章 4: A Chess Game
Zyrral smiles tiredly. He looks at his foe on top of him.
Kale eyes widened. Clearly Surprised. His body stiffened. Looks of confusion clearly visible in his face.
A referee abruptly came to the center ring of the arena. Giving paws to Zyrral to stand up. And holding his hand towards the sky.
"Congratulations. Zyrral is the winner!"
Everyone cheers at their soon-to-be king. They chanted his name many times, coupled with the name 'Auroria'. The name of the sabertooth tribe.
Both names chanted have a meaning that the tiger folks recognized Zyrrals' strength to lead the tribe.
Kale, however, was far from satisfied. His frustration boiled over as he turned to face the crowd. "Who threw rocks at me in our battle?!" Yells Kale towards the crowds' bleachers. Dumbfounded by the situation he was in.
For a brief moment, the grand chorus fell silent, only to be replaced by boos and jeers.
"Booo!"
"This Red Star soldier is delusional!"
"Pathetic!"
All the chant immediately turns into degrading calls. The tribe's loyalty shifted with the wind, and Zyrral knew it well. As he stood amidst the celebration, a bitter truth realized on him.
If he loses, the degrading calls will be right back at him. The folks' loyalty is only to the winner. Deep down they did not care about some lineage or birthright.
'I need to bring them more wins. But until when?'
Zyrral chanted some spells and used [Healing].
A faint, emerald-green glow enveloped his fur, the soft light barely noticeable amidst the commotion. The warmth of his magic coursed through his body, erasing every ache and bruise like a tide sweeping away sand.
Another one of his magic that he did not tell other tigers. In fact, all of his damage from the soldier is to be scoffed at. But not when facing more than one of them.
The soon-to-be king had already trained very much in silence.
In his days as a cub, Zyrrals' reincarnated mind is already on par with the adults. As such, he is serious in taking lessons and going far beyond.
But at the same time did not want to grab attention from other people. Especially the elders.
Of all things that piqued Zyrrals' interest is of course the Sabertooth Magic.
It is the only feature that did not exist in his previous world.
So far, he actually learned several types of magic such as [Healing Wind], [Wind Projectiles], [Launch], and [Sandstorm].
In his years, supposedly there are only 2 magic that the average tiger can master. Each of them can be learned for a maximum of 2-3 years.
Zyrral has already learned all 7 magic since he was 2 years old.
But before delving into the world of magic, Zyrral studied closely the politics of the Auroria.
The Auroria hierarchy is a tricky one. The elder and counselor holds the top hierarchy of power, not the king. Especially sabertooth magic. They keep everything below them in check, including the king. The elders wrote the rules and the tribe should do as they say.
Or else. Something 'bad' will happen.
A mambo jumbo that they created to scare everyone below them. Something like that is worth exploring from Zyrrals' point of view.
Knowing his past life as a salaryman in a black company, Zyrral did not dare to boast about himself more than it should be. If he does, the more workload he will actually bring on his back.
Boasting like that resulted in him going back and forth to the hospital.
Zyrral minds wander to the time of his death in the previous life. He was given the nickname 'Whistleblower' by his boss, because of his involvement in cracking the biggest corruption cases in his company.
He was not surprised if one of the suspects hired someone to do his killing at Zyrral.
Zyrral did not hold grudges to something like that. His soul moved on from that world towards this new world. What is Zyrrals' concern was to stay alive in this realm.
It did not guarantee that if he died in this world, he would be reincarnated to another realm. Afraid of when there will be nothing after death. 'The curtain closed.' Like he always said.
It is clear as a day that the next and the final challenge really favors the one opposed to him.
The elders came and congratulated him in person. But, Zyrral was not in the mood. He almost completely distrusted them. At least, until the rite of passage was done.
He went to the bleacher to look at the next contestant after him.
As expected, the contestants' opponents were not from any influential organizations.
Zyrral tightened his fist and fled the stadium.
His counselor finally managed to catch him. "Where are you going, your highness?" asked Haggis.
Zyrral turned his head towards Haggis. Hardly contained his anger.
"Did you see who my opponent was, huh?!" He asked a not so to the point question. Hoping that his smartest counselor was able to answer them.
"I assure you that it is the administrator's mistake that an accident like this happened." Console Haggis. "We can force them to cancel this year's Rite of Passage for you if you wanted to."
The counselor acted so timid with his beady eyes when something wrong happened, or something accidentally offended me. He was always the one putting out the fire to a dispute.
Zyrral scoffed. "Don't insult me with that nonsense. You and I both know this event can't be stopped on a whim." He turned his back on the counselor. "I'll compete in the third challenge and claim my throne."
Haggis stopped, watching his soon-to-be king storm away. "Then where are you going now?"
"The cliff," Zyrral called over his shoulder. "I need some air."
Zyrral began sprinting towards the west of the tribe. A cliff that was situated before the forbidden zone. It was heavily guarded and acted as a natural defense against the human kingdom in the west.
He greeted all The Red Star soldier guarding the fort.
Even after all that happened in the stadium, he was not afraid of meeting the one organization that almost messed with him.
Quite the opposite, by beating Kale, it gave them warning that the soon-to-be king is not to be trifled with.
On top of the cliff, Zyrral met with a familiar silhouette sitting on the edge.
The figure smiled so brightly at him.
"How was your day?" asked the pale beauty.
"Kilana? Wh-what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
The pale fur on his mate was actually glowing in the darkness. Bouncing the light from the stars and moon to Zyrrals' view.
She approach Zyrral from her stargazing. "Meeting you of course, you always come here if something is on your mind."
"So you heard?" asked Zyrral slightly surprised.
Kilana smiled. "Heard and looked during your trial. Precisely when you were declared as a winner. And your frowned face in the stadium tells me that something is not right. And also, I am tired of waiting you in home."
Zyrral exhales and looks at the Kilana deep in the eyes. "If I lose during this trial, I want you to be careful."
Kilana left paw caress Zyrrals' golden and silver mane. "Don't lose. I believe in you."
Zyrral nodded. His lips steadily kiss Kilana.
They now sat down looking at the stars. While Zyrral recounted the things that he wanted to tell from his mind.
On far west. There were a faint sound of a trumpet coming from a big city inside a wall. But none of them thinks twice about the occurrence.
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