Chapter 257: Irate Introduction

It took about ten minutes to get three crystals for each of us. Not much time at all—we just needed to walk a little bit out from the walls, get up onto the highest dune, spot some crystals from there, and split up to grab them.

That said, while we did only need ten minutes to get all of our crystals, the announcement detailing the challenge went out in five. So as we walked back into town, we saw countless adventurers flooding into the desert, sprinting down the roads or through the dunes and pushing past us. I was glad I had a little Strength under my belt, considering how many shoulders knocked into me as crowds of Melee-Types shoved by me on their way to grab some of their own.

Sure enough, leading this pack of adventurers were the people we’d seen standing by the gates. They’d clearly gotten quite the head start in front of everyone else, picking up all the easy crystals in the same way we had—only, there were far more of them than just the four of us, meaning they left slim pickings for the unfortunates who came behind them.

And among those unfortunates…

I saw a familiar man walking through the dunes with a familiar spear in his hand and a familiar scowl on his face. He prowled through the dunes, glancing back and forth in search of not only crystals lying in the dunes, but also crystals sitting in peoples’ pockets.

Ugh, that Godo guy. Just seeing him made my nose scrunch up. What an asshole.

And as he looked in our direction and glanced over our persons, I saw him do a double take at me. Not because of my face—it was covered up by Dark Plate—but because of our possessions. After all, we had twelve perfectly-good crystals in our hands, walking right back into town.

C’mon, fucker, I thought, watching him stare at us, I dare you. Come try and take ‘em.

Sure enough, he turned and began approaching. I didn’t even know what his plan was, considering he was severely outnumbered, but I was excited to pummel him into the ground regardless.

“Hey,” he called out.

I stopped and turned to him, everyone else glancing over as well. They didn’t know who this guy was—though, I had talked to Erani about him earlier—so they weren’t anticipating anything out of the ordinary.

He stopped in front of us and nodded to the crystals I held. “Where’d you get those?”

I stared at him. “...The desert?”

He scowled and scoffed. “No need to be so rude.”

“How am I supposed to act when someone asks me some stupid shit like that? I mean, really, what did you want me to say? I pulled them out of my ass?”

I could see Erani eyeing me strangely, and Sylvie getting visibly excited. Ainash was leaning forward and squinting, analyzing the guy as we spoke.

“I originally asked,” Godo said, “because I was wondering how you got so many mere minutes after the challenge started, and wanted some help in finding my own.”

“Oh come on, we all know you were here to rob us.”

“We do?” Sylvie asked.

“Yes, it’s obvious. Did you see the way he was eyeing us before walking over? Or the way his hand’s been on his spear this entire time?”

His scowl deepened. “Well, maybe I am going to need to take these off your hands, considering they were obviously obtained through cheating. Flamin’ nobles, cheating your way through this shit.”

“First of all,” Sylvie butted in, “we’re not nobles. For the most part. We didn’t cheat at all, you’re just losing because of what is clearly a difference in skill between us. And second, it’d be real stupid for you to try and take our stuff. We, y’know, kinda outnumber you.”

He chuckled. “Oh no, I’m outnumbered by a bunch of unskilled nobles riding off mommy and daddy’s money. You three probably don’t know the first thing about fighting. And I’m sure your monster thing is enjoying its first steps outside the captivity of your estate.”

Gods, this guy was infuriating. “Listen, man, if you want to get into a fight with us, feel free. I’d really enjoy murdering you, to be honest. But I do feel the need to inform you that we acquired these things completely legitimately.”

His nose scrunched up with disgust. “You people are so stuck-up, I swear. Tell you what—my Level’s in the 20s. And those Levels are actually earned, not cheated with a big bunch of guards keeping me safe the whole time. So why don’t you just give me one or two of those crystals you have, and I’ll leave you on your way. Or, if you really wanna mess with me, then we can—”

“Gladly,” I interrupted, taking a step forward.

He instinctively stepped back, then grit his teeth and put a hand on the spear on his back. “Y-you really are an idiot, if you’re refusing to step down. Do you know what this spear does? It’s Enchanted. The moment I—”

“Annor,” Erani said, grabbing my arm from behind. “Do you really think this is a good idea?”

“What, putting some asshole in his place? ‘Course it’s a good idea.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking this is a better and better idea the more I talk to you, if I’m being honest,” he said, taking a step forward and grinning sadistically. “Why don’t you take a swing at me? I’m looking forward to painting the sand red.”

I scoffed. “Oh, yeah, great plan. Get me to attack you in a crowd full of witnesses, get me arrested, and you get to run off with your tail tucked between your legs. Why don’t you swing first?”

“You aren’t getting me with that, either,” he said, leaning forward so close his nose almost butted into mine. “But if you refuse to fight, then I’m afraid we’re at a standstill.”

“Tell you what,” I said. “You go and do your best to get yourself some crystals and enter the tournament. Then, I get to wipe the floor with you in front of the whole city, and I get to stay out of jail. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds lovely,” he growled.

For a moment, we stayed there, staring at each other. But afterward he leaned back and marched forward, shoving me out of the way with a shoulder.

I glanced over at Erani as he walked off. “Do you remember if the tournament organizers said they’d arrest you if you killed someone during a match? Like, if I make it look enough like an accident, you think I could get away with it?”

“I’d generally advise against cold-blooded murder regardless of legality,” she said with a sigh. “Though, that guy was pretty aggressive, so I suppose I understand your frustration. Not that I understand you sitting there actively egging him on the whole time.”

“That was Godo,” I said. “The guy I told you about?”

“Oh, really? So I suppose you have a sort of history, then.”

“Wait, you knew that guy?” Sylvie asked. “He acted like he had no idea who you were.”

“Not exactly,” I said. Then, upon seeing her confused reaction, I tapped my temple. “My ability, remember?”

“Ahh,” she said, nodding in understanding. “You’re insane, I forgot. Well then, carry on.”

“Right.”

We kept walking toward the city walls, but as we did, I saw yet another person I recognized. Well, technically, I recognized dozens of the individuals we passed by on our way back in, but most of them were just people I’d randomly seen while searching for crystals in the previous timeline. This was another of the people I’d actually spoken with.

She’d never told me her name, but the woman in armor was wandering through the dunes, glancing back and forth in search of colored crystals. Only, she wasn’t finding any, coming at the back of the current pack of adventurers. She was just a hair too late, unfortunately.

And I knew exactly where that would put her. She’d end up charging into a pack of Sand Hive monsters, and that would be where she’d meet her end. That was where I’d died with her in the previous timeline, and even if I wasn’t there, I suspected it would happen similar to how it did before. She clearly had no idea she was outmatched by the things in straight combat, considering how eagerly she’d engaged with them before, she’d probably end up picking a fight with them for whatever reason this time around, too. Hells, even if she got all the crystals without a problem since I wouldn’t be there to snatch a few of them up, I suspected she might end up just trying to kill a few of them for XP regardless.

As I watched her pass by without a care in the world, knowing she was marching to her death, I couldn’t help but notice quite a few other adventurers staring at her, as well. Was she some sort of recognizable figure? Or, well, they might’ve just been looking at her armor. I got quite a few stares, myself, with the strange-looking Dark Plate covering my body. Her armor wasn’t covered in spikes and didn’t absorb the light around it, but it did look quite ornate and high-quality, so maybe I’d be one of those people staring as well, even if I didn’t have my current reason to. Who couldn’t appreciate a nice set of armor like that?

“What is it?” Erani asked, noticing my staring. “Is there someone else out there you’re about to get into an argument with?”

“No, nothing like that,” I said. “But it is someone I recognize, and I do think I’m gonna go talk to her. I saw her die in the previous timeline, so—”

“Oh, gods, yes, go do that,” she said immediately. “Who was it?”

“Ugh, are we gonna be here all day?” Sylvie asked. “It’s getting hot out, and I wanna get back into the city so I can at least find someplace that offers shade. I don’t have time to watch you walk around having inane conversations with people, especially if they aren’t even gonna end with you killing each other.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess you can go ahead,” I said. “Erani, Ainash, you two can go with her and take the crystals, just to keep everything safe.”

“You sure?” Erani asked.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s not like you’d have anything to say, and I don’t even know enough about this person to know if she’d respond well to a big group confronting her like that. Besides, it’d save time if you all went to turn the crystals in while I do this.”

She shrugged. “Okay. I certainly won’t complain about getting back into the city earlier.”

With that, they set off, and I turned back around to find the armored woman. I’d lost her in the crowd, and hurried forward to find her again.

After a little bit of searching I realized I had no idea where she’d gone. The masses of adventurers moved like waves in water, pushing and pulling as all of these people dashed through the sand, and now that I was moving with them rather than against them, it became much harder to move in an intentional direction, much less comb the entire area for a specific person.

But, while I didn’t know where she was now, I knew where she was going to be. So, rather than continuing to look for her, I headed for the area where we fought the Sand Hive together, hoping to meet her on the way while the crowd thinned out.