[Earth (Leader) has won against Grenara (Subordinate)]
[The gold coins will be sent to your inventory shortly after the end of the arena.]
The notification rang in both Jack’s and Oreto’s minds as soon as the latter admitted defeat.
Good. With this, we’ve secured both more time and enough funding to train for a while. Jack’s shoulders finally relaxed, as if a massive weight had just been lifted from them.
Then he looked at Oreto, who was staring back at him with a defeated expression, prompting Jack to tilt his head and ask, “What?”
Oreto, still trying to process what had just happened, remained silent.
Not only had he bet a large amount of Gold coins on the fight, but in doing so, he had also made a terrible enemy, one neither he nor any other warrior in his civilization had no hope of fighting against.
Right now, he wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and hide his head in it, but if he did that, he would doom his people as well.
He couldn’t accept that.
Slowly, his eyes regained their light, and his teeth ground against each other as if he were about to throw caution to the wind.
“I’d like to request something from you.” Oreto stared solemnly and pleadingly into Jack’s eyes.
Already on guard after the previous friendship request Oreto had proposed, that was more of a scam than anything else, Jack tentatively asked, “What is it?”
Oreto opened his mouth, but his eyes soon noticed Jack’s rapidly fading figure, and he panicked.
No! System, give us more time! he screamed in his mind as he blurted out, “Please accept the call from my civilization once you’re back in your town!”
Before Jack could reply, his vision blurred, and he found himself back in the town.
/////
The atmosphere in the stadium was lukewarm, to say the least.
There was no chaos, no resounding laughter, nor a series of curses thrown at either of the two civilizations. It seemed as though nobody cared.
The large, almost endless number of seats and the few people present didn’t help either as they made everything feel even duller.
If one didn’t know what the match entailed, they would never have guessed it had decided the future of a civilization, one formed by billions of people, albeit only due to the subordinate civilization’s greed.
“That guy was too weak to even show me the full extent of Jack’s progress,” Erevan sighed to himself but he didn’t let that sour his mood.
“Okay, that sums it up. I should go back now.” He then stood up from his seat before glancing at Nova. “Are you coming?”
Nova slowly nodded. Inwardly, he thought, ‘He was below average indeed, but the Wood Force he showed is indeed quite rare. If I were to comprehend it, my healing prowess would go up a notch.’
/////
Back in Erevan’s room, the three of them, Erevan, Jack, and Nova, sat on the sofas. The fourth, Slade, was, as usual, nowhere to be found.
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“How do you feel?” Erevan asked Jack, knowing full well why he had jumped at the opportunity to fight even against a weak civilization.
Jack smiled slightly. “I feel much better now.”
“Good, that’s how it should be.” Erevan clapped his hands, his smile widening. “What about the Gold coins from the bet? How should we handle them?”
He asked casually, but the glint in his eyes was too clear for anyone to miss, he couldn’t wait to receive his share.
Nova’s ears twitched as he, too, looked at his friend with a fervent expression. “Mhm, I wanted to ask about that as well. What do you plan on doing?”
Jack felt as if he were being stared at by two hungry tigers, ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness.
These two’s greed knows no bounds. I haven’t even received the gold coins yet, and they’re already here claiming their share. Unbelievable.
“Fortunately, you reminded me.” Jack’s honest expression would have put actors to shame. “I don’t really know how we should manage the Gold coins we win from the arenas, so I’d like your opinions on the matter.”
Erevan and Nova both nodded calmly. What they had just heard was like music to their ears.
“I see three people here, so… I think it’s best if we share them evenly between the three of us. Am I right?” Erevan looked at Nova with a sly smile. It’s on you now.
‘Good job.’ Mirroring that same smile, Nova shamelessly said, “Indeed. We’re a team, and the stronger we are, the better it is for everybody. So let’s try not to leave anyone behind and share everything we have with each other.”
Jack’s lips twitched. He had been ready to split the Gold coins with them, but… evenly? That was uncalled for.
Still, being stared at by the two of them as if he were the finest piece of meat in the world didn’t make the decision too difficult to make.
“I knew you two were the fairest among us.” Jack said happily, making both Erevan and Nova nod with approving smiles.
“But…” he continued, “I still haven’t received any coins from the system. Don’t worry, being a man of my word, I’ll let the two of you know the moment I receive them.”
It was Erevan and Nova’s lips’ turn to twitch.
[Grenara’s Oreto is trying to contact you. Answer the call?]
It was at that moment that a notification rang in all their heads, soon followed by the prompt.
“Ah, I forgot to mention it.” Jack exclaimed when he saw the call. “That guy said to answer his call right before I was teleported back here.”
“He didn’t say why?” Nova asked quietly, clearly still thinking about his share of the Gold coins.
Jack shook his head. “He only said he had a request, nothing more.”
Erevan, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow and said, “I’d say we hear him out. Maybe we can get even more Gold coins.”
Is that all you can think about? Jack sighed internally, but nonetheless accepted the call. He couldn’t rule out the possibility that this call might bring further benefits.
“Thank you for answering!” Oreto’s weak but cheerful voice rang in Jack’s mind.
It seemed the shock he had received from the fight was still very clear in his mind, even after returning to the safety of his town.
“Okay, okay. Skip the formalities, what did you want to ask earlier?”
There was a moment of silence before Oreto said, “Can I come to your town?”
After saying that, he realized he had been so worried about his civilization that he had made a mistake. Hastily, he clarified,
“I don’t want to cause trouble, but what I want to request is too important, and I’d like to do it in person.”
Asking to visit another civilization’s town without being allies, or at least close friends, was considered rude.
There were too many risks in allowing strangers to visit.
The most dangerous risk, of course, was the town’s location being leaked to other civilizations. It was something even the top civilizations in the portal were wary of.
After all… there was no telling whether other top civilizations would band together to eliminate one.
Jack, having already heard of many civilizations being wiped out after their bases were discovered, frowned. “You’ve been in the portal far longer than I have, so you should be fully aware of what allowing you to come here means. How am I supposed to trust you?”
Nova, albeit not particularly interested in what was happening, still noticed Jack’s frown and said, “Say something, don’t leave us guessing.”
Jack took a deep breath, his frown easing slightly. “He says what he wants is too important to discuss over a call and is asking to visit our town.”
“If he wants to come, then let him come.” Erevan’s voice rang out at that moment.
Jack’s head swiveled toward him. “Are you sure?”
Erevan shrugged. “What’s there to worry about? Given his strength, if he has any funny ideas, we can just kill him.”
“What do you say?” Jack turned to Nova.
Nova hummed in agreement.
Sigh… why am I even worrying so much when nobody else is? Jack pushed aside his doubts and, even though Oreto had yet to respond, he spoke up.
“You can come.”
“Eh? Really?!” Oreto loudly exclaimed.
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