บท 21: An Outsider

'Isn't he a part of the group that I saw earlier?' Arthur thought to himself. The man in the robe waited calmly for Arthur to answer.

"You… are not someone from the seven families." The man under the hood stared with amazement. He then continued, "What's your name?"

"… Arthur Silvera." Arthur didn't plan on giving out his name, but the indescribable familiar feeling he had urged him to. He looked for any changes in the man's demeanor, and to his surprise, the man began to laugh.

"I see, I see, the clocks of fate are turning." Arthur could now see the man's mouth from under the hood. It had a wide grin. The man was about to say something more when a roar resounded from the tower in the distance.

As Arthur looked at the tower, he could see that it was shining brightly. However, as soon as the light dimmed, Arthur's instincts tingled for him to run away.

"Arthur! We need to run!" Hazel was back again, and her face was pale. The roar earlier was of no primitive beast, and it wasn't something they could take care of in their current situation. As Arthur turned to look at the man for one last time, the man was already gone.

Hazel and Arthur ran far away from the tower as they tried to create some distance. As their stamina was decreasing, the sound of the monster was getting further and further away. They reached a mountain range when they collapsed and started to collect their breath.

"We can't stay alone," Hazel said after a lot of thoughts. Arthur looked at her, unable to figure out what she meant.

"Hazel O'Keril?" A voice from above interrupted their conversation. As Arthur looked upward, he saw a group of people on the trees. They held bows and staffs with most of their bows aimed at them.

Hazel's body flinched as she heard this voice. She turned around, and her eyes visibly shook when she saw the man standing on the tree with a purple robe on. He had a delicate complexion fairer than most girls Arthur knew. As Arthur looked at him, he saw some similarities between Hazel and him.

"Jin. What are you doing here?" Hazel scowled with unhidden displeasure. It seems the two knew each other.

"The Holy Crown, of course. What, you thought you were the only one who was going to participate? A summoner like you?" Jin's words were as venomous as they could get a contrast to his kind appearance. The group started laughing, and Hazel clutched her hands tightly.

"You're still a part of the family, so come along. And who's this?" Jin turned toward Arthur with apparent uninterest.

"Someone from a lower family. I brought him along." Hazel lied with a straight face, and Arthur decided to shut his mouth for now. Jin nodded, and the group began traveling toward the mountain range.

"Just follow along. It's safer if we join them." Hazel whispered toward Arthur, and the latter nodded. As they followed behind the group, they left the forest and entered a valley. In the valley was a camp set up by a lake. The place reminded Arthur of the place he was thrown to after he met Jizo.

As they neared the camp, everyone started to head toward their tent. Only Hazel and Arthur kept following Jin toward the biggest tent in the middle of the camp. As they neared, Jin stopped and turned toward the two.

"I'll probably be able to get a place for you in the camp, but don't you misunderstand. I'm not doing this out of affection, but simply because the elders asked me to help any family member I meet."

With these words, Jin entered the tent. Arthur wondered who asked him for an explanation, but he simply shrugged. It felt like Jin didn't want to look like he took care of Hazel.

The two followed after Jin and what greeted them was a round table with several maps laying around. The two sat at two empty chairs and waited until Jin returned with someone else.

The newcomer was a young man with a battle armor on. He looked dignified with his stern face on and tall stature. Arthur didn't feel like this person was arrogant, but he wasn't easy to deal with because of his serious personality.

"You can stay here since Jin knows you. Each person needs to contribute one primitive mana core per day to rest here. Food and tents would be provided by the camp. Of course, safety is included. Until the end of the seventh round, we'll hunt monsters together. Follow Jin to your tents."

The young man who appeared to be the camp's leader left them at that, and the two had to follow Jin outside. Jin then began to introduce the camp's leader starting with his name. Erin Voldor, a genius battle berserker that was one of the few people worthy of being called geniuses in their generation. Other camps in the trial ground used the same methods. The plan was that each person decided their fate.

"This here is your tent, bring one primitive mana core to me every day," Jin said to Arthur while pointing to a small tent that was barely big enough for him to sleep. Arthur didn't complain and simply nodded before he entered the tent. Hazel and Jin soon drifted away from his sight.

As Arthur was left alone, he let out a long sigh. The last two days were far too overwhelming for him. First, he got into some competition over an Artifact he didn't know the use of. All Hazel told him that it would allow him to grow stronger by a large margin. Every ability user of their generation sought this artifact.

The thing is, Arthur didn't see himself as a part of their generation. Each person of them seemed to be a powerful awakener that he could only see in the media. Despite him not seeing Erin Voldor before, Arthur had read his name on many sights. All the big guilds and syndicates fought to bring him to their side after graduating from Jerano College. Arthur was just a nameless character that chanced upon a door in a dungeon. Somehow, he ended biting more than he can chew as the door sent him here. Whether Arthur survives was unknown to him, but this was a chance to grow stronger. He remembered what Hazel told him when they met.

"Time stopped in the outside world."

It was his opportunity to grow stronger than anyone. In other people's cases, time stopping had little significance if they had no time to train due to the dangers looming in here. However, with his legacy, he can grow through these dangers. He could become strong and explore the mysteries of the world. Most importantly, he could find out what happened to his father.

"Are you asleep?" Hazel's voice came from outside the tent. Arthur got out and was mesmerized by Hazel's figure as she has taken off her robe to wear some lighter clothes. He blushed a little but cleared his thoughts.

"No, I was just thinking. What's wrong?" Arthur got up hastily and asked.

"Let's grab lunch and meet the others."

***

Arthur failed to realize the difference in their lives again. The rest of the camp was a mixture of every ethnicity, race, language, and gender. The stronger groups sat down together as well as people with their own families. Hazel and Arthur sat down alone, away from the hustle and bustle as they quietly ate their lunch. There was a lot of laughter from here and there as these young men and women drank alcohol and ate their fills. Many embraced each other, signifying their relationship with each other.

"Wow, they sure are lively." Arthur couldn't help but comment. Hazel simply laughed and agreed. As the two were chit-chatting, Jin walked over to them and shot Hazel a glare.

"Why are you not sitting with our family?" He questioned, not forgetting to shot Arthur a deadly glare. Arthur now began to suspect that Jin had something else but disdain toward Hazel, something that could be more… youthful.

"He's my teammate, I can't just leave him," Hazel responded, warming Arthur's heart.

"I got you here because you are a part of the family, now act like it." Jin's displeasure was evident as he made his point, and Hazel found herself at a loss of words. She knew she held less power than Jin in both ability and connections, so she didn't know what to do.

"You can go, I'll be returning to my tent now." Arthur waved his hand with a smile, and Hazel simply nodded. The two then walked off again, and Arthur remained alone.

As he ate his meat and looked at the festive lunch, he felt like he was looking at a painting. He saw Erin Voldor sitting with a girl next to him. Arthur felt like he had seen the girl before as he was sure she was also a famous, powerful awakener. If she weren't famous for her strength, then she would be famous for her beauty. As he was looking at them, he was startled when the girl looked back at him. Arthur felt like she smiled as she met his eyes, making him stand up in a hurry. He sought no trouble with Erin as the latter was trying to court this girl.

Arthur walked away with a thought in his mind. This was not his world; these were not his people. He was thrown here simply out of coincidence, or maybe it was fate. Which of these two was the case, he didn't know just yet. What he did know was that someday, he too could stand amid his friends and people, with enough power to fend for them.

As his thoughts reached here, he remembered what Jizo asked him to do. Arthur walked away, and for some reason, the shadows looked longer.

'It's time to level up.'