Chapter 1010 Prior Investment & Time To Pay Up

'Becky… you just salty because Ewen chose Wenita ovew you. Hehehe!'

Ramy couldn't help but laugh at Becky's response. He was a staunch supporter of the butcher from the moment he fought with him. And he wasn't willing to let Becky badmouth Eren just because she had mixed half-truths in her statements.

Renita and others chuckled when they heard Ramy speak. The sound-element ranker had a knack for diffusing a tense atmosphere in the team. But Becky wasn't happy with Ramy's uncalled comment.

Becky looked at Ramy in anger because she felt that whatever he had said couldn't be further from the truth. She wasn't interested in getting along with Eren romantically at all.

Becky could recall every reaction she had to Eren. And she found something common in all of them– the guy gave her a tingling sensation at the back of her neck every time she was near him. She felt scared. And it wasn't like she was mute about her feelings. She had made that known to everyone. A large part of why she didn't like Eren leading the team she was in was because she couldn't count on him to prioritize the team over his own gains.

She felt like a reptile was staring at her every time Eren glanced at her. A vile evil creature that put on a mask of emotions to get what he wanted from everyone.

Becky could feel that Eren wasn't an emotionless maniac that roamed the world killing everyone and everything that he laid his eyes on. But he was an ambassador for violence and carnage nonetheless. With or without emotions, he would only do what he had intended to do all along. It was just that he had a different palate of emotions than normal rankers. She found that to be the most dangerous aspect of rankers' conduct.

Becky felt that she would rather work with the cultists than form a tag team with Eren on her own. Because at least with the cultists, she knew that they might backstab her and hence could see the attack coming. Eren, however, was a complete mystery to her.

'Listen to me you little shit, I don't have any interest in worshiping that creature like you. I'm just saying that you guys need to think about yourself instead of relying on Eren. It's not bad advice no matter how you look at it.'

Steve had stress lines on his forehead when he heard Becky and Ramy were about to fight again. This was not the first time they had verbally and physically challenged each other in combat. And he could tell that they would continue to act that way as long as they were on the same team.

'Cut it out, guys! Grandmaster Rufus is finally ready to talk about the event. At least wait until…'

Steve was about to silence both Ramy and Becky. But all of a sudden, he noticed interference in the voice communication channel. Someone had used their ID-stone rune to connect with the group.

Blink.

'Hmm. Becky is right, you know. You guys shouldn't count on me.'

A familiar voice spoke in the group communication channel. Becky was frozen in her tracks when she heard that voice in her head.

The voice took a brief pause before continuing in a tone that demanded unquestionable loyalty.

'Rather, I'm counting on you to get what I want. After all, it was I who made an investment in you when I first talked about this event. It was I who prepared you for this event years before it was even announced.

All your progress is because of me. It's time for you to pay up now.'

Steve and the rest were bewildered for a moment when they heard the voice. They turned around in unison to see Eren had appeared behind them out of nowhere with his signature crooked smile.

"EREN!"

The rankers around team White Raven were taken aback when Renita and others yelled one name in unison. A ruckus was created when so many mana pulses were generated by the group at the same time, which highlighted the anticipation and excitement they felt. They were all seeing Eren for the first time after he was away on his on-field assignment in the Nightshade Duchy after all.

Renita was the first to approach Eren as soon as she realized he was not a mirage. The butcher smiled and opened his arms to receive her. The other members of Team White Raven gathered around the duo, Becky included.

Rufus and the panel of rankers behind him had their attention drawn to Eren's group when Eren appeared. Rufus could see that the young rankers belonged to LA for whom he had a soft spot in his heart. But that didn't mean he would allow them to disturb his schedule.

Rufus was about to reprimand Eren's group when he felt something approaching the arena at a critical velocity. It was a flying vehicle that had gotten out of control due to overspeeding.

***

"Oh! It seems we have approached. Miss Marla, I think you should take the wheel from here. I'll just…"

Blink.

Eren disappeared from his position as soon as he sensed the Edinnica Arena was within Blink's range. He knew that he was late for the event. Due to his misuse of the elemental runes, his flying vehicle was also about to be totaled.

So he slowed down the vehicle as much as he could and then decided to leave the car in Marla's care. But he had obviously overestimated Marla's driving capabilities.

It took a while for Marla to react. But when she realized that the butcher had practically abandoned her, she couldn't help getting livid at him.

Marla tried to control the flying vehicle by taking control of the flying vehicle. But she couldn't handle the vehicle's worn-out control array. It also didn't help that she was still a bit tipsy from her drinking voyage just some hours ago.

All of these factors contributed to Marla approaching the Edinnica Arena without slowing down. A mana-induced scream could be heard coming from a smoke-releasing flying vehicle, which approached the golden sphere as if it had decided to go through it.

"AAAAAAAH! I'm going to kill that man when I see him next time."

===

AN: Eren first talks about the graduation event to the entire White Raven Crew in chapter 93. He starts hiring only a select group of rankers for the event in chapter 81 (and even before that). And he forces everyone into getting an apprenticeship in chapter 94.

Lastly, he tells the team members to get on-field assignments for themselves in chapter 213, which would allow them to become self-sufficient in their progress. All so that he could enter this graduation event with the best team possible.

There are other mentions of the graduation event spread across multiple chapters even after chapter 213. The significance of the event will be explained further, ;)