Just Another Beginning After the End | TBATE

Build Up

A/N: Hey guys.

It's been a hectic week for me with a ton of exams and projects. (For some reason, my teachers decided it was a swell idea to have all of their tests and projects due in the same week)

Anyways, this chapter is literally what it's called. Unnecessary build up.

Also, the next chapter is halfway done, so I'll probably get it out either tomorrow or the day after that (or the day after that...)

In any case, I'll try my best.

Happy reading :D

"...Good game?"

My voice echoed throughout the now silent stadium, causing thousands if not tens of thousands of eyes to lock onto my figure.

...

Dammit, Asser!

Unable to take the stress of being put in the spotlight, I ended up internally exploding, even butchering my name in the process.

Why are you such a loser!? Is it that hard to come up with a one liner?? This is the reason why you were single for all 15 years of your last life!

While I was in inner turmoil at my inability to come up with any decent lines, lamenting my potential social suicide speedrun, as well as in torment over the eternal single status of my previous life, everyone around me was processing what just happened.

As for why... well, that was kind of obvious. But just in summary:

A random shrinky dink elf boy who had been cowardly hiding away around the edges of the battlefield had just swung his sword out of absolutely nowhere and caused the dwarf's second favorite, at least according to Elrie, to fly through the partitions and into the wall of the stadium. As if that weren't enough, he caused a miniature earthquake with the amount of force he used.

That was about the strength of a solid stage orange core at the very least, but it was coming from some kid who wasn't even in his teen years

—Ahem.

The announcer finally pulled himself back together and let out a dry cough, returning the crowd's attention to the Cloud Platform, including mine.

The human king stood atop the platform, along with the rest of the royal families.

—Congratulations!

The resounding and authoritative voice of the human king resounded throughout Ingesseum.

—It was an arduous and long fight. Still, all of you persevered, pushing through the adversities that stood in your way, fighting and defying!

Long...? Oh, right, right.

It honestly felt really short since I did nothing except just watch, but the royale was actually a whole 15 minutes.

Now, out of context, that might sound relatively short. However, it was a continuous fight in which threats could come from anywhere, meaning that one needed to stay at the height of vigilance for a whole 15 minutes.

And as if that wasn't difficult enough, the contestants were utilizing their bodies to the absolute height of their capabilities the whole time. There were reasons why boxing matches were divided into 3-minute rounds, and this was one of them.

And one more thing: these were children fighting. It was mentally arduous for even an adult to fight for that long at the height of concentration while exerting their body at a maximum the whole time. Still, these were children who were either just entering adolescence.