through to rank in half

"…hm?"

and the others heading in my direction. I deeply sighed at the

is definitely Melissa's

knew just how much I hated attention, and she was definitely coming to me knowing that it would attract the attention

stopped right in front of me. As they stopped,

my eyes, I asked in

you doing this

voice as I tried to make

"…Doing what?"

ignorance and pretended to not have understood

"Here."

her head, she nudged her head in

I don't think you will need it, I

referring to Hein and

I'll take you up on

her. Then, turning around, I handed them

an idea of what 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

head sideways, and staring behind Melissa and the

guys seen Kevin by any

wasn't really the type

just overthinking things? Could just be that he

"They're over there."

just as I was wondering about Kevin's whereabouts, Amanda suddenly spoke as she pointed towards the

"Where?"

"There."

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

for me to finally see

"Oh, I see them."

usual self, but Kevin looked a bit different than usual. There

sick or

hair was disheveled and his overall complexion looked extremely pale. The current Kevin

distance, seemingly having noticed my stare, Kevin raised his head and our

"…hm?"