Ning fought multiple times the whole day and he never once had to swap the mantis out for anything else.
By the end of the day, he earned about 240 Pearls. He had earned quite a bit around the first half of the day, but on the second half, people realized that he was strong and stopped betting against him.
Still, he earned quite a bit and he was not mad about it.
Once he left the arena around evening time, he met up with Saphandra outside and excitedly told her how much he earned.
"What? 240?" she asked in surprise. "I barely got 100. I earned maybe 2 or 3 around your latter matches."
"Yeah, I think if you want to earn more, you should join the arena and fight on your own," Ning said.
"Yeah, I will do that," Saphandra said. "For now, let's go eat something. I'm hungry and the arena's food is quite expensive."
"Alright, let's go back to the hotel," Ning said.
"No, let's go to a restaurant or something. I earned money today, so my treat," Saphandra said.
"Sure," Ning said and the two walked through the night street. However, before they reached any sort of restaurant, it started raining heavily and they needed to take a shelter.
They found a hardware store and took cover for a while to wait out the rain, but it didn't seem like it was going to stop.
"Come on, I can keep away the rain," Saphandra said and was about to use her powers when Ning stopped her.
"Do you want to go through the same thing as in Tyrana city? Using powers in public space is against the law," Ning said.
"Then what do we do?" she asked.
Ning looked around the road and saw a bunch of people walking around with umbrellas. "We can use those," he said and created two of them for each of them.
"How do you keep making stuff? So easily too," she asked. "Does it have to do with that system of yours?"
"Kind of, yes," Ning said. "I don't want to go into detail. Let's go this restaurant of yours."
Saphandra nodded and the two of the walked away from the place. Not far away, they noticed a small restaurant that was not so crowded and got in.
The food wasn't the tastiest, but it had heart, so Ning and Saphandra ate a lot of it.
As they did, they got to talking and soon enough Saphandra asked a question that had been on her mind for a long time.
"How did you get your system?" she asked.
"My system?" Ning was amazed she even dared to ask such a thing. "I didn't really get it, I guess. Its more like it just came to me."
"Yes," Ning said. "That's how most systems go. You don't go out finding them, they come to you. I mean, look at Genesis. He only gathered us because he didn't know who to choose."
"If he did, one of us would've randomly had a system, while the rest of us would be living all alone in a word without life," Ning said.
"Besides, don't think about getting a system. Systems are really bad. I know I sound like a hypocrite, but my situation is a little different. Just trust me when I say that you will be a lot better without any system with you," Ning said.
"Don't worry, I wasn't going to ask how I could get one," Saphandra said. "I don't think I would want one, considering…"
"Considering?" Ning asked.
"Never mind," she said. "So, systems are rare huh? Since we're in a new galaxy, maybe there is another tournament going on here with another system."
"I doubt it," Ning said. "Genesis was a special case."
"So there are no systems in this galaxy?" she asked.
"Well, let me check," Ning said and asked the system. "Apparently there are."
Ning's eyes then shifted for a second as he came up with another set of information. "But none on this planet. So you can live your life without worry."
"Sigh, alright let's talk about the Arena then," she said.
"Oh right," Ning said as he went on to explain everything he learned in the arena today.
"Oh, so I have to appear weak? That's going to be hard," Saphandra said.
"Well, no need to show off in front of me," Ning said.
"What? No, that's not what I meant," Saphandra said. "I am only strong offensively. While I could restrain my powers, if I get attacked, I will be done for."
"How do you usually survive your fights then?" Ning asked.
"I use my powers but I can't restrain my offense and defense separately," Saphandra said. "If I have to do the two at the same time, they will be equally strong."
"Hmm… well, I'm sure you'll think of something," Ning said and continued eating.
Half an hour later, the rain had subsided the two of them walked out. Saphandra's eyes were wide open with shock as she realized that the meal the two of them had just now was worth 20 pearls.
That was a fifth of what she had earned in total today. If she had to include another meal and maybe some lunch and snacks, she would lose nearly half of what she had earned today.
"Damn, why are things so expensive?" she asked.
"You will get used to it," Ning said and started walking.
The wet smell of rain still lingered in the air until they reached the hotel. Then, the two of them separated to go to their own rooms.
Saphandra studied the language, while Ning studied the circle. He knew everything by now, but he had a hard time recognizing all the litte details that were in a circle at a single glance.
He needed to train that part of his mind. Surprisingly, however, it was really easy for him as he trained everyday.
The talent he bought was surprisingly working better than he could hope for.
Once he was done, he went to sleep and woke up early next day as another adventure awaited them.
