[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

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~ Chapter 49 ~

_{Road To The White Castle}

Jenso traveled far after crossing the bridge, far enough that the uneven landscape began to flatten, and the plains were once again visible from the path itself. He could even notice peaceful fauna, like squirrels and deer, the further he got from the rocky steppes. In fact, as he grew closer to the giant walled off nation, everything seemed to get more tranquil, and less chaotic. Something about all of this was oddly comforting, but was it really safe? After so much pain and danger, this seemed unreal. But were there really places that were untouched by the chaos around him? Who knew.

Before he was close to the building however, he came across a group of three men. They all seemed to be rather casual in their clothing. One was about Jenso's height and bulk, almost identical to him in appearance from behind, including his spiky black hair that flowed opposite to Jenso's. The man on his left was a little shorter, and seemed to wield two sheathed daggers. His hair was blue, oddly enough. The last one, was much taller than both of them, but skinny, and had brown hair that stopped just above his neck. Their clothing was similar to the types of clothes he saw in Orobo and Arcadia, which means they must have hailed from some village to the west. They were also headed to the white castle, at a slightly slower pace.

[Jensoman]

Jenso's eyes narrowed at the three men. He needed to be cautious, but perhaps these men knew something useful. He followed closely after them as quietly as he could muster, trying to listen in on their conversation without being noticed. If they were actually talking, that was.

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"Almost there," The tall man said quietly, just loud enough for Jenso to hear. Their center member nodded and chuckled.

"Told ya we'd make it! It's just a little further, and Charles- CHARLES!" He shouted to the shorter man. It appeared that he was actually tearing into something with his mouth. "Man, at the rate you put away meat, you're going to bankrupt us!"

"Shut it, we're here to win money, remember?" Charles snapped, gulping down another chunk of meat. "Besides, you're gonna win the grand prize, ain'chya?" The middle man chuckled and began rubbing his hands together nervously.

"Well- ah, haha.. Who knows. I'm more excited about what kind of strength we'll be up against. And I don't want to end up fighting any of you in the bracket.."

[Jensoman]

As Jenso listened to the conversation, it seemed like the men were talking about some sort of fighting tournament. Jenso's eyes flickered up with ki for a moment out of cheer excitement. He certainly intended to join this tournament, to test his strength as well. He did not know what the grand prize was, but it didn't matter too much to him. He got a wide grin on his face. He memorised the smaller man's name and began to slow down a bit until the men were a bit further from him. He did not want to leave a bad impression by getting caught listening in. He decided to walk normally after that point, not caring much if the men heard or saw him. It did not seem like the men had ill intentions right away, so he decided to relax.

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The taller man stopped suddenly, and his friends did the same a few steps ahead of him. "Huh? What is it James?" the middle man asked. He turned 90 degrees, looked to his left, but pointed towards Jenso. Jame's left eye was a shade of dark green, it seemed. But regardless, he appeared to have some kind of detection ability. Charles and the third man looked back at Jenso, unsure of his intent, but the middle man smiled moments after and waved to him. "Hey, stranger! Are you headed for the tournament too?" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Charles and James both glared at the man's hopeless smile and thought the exact same thing.

"Idiot!"
"Idiot!"

[Jensoman]

Jenso smiled back at the men. "Oh yeah, I am!" He replied, and walked over to them. "Mind if I tag along with you guys?" He asked in a friendly tone.

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"Sure!" The middle man shouted before his friends could interject, "My name's Mikey! This here's Charles, and this is James!" His friend waved casually, trying to hide the fact that they didn't trust Jenso at all. "Who're you?" Mikey asked, turning and inviting Jenso to follow them as they walked off.

[Jensoman]

Jenso followed after the three men and nodded. "Nice to meet you! I'm Jenso!" Jenso replied to them. He still didn't completely trust them though.

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As the three got closer, silence began to grip the air. But Mikey wasn't having that! "Soooo... What's your gimmick, Jenso? You know any magic? You a strong guy? Or are you one of those cheater-types?" He asked casually, putting both of his hands behind his head.

[Jensoman]

Jenso smirked at Mikey. It wasn't one that was made out of arrogance, though. "You'll have to find out!" He replied in a playful tone as they continued to walk. "If we're gonna end up fighting each others, it'd be less interesting if we already know each other's abilities, right?" He added.

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Mikey laughed out loud and nodded, "Hey, you're right! Haha, well, I'm sorry to say this, but if you're unlucky enough to go up against me, you're gonna lose!" Mikey said confidently. Although he wasn't trying to act arrogant either, he did come off as a little overconfident. Or was he? Charles sighed.

"If you're not up against each other in round one, you'll get to see each others abilities anyways," Charles groaned, "I use shadow knives and can turn invisible."

"Shhh!! You're no fun, Charles!" Mikey shouted, shoving Charles aside.

"I use a sword," James said bluntly, pointing to the giant blade on his back. Mikey sighed as the four of them approached a small doorway in the wall. It was unguarded, oddly.

"My friends are lame," Mikey moaned.

[Jensoman]

Jenso shrugged and smiled. "Well, I wish you guys luck. I'll do my very best too!" He said, continueing on the path into the wall. He looked around as he did, to try to be as aware of his surroundings as he could be.

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The two giant stone doors opened before them, and revealed the inner sanctum of the city. A man dressed in colorful clothes approached them with a smile and waved them on inside. Mikey smiled as well and ran on in towards the registration stand that was positioned near the far end of a giant circular stone plaza, near the edge and to the center.

"Welcome to the Feralda Kingdom!"

---

~ End Of Chapter 49~

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~ Chapter 50 ~

_{Register Now! Get A Free Donut!}

Mikey's friends ran after him and the welcoming man guided Jenso inside, closing the doors behind him with a strange type of magic. It seemed the people here were not ignorant of magic. Hell, based on what Mikey said, they might all be just as strong, if not stronger than Jenso! The registration stand waited ahead, but Jenso didn't really know what the prize of this tournament even was, or who was entering, or what the rules were!

[Jensoman]

Jenso walked over to the registration stand, waiting his turn until he could register. "Excuse me sir, could you tell me the rules of this tournament? I'm interested in joining.." Jenso muttered.

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As Jenso neared the stand, the man up front looked at him and smiled. "Of course, the Feralda Kingdom's single elimination bracket tournament is just as it sounds, a round by round 1v1 fighting tournament with 32 participants! Winning a round moves you up a bracket. To win, you must simply make your opponent surrender, knock him out of the white marble ring, or beat them so badly that they can't fight back! We have 3 spots left, would you like to enter?"

[Jensoman]

Jenso nodded at the man. "Alright, sounds good! Count me in! I'm Jenso!" Jenso shouted, excited to be in the tournament. Despite not knowing what the prize of the tournament was, he wanted to test his strength and possibly get stronger by joining in. The whole thing seemed like a lot of fun too!

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The man wrote Jenso's name down and nodded. "Great! Be sure to head towards the tournament hut when you're ready. We'll be starting one hour after we have 2 more signups!" The man said, pointing to her left. Mikey was there, waving to Jenso from afar as his friends headed into a large tent-like enclosure.

But somebody tapped Jenso's shoulder before he could follow.

"Excuse me," A raspy voice asked calmly. Before Jenso could respond, a massive hand reached forward and pushed him out of the way with ease.

"Get outta the way!" A large man shouted from behind.

[Jensoman]

Jenso let out a grunt of annoyance as the man from behind pushed him aside. "Hey, chill out!" He shouted angrily, turning to face whoever the two men were who came from behind.

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The taller man, towering over Jenso at a titanic 8 feet tall, looked in his direction briefly. His eyes glowed a deep golden hue and his long blonde hair lashed back when he spun it neck. Although his face was covered with a black mask, Jenso could see the lines in his angry expression. Suddenly his angry posture melted away and he faced Jenso completely, bowing slightly and raising a hand. "Oh, well lah-dee-dah! Allow me to apologize for wrinkling your precious little blouse, madam," He paused and leaned down to eye level with Jenso as his friend, a very short man with a similar black mask, green hair, and green eyes, signed up for the tournament, "On second thought, go fuck yourself." He grunted, turning towards the counter.

"I have already signed you in, Rajaka," The green man stated. The man at the counter glared at Zelriane with a hint of surprise and fear. He'd signed them up rather fast, hadn't he? "We are to wait in that building over there."