Zero to Hero

Chapter 28. Fearbound

With sunlight streaming through the window, I slowly opened my eyes to find the fairy girl perched at the corner of my bed, her pink eyes fixed on me.

"Morning, Ken! When did you and Yami return last night?" she inquired cheerfully.

"Mmm, pretty late. I wanted Yami to get her exercise, so we stayed out for quite a while," I replied with a yawn.

"Are you sure you weren't out with some secret lover?" she pressed on.

"Oh yeah, forgot I was definitely having a grand time with this sexy elf with a nice plump butt," I joked.

"KEN!" her shout drew the attention of the others, who poked their heads into my room to see what was happening, while I simply craved some breakfast.

"Sorry, Yami, you'll have to stay again. I'll take you for another long walk tonight," I promised as we left the hotel room.

"I'm coming with tonight, no matter what," Candace declared stubbornly, refusing to believe my jest.

Arriving at the stadium, we chatted with a few locals before Tina pulled us to the betting booth, embracing her newfound passion for gambling.

"You're against Carla for your next match... Why are you trying to make me bet on you when it's a guaranteed loss?" I questioned Tina's strategy.

"Ken... Make her stop. I don't want to bet on her either! I want to save this gold for my family," Abigail protested loudly as Tina attempted to pressure her into wasting her gold.

"Just bet all your gold on Ken like I am. He's gonna win, so we can cash out big," Candace advised. Despite Tina's protests, Abigail followed Candace's lead and wagered all her gold on me as well.

"Tina, you can't go around forcing people to do something they don't want," I scolded the wolf girl.

"What I do with my friend is none of your business!" she retorted, feigning deafness to my words.

As we settled into our seats in the stadium, I scanned the crowd, hoping to catch sight of Carla, the enigmatic corrupted elf, to satisfy my curiosity, even if I had no intention of pursuing a romantic relationship with her.

The morning matches passed swiftly, lacking much excitement for me while the girls watched and cheered loudly, like most of the crowd. When the last few matches to determine the top 16 finally concluded, we had a two-hour intermission to grab some food and take a quick stroll before returning for the afternoon session.

With only the top 16 left, including a few like me and Carla who had yet to compete, the excitement for the afternoon matches was as high as ever, with the crowd cheering loudly as I stepped onto the arena floor to begin my first match.

Gazing up at the massive crowd, tightly packed into the stadium, there must have been at least 50,000 people eagerly awaiting the action. Despite having fought countless times in front of crowds almost twice the size, I felt a sensation I had never experienced before.

Fear.

For the first time ever, fear gripped me while inside the ring. Though I had felt nervousness when facing formidable opponents like Julius and Zishell, I had never feared anyone, no matter how strong.

Why now? Was it because there was no one to end the match before someone got hurt? Or perhaps because I had been away from the spotlight for too long? Maybe it was because I feared a ceiling I could no longer reach, even though I thought I had made peace with the fact that I could never become the strongest.

Lost in my thoughts, I suddenly heard Candace's voice and snapped back to reality just in time to see my opponent charging at me, sword drawn and ready to end the match while I was spaced out.