RICKSTON

We travelled by carriage; there was no train system to Lylia's estate. She was old-fashioned.

Mind you, I also designed parts of her estate.

"So, how have you and Kassie been?"

Lenin removed his mask and gave me a thumbs-up, "We just had a kid, Maro."

Okay, if that wasn't earth-shattering news, I didn't know what was. "You're joking, right?" I nervously chuckled. "You have a kid now?"

He nodded, "Yeah, we do."

I rubbed my temple, "Things change, huh? I can't believe you managed to be with Kassie."

"Hey!" Lenin grinned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I looked at him with an all-knowing look. "If I remember correctly, we used to be the biggest douchebags."

His mind suddenly stopped before he could say another word: "Fair point." He muttered. "But hey, everything happens for a reason, right?"

That couldn't be any more true.

Our carriage stopped as I looked outside.

"Are we here?" Lenin asked curiously.

Looking at the outside world, I knew we were here.

There were no questions asked.

I didn't need to tell him we were there; he knew to wear his mask.

"One more thing." I added, "You feel that small red button."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Press it."

He pressed the button, waiting for something to happen, "Uh... Is something meant to happen?"

I chuckled, shaking my head; that just meant it worked.

We stepped outside and entered a new world of grand architecture, beckoning at us.

"You weren't kidding when you said this place was amazing," Lenin muttered in awe.

If anything, this was one of the best estates that I had ever designed in my life.

It was simply beautiful to my eyes.

We weren't the only ones here marvelling their eyes out.

Nobles from the Kingdom of Juvo had come to attend this venue, bringing their champions to represent them in the fight.

We made our way to the line of people waiting to enter Lylia's amphitheatre.

One thing was sure: we were undoubtedly the outliers among everyone here.

I mean, we were getting looks for our clothing.

I couldn't care less about wearing a suit; I was an artist for crying out loud, not a damn businessman or politician.

We finally reached the front of the line as the guards towered over us.

"Name."

"Rickston Flag."

The guards checked on their clipboards as their eyes widened ever so slightly.

"It's good to see you, sir. We'll take you to the elite section while your champion waits with the others."

I nodded, smiling over at Lenin.

I didn't need to see his reaction behind his mask; I already knew he wasn't looking forward to this.

The guards chauffeured me to where all the other nobles were currently.

In a bar.

Not just any bar, but a bar that practically conjures up any drink you desire.

One thing that was important in these parts of the place was that Solum was crucial not only to the everyday person but also to these people, who couldn't care less about it.

They spent Solum wherever the hell they wanted. Nobles bet with Solum, which was enough to understand that this was the last place I wanted to be.

While the usual laughter and chatter circulated in the air, it soon died down as the one and only Lylia made her entrance.

She had placed everyone in a chokehold with her impending presence here.

She walked almost as if she were gliding through the air. She stood elegantly and tall, examining everyone.

"I hope you have a joyous day." Her voice softly spoke, "Please place your bets." She bowed deeply.

Soon, images of all the champions popped up at everyone's respective tables, showing every little detail about them.

Lenin, or Constan, should I say for now, had randomised information about him, making him the average Joe.

Of course, some people were betting Solum on their guys, and others were placing their best bets on the most apparent champions who appeared the strongest.

I was just lucky that hardly anyone would take a look at Lenin.

Please don't disappoint me now, or I'm going broke tonight.

The return for Lenin would be all that I needed because the payout would be huge with him.

I placed my bet, waiting for what was to happen.

We watched on a screen as all the champions were released in a style similar to gladiator fighting.

As everyone cheered on, I was having the time of my life. I watched closely, watching every move and opponent.

"Never in my million years would I have thought you would come here."

Lylia softly smiled, sitting beside me.

"Ah, Lylia, I thought you wouldn't have recognised me."

She chuckled lightly, "I could smell a stank from a mile away."

I rolled my eyes, grumbling, "I see you're the same as ever."

She rested her head on her hands, watching the massive fight unfolding. "It'll be a pleasure to watch your champion die," she said.

"You're still as sadistic as I remember, huh?"

Lylia shrugged sheepishly, "If you wanted to win, you should've bet on the obvious choice."

She looked at the battlefield, "These people are so exploitable, and all I have to do is sit back and watch my empire grow." Lylia clapped in delight.

I looked at Lylia's face, seeing an expression of shock and delight, and I was witnessing what was happening.

I, too, was interested.

"You know, you would earn more Solum if your champion decides to kill them." Lylia watched with great interest.

I scoffed, "Yeah, I'm not some sicko."

She sighed, a small smile flickering, "A great pity."

LENIN

WHOOSH

SWOOSH

Everywhere I went around the arena, there was at least someone flying to the other side, knocked out cold, or, better yet, dead.

What made it worse was that we could hear the nobles from where they were watching, cheering as the scenes were unfolding.

I did my absolute best not to hurt anyone too much.

The nobles selected these champions; if I have to be honest, they were disappointing.

Everyone went down like flies until only five of us were left.

One tried rushing straight towards me without a strategy; his bravery was respected, but his actual skills... not so much.

As he tried to reach out to my face with his hands, I ducked under his attempt, kicking his back and causing him to fall onto the ground.

Another attempted to jump onto my back, but I swiftly evaded his attack.

Similarly, he tried the same thing, and I did precisely the same thing to the other person.

These champions may have had some skill, but they lacked brains.

By the time I was finished handling them, there seemed to be only one more person I had to face.

His body was covered in blood as the splatter of blood dropped to the ground; something told me that was not his blood at all.

But the blood of everyone that he had killed.

With a devilish grin, he looked over to me and said he had a thirst for more blood.

Suddenly, I felt a tug on my sleeve.

I instinctively attempted to attack whatever it was, but I managed to restrain myself.

Only to see that it had been some frail guy.

"P-Please don't hurt me." He shook in fear. "I-I'm just trying to survive." He fumbled with his words as his lips continued to turn purple, quivering.

What kind of sicko would have enlisted him in this?

But what was more impressive was that he could survive this long in the arena.

He seemed to be pretty young compared to the rest of the people there, and I knew he wouldn't have a chance of surviving with the other person staring at us.

"You'll be fine, " I told him reassuringly. Just stay back there."

He nodded.

I turned my look over to that crazy man with a reasonably deranged look.

WHOOSH

He's fast

I could see why this man had survived in the arena for this long; he had some skills compared to everyone else.

WHOOSH 

WHOOSH 

BOOSH

He also wanted to end this fight as quickly as possible by using blows that would severely injure a person.

It meant one thing. . . He was getting tired quickly.

So, I would exploit that as a tool.

I continued to evade his punches and kicks with minimal ease; the way things were going, this fight would be over within a few seconds.

From the looks of it, his punches got sloppier, his breath grew ragged, and his shoulders hunched.

I stood still, watching over him as he threw a punch right towards my face; it didn't connect, dropping to the ground altogether in exhaustion.

The laughter of the nobles instantly died down, clearly surprised at the outcome.

No one expected someone like me to win; if only they knew who I was.

I looked at the other remaining person with a gentle smile as he nodded back, a sense of relief washing over his shoulder.

I looked over at Lylia, who was currently watching the scenes. She had no other choice but to give me the victory.

RICKSON

"Good job out there." I patted him on the shoulder, "You weren't trying at all, were you?"

He chuckled, shaking his head, "No, but it was a good warm-up."

WHOOSH

The doors flew open, and Lylia came, looking over at us.

"Congratulations." Lylia begrudgingly muttered to me.

Seeing her like this was always a fantastic sight.

"I'll transfer the Solum." Lylia acknowledged as she looked over at my so-called "Champion."

"You did well out there. A pity you didn't kill anyone in the arena, though." She added.

"You know that's not my way of doing things." He chuckled, putting his mask aside.

At that moment, Lenin must have expected to see Lylia in shock, but that wasn't the case.

"About time." Lylia smiled.

Lenin tilted his head in confusion. "Shouldn't you be more surprised about this cool revelation?"

Lylia shrugged, "Yeah..." She looked at me, "If Rickston didn't tell me about it ages ago."

"Ages ago?" Lenin was calculating everything until he finally realised it.

"Wait. . ." He stared at me, "Don't tell me that you knew you were going to do this to me all along?"

I sniffed my laughter, "I can neither confirm nor deny."

Lenin rubbed his temple, muttering, "You probably don't even need the Solum, huh?"

"Nope." I declared, "Not at all."

He sighed, smiling, "So I'm assuming you're on board with this stupid plan." He looked at Lylia.

She returned the smile, nodding, "I had a feeling that something like this would happen. Besides, it was in my prophecy." Lylia declared.

"It was in yours?" Lenin asked as she nodded.

"Yeah, Rickston and I had similar prophecies, and it turns out that..."

"It aligned with yours," I added.

"So you've known all along that this was going to happen?"

"Glimpses of it. Not the whole thing." Lylia commented.

Everyone who had Solum genetically in their blood knew they were destined for some Prophecy.

It was simply a normal thing to have. Most nobles had a prophecy, but it wasn't all that important. The closer your blood was to the royal family, the more significant your prophecy would impact the world.

Lenin was simply one of them.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush, but you know there's a bounty on your head, right?" Lylia spoke up, "You're lucky that you haven't been recognised, or people would be trying to kill you."

Lenin nodded, knowing she was right, "Even if they wanted to, they wouldn't be able to." He grinned.

There was that cocky person I knew.

"Still has that cocky attitude, huh?" Lylia whispered.

I chuckled, "No kidding."

Lenin paused momentarily, thinking as he looked up at us, "Lylia, hypothetically speaking, if you were to smuggle bags of Solum, how much could you do in a month?"

She tapped her chin. " There are probably 50-100 bags of it. Why?"

A slight grin appeared on his face. "Well, I think I just discovered a way to make your job easier, Rickston." He looked over at me with a smile.

I knew what he meant by that; if he were thinking of what I was imagining, this would be one hell of a journey.

LENIN

"You weren't kidding when you said this place needs some fixing," Rickston muttered beside me as we took it all in.

I chuckled, patting him on the back, "Hey! You're going to love it here! Besides, you can do whatever you want with this place."

"Don't think it helps." He returned the chuckle, examining the space and resources he'd need.

Besides, Lylia would send us monthly Solum, providing enough Solum Flow to last a while.

"Lenin!"

A voice came calling as Lusan and Tara came rushing to us.

I smiled brightly, "It's so good to see you guys!" I hugged them all as they began looking over to Rickston.

"Is this?" Tara said in awe as I nodded, wrapping my arm around his shoulder.

"This man here will change the Village of Facia to something special. Meet Rickston Flag."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir!" Lusan exclaimed.

"Did you have to introduce me like that?" He grumbled beside me as I patted him.

"Of course, if you excuse us now, we'll head to the lab."

We made our way to the lab, but a voice interrupted us before we could enter it.

"Stop!"

We stopped in our footsteps.

"Just stay back for a second while I finish this."

Felix was currently working with Rachel side by side, both of them wearing their makeshift lab coats.

Whatever they were working on, it seemed like they were hard at it.

Soon enough, they created some liquid that they dropped onto the soil, and whatever it was, it looked like it was making the soil fertile.