Lucas after finishing the match found Roan who sat in one of the corners seats with a grief-stricken face
Lucas walked towards him and seeing his sad expression, he knew what might have happened.
He just lost the match.
Still, getting into the 256 round was beyond good and his rank will surely rise and he would be ranked within the top 1000.
"Hey, Roan don't be sad." Lucas comforted Roan and patted him on his shoulder.
"Sorry, Lucas I lost," Roan spoke with a trembling voice.
"It's Okay Roan," Lucas spoke but Roan shook his head.
"No, Lucas it's not okay," Roan spoke biting his lips.
"You, Fredrick, Parth and Charles all have reached 3-Star and above while I am still stuck at early 2-Star."
"I am ashamed of myself and ashamed to stay in your group. It feels as if I am dragging you all down."
"It's as if something stuck in my throat when I saw all of you advance to a higher level while I am remaining where I was," Roan spoke as a drop of tear slid down his cheek.
"Roan. don't be like that. You know that the reason all of them were able to advance so quickly was due to having a higher bloodline grade which is a major factor in advancement. If you had a higher bloodline, I am sure you could also break through to 3-Star by now." Lucas spoke trying to comfort him but it backfired on him.
"Higher grade bloodline so what? Don't you also have a bronze grade bloodline and you still managed to reach the 3-Star rank while I am stuck in 2-Star even though I had to silver rank bloodline which is a grade above yours." Roan spoke in a tragic voice.
"Bloodline grade doesn't decide everything, you already know about it, Lucas."
Lucas's eyeball widened when he heard Roan's words.
'Shit.' Lucas cursed himself.
It had been so long that he had forgotten about it.
The real reason why Lucas can breakthrough quickly on top of his hard work is because of upgrading his bloodline from bronze to golden grade bloodline so how can it be easy for Roan to catch up with them while he only had a Silver grade bloodline.
For a moment he was at a loss for words and felt as if his tongue had been tied.
It was a situation, where he doesn't know what ro do.
"See, don't you think the same?" Roan spoke.
"What are you even rambling about?" Lucas asked with surprise
"That I can't breakthrough quickly and will soon reach my limit and can't advance further " Roan spoke as he wiped his tears.
"Don't lose hope, Roan. Let us think about something. There must be something which could help you." Lucas spoke trying to calm down Roan.
"I am not losing hope, Lucas."
"It's just, I am afraid."
"Afraid of what?" Lucas asked unable to understand what was going on in Roan's mind.
"I am afraid of being left alone. I am afraid of going to my loser self when I was bullied. If our strengths difference became quite big, I know we will be separated from each other."
"I don't want to be left alone. I want to move forward and take steps with you all, I want to graduate with you all and accompany you all in your adventures and lend a hand in your struggles. I want to spread my name far and wide." Roan spoke letting out everything that he had been in his heart for so long.
With the inkling of uncomfortable feeling and fear of being left behind, he just poured it all and laid his bare feeling before Lucas and cried.
Lucas didn't stop him nor calmed him giving him false hopes and aspirations.
Lucas massaged his forehead and thought about it.
'What would he do, if he was in Roan place.'
'Would he able to overcome this feeling of inferiority, how did my future self overcome this problem.'
'Wait, didn't I show the dream of my future self. But all I saw in the dream was how pathetic my future self was but I didn't see anything about how he overcome his limits.'
'Now, that I think about it. How did my future self with a low-grade bloodline reach a higher power level? After all, he didn't has the bloodline potions and the system like me.'Lucas thought about it carefully, but he knew wasting time thinking about it wouldn't make any difference.
Suddenly, an idea struck him but it was too risky and he wasn't sure whether he should do it or not.
"Haa...." Lucas sighed and looked at Roan's desperation.
He felt guilt in his heart cause he was the one who pulled Roan into this mess. If he hadn't met Roan or would have just left him after saving him, Roan wouldn't be in this position.
Lucas closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.
'For the sake of friendship, let's do this."
"Okay, let's do this." Lucas stood up and looked at Roan with a resolution gaze.
"Roan, do you want to get stronger," Lucas spoke.
"Yes." Roan nodded.
"Can you handle all the pain and suffering that one needed to become stronger," Lucas asked with a grim expression.
"Yeah" Roan's cloudy eyes became firm and he looked at Lucas with a fiery gaze.
"Then follow me," Lucas spoke.
"Okay." Roan stood and followed Lucas though he was still doubtful about where they were going.
.......
In Frederick's training room.
Lucas stretched his back while Roan was wondering what was going on as he saw a man with a huge greatsword.
"Hey, don't look at him suspicious gaze," Lucas spoke as he saw Roan's wary gaze.
"Lucas who is he?" Roan whispered into Lucas's ear as he pointed at the unknown man.
Lucas raised both his hand and pointed at the man and spoke"Welcome him."
"Our Friendly Neighbourhood Uncle Aaron."
"Oh!Nice to meet you. Pardon my rudeness from before." Roan spoke and greeted Aaron quickly shaking away his awkwardness.
"Nice, to meet you kid. I am Aaron, the leader of Skies mercenary where Lucas is a part-timer."
Lucas was nodding his head in satisfaction as both Aaron and Roan exchanged their words but grumbled at Aaron's words and spoke"Hey, what do you mean by a part-timer. Am I not one of the founding ones."
"You are in a dilemma kid. Roan don't listen to him always, this kid is quite treacherous. He always likes to use others as a stepping stone and as a scapegoat." Aaron smirked.
A vein bulged on Lucas's forehead"You...."
"Pftt...Hahaha."
Seeing Lucas and Aaron verbal fight Roan laughed holding his gut.
Lucas and Aaron stopped bickering each other after hearing Roan's laughter.
Lucas heaved in relief, seeing Roan's mood improving a little.
"Hey, Roan stop it. It's not funny" Lucas spoke trying to maintain a stoic expression.
Roan hold back laughter and spoke, "So, Lucas what are we doing here."
Lucas flashed a smile and spoke"We are going to be beaten...I mean we are going to train."
"This old uncle you are seeing. Don't be fooled by him. He is a 6-Star warrior. If you think of him as a friendly neighbourhood uncle, you are just asking to get your ass kicked."
Roan's jaw dropped wide and almost fell to the ground as he looked at Aaron with a shocked expression.
He thought that this man might be a 4-Stat warrior but he was proved wrong.
Roan swallowed his saliva as he looked at Aaron. Fighting a 6-Star while he is just a 2-Star.
'Wouldn't I die if he accidentally sneezes with too much power?'Roan muttered inwardly.
"Trust me, you are not going to die," Lucas mumbled.
Lucas's voice snapped Roan out of his thoughts.
"Though their possibility of us being ending with broken hands or feet or a concussion or in the worst case being ending up in a coma for a month," Lucas spoke nonchalantly while stretching himself.
"Are you sure, you are motivating me?" Roan asked with a surprised expression.
"I don't want to lie to you. If you want stronger you have to take risks and go hard on yourself" Lucas spoke with a serious tone which made Roan understand the seriousness of the issue.
As far as Roan knew, Lucas had two sides. One in which he is quite mischievous and another where he is serious and trust him, no one wants to get on his bad side during that moment.
"Wait, are you also going to spar," Roan asked"Wouldn't you be in trouble, if you get hurt badly while the tournament is still going on."
"Don't worry, I will be fine," Lucas spoke.
'I think so.'Lucas muttered in a soft voice.
"Are you both ready?" Aaron asked.
As both Lucas and Roan nodded, Aaron closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Opening his eyes, a powerful momentum burst forth from his body.
Roan and Lucas were almost pushed back by Aaron's pressure as the air inside the room swirled and their clothes fluttered.
Lucas took a deep breath and moved forward and Roan cast a spell.
Two minutes later, two bodies flew in the air and smashed into the wall.
Five minutes, one body slammed on the wall while another one passed out.
Ten minutes, two silhouettes passed out but Aaron mercilessly kicked them and sent them flying toward the wall, waking both of them up.
One hour later, both Lucas and Roan were lying on the floor with swollen faces and bodies full of scratches and bruises.
"Lucas, are you sure this is the correct way to train. Don't think it's much like bullying rather than training." Roan grumbled.
"Haaa....." Lucas panting heavily, spoke with a smile"Kid, it's your first time so you may not know. Most of the time training is no different from bullying and getting beaten."
