Summer Break

Chapter 9

As the last of the new adventures left, Kaspian and the other man finally stood up and began walking onto the field. Arthur took this as his cue, and stood up as Sylvie jumped down from Arthur's head and climbed onto Grawder's head for a better view. Everyone was quite surprised by that, especially since it seemed that Sylvie was giving him orders, as with a 'Kyu', Grawder moved from his laying position to sitting up straight.

"Good luck Arthur," Curtis said, bringing everyone back from the amusing sight. The rest of them wished Arthur luck as well as he continued to walk to the stairs. As Arthur left the group Lilia gave Tess a light kick to her back. When Tess looked back to see what Lilia wanted, Lilia puckered her lips and gestured to Arthur with her head, Tess' face was now a brighter red that Claire's hair as she realized what Lilia was telling her.

"Art wait," Tess called out just as Arthur arrived at the stairs. Arthur looked back just as Tess arrived, leaned in, and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Good luck." Tess then quickly ran back to her seat, her face a shade of red one would not think possible.

Arthur stood there dazed for a second before Sylvie gave him a mental slap in the face. "Yes papa, mama kissed you, and you'll have plenty of time to return that kiss later. But right now you have a battle to win."

"Survive sylv. I don't need to win, just survive for ten minutes," Arthur replied as he regained his senses and continued down the steps.

"Fine, survive the battle, then kiss mama back," Sylvie teased, however this time Arthur didn't even acknowledge her.

Arthur walked down to the battlefield to see both of his opponents looking at him. Kaspian had a small smile on his face, either he was excited for the battle or was amused by the good luck kiss Arthur revived from Tess, Arthur wasn't sure. The other man retained the same cold expression, then released his killing intent. Arthur was taken back for a moment, as it was more intense than even his, however he quickly recovered from the initial shock and showed he could handle it. The young man with the clipboard however didn't fair as well and was cowering on the ground.

"Do you really want to do this kid? Your girlfriend might not like the state you leave this battle in," the man said in a cold almost intimidating tone.

Arthur took a battle stance and drew his sword as he released his own killing intent for his response. It wasn't quite as powerful as the other man's but it was enough to cause him to look at Arthur with a surprised expression, as no one would expect that powerful of an intent from someone so young. The young man with the clipboard then passed out as he pised his pants.

"I told you Arthur wouldn't back down Kingston," Kaspian said to the man now identified as Kingston as he drew he reiper.

Arthur now understood why Kingston didn't hide his core level and began to work a theory in his head. He wasn't showing off, he was doing it as a warning to avoid pointless battles. Kingston was clearly a veteran adventurer, and combined with his outward appearance and the power of his intent Arthur was able to get a fairly good idea of who this man was. He clearly had seen more than his fair share of carnage, and most likely lost someone in the process. He most likely didn't care for battling except against opponents who could handle him and he agreed with the purpose. Considering his view on Tess and Kathyln, and speaking against them going into A class, he saw ensuring Arthur was ready for AA class as a worthy purpose.

Kingston now took a battle stance several feet away from Kaspian.

"Claire," Kaspian called out. "It seems we will need someone new to time our battle. Would you please take the sand dial from his pocket and officiate our match?" Kaspian asked as he gestured to the passed out man.