"Huaa!"

Cheers engulfed the arena grounds as the spectators jumped and shouted in excitement as they watched the games that were happening below.

"Sheesh, that's loud..."

Covering my ears with my hands, I walked towards one of the stands and looked at the arena grounds below.

Although I could've watched the games in the comfort of the waiting room, I wanted to come here at least once to spectate the games that were happening below.

There was also another goal I had in mind when coming here...

'”Hein Kraaijenschot from Ironia Academy and John Berson from Kuzk Academy still look to be holding out well. Scott Madison from Leingberg Academy seems to be about to give out! Who will pass to the next round?

Listening to the announcer, I leaned on the handrails and squinted my eyes to get a better look at what was happening below.

Standing on a platform, I looked as five students stood still motionless. With their legs perpendicular to their shoulders, the five individuals each held a shield in their hand.

Opposite to them was a combat dummy that every few seconds would unleash an attack on them.

With each attack, the power exerted by the dummy would increase.

Dum. Dum. Dum. Even as I stood above the arena grounds, I could hear the faint sound of collision that came as a result of the dummy hitting the contestants.

"So this is the Iron Fortress games..."

I muttered underneath my breath as I paid close attention to the five individuals below.

The Iron Fortress game was a game dedicated to those that specialized in defense. The objective was to withstand as many attacks as possible. The last person standing would directly make it to the next round.

As of right now, it was the semi-finals, and my attention was currently directed towards one individual.

Hein Kraaijenschot.

The next and last person that I wanted to recruit into my mercenary group.

With a sturdy build, light brown hair, and hazel eyes, Hein stood imposingly at the center of the stage as he withstood the barrage of attacks coming from the dummy opposite of him.

With each attack, Hein would skilfully shift his position ever so slightly. By either taking one step back or tilting the shield slightly, Hein was able to redirect some of the force away from himself.

Using this method, he appeared to be in a much better position than some of the other contestants.

'He's as good as I thought he'd be.'

Watching Hein skilfully redirect and block the relentless attacks coming from the dummies, I crossed my arms and repeatedly nodded my head.

Even though he wasn't the biggest individual on stage as John Berson was about twice his size, his technical ability was something that more than made up for his lack of natural size.

This was shown by how he had made it this far without even being a part of a famous academy.

This achievement alone was outstanding.

"He's the one for sure..."

Without a doubt, I knew that he was the last person I was looking for in my mercenary group.

Though he may not be known now, in the future, Hein would be known throughout the whole human domain as a ranked hero.

He was of Dutch descent, and despite his talent, because of his family circumstances, he could only enroll at a medium-high ranked Academy.

He did in fact get scholarship offers from large academies such as the Lock or the four great academies. Unfortunately, he chose to reject them because of his circumstances.

Had he enrolled in a top academy, he would've without a doubt have been as strong as some of the most prolific individuals in the tournament.

In fact, he would've without a doubt have even had a chance at beating John Berson who was considered to be the best tanker amongst the younger generation.

Unfortunately...

'”Hein Kraaijenschot from Ironia Academy, unfortunately, gives out and John Berson from Kuzk Academy takes the first spot and wins the Iron fortress games! Ladies and gentlemen let's give John a round of applause for his fantastic performance. The other contestants too, for their fantastic performances.

Listening to the announcer's voice, I shook my head.

'Too bad...'

Had Hein have had the same amount of resources as John, things would've been different. Sadly, there were no what if's in the world.

Staring at Hein who was sprawled on the ground tired, I watched as tears streamed down from the corner of his eyes.

He looked absolutely gutted.

"Huaaaa'”!"

Standing next to him, John Berson raised his hand in the air like the victor that he was and basked on the cheers coming from the spectators.

"Don't worry."

Taking one last look at Hein from above, a trace of a smile appeared on my face.

"I'll definitely do anything within my power to make you the best tanker there is..."

I softly muttered before turning around and leaving the arena grounds.

***

"Haa...Haaa..."

After getting defeated in the Iron Fortress game, Hein sat down in the changing room as he gasped for breath.

Covering his eyes with a warm wet towel, Hein tried to hide the fact that he was crying.

"I tried, I really tried..."

Muttered Hein as he put both of his hands on the towel.

Around four years ago, when Hein was still twelve years old, a horrible accident occurred.

His town was suddenly attacked by villains.

In order to protect him and his two other five-month-old siblings, his father suffered a permanent spinal injury resulting in his lower half becoming permanently paralyzed.

To make matters worse, his mother died in that incident. The one mother that had raised him since he was young.

One paralyzed father, two five-month-old children, and one twelve-year-old kid. That was the aftermath of the incident that took place in Hein's past.

It was also the turning point of Hein's life.

From there, in order to support his father and siblings, Hein would work hard every day at his family shop to provide income for the family.

Fortunately, although his father was paralyzed, he could still work as a clerk, and hence they were somehow able to live without too much trouble.

Years had passed since then and Hein reached sixteen years of age. It was also the time that he got his talent assessment measured.

<S> ranked. That was what his talent was measured by.

At first, he thought this was fantastic. He could now help his father. But that happiness did not last too long.

That was because he later found out that his father's injury could not be cured with the current technology.

Not even with the current best potions, his injury could not be cured.

This crushed Hein who wanted nothing more than for his father to once again regain the ability to walk again.

...and so, not wanting to leave his father and siblings behind, Hein chose to enroll in the best academy in the region and refused all of the other offers that came from the better academies.

'”TRIIING! '”TRIIING!

Feeling a slight vibration coming from his phone, Hein removed the towel off of his face and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

'”...Son.

Instantly, Hein's hand shook. Hein's voice shook along with his hand.

"D-ad."

'”I've watched your game....I'm very proud of you.

"Than-k you"

Trying his best to suppress his emotions, Hein responded as he almost choked up on his words.

'”...I'm sorry as well...If it-t wasn't for me this w-ould've never have happ-

"Dad, please don't say anything. I don't blame you. This was my decision"

Hein cut off.

"This is my decision, and my decision only."

He repeated.

Multiple times his father offered to relocate to a better city so that he could enroll in a better academy, but Hein stubbornly refused.

He knew just how much the shop meant for his father.

It was the same shop that he built with his mother when she was still alive.

Hein could not bear to tear his father away from there. Not just his father. Hein as well couldn't bring himself to part ways with the last moment he had of his mother.

This was why he refused all of the other offers.

In hindsight, this wasn't a bad decision since the academy treated him extremely well as they invested a lot of resources in him.

Most of which were subsidies by the government to help him grow, but even then, his treatment was not bad at all.

"Do you understand father? You don't have to blame my decision on yourself"

'”..A-alright. I'll see you back home. Your siblings are waiting for you.

With a trembling voice, Hein's father responded.

From the way he was stuttering, it was evident that he was also trying his best to suppress his emotions.

Hein did not point this out.

"I can't wait to meet them as well..."

Thinking of his siblings, a gentle smile appeared on Hein's face.

'”T-that's good. I'll see you soon son. I love you. I wish you the best in the next game.

"Thank you..."

Du.Du.Du. Listening to the end tone of the call for a couple of seconds, Hein wiped the corner of his eye.

Clenching his fists, he slowly stood up.

"I will definitely not let you down"

Although he lost the Iron Fortress game, the tournament was not over yet. He still had to participate in the battle royale.

For that, he was going to give it his all.

***

Bang! Bang! Bang! The loud sound of collisions echoed inside of a private training room.

Standing opposite a machine, I repeatedly attacked it with my sword. Each attack was lightning fast as a green hue shrouded the body of the sword.

'”Click!

Following a subtle clicking sound, the room became quiet, and a small white graze appeared on the machine opposite to me.

"Huuu..."

With sweat dripping from the side of my face, I took a deep breath.

"I should be close."

I muttered as I looked at my arms.

I could feel it. I was close to ranking up. Perhaps as close as a couple of days, to as far as a couple of weeks. Soon enough, I was going to break through to <D-> rank.

Unfortunately, this was probably not enough time for the finals that were going to take place in a couple of days.

But I wasn't too worried about this as I was confident in my chances of winning.

That aside, by the time I returned to my dorm and looked at my notifications, I found my face plastered all over the news.

In the news, there was a picture of me shaking hands with Aerin.

To my surprise, as I read the comments on the article, there were a lot fewer negative comments about me.

In fact, I found a lot of people supporting me and wishing me the best of luck.

This surprised me quite a lot as I pretty much antagonized everyone in my first interview. But I guess my recent performances had won the hearts of the people.

Another thing that I took note of as I read the articles, was that a lot of people were comparing the way I fought to grandmaster Keiki. A legendary figure.

Fortunately, no one was able to make a connection with the fact that I was actually using the Keiki style as I didn't use any of the movements yet.

I also publically announced what sword art I practiced in one of the interviews I had this week.

It was obviously the Keiki-style counterfeit art.

As such, I was in the clear for the tournament. At least for now.

"Right, Angelica."

Turning around I looked at Angelica who was sitting in the middle of the room. A black hue shrouded her body.

"...Speak."

After a short pause, Angelica apathetically responded.

"Make it quick."

"Sure, did you find anything suspicious during the past week? Like any movement from the Monolith?"

"I have not."

Angelica shook her head.

"Not even a clue?"

"None."

"This is strange...or should I say weird?"

Placing my hand on my chin, my brows knit tightly.

For the past month or so, I had asked Angelica to scout the Lock and look for any clue that could give me an idea of what the Monolith was planning.

Unfortunately, I found nothing.

I've looked through Thibaut's watch in hopes of finding something, but there was nothing there as well.

I even looked through the scenario that was supposed to happen in the novel, but as I predicted, it was completely scrapped.

'Did they just give up on the tournament?'

From what I've gathered, the Lock managed to catch most of the villains that tried to infiltrate the place.

In fact, I'd estimate that a total of over 100 villains were caught by the Lock security alone. This alone suggested that the Monolith had not given up.

Furthermore, given how big the event was, there was no way the Monolith wouldn't jump at the idea of doing something big here.

Especially since this was broadcasted all over the human domain.

Fortunately, as of now, the Lock's security was good enough to stop any attempts that had happened.

However, I didn't know for how long this would last.

Despite the Lock being the number one academy in the world, they were currently fighting against the Monolith.

An organization that rivaled the likes of the Union.

For them, infiltrating the Lock and the tournament shouldn't be something impossible. If they set their mind to it, this was a very real possibility.

...and it was exactly this possibility that bugged me.

"hmmm, should I perhaps go to the black market to ask?"

If there was one organization that could help me find anything related to this case, perhaps it would be the black market.

With them being a natural faction frequented by both villains and heroes, this could very well be a plausible course of action.

However, there was only one problem with this scenario...

Money.

If they indeed had some information regarding the plan the Monolith had for the tournament, then without a doubt I would have to fork out a crap-ton of money.

...and that was something I couldn't do with my current cash reserve.

As such, I was once again back to square one.

"Wait! What if..."

Suddenly a thought struck me.

"How could I have not thought about this before!?"

Smacking my head, my face scrunched up a little. The answer to my problem was right before my eyes!

'Kevin Voss, the novel's protagonist.'

Given that Kevin was the original protagonist of the novel, in all likelihood he knew something.

In fact, his system might've given him a quest targeting this scenario precisely, and he was already preparing for it.

"Damn, I should stop overthinking things sometimes..."

Cursing slightly, I took out my phone and dialed Kevin's number.