"Little Swordy, don't die on me," the Boar said as it looked at the sleeping skinny teenager in the infirmary room. "I'm still waiting for you to treat me to food at the restaurant after you wake up. I'm out of money now and can no longer eat pork chops and baby back ribs. I have to settle for steak instead. Oh, the horror~"
"Um, excuse me, but can you not be too noisy inside the infirmary," a Cleric commented. "You might disturb the other patients."
"Oh. Sorry~"
"It's fine. As long as you understand~"
Lux helplessly shook his head after seeing the Boar get reprimanded by the Cleric inside the infirmary. The Boar had been pestering him to accompany it to visit Keane, A.K.A Little Swordy, to check his condition.
The doctor said that most of his physical injuries had already recovered and there was no danger to his life. It was just that he had overexerted himself in the previous battle and he was emotionally and spiritually exhausted to the point of collapse.
However, the Head Cleric had already given him some rejuvenation potions to help him recover faster. According to the one assigned to look after Keane, his vital signs were improving at a rapid pace and he should wake up tomorrow before the match starts, making the Boar quite happy.
"Let's go," Lux said after giving the skinny swordsman one last glance. "We still need to head to the arena for the drawing of ballots."
"Right," the Boar replied. "I almost forgot about this. I hope that I can fight that Nero boy, so I don't have to fight against my friends. I'm sure that I can send him flying."
The Half-Elf could only laugh in his heart after hearing the Boar's words. If Cai really ended up fighting against Nero, it was certain that the Boar would leave the arena as a roasted Boar once the brown-haired teenager was done with it.
Lux gave the Boar, who was humming beside him, a side-long glance. Clearly, he didn't have much hope of the Boar winning any of its matches. Still, being in the Elite Four had given it the confidence to brag at the other contestants whom it acted chummy with.
Surprisingly, although it could get annoying at times, the Boar was well liked by the other contestants that were eliminated in the competition. Some of them even encouraged it to do its best in the Semifinals, which boosted Cai's determination to win.
Several minutes later, Lux and Cai arrived at the Arena.
Nero was already there with his arms crossed over his chest. Cai snorted in his direction and completely ignored him.
Clearly, the Boar didn't like Nero that much due to the times when the latter and his gang ridiculed it during the Qualifying Matches.
"Good, all of you are now here," Judge Dredd said as Bruno walked beside him, carrying a box with both hands.
"In truth, we only need one of you to be here, but for the sake of transparency, we decided to let the three of you see the result of the drawing of ballots," Bruno explained. "Now, I need one volunteer from the three of you. All you need to do is draw one ball from this box. The name written there will become your next opponent. The other two contestants will then be paired against each other. Easy enough to understand, right?"
Lux, Cai, and Nero nodded their heads.
Just like Bruno said, only one of them was needed to draw the ballot to determine who would be paired up against who in the Semifinal Matches.
"I don't care who I fight," Nero stated. "So, I'll give them the opportunity to draw from the ballot box."
Lux smirked after hearing Nero's words. He then glanced at Bruno and made his thoughts known as well.
"I also don't have any problem with who I will be paired up with," Lux commented. "Cai, you can draw from the box, so we can go back and eat."
The Boar raised its snout in arrogance because it didn't want to lose to Lux and Nero who had declared that they didn't want to draw ballots. Since the two of them didn't draw, why should it draw?
It also didn't care who it was going to be paired up with!
"I also don't care who I will be facing in the finals," Cai declared with arrogance. "They can kiss my foot for all I care, so I am not going to draw any ballots!"
Judge Dredd and Bruno suddenly had the strong urge to spit at the Boar who had a smug look on its face.
'If no one wants to draw, then how can we proceed with the match ups?!'
That was the thought that the two judges had. Seeing their dilemma, Lux decided to take the initiative to settle this issue peacefully.
"How about this?" Lux said with a smile. "Sir Dredd and Sir Bruno should just draw one ballot each. That would solve the problem, right?"
Judge Dredd and Bruno nodded their heads because this was indeed the best course of action.
"Are you fine with us doing this?" Judge Dredd. "If you are, then we can both promise that we will not do anything underhanded in choosing the matchups for the Semifinals."
"I have no problem with it," Nero replied.
"No worries here," Lux commented.
"I trust the two of you!" Cai stated. "Let Fate decide who fights against who!"
Judge Dredd and Bruno glanced at each other and nodded their heads at the same time. Since the contestants had no problems with this arrangement, they could draw the ballots without any problems.
Bruno was the one that drew first, and Judge Dredd was the one that drew last.
Half a minute later, both of them showed the colored balls in their hands, and the names of two contestants that would fight against each other.
—--
Nero.
My Daddy.
—--
As soon as they saw their names, Nero and Lux glanced at each other.
'So, it finally happened,' Lux thought as he stared at the brown-haired boy, whom he held a grudge against for a long time.
Naturally, Nero also held grudges against Lux, which made both of them fated enemies in the tournament.
Cai, who was standing beside Lux, sighed internally.
'Um, good thing I am not fighting against these two monsters,' Cai thought. 'Little Swordy is my opponent, but he is currently bedridden. Should I sneakily let him drink laxatives before the match started? I still have some of the potions Grandma gave me that are strong enough to make Mammoths fart like there's no tomorrow…'
While the Boar was still thinking of something diabolical inside his head, sparks were already flying between Lux and Nero, who had just learned that they would fight the first match the next day.
"I'll see you in the arena," Nero said. "I hope you don't disappoint me. I disdain weaklings."
"The match hadn't started, and I already know that I'm going to win," Lux replied. "I'm so lucky that I'll be fighting the weakest among the bunch. You better prepare your coffin before tomorrow's match, since I might accidentally kill you like Spider Boy."
Judge Dredd and Bruno calmly watched the two teenagers trade barbed words with each other. In reality, both of them were quite excited about this matchup and were looking forward to seeing who among the two young prodigies would triumph over the other.
Judge Dredd and Bruno had already asked Alicia about the chubby boy's true identity. Unfortunately, the latter's lips were as tight as a chaste maiden who hadn't known any men. The only thing they got from her was a good nagging, telling them that they should just mind their own business and not pry into other people's privacy!
Alicia, who was standing on top of the platform, looked down at the three contestants with her arms crossed over her chest.
Now that Lux had successfully entered the Semifinals, she wanted to know how the sickly Half-Elf, whom she had known for most of his life, had suddenly become so powerful in just the span of a year.
'Just what kind of serum did you drink to have come this far?' Alicia thought as a gentle breeze made her hair flutter behind her. 'Still, will you be able to overcome the one whom everyone favors to become the champion of this tournament?'
Alicia didn't know the answer to this question. Even so, she hoped that after the tournament was over, Lux's relationship with his step-father, Alexander, would have a little bit of improvement.
'I wonder what his Excellency would think if he discovered that My Daddy is actually his step-son before this is over?' Alicia mused with a smile. 'Goodluck, Lux. I'll look forward to your performance tomorrow.'
The beautiful woman gave the chubby teenager one last glance before returning to her duties. Now that the Semifinals were about to start, she had to ensure that the security in Barbatos Academy wouldn't be compromised on such an important day.
