The Night Before the Competition

The time on the clock came as a shock to Atsuo.

What felt like twenty minutes, was in reality – the rest of his afternoon.

He didn’t even hear his friends knocking until they barged in.

The creepy feeling, all too reminiscent of the black outs, put him in a terrible mood for the rest of the day.

In fact, he was experiencing such irritation from the sudden events, that he was anticipating the colors to leave him at any moment.

Seeing this, Rivia wanted to help in any way she could, but she knew it was better to leave him be when observing his unstable condition.

Still, they thought he’d feel better with at least some food in his stomach.

“Should we go eat?” Rivia said hesitantly to the group.

“I’m not going…” Atsuo said sullenly.

“But–”

“I’M NOT GOING” he yelled at her.

Lord Kaiser took him by the lapel of the blazer with his left hand, turning him around and slapped him with his right.

Atsuo was in a state of shock for a few seconds, before expressing what was on his mind.

“WH–”

Atsuo was interrupted by the look in Lord Kaiser’s crimson-red eyes. He could feel his horrible mood and irritation subside, while fear and helplessness set-in as he made eye contact. He was stunned until Lord Kaiser jerked his body by the shoulders.

Atsuo was speechless. He felt like his emotions vanished. Like they were completely overpowered by something else.

‘What was that?’ he thought, finding an unknown side to Lord Kaiser.

“You feeling better sleeper?” Lord Kaiser asked seriously, with his hand on Atsuo’s shoulder, “I’m sorry for slapping you. Though it was warranted…”

“… yeah…” Atsuo muttered, slightly dumbfounded.

“Okay, let’s go” Lord Kaiser said, motioning to the others.

They exited Atsuo’s room, and went to the cafeteria again, this time altogether.

They entered the hall which had dimmed lights and candles on all tables. It created a beautiful atmosphere at this time of day. With the sun long past the horizon, the darkness of the night only added to the mood, as countless stars lit up the pitch-black sky.

By Lord Kaiser and Atsuo’s advice, the group chose to sit near the window.

When they got to the table, they felt like there was no window at all. The ambiance of the hall and the perfect lighting made it seem like they were seated under the open sky.

It was a surreal experience. Atsuo and Lord Kaiser wished their friends could see this too.

After the group made themselves comfortable, they thought about what to order.

In the end, they decided to get some of the most extravagant sounding dishes.

“King of crabs from the Aether Islands, for me” Crod said.

“I’ll get the Fearer,” Eskasa said, “it’s a fish from the Erebus Ocean.”

“I’ll go with Dreig” Rivia said.

Lord Kaiser and Atsuo twitched in their chairs. Feeling hollow inside, they glanced at each other to see if the both of them heard her correctly.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” she asked looking at their bewildered and nervous expressions.

“What… will you be having?” Atsuo asked hesitantly.

“Treigo” she said, “it’s a type of animal.”

“Heh…” Eskasa said, “From which part of the world?”

“Hmm… It doesn’t say,” Rivia replied, “It only says it’s from the Boundless Forest”

Lord Kaiser and Atsuo’s eyes shot open, they snapped their necks in her direction, looking at her anxiously.

“What?” she said awkwardly.

“Uhh… Where is this dish on the menu exactly?” Lord Kaiser asked uneasily.

“Near bottom left of the third page” Rivia said, exchanging confused glances with Eskasa.

“I thought we’re all going for something different?” Crod asked Lord Kaiser.

“We are, just uhh… checking something…” Atsuo said, flipping the pages of the menu.

Lord Kaiser and Atsuo were slowly moving their eyes down the third page of the menu, sweat going down their face.

Erter – type of fish from the Volste lake

Xilg – type of bird found in northern Rozair

Therro – type of animal from southern Rozair

Treigo – type of animal from the Bautles Forest

Lord Kaiser and Atsuo had a moment of relief, yet they still felt a little perturbed. The similarity seemed a little too conspicuous. They wondered whether this was some sick joke or just a pure coincidence.

They whispered to one another and decided on the best course of action going forward.

“Uhh… Rivia, you should probably take something else,” Lord Kaiser said, trying to sound convincing, “it having an unclear origin is a little concerning.”

“I agree” Atsuo chipped in.

Rivia sighed.

“If you want it, just tell me,” she said, “I’ll go with something else.”

“No,” Lord Kaiser said a little irritably, “I’ve long decided what I’m ordering.”

“And that is?” she pressed on.

“Reidorf from the Klomare continent,” he answered, “It’s a type of bear that can be caught only once every six months because it hibernates most of the year.”

“Hmmmm, is that so?” Rivia said suspiciously, “and you?”

She turned to Atsuo, who didn’t prepare his answer.

“Zwezzord dragon for me” Atsuo said, reading the first thing that came across his eyes.

She stared at him dubiously.

“…It is a type of lizard… also from the Klomare continent,” he added, looking at her unsatisfied expression.

“…found only near the Mountain of Mors, which happens to be a super volcano…” he continued.

She sighed and flipped to another page.

Lord Kaiser and Atsuo deeply exhaled and bumped their hands behind their backs in celebration of their success.

“Fine, I’ll have the Rixwel hog native to Taigoren” she said, closing the menu.

“Alright,” Lord Kaiser said, raising his hand.

The waitress came and wrote down their order.

Shortly after, she brought out their dishes.

All of them were huge portions. It made them wonder whether they were ever going to finish.

“Can’t let food go to waste,” Lord Kaiser said, “take it with you if you have to.”

They clasped their hands, and began eating their dinner.

Everything was delicious, except for Atsuo’s Zwezzord dragon. The mighty lizard didn’t taste very well, which made him regret his choice, but he did it for Rivia.

‘Better than letting her eat that’ he thought to himself.

The three men finished their food, while Rivia and Eskasa took leftovers with them.

They thanked the kind staff, and went back to Atsuo’s room, to think over the competition events.

Lord Kaiser let them in on what they got out of Lodre in the afternoon about events being explained in detail right before their commencement.

Despite there being more to talk about, they decided to go to sleep early, not wanting to expect something that might not happen, and mentally preparing for the long day to come.

For all they knew, judging the events chosen by Drezore’s professors just by their names could be misleading.

They wished each other good night and went to sleep.