Chapter 69: Polite Invitation
Moon watched his six henchmen leave him alone in his imaginary cage with burning eagerness.
The six of them once outside, stood still, each one of them looked at the other for a way, they were rather confused on how to actually do anything of what Moon demanded. Colten was already looking half dead by now, the stress from the last few days must have eaten at his mind, but Barrett and Basil, unlike them, weren’t in high spirits, but they weren’t down either. They were just confused.
Barrett spoke first, after clearing his throat,
"Since we’re into this together, does anyone has suggestion?"
He asked the group, but everyone looked at one another. Liam wanted to speak but he was afraid of overstepping his place, his eagerness to speak wasn’t hidden from Colten’s eyes.
"It’s fine, if anyone wants to talk you don’t need my permission," Colten spoke for the first time in a while, before shaking his head bitterly.
Liam stepped forward: "I think the majority is still asleep, so maybe we should start by waking them up?"
Barrett nodded in agreement. "I suppose," he looked at everyone again. "So, any idea how we should wake them up?"
Kase scratched his chin a few times. "I.. I have an idea but I seek Master Colten’s permission first."
Basil spoke as well: "I also have something in mind." He smiled at everyone. It was their first time working together on equal terms, though they at least knew how to discuss and speak without holding past grudges.
A few minutes later, in front of the dorms—a place Moon has never set foot onto till now, and probably won’t during his stay in the facility. The group of six stood a litle further away from the entrance of the two gigantic buildings. One side was for males and the other was for females. They weren’t in anyway smaller than the huge dome where the teachers live. Maybe even bigger; the fact that it could accommodate that many ascenders spoke volumes.
Basil held a signboard, and Liam and Kase each held a helmet and a sword, while Colten and Abshi by his side stood at the back watching with discreet dissatisfaction.
"Shall we?" Barrett asked, and the rest nodded.
Basil raised the signboard: [Free azure flame sword and helmet]
And then, both Kase and Liam started hammering the helmets with the sword guards. The sound echoed even with arcane arts or echo amblification.... Barrett on the other hand:
"Wake the hell up, boss Moon is challenging you all!"
Clang, clank
Clang, clank
Clang, clank
Metallic, hollow, and sharp noises rang across the dorms assaulting every ear of a peacefully sleeping lifeform within the a large radius. Curtains pulled, windows opened...
"Which bastard?"
"What the hell is going on?"
"What time is it now?"
"Isn’t that Colten?"
"What’s he doing here now?"
"Colten you bastard, do you think anyone is afraid of you anymore!"
"Yeah, noone is afraid, you’re not that strong!"
"Shut up you bastards, it was Moon who won, not you!"
"What about it?"
"Go down and beat him up!"
"On a second thought, I would rather now."
Colten listened, his face twistching, and he squeezed his fists hard till they turned white.
"What’s written on that board?"
"What? Can’t you see it from here?"
"I mean, I can but is it real?"
"Colten, are you giving away your family stuff?"
"Atatata... he prolly will get beat once home."
"I know right."
Barrett screamed again: "Are you going for it or not... of course the knife crafted by Heaven Splitting King is included!"
"Who the fuck is Heaven Splitting King?"
"Never heard of him."
"The knife is good, but I don’t use knifes."
"Me neither."
"Don’t you damn cowards use swords?" Basil screamed now.
"Who are you calling coward!"
"You picking a fight?"
"Come and fight us if you dare!" Barrett and Basil tried to copy Moon’s provocative speech, but there was certain elements they were lacking. Moon, it was impossible to guess what he was going to say or do, he was rather too chaotic that one was wary in his presence...
Colten and Abshi were known to be strong, they also had four more on their side, but they still didn’t offer the unpredictable chaotic feel Moon radiated. And they knew, they realized they were lacking when it comes for dragging victims to get beaten, but they also had their boss reputation to use.
Abshi stepped forward, speaking for the first time:
"If you don’t go now to the arena and fight, I’ll mark every room and individual who cursed at us and report it to Boss Moon."
His voice wasn’t loud, but it was clearn.
"Also," he opened his mouth to speak again, "gather before going, if you go one by one you won’t even give him a warmup."
By the time he was done speaking, the curses and shouts died out.
"Do- do we also have to go?" the question came a girl’s dorm window, voice was soft and pleading.
Basil looked at Barrett who’s lips parted. "I’m not sure," he said slowly. "But if you want to come I don’t think boss would mind."
One by one, everyone started rushing toward the ring, but they didn’t enter, instead... they all waiting at the boarders. Moon who was feeling suffocated was starting to feel pleased.
"They aren’t useless after all," he nodded in satisfaction; his henchmen were worth the effort he put into acquiring them. More started gathering, even some girls came to either watch or had intention to join after seeing how this goes for a while.
Once Moon saw that around 50 individuals were gathered including Roran who could be seen in the middle, he nodded. "Good, this is a good number," he said to the crowd. "So, are you getting cold feet now?"
"I let you down twice, even though I promised a good fight," someone spoke making his way to the arena. It was Dorbish. "We may have met under unfavorable circumstances, but I planned on coming here today even if I happened to be the only one."
Moon, unimpressed: "Sure thing, your name was Dorbish if I remember," Moon confirmed, for he truly didn’t bother much with names out of habit. "Shall we then?" He invited him to the ring with open arms that didn’t look too welcoming.
Dorbish let out a dry laugh before stepping in first. Amongst the spectators, girls starting gathering... Lexie walked in with someone next to her, a girl with short brown hair and green eyes. Unlike Lexie’s liveliness, the girl was rather down, and looked unwell.
"Nola, are you sure you don’t want to go back?" Lexie asked the girl.
"No, sister, I need to start going out again." The girl spoke softly, while being supported going down the flight of stairs by Lexie.
Lexie blew a breath. "What kind of aid are you?" She said half jokingly. "Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?"
Nola laughed softly, even though she wasn’t suffering any energy she has been feeling weak for days.
"You shitless brats, are you going inside the ring or do I have to give up this round and step out to beat the crap out of y’all!" A loud shout reached Nola’s and Lexie’s ears. "There won’t be a boundaries for you to escape though!"
Nola’s head whipped ahead, eyes open wide. "Sister," She gasped "that’s him!"