Healing System

After Michael had finished all he needed to do and said his goodbyes to Rebecca, he headed back to the hotel and slumped into his bed. It really had been a tiring day.

He didn't even remember how fast he fell asleep; one second, he was on the bed, and the next, he was staring at the sun outside.

Yet, as always, a concern arose in his mind, one he was much too familiar with.

'Aren't I fucking late again?' He shot up from his bed and created another golden robe out of his mana, one a bit fancier than his previous one.

He wasn't sure when he had to arrive at the tournament, but it must have been before the sun was literally in the very middle of the sky.

Better yet, there was another problem.

'And where exactly is this tournamen even located?' He didn't remember seeing any kind of arena while strolling around town, nor did he see one on the map either.

A lot of the people are gathering towards the northernmost part of the city. That's probably where it is. You should get moving—I can feel quite a lot of vibrations even from here, meaning it has already likely started..

'Awesome.' Michael sarcastically replied to his not-so-working alarm clock and jumped out of the window before catching himself with a Sword of Light. Immediately, he sped off toward the north, where he could feel the most people gathered.

It seemed like everyone who was currently in the city was at that event, as the streets were practically empty. It would have been a massacre had Rebecca gotten out without her senses intact.

He wondered how the 'conversation' went. It would be a miracle if Shingen remained alive when even Mira ended up as a dismembered corpse.

It was pretty disgusting, but that was the fate of anyone who became an Evangelist and stayed there willingly.

So far, only Rebecca had suffered under the effects of mind control. As for Mira, she was perfectly sane—Michael had even double-checked to make sure.

After several minutes of flying, he could see an arena in the distance, and the amount of mana he felt from there was intense. There were tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands, all gathered in one spot.

Michael had to turn off his map; he couldn't see anything. There were way too many green and red dots, making it impossible to tell where anything was.

Even when he zoomed in, it was still hard to see.

But besides that, his focus was on the tournament itself. He didn't know exactly how much he had missed, but he could put the blame on his group.

After all, they were all in the same hotel—they could have easily woken him up.

Michael flew right over the entire arena, making sure to stay mostly out of sight so no one noticed him. From above, he could see the entire arena, and in the very middle of it was Elizabeth, fighting—and surprisingly losing.

She was going up against another sword wielder. It was some guy who seemed the same age as her, yet his swordsmanship was a tad bit better than hers, causing most of their exchanges to go in his favor.

'Damn, she really is going to lose, huh? I wonder how the others did though.' Michael thought with a small smile. It would be funny to see her lose and then confront her afterward to piss her off even more.

Ascension is available, by the way.

'Oh? I thought Halls of Reflection acted as an Ascension?' Michael tilted his head and frowned at what he saw below him as Elizabeth started to gain the upper hand.

It's my own way of showing you the past. Ascension would let you confront yourself. Trials are similar, but they only show you what happens in the past, and you replay it with some minor differences based on the delusions of the one whose life event you are replaying.

'I see. How long can I postpone the Ascension?' He didn't want to do it yet; there were still a few things left to handle before he could relax.

Two weeks maximum. After that, you will be forcefully taken inside. I won't tell you more about it; just keep in mind that you'll have to try and not half-ass it. The challenge is unknown even to me.

'Don't worry, I'm not corrupted like those others you saw before.' Michael assured the system.

Really? You seemed nearly identical to a demon yesterday with that usage of Charm and all.

'The only reason I used Charm was because it was the best skill to do the job. Did you expect me to summon a sword of light and tap him on the shoulder to knock him out?'n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Never mind...

Michael scoffed at the system and began hovering down. To his dismay, Elizabeth had won the fight, though it was incredibly close.

He landed and tried to avoid garnering attention, but it was a bit difficult considering the number of people around the arena; cheers naturally resounded.

His golden robe fluttered in the wind, and he had his usual saintly smile plastered on his face. Yet there was one person who was unhappy to see him: Elizabeth.

Instead of heading straight for her to congratulate her, he found Kevin in the crowd and floated toward him. Kevin was in a little barrack by the side of the platform where Elizabeth had fought.

"Sup."

"You're late... again." Kevin let out a sigh and signaled for Michael to sit down on the free chair next to him.

'I wonder where Chloe is?' Michael thought as he ignored Kevin and sat down. He wasn't sure of the tournament format or what kind of events it had. The only thing he could surmise was that, at least currently, a dueling bracket was going on.

"Did my turn happen already?"

"Yeah, yesterday." Kevin replied, dropping a bombshell.

'Hm? What? I thought the academy tournament was today?' Michael was confused by Kevin's words. According to Amanda, it was definitely today.

Yet the next words from the system made him speechless.

You slept through the whole of yesterday and half of today too. It did start when Amanda told you it would, but you were asleep.

'Again... Why did no one wake me up?'

They tried; so did I. The fatigue from the fighting and especially the overuse of Sanctuary made you quite exhausted.

'...Well, shit.' Michael sighed and slumped back in his chair. It seemed like he wouldn't participate in the tournament after all.

However, Kevin spoke up again. "Don't worry about it; you're up next, actually. Your double won the fight yesterday and is on standby somewhere. We don't really talk much."

"You could have told me that earlier..." Michael said and sat up, nearly forgetting that he was in front of so many people. He still had his image of a Saint to maintain, even in another city.

He noticed Elizabeth walking down the stairs, staring at Kevin while completely ignoring him. It was nice, though a question did arise.

"Where's Chloe?"

Kevin took his eyes off Elizabeth and chuckled at Michael's comment. "Oh right, I forgot you didn't get the memo. It's a free-for-all duel competition, something to get the people excited, and your next opponent is none other than Chloe herself. Good luck."

'Hmm... well, that's interesting.'