Divinity

--- [Arthur’s perspective]

“Goodbye…” – Arthur

Before it gets to sink in what just happen, I hear a knock on the door.

“Now’s not the time…” – Arthur

The door opens, and an unknown voice talks back to me.

“I don’t care.” – ???

I quickly turn around.

“Who are you?!” – Arthur

He wasn’t with Alex, who is he?

“I’m Seth. I’m a fellow member of The END.” – Seth

Shit…

“You know very well what you’ve done, and it is unforgivable. Did you not think we’d know that we’d know?” – Seth

“I did, I just didn’t care about the consequences.” – Arthur

“Riiiight. I heard about you, you’re the one that wanted to save that lucky girl, right? Well, looks like you failed…” – Seth

“You…!” – Arthur

I carefully lay Alice down on the floor, then stand up.

“We’ve been monitoring Alex carefully, everything is going according to plan. But you jeopardized everything for the sake of that silly woman.” – Seth

“She’s not just some silly woman! How fucking dare you…!” – Arthur

“Right, how fucking dare you!” – Seth

He lifts his hand up into the air, and I rush towards him.

But…

He’s too fast.

Before I’ve even managed to take a step, he lowers his hand and…

--- [Alex’s perspective]

“What was that noise?!” – Alex

“Was that… Thunder?” – Lett

“It sure sounded like it…” – Alex

“Who cares, let’s just get the hell out of here!” – Illian

“Yeah, you’re right…” – Alex

--- [Alex’s perspective] one month later

I still haven’t told any of them what Arthur said to me…

‘The END’ is after me…

I have no idea what that entails, but I’ll be careful.

I don’t want my friends to worry, so for now, I’ll keep it to myself…

“Could you pass me the juice?” – Lett

“Sure.” – Shin

Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice.

“Are you guys enjoying your breakfast?” – Luna

“Luna! Long time no see!” – Lett

She sits down next to us.

“How have you been, it’s been so long since we last saw you!” – Lett

“I’ve been training a lot recently. Gotta prepare for the battle festival, you know?” – Luna

“Battle festival?” – Alex

“Yeah!” – Luna

“What’s the battle festival?” – Alex

“Oh… You haven’t heard?” – Luna

“Nope.” – Alex

Am I supposed to know what that is?

Is this yet another case of the poor outer area kid not knowing anything…?

“I can’t say I’ve heard of it either…” – Lett

“Really?” – Shin

“…” – Lett

“It’s basically this big tournament that is held once every 100 years.” – Illian

“Yeah, and it’s only eight months away too! I’m so excited! What about you guys, are you going to sign up?” – Luna

“We can’t. We’re still only E-rank, you know? The battle festival has a D, C, and B-rank division, but no E-rank.” – Shin

“Well yeah, but there’s only still two months until the D-rank exam. Take it and rank up.” – Luna

“It’s not that easy…” – Illian

“Well of course not, but it’s worth a try, right? Come on, I’ll help you guys train!” – Luna

She’ll help us train?!

“I’ll be your sparring partners for the next few months. I can even help you get better at using your specialties!” – Luna

“I mean, if you’re willing to put aside your own training to help us, I don’t have an issue with it. Why would you though? I thought you needed to prepare for the battle festival yourself…” – Shin

“It’ll be much more fun if I have some friends with me. Remember, the battle festival is one of the only times you’ll get to fight without it being a life-or-death situation. There’s no killing, it’s just friendly competition.” – Luna

“Alright, I’m down. Regardless, even if we fail the exam, it’ll still be valuable experience to train with a D-ranker.” – Shin

“What about the rest of you?” – Luna

“Oh, I’m down too!” – Alex

“Me too!” – Lett

“Same, I guess…” – Illian

“It’s decided then!” – Luna

“Just curious, are there any rewards for winning the tournament?” – Alex

“Already thinking about winning, eh? Don’t get too excited. I’m the one who’ll win!” – Luna

“Oh no, I was just-” – Alex

“I know, I know. I’m just teasing you.” – Luna

“…” – Alex

“But yeah, there are two rewards you get for winning. The first one is a classic; just a big sum of money.” – Luna

“… How big are we talking…?” – Alex

“Hmm… About as much as 100 or so high paying E-rank missions.” – Luna

“Holy shit…” – Alex

100 high paying missions?!

Minima could live off that for years and years…

“Yeah… It’s a lot.” – Luna

“You said there were two rewards… What’s the other one?” – Lett

“The other one is a bit unique… The winners of the battle festival get to do something almost no one ever gets to do… Or rather, they get to meet someone…” – Luna

“Meet someone? Spit it out already!” – Lett

“Well… The winners get to meet the Emperor himself.” – Luna

“What?!” – Alex and Lett

“…” – Shin and Illian

“The Emperor?!” – Alex

“Yup. The one and only.” – Luna

In my mind, the Emperor is like a legend; he doesn’t even feel like a real person.

He’s only ever talked about as this infinitely powerful man whom no one could ever even dream to rival.

He rarely ever shows himself, yet has ultimate authority over the entire world.

His power, wealth, fame, and influence is incomparable to any other living human.

Yet…

He’s just that.

Just another living human.

He’s a real, living, breathing person, and the winner of the tournament gets to meet him…

“Who cares about the Emperor? The money however…” – Shin

“True. Meeting that old fart is nothing compared to the prize money!” – Illian

…

“Anyways… When are we starting?” – Alex

“How about now?” – Luna