When it was announced that the tournament was finally about to begin, Kretos felt relieved. It has been quite some time since he had awoken with no memories. But every now and then he would have dreams that seem to be glimpses of his past, but in those dreams his face, his body, every aspect was different, all except for the personality and the way they think. He wasn't even human in those dreams.
The Kretos in those dreams was a demon that just fought and fought continuously and unintentionally gathered an army that was loyal not to him but to his strength. He was on top but felt endlessly bored.
There were even some dreams that he was another person with a different name. Actually there were multiple dreams of him being these different people that he didn't know about. Yet despite him not knowing he felt some kind of resonance with them. They all looked different, came from different backgrounds, but their core self was the same as him.
He couldn't understand a single one of those dreams and what they meant to him no matter how hard he thought about it. So it was getting a bit irritating. He wanted to get this tournament going to see if someone from the other kingdoms know who he is.
...
Aside from his memory problem, Kretos was also dealing with something else. After the battle with the Osted family, something started changing within his body. He felt like he was growing stronger and stronger at an accelerated pace without him doing anything. The mana in his body was also growing rapidly just by breathing the mana in the air.
Based on the knowledge that still remained in his mind, a human before a certain age shouldn't be able to store such a large amount of mana before his body fully matures. Based solely on his looks Kretos was sure that his body was near being fully matured, but he wasn't quite there yet. In fact, even if you weren't human growing one's mana by simply breathing the mana in the air was unheard of.
So what was happening to him was quite illogical, if you base it on the knowledge he has. Even if his body was growing in strength, it shouldn't affect his mana growth, but both were happening at the same time.
'Maybe I'm older than I look... Wait, that's not the point... Why am I even thinking so hard about this? Even if it's a power that I don't understand, I can still feel that it is my own power. Getting more powerful is never a bad thing... Is it?'
When Kretos thought of that for some reason he felt a sense of loneliness. He felt like this has happened before. As he felt like he was about to remember something important, Afeus entered his room.
"Master, sorry to disturb you, but someone is here to see you." Kretos frowned and was about to say something, but was interrupted by another person's voice.
"It seems like the dorm rooms here are smaller than I remember." A woman with long purplish blond hair wearing a long robe that seems to imbued with numerous spells had entered the room. Just by listening to her voice, you would understand that she was a person full of pride.
Yet the moment she laid eyes on Kretos she almost puked. She was one of the few people that could see the shape and size of one's mana without any spell or item. So the moment she saw Kretos she saw the largest amount of mana she has ever seen.
Even though Kretos was suppressing his mana, the degree in which it was rising was too much making some of it leak unintentionally.
Henrietta the genius mage of the Serbek Kingdom was screaming in fear internally as she looked at the monster before her. Yet at the same time, she was feeling truly excited. Right in front of her was a person that surpasses her in every way, well except for looks.
Afeus and Henrietta's assistant looked confused as to why Henrietta was just standing there without saying anything. Kretos felt like there was something wrong with the way Henrietta was looking at him. He was used to the looks of fear and awe since those were the common looks people give him. Yet looking at Henrietta, aside from fear there was something else there.
"What do you want?" Kretos finally broke the silence and asked.
"Please marry me!" Henrietta who was known all throughout the kingdom as the most prideful woman of all and was rumored to hate men actually asked someone's hand in marriage. Afeus was stunned into silence, while the assistant almost fainted.
"Huh?" Kretos on the other hand, couldn't even comprehend the words that the woman before him said.
"With your genes and mine, the children we produce will become the most powerful beings to walk this planet," Henrietta spoke with the look of a crazed believer. At first, she came here simply out of curiosity. She wanted to see the man that could defeat the whole Osted family. If he was worthy she would allow him to be her subordinate. If he was better than that she would try to partner up with him. Yet the moment she saw Kretos she knew instantly that this was the man she needed to be with. This was the man that could help her achieve her ambitions.
Her pride and talent always made her look at others as people beneath her. She believed that there might be no man out there that could match her, which made everyone think she hated men. In fact, she could go both ways, as long as her partner meets certain criteria. Even though Kretos's look did not pass her criteria, everything else about him was beyond any criteria.
Henrietta's assistant regained her wits and stood in front of Henrietta and knelt. "My lady please reconsider, we have no idea who this man is. Your husband must adhere to the highest standards. You cannot simply pick one with unknown origins."
"You fool, don't you see that this man is of the highest standard. None would ever dare match his brilliance." Henrietta pushed her assistant aside and approached Kretos.
"Become my husband, and we can skip the wedding and get right to business." Kretos couldn't keep up with what the woman before him was saying, she was even trying to remove her clothes while her assistant tried to stop her.