Trap Within A Trap

Thinking about how to approach this, Kieth was in a dilemma.

'But I also promised the manager to enter the tournament.'

[ We don't even know who the opponent is. We can use a fraction of our strength in the battle, no need to go overboard.] 

'Yeah, I came here to assess the power of other vampires so there is no harm playing along. I doubt he could match a count-level vampire against me.' Keith nodded his head.

Seeing Keith nod his head, Rufus was delighted. He prepared for this day very painstakingly and if Keith fell for it, all of his investments would pay off. 

"What's your answer?" He asked again.

"I guess I could join the fight, but who is going to be my opponent? I don't know who I'm up against." Keith asked putting up a stupid face.

"You don't have to worry. I know you broke through to the baron stage recently, so your blood core couldn't be that stable.  So your opponent is going to be another early-stage baron." He said with a creepy smile.

"Are you sure? I can handle middle-stage barons as well."Keith insisted.

"No, it's better this way. You will be able to win easily and I can get back my money. I will give you some of it too." 

Keith tried to hold his laughter after seeing his uncle's terrible acting but he didn't interject. In a sense, he was pretending to be stupid and his uncle was buying all of it. 

"So where is this fight going to happen?" Keith asked.

"As you can see, the main arena is full and participants are already decided, but they are the best of the best among all participants. Where you will be fighting is a private arena where only the two parties participating in the tournament could enter. I will be your sponsor and the opponent will come with his own sponsor.

"The private arenas are used to facilitate the fights of opposing factions without the need of going through the tournament. It is also used as a betting arena for the two parties." Rufus explained.

"How do I enter the tournament?" Keith asked suddenly.

"You can't enter this late as the first match has already ended. The participants are registered earlier and all the spots have been taken. If you wish to enter the tournament, you have to apply for the next one." Rufus shook his head.

"That's a bummer. I really wanted to test my strength against the most powerful fighters." Keith sighed with a face full of disappointment.

Rufus's forehead was twitching after hearing Keith's words. He couldn't believe his nephew wanted to fight against such powerful foes when his blood core was inferior. In his perception, Keith never learned any techniques to leverage his blood core which made him easy prey.

"I would suggest you try out the private arena first. If you can show your strength against the early stage baron, then I can arrange a spot for you in the next tournament." Rufus offered an inducement.

"I won't be coming back here for a long time. I need to consolidate my blood core and I only have two months left before I leave for the academy. So I will try to finish everything here this time." Keith said, staring directly at his uncle.

"Very well. I will see if I can arrange a spot for you in the tournament. But you. Have to defeat the early stage baron first."

"What are we waiting for then? The tournament is still going on." Keith stood up and gestured to his uncle to get up.

"Then it's decided. I will contact the other party immediately." Rufus got up and left through the back door.

Keith saw this as an opportunity to create the perfect revenge plan. But first, he had to meet up with the manager and explain everything to him. He made his way to the back door and silently left the colosseum.

The path led to a grand hall underneath the colosseum. Surrounding the hall were dozens of pathways leading to chambers of the participants and their sponsors. The hall was bustling with many vampires openly selling all kinds of sketchy stuff. There were human mannequins, the blood of rare beasts, and even stolen artifacts. The prices on these things were so high, seeing it made Keith's wallet bleed. 

He already spent all of his money on vampire blood, so he had barely any money left. It was all silver and copper blood coins. Scanning the whole place, he tried to find the spot the manager told him about.

'A booth with a red crescent moon, a red moon…. There it is!' He repeated until he spotted the logo.

The booth was located on the other side of the hall and Keith walked past the crowd and reached that place. It was a temporary shop made from wood and the name of the shop was written in Kelgardian language.

"Red Crescent Blood Shop" Kieth read the name glowing below the logo.

"How may I help you, sir?" A female staff member came out of the shop.

"I'm looking for the owner of this shop. He told me to come and find him after getting here." Keith said to the female staff.

"Your name, sir?" She asked with suspicion.

"You don't need to know. Besides, he will…"

"There you are! I was losing hope of seeing you again. You finally showed up, sir." The manager came out of the shop and greeted Keith. He bowed slightly to show how important he was to him.

The lady staff looked pale after noticing the change in the atmosphere. She quickly lowered her head as well and apologized for her behavior.

"Haha! Don't mind her, she's a new recruit and this is not the best of places." The manager gestured to the lady to leave and she quickly complied.

"So did you arrange a spot for me in the tournament?" Keith asked, turning his attention to the man in front of him.

"Indeed I booked a spot for you specifically. It took me a lot of convincing to give the spot to an unknown fighter who never showed up for the selection process. But don't fret as I am the best person to do this kind of negotiations." He smiled after seeing the amused look on Keith's face.

"You are really resourceful, as expected from an intelligent person like you. I have some special plans for this tournament, so let's discuss them inside. I have a lot to explain." Keith's expression turned serious.