Chapter 593: Finding Answers Without Resorting To Violence

“Fight!”

The referee gave the signal for battle, and the entire arena descended into chaos. 

All the fighters were briefed that if possible, they should abstain from killing anyone in the arena. Unlike what happened in the arena of the Hellan Royal Academy, those who would die in the Tournament of Champions would not come back to life.

In order to prevent the other Empires, Kingdoms, Sects, and Influential Families from finding fault with the Kraetor Empire, Emperor Leonidas had issued a decree that all those who wished to participate in the tournament must sign a Death Waiver.

The waiver explicitly declared that the Kraetor Empire would not be blamed for the deaths of any participants, who planned to join the tournament. Everyone must take responsibility for their own lives, and their respective Kingdoms or Sects should adhere to the rules written in the tournament. 

Alas, there were some prodigies who craved to take the life of others, so several deaths had transpired on the first day of the competition.

Majority of those deaths came from the hands of the Prodigies that hailed from the Demonic Continent. 

Unfortunately for them, some of the geniuses of the Central Continent hated demons as well, so their acts didn’t go unpunished. Out of the twenty fighters from the Demon Continent, only thirteen remained.

Two of them were killed by Prince Jason who happened to be in the same arena as them. Just like the other contestants, Prince Jason had a certain bias when it came to Demons, and Half-Elves. 

It was quite fortunate that no Half-Elves stood in the arena where the Fifth Prince of the Kraetor Empire fought. If there was, their fate would have been the same as the Demons that Prince Jason had killed in battle.

The brutal tournament lasted several hours until ten survivors remained. 

Princess Sidonie and Ian frowned as they watched the battle that was happening in the 77th Arena. 

“This Kenneth is not as simple as he looked,” Princess Sidonie muttered.

Ian who was seated by her side nodded her head in agreement.

During the entirety of the elimination round, Kenneth stood in place and didn’t move from his location. However, everyone who was near him had been knocked unconscious, and laid on the ground around him.

Princess Sidonie and Ian didn’t know how the delicate looking teenager did it. All they knew was that Kenneth didn’t even move a muscle, nor lifted a finger, before those who tried to attack him fell down like puppets whose strings had been cut.

It was an eerie scene to watch.

Because of Kenneth’s mysterious performance, the other candidates stayed far away from him, as they battled amongst themselves. 

They would rather fight someone that fought back, rather than a person that only stood completely still, but still able to knock everyone around him unconscious. For the players, Kenneth was the biggest threat in their arena.

No one tried to challenge him as they fought for the remaining 9 slots that would take them to the next phase of the tournament.

Kenneth simply remained standing, while holding a short silver blade in his hand. He didn’t lower his guard, and paid close attention to his surroundings. 

Princess Sidonie and Ian were very disappointed with this development. Deep inside, both girls wanted someone to beat Kenneth up because he lied about his true affiliations. 

Three hours later, the battle in the 77th Arena ended and Kenneth was one of the ten remaining survivors. 

The two girls didn’t waste any time and left the VIP Room in haste. They wanted to confront Kenneth as soon as possible before he returned to the special guest residences that were assigned to the envoys of the Silvermoon Continent.

—-

Kenneth was on the way back to his room, when he noticed two presences that were headed in his direction. One of them held clear hostility towards him, which made the teenager frown.

‘Are they perhaps some of the earlier participants that couldn’t accept their loss?’ Kenneth unsheathed his blade and held it firmly in his hand. ‘To think that I would get into trouble on the very first day of this tournament. Master will definitely nag at me if she finds out about this.’

The delicate looking teenager sighed as he walked towards an alley where he would deal with his two pursuers. Naturally, he didn’t plan to kill them, but only to knock them out. 

Kenneth erased his presence and hid behind a barrel. The moment the two people walked past him, he would immediately strike and escape from this location.

As the sounds of footsteps drew closer, Kenneth prepared himself to attack, however, just as he was about to execute his plan, the sound of footsteps stopped.

Kenneth frowned, but he remained in place as he controlled his breathing. 

‘Why did they stop?’ Kenneth thought. ‘Could they have possibly detected my presence?’

Kenneth immediately denied this idea. He was quite proficient in erasing his presence and he was sure that only powerful individuals could find him, while he was patiently waiting for his next move, a familiar voice reached his ears.

“Kenneth, come out,” Ian said. “We need to talk.”

Kenneth’s eyes widened when he heard the voice of the snot-nosed-pansy that William would often curse inside their room when they were still roommates.

The Half-Elf had not hidden his irritation for Est’s retainer, who always bickered with him. Back then, Kenneth would chuckle internally as he watched William’s depressed expression. Clearly, the red-headed teenager had no love for the annoying boy, who liked to butt heads with him.

Kenneth came out of his hiding place and confronted the two girls who stood in front of him.

To his surprise, he also recognized the girl standing beside Ian.

How could he possibly forget the beautiful Princess that had graced them with her presence during the war against the two Dynasties that threatened the Hellan Kingdom.

“What are you doing here?” Kenneth asked Ian. “Do you know where I can find Will? I need to talk to him. It is very important.”

Princess Sidonie and Ian exchanged a glance, before shifting their gazes back to the teenage boy in front of them.

“If you want to talk, we can talk,” Princess Sidonie. “However, this is not the place for that. Come with us.”

Princess Sidonie turned around and headed out of the alley. Her identity was well-known, so she wore a veil to cover her face. However, the moment they made a turn to the alley, she had removed her veil as a means of self protection. 

As long as she was able to look at her target, she would be able to charm them. However, the moment her gaze fell on Kenneth, she understood right away that charming him was not an option. 

Since that was the case, they should sit down and talk. Perhaps by doing so, both sides would be able to find the answers to their questions, without resorting to violence.

Ian glared at Kenneth before turning around to follow Princess Sidonie. 

Kenneth, on the other hand, sheathed his weapon before following the two girls. He could tell that both of them seemed to have grudges against him. The silver-haired teenager understood Ian’s feelings, but he couldn’t understand why Princess Sidonie felt the same.

As far as he knew, they didn’t have any conflict with each other.

‘No matter,’ Kenneth thought as he followed the two girls with determination. ‘I will know the answers soon enough.’

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