Last promised bonus chapter
~
Whispers could be heard as the onlookers watched ‘Lord Di’An’ fuming and huffing out in anger as the superior dressed in blue robes came out to greet him. The superior official didn’t give away much but everyone present could feel that he was not your random staff boy, he had a very mighty aura and his face held a supremacy not really visible in the general populace.
“How can this servant help Lord Di’An with his troubles?”
Lord Di’An scowled, his servants behind him standing guard against the superior official. “My grandson isn’t being allowed to participate, I don’t understand why. Age restriction has never been the case before, why now? My grandson is a very clever boy with good skills and attitude, he should be exempted from that age restriction. Had he not participated before? He had, and he won, are you people targeting him this year because he is outstanding? Is it a political ploy?”
Maintaining a polite stance, the official bowed his head while speaking, “Lord Di’An is right in saying that his grandson has good qualifications, but this time we all have been advised, by the… King himself, to not let anyone participate in the competition if they are underage. The battles might be fiercer this year and injuries cannot be avoided.”
The minute the man said, ‘King’, everyone in the vicinity quivered and stepped back, even the old man paled slightly.
“Oh, the King,” nobody could deny that the old man was no longer as fierce as before, “I u-understand, if the King has given his command already, then we public would not contradict him.”
The official smiled, and bowed, cupping his hands in respect, “Then this lowly servant would leave, I have some pending work and will entertain Lord Di’An a cup of tea if he is willing. We can sit and talk about your grandson’s might.”
Ruzen would have laughed at the wordings, if not for the strange silence around him, nobody was willing to speak out of fear of something and Ruzen could only stand still like everyone else, enduring the tense mass pressure. He didn’t know of any reason for this cause, but he could understand that as soon as the King was brought up, everyone had stopped speaking and even murmuring.
Was it fear? He couldn’t ascertain that.
Old man Di’An left the venue and even the senior official wasn’t keen on staying around. The officials of the booths also sat back to work and the situation resumed as it was before.
“What was that?” Ruzen asked as soon as he could, he couldn’t help it. Behind him, Ra’Ga responded in delight, “The King is the almighty. Of course people can’t go against him.”
Ruzen ignored the traces of Lu’Ben’s fanboy craziness in Ra’Ga, but he was concerned about something else, “No, I get that, but why was everyone so… strange about it. Are they that afraid of the King?”
“What? No!” Ra’Ga laughed in delight, holding his stomach in strain, “The King is special to us, we respect him so much that nobody dares to speak whenever the King’s name is heard. We just are unable to interfere. You can say… we worship the Ghost King, even our marrow is devoted to our King. If he wasn’t there, we would have been run over by hordes of beasts and men alike. Even the Gods fear him, he is such an enchanting figure.”
Ruzen was now assured that Ra’Ga and Lu’Ben were made out of the same mold. But it was interesting how everyone thought so highly of the King whom he was able to talk to and see, whom he had even kissed…
Not again, Ruzen groaned in his head, every time when he thought of the King, he would recall the intimate details which did him no favor, such was his woe.
“What happened?” Ra’Ga asked puzzled, “Do you have something against the King?” A touch of threat laced the question which kind of offended Ruzen.
“No, but what would you have done if I didn’t think much highly of the King?”
Ra’Ga smirked, “I would have kicked you in the face, our King is our almighty emperor, nobody is allowed to think dirt about him.”
So… if Ruzen thought of the King’s kisses, would it also be labeled as throwing dirt at the King? It was just a stupid thought, but Ruzen couldn’t fathom what people’s reaction would be if they learned about his and King’s relationship.
“Next!”
They were interrupted when the participant ahead of them moved with a badge in hand and Ruzen was by default the next one.
Prepared, Ruzen stated his race and his age, which was very young since he hadn’t been in this world for a long time.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Dea tf vlvc’a xcbk atja tlr gfji juf kbeiv ojii ecvfg gfraglmalbcr.
“Tbecu wjc, sbe jgf ecvfgjuf, sbe mjccba qjgalmlqjaf.”
Eehfc’r tfjga rxlqqfv j yfja, tf tjv obgubaafc ktja tjqqfcfv klat atja ‘ugjcvrbc’, rb tf kbeivc’a yf jyif ab qjgalmlqjaf? “Qtja’r atf juf obg qjgalmlqjalbc atfc?”
The official frowned, “You should have read it before… tell me what competition, warrior division is 50 years and more.”
Ruzen was surprised that Ra’Ga was older by qualification since he was still in line behind him… but Ruzen’s focus was more on the official’s default understanding of Ruzen’s choice before he even spoke about it.
Frustrated a little, Ruzen reminded the official that he was going to compete in Keeper division. And the official nodded, searching though his stacks of cloth roles.
“Then you are eligible, Pardon for the misunderstanding. Your name…?”
“Ruzen”, Ruzen added, and stood still as the official wrote down a few things with his feather pen on the laid out blank cloth piece, specifically his age, serial order, gender and competition specifics.
Personal names were actually not that important here, since the serial number of his registration was his accepted ID in this completion. Ruzen wondered why his age was mentioned at all.
“Here’s your badge,” a small silver badge in the shape of an oval crystal was handed to Ruzen, and the official asked him to ‘imprint’ his enersym level and progress.
Ruzen dutifully did that, as he had seen others do it before him. He took the small stone handed by the official and clutched it tightly, letting in a sliver of his core energy into it.
Everyone else when did the imprint, there was a bright white light that would shine from that stone and would settle down after. The more powerful they were, the stronger and radiant the light.
Ruzen had been told by his master that his enersym level was high, but he wasn’t sure how high it was, so he did his best with the imprint.
But maybe he did something wrong, and the stone started to heat up unnaturally, the radiance so brilliant that Ruzen couldn’t withstand the light. To avoid getting burned, he threw away the stone and instinctively ducked against the booth stall because the stone blasted off a large chunk off the platform, inciting startled yells and shouts.
Thankfully Ruzen had the foresight to throw the stone farther away from the crowd in the queue, and it didn’t bodily harm anyone. Albeit the platform got destroyed and the destroyed portion didn’t look cheap at all. Each stone brick was carved with intricate designs and one could imagine how much work went into it.
Standing back up, Ruzen felt eyes on him.
As if they were going to eat him alive, even the official who had been assisting him was bewildered and shocked. This progress was not so out of context, since the dust from the blast had yet to settle.
One has to know that in such a crowded junction, things like ‘blasts’ were particularly attractive.
The sudden jump in situation pulled out a silence that registered after impact, and since every one present were participants or invited guests, the whole scenario was obviously too hard to ignore.
Amongst the stunned crowd of onlookers, someone broke the silence with a bit of amusement, “That official is truly unlucky today.”
The sentence earned some laughs since nobody seemed to have died, so people were relieved.
But majority were now focused on Ruzen, it was no doubt that his registration wouldn’t end the way it should. He wasn’t even sure if they would disqualify him or ask him for compensation.
“Young man, did you overdo it?” another official from the adjacent booth asked Ruzen, seeing that the situation was extremely dicey. The loose question pulled in a bit of comic relief as a few of the surrounding participants chuckled.
On one hand Ruzen wasn’t sure why the officials were being so friendly, shifting the awkwardness to his advantage, but on the other hand Ruzen didn’t know what to say, he truly did overdo it, but not in the sense that he kept sending in energy, but in the sense that he sent his energy through with full potential.
“I don’t think that is possible,” the one who had been assisting Ruzen spoke up, adjusting his robes to pat away the dust. The blast had attracted a lot of attention and everyone was eager to watch the drama unfold.
“That stone won’t blast like that because of extra input, this young man…” there was a slight hesitation, but he didn’t continue and those who understood his speechlessness were many.
Ruzen started to sweat, call it his bad luck, but his day wasn’t going as he expected. “Am I disqualified?” he asked with hesitation, if it came to fighting for his rights, he would.
A moment of silence overcame the officials and they all gathered around to discuss things, their response came a little late because of it.
“You can participate, but… what was your choice again?” The official of the front desk asked him, making Ruzen snort, “Keeper division, how many times do you want me to say it?”
The official laughed nervously, scratching his head, “Pardon pardon, yes, you registered for the Keeper Division.”
This statement pulled in a lot of whispers and talks, Ruzen could hear how many of them were astonished at his choice, and how many of the competitors, especially those of Keeper division were staring at him up and down.
Even Ra’Ga who stood behind him was murmuring about strong fellows and what nots.
“We won’t ask for compensation, don’t worry about that young man, we understand that you are a special case.”
Ruzen felt that there was something wrong with the easy reprieve but he didn’t question further, and quickly turned to leave.
Ra’Ga gave him an impressed nod, and several others, who saw him, parted for him, making way in case he would… blast them off. It was kind of funny to watch.
Ruzen’s master was standing too far, so Ruzen had to walk a lot, however it gave him enough time to catch the sight of many strong individuals who were older than Ruzen. They looked like middle aged men, and their stature was strong and sturdy. They were standing in front of Ruzen’s master, by several meters, but they weren’t close to Ruzen’s queue, instead, they looked like they were assessing the damage Ruzen caused and taking in his appearance with calculations in their eyes.
If Ruzen wasn’t wrong, he thought he saw a flicker of blue robes at a distance, but it vanished as soon as Ruzen caught it.
With some suspicion, Ruzen turned back to look at that man who had assisted him at the booth, turns out the man was… no longer there. Instead, there was another staff who manned the booth.
What was going on?
Every speculation came to rest when he met his master who patted him and dragged him outside the compound. “The competition wouldn’t start today, so we need to find an inn.”
“Master, did you notice what happen?” Ruzen was puzzled, his master neither came to his rescue nor did he ask anything about the registration. Shouldn’t he care a bit more?
“Don’t glare at me kid, I knew it was going to happen.”
What?
Ruzen stopped and his master had to as well. There was a deep understanding in both that an excuse won’t work here.
So He’Da was defeated in just one strike, “Now everyone knows there is a very powerful Keeper in Manjo. That official made sure to announce your division.”
Seeing as his master wasn’t going to explain further, Ruzen raced his brain by his own understanding.
Wait.
“That official made sure to announce my division.”
He’Da nodded, “Our King loves playing his games, do you need me to speak any further.”
Ruzen didn’t, he suddenly understood why his plight wasn’t so grievous. It was all expected, staged, so that even the ones who were watching over the registration saw his explosive debut.
“Who do you think was our King’s ultimate pawn?”
Ruzen didn’t need his master to put two and two together for him, “That official who registered me. He asked for my name specifically… that is why he dodged the explosion even… so whose eyes was this stage prepared for?”
“Who do you think?”
“…those middle aged men in armor…?”
“No,” his master explained, as they took a turn towards a different narrower street, “The hidden ones were the targeted audience, those armored men were just the gossipers.”
“…oh.”
“The stage has been set for you, I believe from here on, you are on your own.”
Ruzen chuckled, “This is just too…”
“Explosive?”
“Yes!”
“Go and complain to the King, I didn’t do anything at all.”
Ruzen smiled in return, he felt slightly… pressured now, but he… liked this whole chaos. For someone who avoided being the center of attention, Ruzen felt it was kind of exciting this time. Even that Ra’Ga was impressed. Hehe~
Now look~ He didn’t need to wear fancy clothes and jewelry to trample each and every one of those giggly bunch. He was strong~
Master He’Da kept quiet after the whole discussion, but when he eyed his smiling disciple, he suddenly felt concerned. The King was really, paving the way for his disciple, and the disciple was also… letting him. This sort of development was both concerning and astonishing.
Maybe his disciple wasn’t as simple as he thought of him, and the King seemed to know his disciple better than him.
Sigh.
~
A/N – …to be continued.
(lol)
It is indeed an Explosive debut! I could imagine Ruzen with his goofey smile knowing that the King is making way for him. The King really pampers him.
This is getting exciting.
Thanks for the update!
I really like this…..thanks for the chapter
Thanks for the chapter
lol An explosive debut. 😂 And Ruzen is all happy about the King clearing his way. Finally he got some confidence in himself. He is strong, so strong that others should be kneeling in front of him. Love it. 💖☺💕💖
lol the king loves his games, im excited
thanks for the update!!
Thank you for the chapter ❤❤
Great story!! Can’t wait!! Thanks for the new chapter!!!!!
im excited!!
omygosh… i’m excited
Thank you for the chapter <33
Ahh ml and mc is just too compatible~
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for the update 🤠, I kinda hope Ruzen will become one small but very powerful and explosive devious bundle. I like his confidence is coming around. And let’s face it, he is a modern guy, he just has to be devious, but not malicious…
thanks for the chapter <3
Standing on the stage,I would feel mortified.
Lovely writing as always~
He’da was almost like father realizing that there daughters lover know them better than himself. 😂
+1 😂 I wonder how he’ll react when it comes time for him to give his ‘daughter’ away. Moreover, what was it like for He’Da when he’d dropped his ‘daughter’ off for his first date, but he didn’t come back for a few months? Hahaha
The master is so flabbergasted it’s funny lol