Zach fought the urge to smile, hearing the girl talk to herself. "I'll just leave you to figure this out then. Good luck on your match!" Stepping away, the teen waved at Alice as he walked off to the stands to mingle with the crowd and hype himself up from his loss. A few spectators patted him on the back and offered kind words. They didn't help much, but the thought was enough to pick him up from the clutches of depression.
Sitting next to him, a man offered his hand to Zacharias. "Hey there. My name's Mark, I saw your battle earlier."
"Hah, thanks. I know it was a pretty rough loss."
Mark raised an eyebrow, before laughing out loud. "Oh, I didn't think so at all! In fact, I was actually going to offer you another chance to compete. You interested?"
Now it was Zach's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Really? shouldn't you be offering this to the person who won the match?"
"Oh, I'll get around to it." Mark glanced towards Alice, who Zach had just left. "She seems preoccupied at the moment, though. I'll take that question as you being interested?"
Thinking for a moment, Zach nodded. "Yeah, I'm definitely interested! Where and when can I compete? Anything I need to know?"
"Here, take this." Mark handed a pamphlet to Zach, who started to look through the paper. "That should have pretty much everything in it you'll need to see. It's invite only, so it really is an honor for you to be invited to this. I only have eight invites, and you're one of 'em pal."
"Well, thanks!" The man stood and offered his hand again.
"I'll see you there then, Zacharias. My email's on the pamphlet if you need to contact me for anything. I need to talk to the others." With those parting words, Mark left, waving behind him absently.