Chapter 81 - Azura's Investigation.

Azura closed the console and looked around in her room. It wasn't very fancy - Pink colored walls, a tiny bed next to the wall with a Night's End poster in the wall. Pair of windows where you can see a busy city. Her room was quite cheap-looking, and only her TV and console were expensive-looking.

She took her phone from the charger and went to her tiny-looking bed.

*Crrkkk*

Creaking and cracking noises were heard after Azura sat down, it was almost at breaking point, but she didn't care because she had gotten used to it.

She opened her phone, which was over 5 years old, with a screen with cracks like spiderwebs and a dirty-looking phone case.

She usually only uses her phone to call her mother or check the news of Night's End, but she is doing something different this time.

Azura started tapping on the cracked screen, trying to find videos from the tournament of Gensa, and it didn't take long since that tournament was in Highlight.

''Mark said that he rivaled the greatest genius...'' Azura thought aloud,

''Ah... It was him.'' Her beautiful face had a smile that could brighten any room; she started typing on the website and found the article about Slych Raften.

She started searching the video clips of him, and a particular video popped up.

[Armya Vs. Irio - Final Match - Slych Raften Vs. Kurogami Ichiro!]

She saw the view count and was astonished.

[Views: 576,467,924]

[Likes: 295k]

[Dislikes: 46k]

''Hmm... Why so many dislikes?'' She started scrolling down and saw the reason.

A lot of hate came towards Slych because he hurt Ichiro.

Azura wryly smiled, ''So this Ichiro must be some kind of pretty boy?''

She has no interest in Idol's and Pretty boy fighters, who are in the spotlight because of their looks no matter where they go.

And she thought that Ichiro was one of them; that's why 99% of Dislikes were from girls.

She clicked the video, and the battle started.

Azura sat down not so comfortably, her back hitting the wall and the rough bed underneath her, but her focus was on the video.

The video lasted 5 minutes until the video ended in Slych's victory.

Azura was astonished seeing their strength, ''Almost as strong as my brother...'' She then quickly shook her head, removing the thoughts about her brother.

She then started looking at the other videos, but Slych easily defeated every single one of them.

''Hmm... Mark definitely said that he was in equal standings with the greatest genius of Gensa... and that is Slych... Then could it be?!'' Azura shook and went back to the first video.

*Sssssss*

Her face was almost in contact with her phone; she looked closely at Ichiro's every move.

The video again ended, but Azura instantly replayed the video.

She did the same thing for 3 hours in strength until she remembers every move Ichiro did in that fight.

She was still unsure whether it was him, so she decided to find every news article about Ichiro.

Then she saw a particular article.

[NEWS: Irio's Golden Child, Kurogami Ichiro's Past!]

She started reading the article and was shocked.

''He was bullied? How come he didn't do anything about it? He is so strong after all...'' Azura was getting more curious each passing second.

She started twiddling her soft-looking toes and thought about the conversation she had with Mark.

''There must be more clues...'' She rested her head on her knees and thought deeply.

''It must be him...'' She said, but then she remembered one thing...

''I can check the students from his school!'' Azura exclaimed and started typing the website of Irio's Middle School; she will try to find anyone with the names of Mark and Jake in his class.

The first thing she saw on the website was two pictures.

One of them was a handsome black-haired young man, and another was a tall young man with a buzz cut and muscular body.

They were Ichiro and Lucas.

Below them, words [Irio's Golden Childs] were shown.

She tried to find the student list, and a few minutes later, she gave up.

It was wishful thinking; of course, they wouldn't publish the student lists.

She sighed, ''I am sure it's him...'' 

She opened the WorldlyTalk and saw [KingOfGames] name on her contacts; she smiled sweetly and closed the phone.

''I will find out!'' She cheered herself up and stood up from her creaking bed.

The floor was ice cold, there wasn't heating in her tiny apartment, and she is lucky that she even has a home.

With tiny steps, she exited her room and saw a kitchen not far from her and a door to her apartment.

It was a tiny apartment, only big enough to have Azura live here; since her mother couldn't earn money, she had to do it by herself, and she managed to do barely get enough money for food for playing Night's End.

Her mother let her use her savings since she had no use for it, but those ended quickly because her mother wasn't the wealthiest, and once the money was running out, she decided to buy the console and TV.

She heard great news about Night's End that you can earn money from there, and she is glad that she started playing.

Without Night's End, she would probably sleep in the streets by now.

And meeting with KingOfGames... was pure coincidence and the greatest thing that happened in her life.

She opened the refrigerator and saw one cup of noodles sitting lonely in the fridge.

She sadly smiled and took it, put it on the microwave, and waited. She still has the extra money Ichiro gave her... but she is hesitant. Should she really use it? She thought that KingOfGames only gave her the money for the treatment, and she felt like she was letting him down if she used that money for something different.

Her mother will be cured in a week, and their life would be better than ever before with this money, but without this money... She isn't sure how they can make enough money to feed both of them.

Her mother will be too weak to work for quite some time.

*Beep* *Beep*

The microwave beeped, Azura opened it, and the smoke assaulted her face instantly.

*Cough*

Azura coughed heavily; she started swiping her hand, trying to get rid of the smoke.

After the smoke was gone, she took the cup of noodles from the microwave and saw the result.

The cup of noodles was barely heated up, the microwave was at least a decade old, and it wouldn't be surprising if it would explode the next day.

Azura took her spoon, which was also the only spoon in this household, and started eating the raw noodles.

She grimaced, but she kept eating, and shortly afterward, she ate it all and instantly threw the cup to the trash can.

Her face was pale, but at least she won't starve... for now.

She went back to her room and lied down on her bed.

She isn't going to school because she has no money. She is also too young to get any work, she doesn't have Martial Arts rank. But there were only one job she was apparently suited for, at least according to her uncle, but even thinking about him, makes her nauseous, and that job is something that she will never do! She wouldn't able to lower her status that much, but thinking about her mother... She might have done it if her mother's condition got worse.

Her father and mother divorced, Azura and her brother got seperated. She isn't sure if they know their situation, but they might know... Her father's identity is very special, if he even little bit cared about her, then he would be aware.

But it would be even worse if he knew and did nothing, she doesn't know that should she hate them, or love them because they are her family.

The room was getting darker since the sun is about to disappear, soon she was covered in darkness, only light coming is from the moon.

She covered herself with her blanket, which couldn't really help her to defend against the cold.

Her body shivered, while she was trying to sleep. A small breath of cold air left her mouth, showing how cold it actually is.

She is from a country called Winterlight, one of the top 4 countries of Arya according to Country Rankings.

So-called High-Level Country, with few Martial Monarchs in top of the foodchain.

But this place is not that good for living... especially for the poor, like Azura.

There is only one season in Winterlight and that is Winter. Cold and snow for 365 days in year can make anyone go crazy. But here people are used to it, and some even like it.

But Azura hates it.

Every night before she goes to sleep, she has to suffer the coldness.

She hugged her 165cm body tightly and wrapped the blanket powerfully around her, but it didn't help much, the cold was still present.

But finally after struggling half an hour, she finally managed to drift asleep.

And just like that, another day on the life of Azura Nightside... has come to an end.