A couple of hours earlier, when Stella hadn’t even woken up, Ed found himself exploring the various shops.

  The reason he was doing so was because he had nothing to do. While he did get along with Anna and her friends, that didn’t mean that they were necessarily close. In fact, the only one of the four friends that he talked to without Anna was Stella, and she was unconscious the last time he saw her.

  It was actually due to Stella’s unconsciousness that Ed had nothing to do. Originally, he would’ve stayed with them, or at least around them in case he was needed or could contribute in some way, but the situation was not one in which he could intrude.

  Both Anna and Alex sent him away as kindly as possible, as they stayed behind with an unconscious Stella and Eric’s siblings. Now he found himself wandering the streets of the tournament grounds all alone.

  He wasn’t alone because he had no other option, no, he had friends and other people he was friendly with, he just didn’t feel like hanging out with them. And the reason behind that was simple, he didn’t want to hang out with them when it felt like he was doing it as a second option.

  It wouldn’t be fair to them, he told himself. When I’m with them, it should be because I want to and not because I have no other choice.

  So, with no other choice that would allow him to feel comfortable with himself, he made his way out of the human pagoda, in order to find something to do.

  Unlike Anna who needed to purchase a sword, or Alex who didn’t really care about what he spent his points on, Ed wanted to save as much as possible and buy something that could be useful to everyone back at Solace. Looking through the various shops, many ideas came to mind.

  First, he entered a weapons shop. His first thought was about purchasing a weapon for Anna, since he knew that she couldn’t summon her sword. But he stopped himself when he remembered hearing her say that she would buy one herself.

  His next stop was an armory, but he quickly noticed that he lacked the appropriate knowledge to distinguish what would be useful and what wouldn’t. It wasn’t only a matter of using a skill like Inspect, it was also about it being more than a single use item or something that could be outclassed by regular System items.

  Eventually, he made his way to another weapon shop, this time without Anna on his mind, but ultimately, he came to the same conclusion that he had when he went into the armor shop.

  “I don’t know enough about weapons or what we currently have access to, in order to make such a decision,” he muttered as he walked.

  While looking for where to go, he found an artifact shop. He had seen artifacts before, but he never actually used one. He didn’t know the exact conditions for their creation, but he had seen someone literally pick one off the ground. Ultimately, his lack of knowledge stopped him from being able to come to a decision.

  Unlike the weapons or armor, the reason that he couldn’t decide about the artifacts was because they were either too much or too little. Some, by his own account, were too good to be true.

  “Twice the speed of mana recovery? Sounds great, but how do I know how long the effect will last? A second? A week? Does it only work in bursts?” He shook his head. “Better get some advice first. Marcus would’ve been the perfect person to evaluate almost all the items I’ve been checking.”

  After going from store to store, he eventually found himself in a small bookstore.

  “I could buy a manual,” he muttered, sifting through shelves full of books. “Maybe I can find one that is better than the ones back at Solace. From what I remember, Anna complained about cultivation taking too long to be worth it. And now that I think about it, isn’t this related to what Alex said yesterday? About the reason they turned their focus to training their skills instead of leveling.” An idea was quickly forming in his mind. “Yes, if I can find a good cultivation manual, then—”

  His words cut off, as beyond the glass window that he was facing, a tall humanoid frog passed by. They were slightly hunched, and the clothes they wore weren’t the greatest, but in essence, they were just a humanoid frog.

  Their face had basically remained unchanged, though their bodies had to accommodate for its shape, leaving them slightly hunched. Their limbs were long and lanky. That being said, from the poor fabric they wore, powerful leg muscles could be glimpsed.

  “What?” Ed said, the word escaping him as he put the book down.

  Ed, like basically everyone from the day before, knew that one of the new species that were a part of their new world, were a variety of beast folk. Many had even fought with and against said new species, but he wasn’t one of them. He’d had the opportunity to interact with them when he was underground, but his attention was elsewhere, specifically, he was focused on the monk that seemed to have been waiting for him.

  Though, to be fair to the monk, I had also completely forgotten about the beast folk when I was underground. I’m pretty sure I had more than enough time, before I spoke to the monk to talk to one of them.

  Regardless of the reason, one of them was close and he was bursting with curiosity.

  Leaving the bookstore, he first confirmed that he was still in the human section of the tournament grounds and that he hadn’t accidentally ended up crossing over without realizing. Turning to face the arena, he quickly confirmed that he was still well within the human section.

  “Unless my sight is off, I should be more than well within our section. So, why are there beast folk here? Did they crossover without realizing it?” Ed turned to look around. “No, that can’t be, it’s full of humans walking around. But now that I get a closer look, there are more of them than I thought.”

  Scattered around the area that Ed stood in, small groups of beast folk were walking around. From what he could see, very few of them were interacting with other humans, but some interaction was happening.

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  Walking near some of these small groups, making sure that he didn’t linger too long, he confirmed something that many had theorized beforehand.

  “The translation feature that lets us understand each other doesn’t only affect human languages,” he muttered. “I can also perfectly understand what they’re saying.”

  He wanted to linger a bit more, to find out the specifics of what each group was talking about, but that wasn’t the kind of person that Ed was. Everyone was entitled to their privacy and even though it was a new world, he wouldn’t intrude. Instead, an idea popped into his head, something that could help him pick what to use his points on.

  Quickly, he shot his head this way and that, searching for a high place. Once he was high enough, he looked to the other sections, a smile forming on his face.

  ----------

  Not long after Alex and Anna finished their meal, while they talked about the meal they had just had, an announcement that signaled the continuation of the tournament had begun.

  The announcement contained a wealth of information not only from the previous round, but also from slightly before. It gave a conclusive number of all of the participants that made it to the tournament grounds, while also giving a mildly detailed report on the first round of matches.

  In total, 17,655 people had made it to the tournament grounds themselves, but only 15,838 of them had actually lived to make it to the matches.

  Alex frowned slightly, catching on to the fact that they made a distinction by singling out only those that had made it to the tournament grounds.

  Stella, who had already been making her way to the arena, even before the announcement began, made an estimated guess on the specific numbers that were given.

  If my original guess was right, then about three of those 15 thousand should be humans. If we take one hundred for the robed race, then that leaves a little less than 12 thousand. She envisioned the arena stands, remembering their size and occupancy. That means I was off. The stands should be for about 6 thousand per section, and we humans should be less…

  While Stella did her mental math, she passed by many people that barely even noticed her. These people were surprised at the total number of deaths there had been in the short time that the attendants had let them run wild.

  Those that appeared unsurprised were either surprised internally or had already considered the possibility.

  Then, the deaths that happened during the tournament were given shortly after. In total, there were 241 deaths. Not all of them occurred during the match above, some having died underground, their injuries being too severe for even the regenerative effects to be of any help.

  While some where focusing on the deaths, or a myriad of other things that they could be preoccupied with, Alex continued to focus on the number of people that they mentioned. For some reason, the number made him uncomfortable, but he was too distracted to know why, and for some reason he kept thinking about the number two. He was sure it was related, but he didn’t know how.

  Stella soon met both Anna and Alex on the main road. There was still some way before they made it to the arena, and they began to talk about what they had been doing in the meantime.

  “You obviously didn’t wait in the room,” Anna said, making a stern face at Stella. “Where were you?”

  Stella considered making something up, but ultimately decided that she had no need to. Plus, an idea was forming in her mind and here, while surrounded by people, would be the most ideal place to begin.

  “Met with the representative of one of the standing governments, or powers—whatever you want to call them,” she said, casually and without care as to who might hear her. “Apparently we’ve become a target.”

  Stella hadn’t spoken loudly, yet, with the aid of her mana, she made sure more than enough people heard her.

  At first, they only turned toward the source of the sound, but their sights remained when they realized who had spoken. Soon, many others began to turn, curious as to what was so deserving of attention.

  Though, to her surprise, there was clear hostility in the eyes of some of the people that were looking their way. She dismissed it, considering that it might not be entirely because of her.

  It could be because of the gods, or because we’re loud, she thought. Unaware of how correct she was.

  Anna and Alex both frowned at her words, confused as to why she would speak them aloud so casually. For all intents and purposes, something as sensitive as what she just said was usually first discussed amongst the four friends, then with Lydia, and finally the council as a whole.

  Anna’s instincts told her there was more to her friend’s words, and her blood began to boil, as if it knew what Anna didn’t, and it wasn’t pleased.

  Alex on the other hand, after a second of consideration, seemed to grasp his friend’s intentions. He was unsure of what she wanted to accomplish, but at least her actions had an explanation.

  “Because of what you did yesterday?” Alex asked, following Stella’s lead.

  “That and a couple more reasons,” Stella answered. “You know how politics are. Even in this new world, escaping them is basically impossible.”

  “So, they want something from us, right?”

  “Right,” Stella confirmed.

  “And our answer is, no?”

  Stella only smiled at the question, made a small hand gesture, signaling that that was enough and let the topic die then and there.

  Anna was still confused by the exchange, yet her blood continued to boil, increasing when Alex spoke, and only ceasing when they stopped talking.

  At some level, I must know what they were doing. I doubt my bloodline is able to take action on its own. She groaned internally. I’m pretty sure I also had lessons about this, but what were they?

  Even during the short but audible exchange between the two friends, the announcement didn’t stop.

  It was now explaining what many had already discovered during the previous day.

  About how teleporting underground had the benefit of calming the mind, in case you needed it. About the regenerative effects that were available. They then explained how the matches would continue to function due to the still high number of contestants.

  Just like the day before, the arena would be divided into ten sections. Each time a match would end, the following contestants would be immediately teleported to the arena. All of this in an effort to speed up the matches as much as possible.

  They clarified the point System that Alex had already surmised. Three points per victory and one for merely participating in the match.

  The last thing they did was reiterate that the ultimate prize was still going to be the teleporter with a direct connection to the Frontier, along with a direct connection to a clan node within it.

  ----------

  Once more, a robed woman made her way toward the underground area, careful not to be seen. Nearby, four other women waited, acting oblivious to what was going on with their companion, while simultaneously obscuring said companion with the divinity they wielded.

  It had to be done, otherwise any person in the busy tournament ground streets could’ve seen her enter when they weren’t supposed to.

  Underground, one of the avatars of Divine Sophia made her way to a designated location, her eyes completely white as she was guided by a holy power from an unknown location.

  Having reached the correct alcove, she traced her hands along its walls and ceiling. A strange combination of holy and unknown, almost demonic symbols began to glow, an entire scripture was revealing itself before her.

  She chanted in hushed tones, the holy words glowing even stronger than before. Then, almost like an echo, the reverse was spouted from far beyond, increasing the power of the demonic lettering.

  When the alcove went silent, the woman began to bleed from her nose, mouth, eyes and ears, yet she stood, completely unaffected. Still in a trance, the woman left, her body faltering a bit as she rejoined her companions who quickly embraced her.

  In the alcove, the letters began to seep into the stone, once more hidden from the world and from the attendants.

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