Nial disappeared soon after he got to know that he advanced to the second round. There was no need for him to stay in the Colosseum, especially since many Runiciers frowned deeply at him.
He felt like he was going to get killed by the envious Runiciers, who were unable to accept the fact that someone at the Lower region of the Mirae rank was a better Runicier than them.
Thus, it was even harder for them to accept the reality that Nial was simply a better Runicier than them!
'They should have practiced more instead of acting like little kids, throwing a tantrum at the superiority of others,' Nial thought on his way back to the apartment he had lodged. A lot of reporters were crowded around the entrance of the Colosseum but he managed to evade all of them without getting bombarded with questions.
There were at least 500, and all of them were holding weird devices with which they created live images of the Runiciers, who advanced to the second round.
"Wait…how can it be that I don't see Livran Kerka's participation number in the Top 200?!?" One of the reporters murmured when the chart of evaluation was projected on the outside of the Colosseum's walls.
The comment of the first reporter caused a chain reaction as all the reporters averted their focus from the entrance of the Colosseum to the chart of evaluation.
They started to skim through the numbers of Runiciers who advanced and linked them to the Runiciers they had wanted to interview, from the beginning.
"Layla Sherbical is also not on the list…" Another reporter voiced out in a clearly shocked voice.
More and more reporters were struck by the realization that far more renowned Runiciers of the new generation were not listed on the chart of evaluation's top 200 spots.
They had failed to advance to the second round, which created a huge commotion.
"Was the competition this year so fierce? How can it be that there are more than a dozen Runiciers I've never heard about…and someone is even in the top 50… is that what you call a black horse appearing out of nowhere?" A large reporter of the Stilak race asked, frowning deeply.
"Rather than a black horse, this is an entire horde of black horses…it's not uncommon for one or two new characters to appear but more than a dozen talented Runiciers, who we've never heard about? That is insane…and I love it! I will take your leave and write an article!" The excited voice of a woman reached everyone's ears and just moments later she disappeared.
Meanwhile, the first spectators of the tournament began to leave the Colosseum, and some participants followed them. Separating them was extremely easy, since the participants, who passed the first round were mostly overjoyed, or radiating a pride that would put the sun to shamelike no one else could, while those who lost simply wanted to crawl into a pit and never get out if it. They looked shattered as if their entire world was crumbling right in front of them.
Time passed slowly and the reporters started their first interviews with the participants, who were willing, but everyone quickly understood that none of the black horses was amongst this batch. Only the well-known Runiciers joined the interview to receive easy fame and spread their name and reputation throughout the planet.
Meanwhile, Nial had finally reached his place and changed into a new set of clothes after a well-deserved shower.
Ximatra's technology was quite advanced, which was why he put on the television to hear some news. Precisely, he wanted to figure out who advanced to the second round because he didn't know which participation number belonged to which Runicier.
"Considering that they confiscated the runic armaments we created and that they store them, my guess must have been correct," Nial mumbled to himself, glad that he didn't bother about creating many high-quality Tier-1 runic armaments of the same type but that he focused on a great versatility of high-quality Tier-1 runic armaments, precisely weapons.
Furthermore, there had been more than one reason for him to create molds for spears, swords, chest plates and boots, and not just the fact that it rewarded him with loads of points that were enough to advance to the second round.
At that moment, Nial sensed something behind him, which caused him to flinch. A fraction of a second later, the Dragonflame spear manifested in his hand, Nial's body was shrouded in darkness and he twisted his body to pierce the spear behind him.
Simultaneously, spikes of darkness shot out of the darkness that enveloped his body, attacking the unknown being, who had appeared inside his room, just a few meters away from him.
"Kiddo, calm down," A hoarse voice suddenly spoke as the being, the human, who had appeared in his room, caught all the attacks that shot toward him.
The human did so with extreme ease that made Nial stop his attack in an instant. There was no need for him to waste his energy against a being as strong as the human, who had infiltrated his room.
"This energy of yours…is pretty strong. Your mana is much stronger than you revealed as well. You're just like I expected, a pretty good seed!" The human remarked in his old and hoarse voice. He seemed satisfied and not like he had any ill intentions.
However, Nial didn't really feel safe, considering that someone had infiltrated his private lodging. He frowned deeply and stepped backward.
"Your guess in the first round of the U21 Runicier tournament was pretty good. I believe that less than a quarter of the participants had the time to think about the meaning behind all the hints they had received," the Old man simply continued to speak, while ignoring Nial's tension and his discomfort.
'How could he come close to me? My mana sense didn't detect anything at all…he just appeared out of thin air…' Nial felt a bit troubled. The power of the old man was concealed and it was quite obvious that he wouldn't reveal his mana to him.
Fortunately, Nial's range of perception and his [Mana Sense] had become much stronger than before. This was more than enough for him to outline the old man, and to get to know a few details about him.
"Aren't you that old man from the Union's headquarters? I sensed you in the queue next to me…weird…" He suddenly blurted out with a grimace as he continued to ask,
"You aren't stalking me since then, are you?"
Seeing Nial's expression, Siegfried, the old man, who had appeared in the room, frowned deeply. And just a few seconds after he frowned at Nial, believing that the young blind Original was a nutcase, he began to laugh heartily.
Nial was still alarmed even though the old man lowered his guard in front of him. He had no idea who the old man was, or what he was doing in his room.
The tiny possibility that the old man was a stalker didn't make things better, and Nial could only hope that his mind had been corrupted and that his assumptions were wrong.
"You could sense my presence at that time? Are you sure that you didn't try to stir trouble by pressing the emergency button even before the jerk of a president finished his speech?" Siegfried continued to laugh as he looked at the young man, whose expression eased up a little.
'Jerk? He calls the President of the Golden Armaments Union a jerk?...' Nial noted, thinking that the old man may not be as bad as imagined.
However, just as he thought that Nial shook his head once again.
'I need to calm down. If he really wanted to harm me, he could have done so already. Act confident, and make it look like you have some big powerhouses as your support…' Nial felt like slapping his cheek to calm down but he held himself back.
"Either, you think that I wanted to make fun of the entire tournament, or you believe that I cannot read Ximatrish," Nial said confidently when he finally came up with a plan. The darkness around him was retracted inside his body and the Dragonflame spear disappeared in the spatial ring he put on his finger again.
"Is that so?" The old man said before he cleared his throat to get Nial's attention to introduce himself,
"My name is Siegfried Nar, nice to meet you!"
'The hell…now you finally remember to introduce yourself…?' Nial could only think before he shook his head in denial.
"My name is Nial Orin. How may I help you?" He responded confidently which astonished the old man a bit.
Nial was trying hard not to scream at the old man for barging into his room, just to act as if he owned it. He took a few deep breaths and focused on the old man, hoping that he would receive an answer as quickly as possible.
Nial had revealed his real name for the temporary Identification pledge, the tournament and to Siegfried, simply because it didn't make a difference whether he registered with a fake name or his real one.
"You…don't know me?" Siegfried asked, and Nial felt like beating the old man to crap. Why was the old man so annoying? His actions made no sense, and he should come clean if he wanted something.
"I have not the faintest idea as to who you might be. Please tell me what you want from me because I genuinely doubt that you accidentally appeared in my room, or am I mistaken?" Nial tried very hard to sound reasonable and calm but he quickly understood that he failed.
"Oh…you don't know me…." the old man mumbled in a low tone that would have been inaudible for most people. However, Nial could clearly hear him.
"Well, whatever. I 'barged' into your room because I wanted to see if you could tell me what the second round is going to be. Do you want me to help you with something?" Siegfried Nar asked with a confident smile on his face.
"No thanks, I don't need your help, Sir…" Nial instinctively replied and bit his lip to hold himself back from adding, '...and I want you to leave my place, right now!' in an angry tone.
Nial rejected the old man's help instantly. He didn't know anything about the old man, except his name, which could be a fake one.
Master Crevian had told him to be careful of strangers he would meet in the U21 Runicier tournament, especially since there were crafty old masters of participants, who would do everything to ensure their disciples' victory.
Siegfried's confident and prideful expression crumbled upon hearing Nial's response.
'That has to be a joke? I worked so hard to make an impactful entrance without attracting anyone's attention…and he doesn't even know me?! Is this young man for real?'
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