Chapter 16: The Peculiar Girl

There were almost no other contestants left in the arena. Rein looked around, trying to spot Chloe, but she wasn't anywhere in sight. 5 people had qualified so far, meaning only 3 more spots were available. He looked into the stands, seeing Saphrilla and Emria sat behind a magical barrier. They looked nervous for him but continued to cheer him on nonetheless.

"You shouldn't be looking around during a fight Rein." Said Clyde, rushing in to attack. Rein didn't move at all this time, causing Clyde to hesitate in his attack, giving Rein enough time to retaliate.

"Heh, why'd you hesitate? Let me guess, it's because you've gotten so used to acting on reaction because of your Spring that if nothing is causing a reaction, you simply freeze up. I noticed that when we were fighting earlier as well." Explained Rein

"You continue to impress me, Rein. Though it looks like our fight will have to be cut short."

"We have qualifier number six!" They both looked over, seeing the unconscious men stripped of their coins. While Rein and Clyde fought, someone had somehow slipped in and stolen the loose coins. It was a boy with spiky yellow hair, smiling smugly at Rein and Clyde.

"Sir, you have 7 extra coins. Please give them away." Said the announcer.

"The only conscious ones in the arena are those two monsters, you think I'm stupid enough to let them pass?" He laughed hysterically and pocketed the coins he stole and continued through the qualifying gate.

"Oh!! Dirty move! There are now no more coins left for the two still left in the arena! Do we have a rule for this? No? It's just instant disqualification?" Said the announcer, talking with the advisor that was with them. Both of them gave no reactions. Clyde approached the coin bank and stared at it for a bit.

"Guess we screwed up, didn't we Clyde." Said Rein, laughing at his stupidity.

"I'm sorry Rein, my foolish duel caused you to be disqualified. You have my deepest apologies." Responded Clyde, making Rein mildly confused.

"Wait, why are you talking like you're not involved in this too..?" Uttered Rein, watching Clyde get closer to the bank.

"We have a seventh winner!" Stated the announcer.

"Huh, so you already had 4 coins when you challenged me. Well played." Said Rein, realizing that he had just lost in the qualifying round. He got too overconfident and let his guard down, making him disqualify in the most unexpected way possible. He had just come to terms with his loss. "Damn, I really let everyone down. Voron, Saphrilla, Emria, Versys… Wait, Versys?" He thought.

"I believe that's all the qualifying participants we're gonna get! The rest of the people in the arena are now officially disq—"

"Not so fast!" Rein interrupted the announcer, causing the arena to go silent for a moment. From out of nowhere, Rein held out a stack of coins, surprising everyone, the audience, the announcer, and the qualifiers.

"Ohh!! It seems Rein Xilris has somehow procured 1 Dol worth of coins! But how is that possible! He is in possession of 5 Pen, 10 Pen, and even 50 Pen coins, even though only 25 Pen was given out!" Shouted the announcer.

"What the fuck!? That's blatant cheating! He's not gonna qualify from that! Only 25 pen coins are accepted! Besides, we all had to leave our own money outside the arena, he obviously got those other coins illegally!" Said the yellow-haired man who stole the loose coins.

"Oh? But the announcer said that we qualify by banking 1 Dol, and by my count, I'm holding that amount in the palms of my hand." Rein maliciously smiled.

"We have no definitive rules about this, but if the terminal accepts it, we have no choice but to qualify him." Stated the announcer as Rein approached the bank. He took his coins and slotted them into the bank, one by one… There was total silence, causing everyone in the arena to have severe anxiety from the suspense. Everyone except Rein, were clueless as to what the result would be.

"We have our final winner!!" Exclaimed the announcer, causing the crowd to go wild. Emria was jubilant, cheering with all her might. Even Saphrilla, who normally seemed emotionless, had an expression filled with bliss. Rein entered the room with all of the qualifiers. He looked around, seeing some people he didn't recognize. He also saw the masked man, the delinquent, the thief, Clyde, and in the corner, a hooded girl.

"Chloe? When'd you qualify?" He approached her, ignoring all the other people glaring at him hatefully.

"Wow Rein, I really thought you weren't gonna make it. Were those my coins? How'd you get them in?" She relentlessly asked.

"Haha, well…"

"Just wait one fuckin second." Said the thief that stole all of the coins.

"You cheatin piece of shit. First, you team up with the masked prick over here, and now you make fools out of all of us!" He said angrily.

"Look who's talking, you didn't even fight anyone. You got your coins by reaping off of the hard work of others. From where I stand, you're the cowardly ass cheater." Retorted Rein, leaving the man incredibly furious.

"I hope I get put into a bracket with either you or the masked idiot over there so could beat the fuck out of you." He shouted, glancing over at Chloe with a curious look, then storming off outside, followed by the tall delinquent who qualified second, seeming like the both of them knew each other. Rein sighed loudly and handed Chloe the rest of her loose change. Chloe thanked him, and they met back up with Emria and Saphrilla after.

"That was so cool Rein! You really had me there! I forgot you picked up those coins earlier!" Cheered Emria.

"Indeed, I was 'at the edge of my seat' so to speak. It is a relief that you did not get disqualified this early on, or else my father's idiotic idea may have not worked." Saphrilla had returned to her usual tone of voice.

"I assume you used your Spring to sneak those coins in? I have really good eyes, but even I couldn't see how you pulled those coins from thin air. It definitely wasn't out of your pockets. So does your Spring have the ability to store things in an alternate space, then pull them out like an invisible inventory? But then again..." Chloe continued to ramble until Rein eventually cut her off.

"Yeah, you're right on the money. My Spring is pretty much an invisible pocket. Pretty cool right?" He smiled at her, confirming her false theory.

"Super cool! But hmmm, that's gonna be pretty hard to counter with my Spring…" Chloe thought, putting her finger on her chin.

"Oh? And what's your Spring? Does it have something to do with your hood?" Curiously asked Rein, a question which flustered Chloe.

"O-oh! Oh yeah… kinda. It's uhh, not important! Anyways, the next round is tomorrow. Let's look around the town then head to the participant hotel! They should have a room booked for all of the qualifiers!" She expertly changed the subject, which had Rein's interest piqued.

"Yeah let's go into town! Exploring an underground town's gonna be so cool!" Expressed Emria, excited.

Rein followed the girls as they began exploring the town, his mind wondering what Chloe's Spring could be. They continued through the town, checking out all the shops and food stalls until the glowing lights in the cave dimmed.

"Interesting. It seems the glowing stones on the walls are powered by solar energy from the outside. It must be nighttime now." Concluded Sahprilla.

"Wow, it really has gotten so dark. The town lights should be turning on any second now. Let's go check out this final pla— woah!" Chloe stopped midsentence, having tripped over in the dark in her hurry. She didn't try to break her fall, she just made sure her hood wouldn't come off her head.

"You okay? You ought to be more careful when the lights are off." Rein outstretched a hand to help her up.

"Owowow… Thanks, Rein." As she reached for his hand, Rein realized he could find out what her Spring was by copying it when they make contact. As their hands connected, the town lights turned on, illuminating the area around them. Rein muttered "Versys", activating his spring and copying the inverse of Chloe's spring, and learning what it was in the process. Stunned, he didn't let go of her hand.

"No way…"