Chapter 93: Biased reporting.

Chapter 93: Biased reporting.

I woke up groggily, blinking in confusion. My vision cleared, revealing white roof and a silver lantern. Evidently, I was laying down. I tried to sit up, but someone grabbed my shoulder and held me down. An older man with brown side-burns and a head full of hair stepped into view.

Hold on there, champ. Youre not cleared to move yet. he said gruffly.

Taking slow breaths, I tried to get my bearings.

W- where am I? What happened to the rest?

Now dont you worry about a thing, young man. Weve got it covered. To answer your questions, in order: youre in the Saint Cross Royal hospital, along with your friends. Theyre in other rooms, of course. Quite an end of the round, that was. the man whistles appreciatively.

Right. The tournament, the hive queen. She won, defeated us all, even when we were working together.

So everyone's alright? Even Arcellus? He was decapitated!

The man laughs heartily, amused by my question for some reason. After a moment, he calmed down and took up a tone that somewhat resembled professionalism.

Naturally, theyre fine. Theres nothing a tier 5 healer cant heal, provided they have enough mana. Well, maybe there are some things, but, at the very least, they can heal wounds inflicted by a tier 4 monster. Otherwise, they wouldnt be worth the name.

Something about my incredulous stare must have tipped him off that I wasnt quite convinced.

He shrugged awkwardly.

It helps that they were teleported straight to our operating rooms the moment they were wounded, Ill admit. If the tournaments safety precautions werent as thorough as they are, the consequences would have been more serious. the doctor explained, before seeming to remember something.

Oh, right! I wasnt here to talk about that. Sorry. he says, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment as he half-heartedly apologized.

Youve got some strange skills, kid. When we brought you in, your body was already healing itself on its own, the flesh visibly recovering. Even your internal wounds were healing! By the time the healer got here, you had already recovered. It was good that things turned out that way, too, because the diagnostic spell the healer used on you seemed to burn your skin. We only got the message about your affinity afterward. Luckily, that healed, too. Anyway, rest up, kid. In a few hours, well let you go home. he said, before disappearing from view, uncaring for my opinion on the matter. I sighed. Hopefully, he had spoken the truth and Cerion was alright. Among the other participants, he was the only I really knew, after all.

I picked up hurried footsteps coming down the hallway, in my direction. The doctor stepped back in the view, with a single finger raised and an apologetic smile on his face.

I forgot to tell you, you came in first! Congratulations, and all that. he said with a smile, before hurrying off again.

~scene break~

A few hours later, Cerion and I were dismissed from the hospital. He looked fine. In fact, he assured me the wound hadnt even scarred. I had to admit that the capitals healers knew their stuff. Hungry and tired, we sought out a small but popular restaurant on the outskirts of the district where the hospital was located. The area was rather affluent, even by the capitals standards, though something about the overly decorated houses and storefronts seemed superficial to me. They lacked heart.

The restaurant itself turned out to be much more my style. The owner was an older easterner that had little regard for appearances. And yet, his food tasted heavenly. No clue what was in it, but it tasted good.

A few hours later, I decided to pay a visit to my uncle. Coming and going to and from the palace had become easier as the guards got used to me. Analyzing skills were still being used to make sure I wasn't being impersonated, but it didnt go further than that.

I joined my uncle in his office and found him bent over, inspecting a document. The pile of documents on his right only increased the pity I felt for him, in that moment. I reaffirmed the promise I had made to myself. No matter how strong I become, how high a tier I reach, I would never become a bureaucrat. Responsibility was for the weak. And the responsible, I supposed.

Uncle Robart looked up from the piece of paper that had held his attention for longer than any piece of paper had the right to, and smiled when he realized who had intruded his office unannounced.

Arthur! Im glad you came by to say hello! Marvelous job yesterday, boy. Really shut the competition up with that display. Congratulations on your swift recovery, too, I suppose. Though I never doubted that you would heal as quickly as you did. he said calmly, closing his pen and putting it into one of his many drawers. I took a seat across from him and asked for some sugar when a servant came in, carrying two cups of tea.

Thanks, uncle. I wont lie and say I enjoyed that loss at the end, but I suppose taking first place in the round mollifies me somewhat. I said with a grimace, recalling that tier 4 monster. Despite my pride, I could admit I wasnt ready to face monsters of that caliber yet.

My uncle laughed a bit when he noticed my frustration.

You did well, kid. Dont tell yourself otherwise. None of you were supposed to outlast those tier 3 creatures, in the first place. That [Sonic Hive Queen] was an improvised measure, made by the organizers. Look on the bright side, you were the last to be defeated!

I nodded, seeing his point, though I remained slightly bitter. Being confronted with ones weakness in the grand scheme of things was never a pleasant experience. I knew I was a big fish in a small pond, but the thought that a colossal fish could just jump into my pond and go on a rampage wasnt a comfortable one.

I pushed this line of thought out of my mind, and placed my focus on more important matters.

So how many points did I actually have, at the end? I asked, frowning.

My uncle laughed, finding my lack of knowledge funny, for some reason.

Is there something on my face? I asked, frustrated.

Sorry, kid. Its just funny that you are probably the last person in the capital to find out how many points you got. It is ironic, you have to admit. Here, the top ten leaderboard.

Arthur: 14567 points.Peter Arcellus: 12349 points.Emeri Helios: 11789 points.Karon: 10678 points.Cerion Rass: 10347 points.X: 8905 points.Gaius: 8160 points.Reana: 7269 points.John: 6340 points.Uliard: 5734 points.

I gave the list a once-over, noting that Cerion had landed below Karon. Probably because of the mercenarys glib tongue and large group of followers, that had helped him farm points.

I mentally attached the name Emeri to the reserved girl that had wielded spears of light and whistled, impressed by the amount of points she had gathered. If I remembered correctly, the seeded list had described her combat style as lacking AOE skills, which made her placement even more impressive.

Arcellus performance came as no surprise, though the fact that he had less points than me probably meant that he hadnt been able to monopolize two crowns by himself, as I had.

The only other name that stood out to me beyond the obvious was Johns. Apparently, that guys attitude had carried him into the final round. I liked John and was looking forward to facing him in the final round.

Who is this Reana person? Her name seems familiar, for some reason I asked my uncle.

It would, because she is a seeded participant, sponsored by the adventurers guild. She uses wood-mana to enlarge and manipulate her wooden weapons.

Huh. I exclaimed. That did ring a bell I remembered seeing some of her work in that final clash. No doubt, she would be an interesting opponent as well. With this lineup of classers, tomorrows finals were sure to be a thrilling series of battles