The next morning arrived quickly. Merida prepared a healthy breakfast as she and Liam waited for Serena to come home. A while later Silva's car arrived, safely delivering the young girl.
Liam was glad to see that Serena slowly let go of her apprehension towards Silva. He thanked his friend and followed Serena upwards.
Liam had to suppress his laughter as his sister yawned cutely, rubbing her eyes all the time. Even as they ate, Serna looked as if she would fall asleep any second.
"Young miss, how long did you stay up?", asked Merida with a firm tone, causing Serena to shake involuntarily.
"Ah, I…"
Serena began talking and immediately let out a barely suppressed yawn. She felt embarrassed, but still thought of a clever answer:
"I only stayed up as long as Cy and the others."
"And how long was that?", inquired Liam.
"I don't know."
Liam and Merida both chuckled.
"Whatever. You can go to bed after breakfast."
"Ok… wait, no!"
Suddenly Serena perked up, regaining some lifelines. She looked at Liam somewhat pleadingly:
"I can't go to bed yet! Your first match is this morning!"
"Well, you should've thought of that yesterday…", said Merida.
"No, please! I have to see it. Pleaasse."
Serena looked around with big puppy eyes, easily breaking Merida's resistance.
"Ok… but after that it's bedtime!"
"Yes! You're the best!"
Afterwards Serena was swaying between excited and sleepy. Luckily it was soon time to enter the game.
When the friends gathered, the girls immediately stuck together, laughing about last night. Serena was happily integrated in their circle without feeling estrangement.
The boys stood not far away with dumbfounded expressions.
"What do you guys think they did yesterday?", asked Silent Acacia puzzledly.
"I know what they didn't do.", answered Liam. "Sleep."
"Haha yeah they all look a bit tired."
"This doesn't bode well for our matches today."
"I hope they can still concentrate."
Suddenly Cyclone turned around, throwing the boys a sharp glare.
"Are you gossiping behind our backs?"
"Sure. And there is nothing you can do about it.", joked Silent Acacia. Hearing this, Quickstep looked at her boyfriend with a sinister smile.
"Oh reaaally?"
"Haha, babe, just forget that I said anything!"
Everyone laughed brightly, in a great mood. The friends talked for a while until it was time for the tournament. Everyone was eager to watch as Liam's fight was in the first round of the day.
With a flash everyone appeared in a spacious arena. The audience stands were made from solid, freezingly cold rock. Beast fur was draped over all the seats. A sharp wind blew, bringing with it the snow from the mountains below.
"Damn! Why did we land in such a cold place…"
"I don't have the right clothes for these temperatures."
"Guys, we just need to cheer more to warm ourselves up."
The friends shivered in the biting cold. Luckily C showed some sympathy for the players. The wind gradually slowed down making the temperature bearable.
When the friends now studied their surroundings, they noticed that this location also shone with its own beauty. The sun was reflected by the snow and ice, sparkling mysteriously.
This was also the first arena the friends experienced which didn't float far above the ground as all around towering mountains reached for the sky.
However, there was not much time to marvel at the surroundings as the tournament was about to begin. Liam had already appeared on the arena floor. Immediately cheers erupted, echoing eternally between the mountains.
Liam's friends were shocked by the number of fans which had appeared. They were millions! Many more than during Dream Avenue's fights.
It took them a while to figure out the reason. Silver Blade came up with a good guess as Conter and a few others appeared next to her.
It turned out that many of the top players came to scout out Liam.
Since the start of the tournament, a certain phenomenon could be observed. Those star players always had hordes of fans following them to any arena they went to. They had even begun to compete internally. Now, having a large swarm of fans around was considered a matter of prestige.
And now that the star players had gathered to watch Liam, this match was actually on the way to setting a new record for the number of spectators.
"Damn, I'm jealous!", exclaim Cyclone.
"Me too."
"Wow."
Final Fend and Fortune looked towards the arena floor with longing, hoping that Liam could leverage this situation to create more fans for Dream Avenue.
Below, Liam was also surprised by the millions of spectators. Since he didn't see the likes of Conter or other star players, he had no explanation for the situation.
Is my opponent famous?
Liam looked at the man of the dark elf race opposite him. Despite his handsome appearance and lean body, he didn't seem like anyone noteworthy.
Noticing Liam's gaze, the man's chin went up and he looked down on Liam, speaking in a disparaging tone:
"So you are Bleary Mirage?"
"Well, sure. And you are?"
"Tsk. You better remember! I, Green Streaked Blood, will be the one to stomp you into the dirt!"
Liam furrowed his brows. He noticed an uncalled for hatred flickering in his opponent's eyes.
"Do we know each other?"
"Ha! Of course not. You are not worthy, and I will show everyone!"
Liam decided that the unreasonable opponent was not worthy of paying any more attention. He shook his head and closed his eyes.
"Tsk. Keep pretending. You and your stupid guild! I don't know why people praise you. Just because of some first clears?! I tell you, you won't make it into the central star system! You are weak! Your guild leader boasted and immediately ran away. Coward!"
Suddenly Liam's eyes shot open. A fierce light assaulted Green Streaked Blood, forcing him to take a step back. Liam could ignore a lot, but he couldn't tolerate someone insulting his friends, especially if they are in such a complicated situation like Cyclone.
Green Streaked Blood was shaken for a moment before gritting his teeth, getting even angrier.
He looked down on Dream Avenue and everyone who was a part of it. He and his guild Eagle's Fury had prepared for years. They came from a planet close to the central star system.
Eagle's Fury's biggest goal had always been to make their name known in the central star system. Afterwards they would relocate and would gloriously join the circle of top guilds. But they always feel short slightly.
Until a few months ago when Fate of Crunaboul was released. Eagle's Fury finally saw their chance. But nothing worked as it should. Suddenly Dream Avenue appeared out of nowhere and entered the view of the top guilds, something Eagle's Fury had been preparing for for so long.
Green Streaked Blood was indignant! He couldn't stand it!
But now luck was on his side. In his first match he was actually matched against a prominent member of Dream Avenue!
One win. One glorious win and he would instantly become famous! Just one look at the vast audience made it apparent how much attention this match was getting.
And in order to secure this win all means were right! There was nothing wrong with disturbing his opponent's mind. Realizing that he hit a sore spot, Green Streaked Blood merrily continued:
"What? Did I say something wrong? That's what you get for choosing a young girl as guild leader. Impulsive at first but if it comes down to it, she chickens out."
Liam's gaze grew increasingly colder. His voice was perfectly even as he advised his opponent:
"If I were you, I would stop talking. Right now!"
"Haha, do you think I'm a coward like your guild leader? I stop talking just because you say so? Dream on!"
A cold wind drove through the arena. It came from the mountains below, causing the entire audience to shiver before it disappeared towards the horizon.
Cyclone in the audience stands impatiently looked towards the arena floor, confused why the fight didn't begin when she noticed Liam's eyes.
She furrowed her brows, alerting her friends:
"Hey, look. Do you think Mirage is angry?"
"Now that you say it…"
"Definitely! I'm not sure if I've ever seen him like that…", agreed Serena.
"What happened?"
"It seems his opponent is saying something provocative."
"It's a pity we can't hear it."
The friends discussed among themselves, puzzled about what might have happened.
But just then someone appeared above the arena. It was a young man with wild, multicolored hair and a black leather outfit. He looked around groggily as if he hadn't comprehended the situation after just waking up.
But suddenly he was as if hit by lightning when he noticed the exaggerated audience. He instantly got rid of his tiredness and energy filled his body.
"Woah, it's Zac Geofrey!"
"Damn, I love his gameshows!"
"Nice, with him here this fight won't be boring!"
Zac Geofrey stuck out his chest as he noticed the audience's reaction. He quickly went through the information about the fight which C displayed for him before beginning the introduction.