A Hearty Conversation
Waking up to the sight of a pleading child is something of a new experience for our dear hero. Opening his eyes for the second time of the morning, what greeted him is Lily holding the alarm clock. Although her face is still expressionless as ever, Ye Han detected a hint of pride contained in her eyes. From where that pride stemmed from? Ye Han already had an idea.
To recognize her efforts, he rewarded her head with a pat, rubbing it in the process. Lily's expression visibly slackened until it turned into a blissful smile. But as if remembering something important, she hurriedly took his brother's hands from her head. Now, a somewhat pleading expression on her face.
Ye Han gave a wry smile seeing her look like this. And without delay, he offered his neck for his little vampire sister.
Lily leaped happily on Ye Han arms and immediately sunk her fangs into his bare neck. Still, having his blood sucked away felt weird for Ye Han. But he chose to ignore the sensation and proceeded to softly rub Lily's head.
'She's really attached to me now, treating me like a real family. All of her caution towards me is already gone.' He thought.
Scanning the freshly cleaned room, Ye Han noticed his uniform neatly arranged not far away from him.
'She's too professional, it's like I'm dealing with an actual maid from a noble household. She stuck to her responsibilities. I kinda feel guilty.'
Soon after, Lily finished her "breakfast." And like the first time she fed on Ye Han, she thoroughly licked for any spilled blood. She then motioned to be let down which Ye Han complied to. With her feet on the floor, she pointed at the uniform she prepared for her brother. Ye Han smiled at Lily as he got himself up.
***
Ye Han looked at Lily who is seeing him off with a smile. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" He asked. To which, Lily nodded her head in response.
"Well if you get bored just turn on the TV. We don't have any food but you drink my blood as food, fortunately."
He then asked more questions for Lily and once he's satisfied with the response, he waved her goodbye. But he did install defense measures just to be sure.
"I'm off. Don't let anyone enter okay?"
Lily also waved her hands which made the sleeves of the tracksuit flap.
'Take care.' She thought silently.
'I need to buy new clothes for her.'
***
"The tournament is just around the corner huh?" David gazed at the sky absentmindedly.
His other 4 comrades looked at him like he was a circus animal and abandon the things they were preoccupied. This even made Alice, who is currently browsing her phone, to turn her head at him.
"Do you have water for brains?" Shin chastised the absentminded teen.
"Well, our homeroom adviser announced it like it was some sort of urgent event. Maybe it's finally nearing?" He retorted while still maintaining his gaze.
"You did not check the calendars right?" Ahmed asked with chips still in his mouth.
This question brought back David's mind to the real world as his face adopted a look of astonishment.
"That gaze says it all." Alice offhandedly commented.
"It's a tradition of the school," Shin stated. "The advisers would announce it way ahead of the schedule and act as it will finally happen next week."
"The school is a real stickler for tradition. And besides, just like everyone would say, there's no such thing as too much advanced preparation." Jiang added.
David remained mindblown with the fact and silent due to his inability to ask for the dates and use a calendar. Seeing that he will be further embarrassed, he decided to divert the topic.
"So Alice, are you doing some extra training? Your grandpa is a powerhouse, he surely won't slack off with your training right?" David asked.
Alice, now fully engaged with the conversation answered. "Grandpa doesn't care with the results I'd get. When I brought this topic to him, he just shrugged his shoulders and said that I should enjoy life."
The Inquisition almost fell from their seats hearing the casualness of the legendary Spear Immortal.
Alice can only smile wryly. She fully understood the feeling of the 5 boys. She also had the same expression as them when her grandpa ignored the event. "But I don't want to ruin his reputation, so I begged him to teach me a few techniques. He did give a manual or two, but then again he's still very casual of the event."
The boys finally recovered from their earlier shock. "You have such a cool grandpa." Jiang pointed out.
"Is he training you personally? That would be cool, a God-level expert personally guiding you." Ahmed said in admiration. The other 4 also have sparkles in their eyes. Such a wonderful occasion is truly a blessing for them.
"Grandpa personally finds it troublesome teaching me. He always goes on how I should enjoy my life. I honestly don't understand him. But he still truly cares for me and he would instruct me in the most critical part. Other than that, he said I should comprehend it myself. Over-reliance is bad he said."
The 5 were once again stumped by the innate casualness of Alice's grandpa. But what kind of expert doesn't have an eccentric quirk or two?
"So what did you guys did during the weekend?" Alice inquired.
"We joined a gaming competition," Jin answered without any hint of shame. The 5 of them totally ignored the important tournament.
"Is it the King of the Avenue?"
"That's right! You're very well informed."
"Well, I'm also a fan of it, hehe." Alice scratched her cheek in embarrassment.
"Oooooooh!" All 5 of them voiced out their shock and admiration for the girl.
"I never knew! Welcome to the group!" Shin joyfully greeted their newest member of the fan club.
"Thank you. But I heard that something historic happened during the event?" Alice had been busy with the training that she missed the news about one of her favorite games. She's trying to get some information from the 5 of them who were personally there.
"That's right you won't believe what happened!" David.
"The guy created a new meta!" Ahmed.
"A true innovator!" Jiang.
"So what happened?!" Alice could not contain her excitement. This is very big news, especially for an avid fan like her.
"For context, the character he chose is something of the lowest tier. The moves are wacky, the combos are easily broken, even the speed looks a little buggy. So the character, I chose to forget her name, he chose it. I don't know if it was a bug or unintentional design, but the way he used the character is like a fortress. A perfect combination of both defense and offense. He efficiently contained any of his opponent attacks while also dishing out significant damage to knock the opposing characters out. The way he used the character is truly revolutionary and has not been thought out." Shin, as the resident nerd of the group thoroughly explained the ins and outs of the event. His analysis is on par with those on the professional sites.
"But another factor to consider is his element of surprise. Those players were late to adapt with his playstyle, that's why the fights became disadvantageous for them. Given enough time, they could've made appropriate counters and measures against him. But the skill of the champion is equally as brilliant. We have to remember that he was also facing world champions there. And those people are known to be the best, especially adapting to situations. But when his opponents think that they have already read him, he immediately pulls out another playstyle that thoroughly trashed his enemies. A skilled player indeed." Jin also gave his expert analysis of the game.
"Wow! So cool!" By now, Alice's eyes were filled with literal sparkles. Hearing them discuss the competition made her excited. "I'll definitely watch all of his match videos!" She vowed to herself.
"You should! By now, his fighting videos will be over the internet. And surely the tier rankings of the characters would definitely be updated."
The 6 of them excitedly talked about their experiences of the game. Each of them shared their insights and some tips regarding the game. On the course of the discussion, an unknown bond had been formed between Alice and the Inquisition. A bond of gamers.
"So do you have guesses about his identity?" Alice inquired.
"None. But he wore a black tracksuit and a simple face mask. His defining features is his long white hair. Other than that, he's called dingaloo." David recalled the sight of that certain man. But felt he's seen the guy before but he could not put a finger to it.
"That's sad." Alice lamented. "But you know, we should hang out. Like go to the arcade and play games." She offered the 5.
Hearing a girl personally invite them made them giddy inside. Finally, a member of the opposite sex wants to hang with them.
"Sure!" All of them replied happily.