Build Up

A/N: Hey guys.

It's been a hectic week for me with a ton of exams and projects. (For some reason, my teachers decided it was a swell idea to have all of their tests and projects due in the same week)

Anyways, this chapter is literally what it's called. Unnecessary build up.

Also, the next chapter is halfway done, so I'll probably get it out either tomorrow or the day after that (or the day after that...)

In any case, I'll try my best.

Happy reading :D

"…Good game?"

My voice echoed throughout the now silent stadium, causing thousands if not tens of thousands of eyes to lock onto my figure.

…

Dammit, Asser!

Unable to take the stress of being put in the spotlight, I ended up internally exploding, even butchering my name in the process.

Why are you such a loser!? Is it that hard to come up with a one liner?? This is the reason why you were single for all 15 years of your last life!

While I was in inner turmoil at my inability to come up with any decent lines, lamenting my potential social suicide speedrun, as well as in torment over the eternal single status of my previous life, everyone around me was processing what just happened.

As for why… well, that was kind of obvious. But just in summary:

A random shrinky dink elf boy who had been cowardly hiding away around the edges of the battlefield had just swung his sword out of absolutely nowhere and caused the dwarf's second favorite, at least according to Elrie, to fly through the partitions and into the wall of the stadium. As if that weren't enough, he caused a miniature earthquake with the amount of force he used.

That was about the strength of a solid stage orange core at the very least, but it was coming from some kid who wasn't even in his teen years

—Ahem.

The announcer finally pulled himself back together and let out a dry cough, returning the crowd's attention to the Cloud Platform, including mine.

The human king stood atop the platform, along with the rest of the royal families.

—Congratulations!

The resounding and authoritative voice of the human king resounded throughout Ingesseum.

—It was an arduous and long fight. Still, all of you persevered, pushing through the adversities that stood in your way, fighting and defying!

Long…? Oh, right, right.

It honestly felt really short since I did nothing except just watch, but the royale was actually a whole 15 minutes.

Now, out of context, that might sound relatively short. However, it was a continuous fight in which threats could come from anywhere, meaning that one needed to stay at the height of vigilance for a whole 15 minutes.

And as if that wasn't difficult enough, the contestants were utilizing their bodies to the absolute height of their capabilities the whole time. There were reasons why boxing matches were divided into 3-minute rounds, and this was one of them.

And one more thing: these were children fighting. It was mentally arduous for even an adult to fight for that long at the height of concentration while exerting their body at a maximum the whole time. Still, these were children who were either just entering adolescence.

Anyways, back to king… who's speech is coming to a close.

—…Now go forth! There exist yet higher challenges and even higher hurdles for you to climb and pass!

With those final words that were inspiring but unfortunately somewhat unrelated, the royal families turned and left in a similar fashion to the way they entered: drums a blazing, halberds a thumping.

The crowd applauded and cheered as the royal families left. At the same time, a group of medics quickly slipped into the scene, working fast to heal the fallen contestants.

Seeing a window of opportunity, I seized it and stealthily ran away.

**

"Well, well."

After making it to one of the main streets of Xyrus, I flinched at the unwanted voice.

"Someone made another oopsie."

I sighed and turned and glared at the two elves behind me. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a mistake as their smirks of schadenfreude twisted even deeper till the ends of their lips practically hung on their ears.

"Keke, another accident more like."

Virion chuckled as he and Alea began making their way towards me.

My glare began showing cracks after staring for too long as my face began twitching like I was having a seizure or something.

"…You can relax now~"

Though Alea said that, I wasn't about to loosen my face. At this point, the glare wasn't a matter of me being annoyed but more of a matter of pride… but honestly, that pride was about to shatter into pieces at literally any moment now.

"…Keuk, pf- uuup."

I covered my mouth before I laughed.

…

What is… my pride even worth?

I breathed in deeply and sighed.

"…Alright, what do you losers want?"

"Is that really any way to address your mother and teacher?"

Alea had a hurt look on her face.

"…"

I stared at deadpan before eventually lifting a brow.

"Really? Are you seriously taking a page of Virion's book?"

I feigned a tear in my eye, which I wiped away in a dramatic movement.

"I never thought you'd stoop so low…"

"Pft."

Alea coughed as she tried to stop a laugh while Virion's face somehow froze while chuckling like someone pressed the pause button on him.

"Hm, well, let's get going. I'm hungry."

I smiled at the amusing scene before beckoning them. It was a quirk of mine ever since I was young, loving eating.

And of course, this was something that these guys wouldn't not tease me about.

"…Honestly, you eat too much."

Alea commented.

"Shush."

"No, really, you seriously eat too much."

Virion added on.

"Shush. It."

"No, really, it's not even a joke…"

"Like I said…"

"No, no, I'm being…"

"You…"

"What was…"

"Hahaha…"

Our conversation and laughter slowly melted into the ambiance of the crowd as we ourselves blended into the moving sea of people.

*

It seemed that no matter who took off their mantles, even when it came to one of the strongest in the continent, the former king of the elves, and the child prodigy Candidate, underneath, they were simply ordinary people.

**

[Round 1]

—Now we begin our 13th duel of the day between contestants Tyrelliuriarise Dieritirdutiropiaion IV of Sapin and Asher Aureus of Elenoir!!

"""Waaaaaahhh!!!"""

I breathed in deeply.

It was round 1. The first round of duels, the format of the rest of the tournament, and I was the thirteenth duel of the day. I was pretty confident in being able to beat the guy in front of me.

He was a human boy around 13 to 14 with a dark red core. A conjurer by the looks of it, judging by the wand he was tightly grasping as well as his greyish blue robe. He had olive brown hair slicked back with whatever this world's alternative was for hair gel.

He was looking at me with firm intent. It wasn't on the level of killing intent that I had, but it was a hostile intent that could be… somewhat felt.

…Felt like a chicken's, though, compared to the stuff I experienced.

I shuddered slightly, recalling Grey's intent.

That shit could kill.

He was only, what? 10? Even then, he could've probably caused a regular dude to piss his pants.

Anyways…

What was his name? Tyrannosaurus… screw it. He's Chicken from now on. Chickens and dinosaurs should be related, right?

"…Ehew."

I sighed, brushing away my thoughts and introducing new ones.

While I was indeed in a child's body and had resolved to live this new life as my life, it still felt wrong beating up a child.

However, my moral debate didn't last long.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't another tree-hugging sissy."

I frowned at the racist comment.

Elves loved trees, and I loved them too, but I don't think any elves actually… hugged trees…

…

Okay. Well, there was that arborist, but he was an exception!

Also, why was this guy such a stock factory batch processed noble brat? Is this a requirement for fantasy worlds? Arrogant noble young masters, who just need to be a pain in the ass?

I mean, I can be a prick; that's a given. I'm the main character. But can't these guys be more like me? Like a closet asshole? Only being a jerk around people that are comfortable with it?

While I was busy squabbling with myself in my head, the noble kid continued to hurl insults at me, none of which entered my ears.

**

3rd Person POV

"That's the 4th son of House Dieritirdutiropiaion."

"…Right."

Blaine nodded as though he understood and dismissed his attendant.

Though he had nodded like he was fully aware, under no circumstances would he ever even try to attempt to say such a ridiculous name. He was king over his realm, but he certainly didn't come up with any of the names. If it were up to him, he would just refer to the nobles with an alphanumeric system, like D-6, not any of this Dertodupooporio…

Blaine massaged one of his temples, realizing how badly he botched the name.

"…Father."

At that moment, a little girl's voice spoke. It was reticent and hollow, unbefitting a girl her age, but it was the voice that belonged to Blaine's beloved daughter.

"Yes, Kathlyn?"

Blaine turned to look at his daughter, who was practically a minime version of his wife.

She had an icy expression that seemed distant but wasn't frigid to the point of being cold or forbidding. Instead, it was a genuinely expressionless face that not even Blaine, who had been considered a prodigy at maneuvering politics and social dynamics (which earned him his right to kingship despite his lacking core), was confident in making.

In any case, Kathlyn asked her question.

"Who do you think will win?"

However, before Blaine could answer, a voice broke into the conversation.

"Isn't it obvious?"

The unrefined and somewhat arrogant voice belonged to Blaine's son, Curtis. Like how Kathlyn was like a younger version of Priscilla, Curtis had a very similar appearance to his father when Blaine was his age.

Of course, Blaine knew that his son's haughty and prideful nature would be something that could lead to his son's downfall, but Priscilla told him it was something that would go with time, so he decided to leave it be.

Anyways, the young prince cast his vote rather quickly.

"The victor will be Tyrelliuriarise Dieritirdutiropiaion IV."

Kathlyn nodded at her brother's words with a slight sparkle in her eyes, and Curtis, who saw this, soaked it up to the point where his nose was practically pointing to the sky.

Priscilla watched the interaction with motherly love, finding it quite cute and lightly chuckling seeing Curtis' antics while Blaine was smiling with fatherly pride… or so one would think. But the truth was slightly different.

Of course, Blaine would've loved to have joined his wife in cooing over their children if he weren't in the middle of trying to comprehend how his son had managed to say Tyrannosaurus Daiperpoopon.

Blaine was just frozen in a smile, trying to figure out how his son managed to do something that he couldn't' but decided that figuring out how to say noble's names would be something for him to figure out on a later date… which was what he had been doing for over 40 years now. (But who hasn't procrastinated like that?)

—Now we begin our 13th duel of the day!!

The announcer's voice, from atop the Cloud Platform, cut into Blaine's predicament.

Unlike before, the royal families stayed in VIP boxes rather than the Cloud Platform, the platform now being used by judges and the announcer. Fortunately, there were three VIP boxes for each of the royal families to use as their own.

Blaine nor any of the royal families actually knew this but, this design of Ingesseum was no mere coincidence. Every part of it was intentional but, that's a story for another time.

"… What's he…?"

Curtis squinted, trying to figure out what the human contestant was saying.

"…Curtis."

"Yes?"

"…Why don't you get your father and me something to drink?"

"Ehhh? We have servants for that—"

"Curtis."

All the members of the human royal family flinched at the Queen's words, and they dared not make eye contact. Though she was personable and a loving mother for the most part, when her switch was flipped… in all honesty, it was a better option to get the hell out of there. The title of Winter Queen was not given to her without good reason.

Blaine and Kathlyn immediately glared at Curtis to tell him to move his lazy arse before the blizzard blew, but that was unnecessary. Curtis had already yeeted himself over the sofa and was moving faster than what a veteran wind attribute augmenter who specialized in speed could pull off.

Seeing this, Priscilla nodded. However, she wasn't done. She turned over to Kathlyn, still maintaining a motherly smile, causing the young princess to flinch, nod, and run over to her brother.

"…"

Blaine, now stripped of his only defenses against the Rose of the Black Bear, only looked over to the stadium, doing his best to avoid eye contact.

They had been married for more than a decade, but even now, he was afraid of her more than he was of trying to lead his nation.

"… I've heard of the bitc- ahem, foul nature of the child of that house."

Blaine's shoulders twitched slightly, hearing the language of the old Priscilla but hearing the tone of her voice, he realized Priscilla had calmed down and turned to look at her.

"Ahem, as I was saying, he has a foul personality, and I don't want Curtis to see that arrogance as a viable option for him."

"…A-ah, yes, of course…"

Blaine looked at his wife like she was an imposter for a moment. The Priscilla he knew was a thousand times more terrifying. Though she was given titles like Venus and The Bouquet of Winter, she was an infamous tomboy feared throughout all the noble circles. She never bothered remembering houses' names, nor did she give a damn about anyone, and not a soul could do anything about it thanks to her engagement to the crown prince and her identity as the beloved daughter of the powerful House Grizzier. So, seeing her acting like a mature mother…

Blaine looked away before his wife caught him staring at her like she was sus.

"…I saw that."

Or not.

'That's going to be another week in the guest bedroom…'

Blaine foretold his own unfortunate future as he held back his tears. At this point, the great king of Sapin already knew that Priscilla was the superior one in their relationship. Still, he loved his wife too much to do anything about it.

In fact, this was part of the reason why he had no concubines (something that was one of his only redeeming traits).

He held back his tears and watched the two young contestants. The elf boy from yesterday against the person from 'that house,' as his wife had named it.

'…Curtis and Priscilla cast their votes for the human child, but…'

It was understandable. That child was considered a prodigious conjurer whose talents alone put him in the running for the position of heir. But regardless of all of that, Blaine had an itching feeling, a small scratchy feeling in the back of his head that…

"…I think the elf will win."

A/N: I get it; this chapter is kind of slow. Still, I honestly thought it was nice to do some world building.

You see, one of my few complaints with the original novel was that world building of Dicathen was kind of lacking (no offense, of course, but I honestly feel that I have a better understanding of how Alacrya works rather than Dicathen).

Still, I guess this is just me having some fun...

In any case, the next two or three chapters will be a lot more action-oriented, focusing on fights and stuff.

Also, just out of curiosity, my favorite scene from this chapter was Asher, Alea, and Virion disappearing into the crowd; what about you guys?

Anyways, as always, thanks for reading.

Rua

P.S. The fl isn't Kathlyn. (Heh, you thought it'd be that easy)