Chapter 42 - Double Duel

We entered the shop and looked around for some fresh casual clothes. The shop back in Camp Alpha was simply a place to find a hero outfit for me, I still hadn't picked out any regular clothes of my own.

We walked around for a bit, checking out the different T-Shirts and outfits inside. A few shirts stuck out to me, some were solid colored, but others had emblems and designs on them.

I ended up picking out 5 shirts that I could cycle through each week. I opted to put a shirt on immediately after buying it, because the outfit I was currently wearing was very hot, especially in a place like this.

The shirt I chose to wear was a nice sand-colored shirt with a palm tree on it. It contrasted well with the rest of my outfit. Mayumi nudged me on the shoulder before we bought the shirts, she had something to tell me.

"Hey, Yukio, I'm not sure if you knew this yet or not, but when you became a hero, a finance account was set up for you. You should have a starting amount in there if you want to use that to buy your clothes."

"Oh, really? That's nice to know. Let's check it out." I said, walking to the counter to buy the shirts. I set them on the table, and the cashier scanned them. This world seemed to have that kind of technology as well, back in Alpha, my knight's coat was simply tagged with a price, and wasn't scanned.

"Your total is $55, would you like to use Cash or Ether?" asked the cashier. What was Ether? I hadn't heard of it before. Could it perhaps be a credit system? I decided to test my luck.

"Let's go with Ether." I said.

"Alright, what's your hero name, so I can check your balance?"

Bingo... I guessed correctly. However, I was now in a situation. If I didn't have enough Ether, then I wouldn't be able to purchase these clothes, as I had no cash on me! I crossed my fingers and uttered my alias.

"Scarlet Antihero."

"Alright, let me pull you up real quick. It looks like you have $500 in Ether, are you a new hero?" asked the cashier. I turned around and looked at Mayumi, who seemed to be confused as to why I had a sudden expression of sly confidence.

"Um, Yukio, that's not much, in the grand scheme of things. I mean, even I have-" I cut her off so she wouldn't shatter my feelings, I knew that I was broke, but it was still enough for the clothes. I turned back around.

"Yes, I'm brand new, in fact, I'm not surprised I have that little!" The cashier giggled to herself and deducted the 55 Ether from my balance. I was now in possession of some new clothes!

"Please come back again!" she said cheerfully, handing me a bag with the store's logo on it. The logo was a compass pointing west. The name Taisei Irui meant "Westward Clothing", and considering Camp Omega was on the western coast of the island, it made sense.

I pulled the palm tree shirt out of the bag, entered a changing room, and put it on. It fit me nicely, and looked pretty good! The shorts I was wearing at the time worked well with it, and my shoes were appropriate.

I exited and walked back over to Mayumi, and together, we left the store. However, as soon as we walked out, we saw a flash of pink and yellow fly by us at breakneck speed.

*WOOSH*

"What the heck was that?"

"I don't know, that was weird!"

The flash turned out to be a ball of light, moving incredibly quickly. It carried on for a few dozen feet more, before stopping, and swiftly making its way back towards us!

"Yo, YO MAYUMI, IT'S COMING BACK! LOOK OUT!" I yelled, grabbing Mayumi, both of us fell to the ground, the ball of light stopping in front of us.

Suddenly, it began to take the form of a girl. That's when I realized what, or who, it really was. It was Ambrosia! The light dissipated, leaving her in our presence.

"YUKIO!" she yelled. It seemed like she was finished with her errands.

"What!? You scared the crap out of us!"

Ambrosia laughed and lifted our bodies up with her mind, before setting us gently on our feet, and continuing her sudden dialogue,

"Where's Hero? I need a word with him."

"He's near the west gate, at least that's where he said he'd be, why?"

"Well, I finished that job I needed to do, and now I want to duel him. If he's by the west gate like you said, then that means he should be by an open field, perfect for us to engage in combat! Here, follow me!"

Ambrosia then returned to her ball of light, leaving us slightly confused, but also curious. We knew she'd been wanting to duel Hero for quite some time, and it seemed like that time was about to arrive.

We took off towards her, following her path. Those around us stopped what they were doing to view the spectacle. It wasn't every day you saw a ball of light flying through the town followed by some random people.

When we arrived at the west gate, Hero was nowhere to be found. He said he'd be there, but he wasn't. The ball of light dissipated and Ambrosia stepped forward once more, annoyed.

"What? He isn't here? Where is he?"

"I mean, he did say he was looking for a place for us to train, so he could be anywhere, he just said he might be here," I replied.

The field we were at had hills surrounding it, followed by the ocean and the horizon. Palm trees littered the area, but there was enough space for combat if monsters decided to show up. It also served as an excellent place for lounging.

That's when we heard a voice. It sounded like it was coming from above us. It was a man's voice, and it sounded strong.

"Hey, you three, what are ya runnin' through town for?"

We turned around and looked up to see a muscular man in a grey tank top, wearing a blue bandana on his head, standing atop one of the city's small towers. He leapt to the ground, landing on his feet, sending a small shockwave through the ground.

"Who are you?" asked Ambrosia, stepping forward in front of us.

"The name's Titus, you three gave the town quite a scare, running through the crowd like that, are ya thieves?"

Titus was scary, he was a large man, I'd say he was nearly 6'5. He looked like a brute. Was he guarding the western gate?

"No, there's a misunderstanding. We're looking for our friend, I'm supposed to duel him, and he said he'd be right here," said Ambrosia. Titus narrowed his eyes.

"Mhm, and who is this friend of yours?" he asked, crossing his arms as if he didn't believe our story. Perhaps the bags we were carrying and the speed we ran made us look like thieves.

"It's Hero, he's with us, and we're looking for him..."

"Hero? You mean, the man in silver himself? HAHAHA, Oh, the stories people come up with these days!" said Titus, laughing to himself. He had a hearty laugh, but I could tell he was getting angry with us.

"How about you tell me the real reason you're running away? I need to make sure you haven't stolen anything. There's a pirate problem going around, ya know?"

Titus approached Ambrosia, the difference in size between them was astronomical! Yet, Ambrosia wasn't fazed, at all. She simply stood her ground. Titus kneeled in front of her, analyzing her.

"Just give back whatever it is you stole, and I'll be on my way..."

Ambrosia had a poker face, her hand behind her back. She was moving her fingers ever so slightly, in preparation to defend herself were Titus to attack suddenly. Titus stood back up and backed away.

"I'm telling the truth, we're looking for Hero. Now, if you could please go away, you're wasting our time." said Ambrosia. Titus' expression changed to anger.

"Watch your mouth, I'm one of the Camp's top guards, and I don't have a problem removing you from the premises...quit lying to me, I'm not stupid..."

Titus clenched his fist, as he approached Ambrosia again. Mayumi and I thought about stepping in, but a man his size could easily knock us out. We simply waited to see what Ambrosia would do.

Titus grabbed Ambrosia with one hand by the collar and lifted her into the air. She simply dangled there, unamused. She looked almost like she was bored.

"Tell me the truth, what did you steal? Just give it back, and we'll have no issues."

"Turn around, idiot," said Ambrosia. Mayumi and I were holding back our laughter, as we noticed Hero approaching Titus from behind, giving us a thumbs up with a slight smile.

"What did you just say to me?"

"Turn around, IDIOT!"

Titus then turned around and noticed Hero standing behind him. His face went white, and he dropped Ambrosia on the ground, she landed with a thud.

"Ow!" said Ambrosia, silently. We walked over to her, making sure she was okay. Meanwhile, Titus was face to face with Hero.

"Dear God...she wasn't lying... I didn't even know you were real!" yelled Titus.

"Haha, am I really that unknown? It's nice to meet you, Titus, was it?"

Hero and Titus shook hands. The size difference between the two was still apparent, but not as distinct as between him and Ambrosia. Looking at Titus, I could tell he was getting amped. His aura was shifting.

"You know, it's not nice to bully people. Are you a hero?" asked Hero.

"No, I'm not. I'm just a guard for this Camp, trying my best every day to keep the pirates at bay and put the thieves in jail. I apologize if I caused you guys any trouble."

"Oh, you didn't, don't worry. Ambrosia over there has a bit of an attitude, I should be apologizing for her!" said Hero. Ambrosia puffed her cheeks out, annoyed.

"You know, that girl over there said she wanted to duel you. To be honest, I'm a pretty good fighter myself, how about you and I have a little duel as well? That is if you're game. I've heard about you before, and now that you're here, I'm gettin' fired up."

Titus just requested to duel Hero, was he insane!? Ambrosia overheard this, and quickly came to her feet, running in front of Titus.

"No! I'm dueling him first, I asked a long time ago!"

"Wait, Ambrosia. Let me duel him first. I'm not sure what it is about this guy, but he gives me a strange vibe... I wanna gauge how strong he is." said Hero, looking into the eyes of Titus.

Titus had a large grin. I could tell he wasn't as he seemed. It's like he was suppressing a hidden strength inside of him, waiting for the right moment to unleash it.

"Let's go over here, and get it goin' then..." said Titus, ushering Hero into the field. Hero turned around and waved for us to come over and watch the duel.

"You speak with valor, I respect that," said Hero, taking his place on the field, and removing his jacket. He looked severely outclassed physically, but we knew that he would be ending this quickly...

"Before we begin, let's go over the rules of this duel..." said Titus. To be fair, I'd never experienced or even watched a duel before. How did it work? Knowing that heroes had powers capable of obliterating monsters many times their size, wouldn't they be put at risk of killing each other?

"Listen up Yukio, Titus will explain how duels work..." said Hero.