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A small smile tugged at the corner of Kyran\'s lips as he looked up at the spectators.

He had expected there would be spectators watching the competition. But he did not expect to be this many.

They arrived at their side of the arena and looked at the people up the balcony.

Looking at the obnoxious expressions these people had, Kyran guessed they were from the Three Noble Families.

"Tsk," a disgruntled gruff voice came in front of Kyran.

Kyran looked at the owner of the voice, before turning to look at the rest of the mercenaries. All of them wore annoyed expressions.

"This is a competition, why the f*ck are these stuck up nobles here? Do they think we are some show to pass their time?"

The one who had spoken was a seven-foot-tall buffed guy with a Skrillex reddish-brown hair, a bare top, and dark loose pants. A thick black scarf was wrapped around his neck covering half his face, giving emphasis to his sharp black eyes.

The man\'s name was Styx, known as the strongest elite member of the Mercenary Hall. He also had the highest mage level which was already a half-step to Grand Master.

"Having people watch our matches doesn\'t make sense to me," a man around five feet tall with shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes, wearing an oversized black coat, with a silver halberd on his back, responded to Styx.

"What are you even talking about, Deo?" A muffled reply responded to Deo. "This whole joint exercise doesn\'t make sense in the first place, so don\'t expect anything that happens here to be any different."

Kyran looked at the man who had spoken.

He was also tall, standing only a few inches short than Styx, with a faded bandage wrapped around his head, wearing a red leather coat and black army pants. A black leather magical belt was wrapped around his waist which housed, if Kyran guessed correctly, several short weapons.

"Rake is right," a female voice agreed from the back.

All of them turned to look at a woman walking toward them.

Kyran knew the woman as the only female participant in the Solo Competition, Tilda.

She was a huge woman with short blonde hair and brown eyes, wearing a brown leather coat. Her weapon strapped behind her back was a huge ax.

Kyran had read all of their files and knew that the elite members of the Mercenary Hall were all Master or High Master mages. Those who got promoted to a Grand Master would then become executive members whose authority was second only to Hall Master Celine.

In normal cases, these people would not be seen in one place. They were either out on a SS mission or helping the Chamber of Commerce on a hunt to gather rare beast items.

Anyway, the reason why Kyran— or rather, Tyr, was suddenly part of the elite member of the Mercenary was the fact that they had to update his profile as a new Master mage.

After all, Kyran had beaten a Brigadier General.

Although there was an array in place to restrict Brigadier General\'s level, in the end, getting whacked by a mage easily who happened to be a couple of mage levels lower than him was a huge slap on his face.

Thus, they had to say that Tyr had broken through to a Master mage, thus, automatically promoting him to the elite team.

"Tilda," Deo nodded at her, "You\'re lucky. You have the locker room all by yourself."

"Humph, what\'s lucky about that? I got bored staring at the walls. I\'d rather go back to the lounge and play another round of billiards."

Styx laughed, "Right. And I\'m also winning. I don\'t mind winning more gold coins from you."

Tilda glared at him, "I\'ll win them back later!"

Deo and Rake snickered.

Kyran could not help but smile at them.

He really respected how these mercenaries jumped from one topic to another. As if the matter of the joint exercise was no big deal and could be forgotten in a blink of an eye.

Thinking of this, Nolan crossed Kyran\'s mind. He had not heard anything from Nolan\'s essence and admitted he was getting a little worried.

\'He did not get lost in the forest did he?\' Kyran thought recalling how bad Nolan\'s sense of direction was.

Pushing the random thought aside, he cleared his throat and looked at Styx and the rest. He said, "In that case, would you like to end this competition early?"

As soon as he had spoken, the four mercenaries looked at him and fell silent.

President Callan told them about Kyran\'s promotion to the elite members.

They knew the Mercenary Hall would never play favorites. \'Tyr\' might be the disciple of Chairman Noir, but they would never promote him for baseless or unjust reasons.

Nevertheless, that did not stop them from feeling a little aggrieved. They had not seen him in action or his accomplishments as a mercenary, after all. Of course, that did not mean they would ostracize him, but they would not see him as an equal either.

"Oh?" Styx looked at him with raised brows, "You have something in mind?"

Kyran smiled but did not meet his eyes, "I do. But it would mean you guys might not get to play here, is that okay?"

"Ahahahaha!" Tilda suddenly burst into laughter as she looked at Kyran with a knowing smile. "What you have in mind is crazy, you know. You\'ll offend the other side..." her voice trailed off as she looked at the participants they were against who had just come out from their locker room. She chuckled and continued, "I guess you don\'t care since you already offended them."

The other mercenaries also sneered. They were aware of what happened to Kyran and the Lumley Family yesterday. It had been one of the talked topics in the pub last night especially when an Exalted appeared, followed by Hall Master Celine whose a Magus.

Tyr\'s fame had skyrocketed overnight with how he single-handedly thrashed the Lumley mages. That was the very reason why a Lumley Exalted had to interfere.

Kyran chuckled, "That\'s right. Don\'t worry, I\'ll make sure to tell them that its my own idea so the Mercenary Hall will not be—."

"Are you f*cking with us?" Styx interrupted and crossed his huge arms across his chest. His smile turned into a devilish grin as he looked at the Lumley participants, who were now on the opposite side of the arena looking at them with unmasked hostile eyes. "We don\'t give a damn whether they think it is our idea or not. We mercenaries will not run away with tails between our legs just because we are up against one of the Three Noble Families."

Most members of the Three Noble Families detested mercenaries for their ambiguous background and barbaric living.

Of course, that did not stop them from employing their services to accomplish a dangerous mission. It was better to sacrifice other people than their own, after all.

Tilda snorted and said, "I feel the same, but will you not use that phrase. I don\'t have tails between my legs."

"Ahahaha!" The three men burst into laughter.

Because of Tilda\'s big frame and alto voice, they always forget that she was not a man.

Besides, Tilda might not care about her appearance, but she still considered herself a woman. As a matter of fact, she was already married and had two kids.

"Right, right," Styx agreed and looked at Kyran. "Go ahead, little boy. Show us what you\'ve got."

Kyran smiled bitterly at the nickname.

To be exact, it was not even a nickname. In the first place, he was not a little boy. Well, he supposed his age and body frame was a little boy compared to theirs.

No, wait. Deo\'s height and body frame were the smallest among them so...

Sighing inwardly, Kyran nodded his head. He was not about to head butts with Styx just because he called him a little boy.

"I\'ll go then," he replied and made his way to the arena.

At that exact moment, the center of the arena opened and a man wearing a matching light green robe and hat, with a half-mask covering his eyes appeared from below.

The man hovered in the air, as the opening he came out from closed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Solo Competition will start in five minutes. Please have your participants come up the arena," the man announced, looking at the Mercenary Hall\'s side and then to the Lumley.

On the Lumley\'s side, a man in a white mask, wearing a blue velvet coat with matching headgear, turned his head at the tallest member of the Lumley Family.

Unlike the Mercenary Hall which only had its members come to the function hall, the Lumley Family had an elder go with them.

"You go first, Illias."

The tall man, looking to be in his late twenties and also wearing a blue uniform with the Lumley Family\'s crest, stepped toward the arena and nodded.

"Yes," Illias replied. His contempt reflected in his eyes as he looked in Kyran\'s direction.

\'Matias would have come today, if not for this barbarian,\' Illias thought through gritted teeth.

"Participants, please come on the arena."

The announcer called.

Kyran and Illias went to the arena and as their feet touched the floor,  a circular golden array lit up above. At the center of the array, the number 25 was lit.

"While we wait for the start of the competition, let me explain the rules for everyone\'s reference."

The announcer said and gestured at the array overhead.

"Each participant from both sides will have a one on one match that will last for 25 minutes. Of course, the duration is only a time limit set in case both sides are evenly matched and a winner cannot be determined. There will be a five minutes interval before the start of a match to give time for each participant to assess their opponent and come up with a strategy. Once the five minutes are up the timer above will activate, signifying the start of the match."

"Hey," Kyran called the announcer\'s attention as soon as he finished talking.

"Yes, Disciple Tyr?" The announcer replied."

As soon as he said this, however, most of the spectators turned their attention to Kyran.

Most of them only knew Tyr from photos and rumors and had not met him in person. Earlier, when he arrived with the rest of the mercenaries, he was practically hidden behind Styx and Rake so they did not have a closer look.

And when the announcer had asked for Kyran and Illias to come up to the arena, all of them were distracted by the array overhead and then focused on the announcer who explained the rules. They did not have time to really look at Kyran.

But now, seeing him, most of them instantly seethe in anger. Surprisingly, some females were also glaring at him in contempt.

Then again, these women were all part of the Lumley Family and it would be strange to even admire \'Tyr\' after what happened yesterday.

Then there were the members of the Courtenay Family who were distinguishable by their light green robes. Most of them looked at Kyran with reservation... except for one young miss whose eyes were looking at him with zeal, Millie.

The Montgomeray Family, who were identified by their light violet clothes and a black mask that covered their faces, were all silent.

Even among the Three Noble Families, they were a mysterious family. Few had actually seen their faces because they always wore a black masks to cover their whole face. They only knew that the Montgomeray Family all had dark violet hair. As for the color of their eyes, none had seen it.

"The proposed rules are boring," Kyran said not bothering to filter his words. "And I have a suggestion to make it better."

The announcer\'s brow furrowed slightly, but when he spoke, his voice remained indifferent that it was hard to know what he was thinking, "I\'m sorry. But the rules have already been agreed upon by—."

"By the Royal Family and the Three Noble Families," Kyran cut in. "The Conclave who are supposed to be one of the main participants of the joint military exercise was not included when the rules are made."

An awkward silence fell among the Three Noble Families.

Event the announcer\'s brow furrowed further.

On the other hand, the mercenaries behind Kyran were now looking at him in a different light.

This guy had a nerve of steel! It seemed nothing could faze him!

"The leaders of the Conclave had not raise any questions when the rules has been presented and thus, gave their silent consent..."

The announcer\'s voice trailed off as the four-leaf clover earring he was wearing blinked a few times.

After another awkward silence passed, the announcer took a deep breath before clearing his throat.

"Very well, let us hear your suggestion."

Kyran\'s smile widen. He already saw the four-leaf clover the announcer was wearing and knew it was a communication device, similar to what Mimi and Millie wore.

He also guessed that the people these guys were connected to were either big shots from the Courtenay Family or the Royal Family themselves.

The announcer\'s behavior just now confirmed Kyran\'s guess, but now, he was convinced the person on the other end was either the Emperor or the Crown Princess.

After all, these two were the only ones who would agree to his whims unconditionally.

Kyran looked at the Lumley participants and pointed at them, "Let\'s make it a solo challenge. The player who wins stays and challenges the next side\'s player."