?Ning walked down the road at a swift pace, Lory almost running to keep pace with him. Rova was doing the same with a frantic look on her face.
"Boss, you really should reconsider it," she said. "We should ask someone to help us advertise. You can't possibly go and fight in the arena."
"Sure I can," Ning said. "What's stopping me?"
"But you're not strong. You'll get hurt," Rova said, a hint of exasperated look on her face that she found hard to hide. "You're not even that strong."
Ning looked back at her without stopping with a face that could have held a frown. "Why wouldn't I be strong? I have reached the Essence Manifestation realm."
"That's… that doesn't mean you're strong," the girl said. "You're just a converter. We really should hire someone. Let's just watch for today, okay? We can find someone who looks like he fights well or lacks weapons, and we can sponsor him. We can even find some good-looking men to attract the girls to our shops."
"I'm good-looking," Ning said. "Am I not?"
The girl didn't know what to say, but anger took hold of her. "No, you're not," she said. She nearly stumbled at the look that Ning gave her.
"I mean…" she quickly realized what she said and had to take back a bit. "I mean you're not bad-looking, but I don't think there will be many girls that would fall for you."
"Are you sure?" Ning asked. He flexed his biceps a little. "I have some muscles if that is what girls like."
"Why are you worried about what girls like?" the girl asked suspiciously. "Don't you have a wife? Won't Emma's mother get angry if she finds out you're talking this way?"
Ning glowered at her. "You're the one that brought it up," he said and turned away, marching even faster, making the girl have to nearly sprint to follow up with him. She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or not anymore.
They arrived at the arena sometime later. Lory rode on Ning's shoulder as they arrived, clearly tired halfway through from having to run for most of the way.
Rova didn't show much tiredness, but as an Essence Manifestation realm individual, it would have been surprising if she had.
"Lory, go with Rova," Ning said quickly. "I'll have to go find the place to register."
"I'll show you," Rova said. "I've been here a few times."
Ning looked at her curiously. "You've fought?" he asked.
"My older brother liked to fight," she said. "I would come here with him when I was little."
"Where is he now?" Ning asked.
"With his wife, in Snowden. He's a city guard there," Rova told him.
"Snowden," Ning mumbled a little. "That's north of the empire is it not?"
"It is," the girl said. "Let's go get you registered."
Ning nodded.
The area for registration was dug into the walls of the ground itself, in the crater that was the arena. The area there was cooler, with long hallways that never heated, no matter how strong the sun was.
Torches lit up the hallway. Not objects made out of light. It gave the arena a proper aura to it, or so Ning thought.
Multiple people came and went, none stopping to look at one another. Rova stopped in front of a line and looked around at the people who were gathered there for registration.
"There, that man," she pointed. "He's good-looking. What do you say?"
"No," Ning said quickly. "We're not doing this again. I thought we were over this."
"Urgh!" the girl scowled a little. "I was only worried about you. If you don't want it then fine."
They arrived by the man who dealt with the registration a few minutes later, who looked up to Ning and Lory from his seat. "Your Name?"
"Ning."
"Man or beast?"
"Man," Rova answered before Ning had the chance to. Ning nodded after her.
The man judged Ning's Essence and wrote down something. He tore off a piece but didn't hand it immediately.
"5 Fire coins for a match," he said. "You get the next one for 2 if you win."
"Great," Ning said and quickly handed over the coins.
The man handed him the paper he had torn off. "Be ready for when you're called," he said and Ning took it.
Rova pulled Ning to the side while Ning looked confused. "He didn't ask me who I was supposed to fight," he said.
"He did; you'll fight a man," Rova said.
"Oh, I thought that was him asking if it's me or Lory fighting," Ning said.
"No, the beasts are registered on the other side. There's a larger entrance there," she said.
Ning nodded and walked back out.
As per the slip, his fight was going to be the 43rd match of the day. "It's still morning and there are already 42 other matches prepared?" he asked in surprise.
Rova looked at his paper and pointed at something. "That's for Stage 2," she pointed. "43rd match of the 2nd stage. There are 4 different stages, so we'll never know how many fights there have already been set."
"Damn," Ning said. "Well, we've got to give it to the fighters, I suppose."
"Boss," Rova called out. "Are you sure? Are you really REALLY sure that you want to do this?"
Ning smiled back at her this time, not a single hint of anger or annoyance in his face. "There's not a single thing in this world that can hurt me. So don't worry."
Weirdly, that did give the girl a bit of confidence that she didn't think she would get. "I guess all I can do now is wish you luck then."
They sat for a while, watching battles take place in the Arena, all of which they watched contently. Ning planned on how he was going to put on a show for the shop, so when his turn came, he walked out with not a single doubt in his mind.
"See you in a bit."
