Chapter 370

Chapter 370

"Could it be...?" I whisper to myself as I continue squeezing my way through the crowd to get to the underground training room.

My seat is already lost, so there's no point in trying to go back to the ring to see her up close for myself. The screens that appear all over show the blond-haired woman with a white face covering. Her blue glow has ceased as the announcer hypes up the crowd to bet on the stage 2 matchup.

I start walking underground behind the registration table, and the words that echo through the arena confirm my suspicions.

"The Ice Empress will now be moving on to the 2nd fight in 10... 9... 8..."

I roll my eyes and smile at the blatantly copied version of my fighter name but don't mind much as I have many other questions running through my head. As the noise of the crowd becomes muffled, the white walls and glossy floor of the training room come into view. Some familiar legacy fighters stand around after their matchups watching a big fight screen. Maria is on the big screen, instantly taking out her opponent in the ring with another overwhelming wave of Ice magic.

With my mind racing at why she's here of all places, and if any of my other teammates may be nearby, these thoughts are soon put to a halt as Max spots me from the other side of the room.

"Hey, it's you! We missed you this morning, I wasn't sure if you'd be coming back to the ring! Just in time!"

At his loud welcome, almost every hunter underground turns their heads to watch me walk over to the legacy fighters watching the fight over by the transport platform.

Monk doesn't get up from his seat on the ground on the other side of the room. His eyes are closed, and he's preparing for his upcoming match.

I'm greeted with more warm welcomes from both Sia and Ace, then we continue to watch the matches. I bet 100 gold on every one of the following fights, making 132 gold back on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th rounds combined.

She moves onto the 6th and the payout on her winning is over 2x again and rising. I throw another 100 gold on the Ice Empress, and she freezes the stage 6 monster in an instant, winning without any resistance.

There were already murmurs about this newbie before, but now the topic of conversation has shifted to only her. Maria raises her thumb in the air, and the crowd outside goes wild as the announcer hypes up the 7th stage match.

Max turns to all of the other legacy fighters, ripping his eyes away from the bright screen on the wall.

"Do you see this? She's stronger than all of us... she just took out the stage 6 monster in a single hit."Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through Ñôv€l--B1n.

He turns to me with wide eyes, then something clicks in his head.

Then, it's followed by the ice wielder in the ring putting her sword on her waist. After, she refuses to move onto the 8th round. I don't spot the royal guard coming into the arena to stop her, it seems like she said no on her own.

A blink of transport magic brings her right back to the small platform in the training room, and every head in the room turns to her.

Beneath the bright white mask and form-fitting lightweight armor, her eyes scan the room before locking onto mine for a split second, then facing forward again. She walks forward, and no one approaches.

I activate my telepathy skill instantly, and send a link directly to her. Before I get a word in, her voice sounds in my head.

"Meet me at the restaurant you went to last night after your match. They're watching and listening, I had to get your attention somehow, it seems like this did the trick."

She pauses for a moment, then goes on.

"Plus, I wanted to see how tough that stage 7 Monster really was... I'll explain everything once we're in a secure place to speak."

I gulp and look away before replying.

"Understood... Good match, you've gotten much stronger."

Maria sends a final message back before closing our link.

"You have too. Good luck on yours, I'll see you soon."

She continues to walk through the room and makes her way up the stairs. It's not until then that I turn around again and activate my inspect and appraisal skills out of curiosity.

Her gear is almost all the same, but her level has risen to 612... That's higher than me. She's been training while I've been asleep and trying to get to this city.

Just like Monk said before, there's some kind of widespread surveillance in this city, so we need a safe and quiet place to talk. However, this begs the question, how did she even know I was at a restaurant last night in the first place? Or, why not just leave the city to talk in private?

More questions race through my mind now than they did when I walked in here. I thought seeing her here would explain a few things, but it's only made things more complicated.

The last glimmer of her silver armor disappears through the staircase upward and I see Monk approach the transport platform as he's next up in the fight arena.