14 The New Battle God

The dining hall was quiet. Not silent but more quiet than anyone would expect. Especially since there about 300 people present. Ye Xiu had observed the room as he walked to his table and the room had also observed him.

They tried not to show their awe but this was Ye Xiu. The best player in Team China and as some would argue, the best player in the world. He didn't look like much but who among them did? What truly mattered was his skill. And his character. Lord Grim.

They had seen heaps of videos of Lord Grim's fighting. At this point, videos couldn't satisfy them anymore. They wanted to fight against him. Even if it meant losing. They wanted to experience the first true unspecialized in the whole of Glory. It didn't even matter that Ye Xiu was listed as a substitute for Team China. His presence alone elevated the competitiveness of the entire game.

They wouldn't have to wait too long though. The fixtures ceremony would be tomorrow. They would finally know who they would be facing. Who would stand in their way as they strived for the ultimate glory.

However, ultimate glory meant different things for different players. For most players, it was simple. Win the Glory World Cup. For others; beat Ye Xiu. For the rest, the ultimate glory would be to beat Ye Xiu and win the Glory World Cup.

For Elias, it was the latter. He would truly be satisfied if, and only if, he beat Ye Xiu and won the World Cup. For years, Ye Xiu had stood at the pinnacle of Glory as the Battle God, One Autumn Leaf. In China, that title was exclusive. No other character was given that title.

In Denmark, however, the title was given to several people, lauding their ferociousness and might in battle. Elias wanted the title to himself. He felt that as a Berserker he deserved the title. And the only way to get it was to defeat the one who symbolized Glory. Ye Xiu.

When he heard Ye Xiu had retired just before the World Cup, Elias was annoyed. He felt fate had cheated him out of his chance to be the number one. He was still brooding over his fortune when the lineup for Team China was announced. It was at the bottom of the list, that he saw it. His chance. Substitute: Ye Xiu.

Yes, he was going to go head to head with Ye Xiu. His time to shine had finally arrived. He reasoned that due to Ye Xiu's skill, he would be substituted in at the later parts of the game when the toughest teams remained. And Denmark was the toughest team around.

Looking around, he saw other players in the hall observing Ye Xiu. One day, they would look at him like that. He would be the true Battle God.

Ye Xiu, of course, had no idea what was going on in the minds of the players in the hall. He just wanted something to eat.

One of the people sitting at the table was explaining the ceremony. "The fixtures ceremony will be held tomorrow at 5 pm. It would be held at the Switzerland Glory Pro Alliance Building and will be broadcast live throughout the world. The ceremony is just for an hour."

Ye Xiu frowned. He had never seen the person speaking and just like Pili, the person did not look Chinese but was speaking fluent Chinese. He reasoned the person was one of the translators assigned to the team.

Su Mucheng understood his confusion and explained: "That's the French-Chinese translator." She gestured another official. "That's the English-Chinese translator. They introduced themselves before you arrived."

"I had a feeling they were translators."

"Yeah, they also talked about touring the city after the ceremony. Are you interested?"

"It'll be nice. We may not have the time after tomorrow." Ye Xiu loved Glory but he also wanted to enjoy the environment as much as he could. Most of the players sitting in front of him would return in 4 years-time to fight for their country again. For him, however, this was the last time he would wave the Chinese flag. He wanted to make everything count for the person that wanted to be here but couldn't be.

Su Mucheng nodded. "We definitely won't have the time."

After she said this, they both concentrated on their food.

"What do you think the seeding will be like?" Su Mucheng asked when most of her food was gone.

"We already know that Denmark is one and France is two," Ye Xiu started. This was from the last official ranking of countries that happened some months ago. While the rankings provided valuable information, it had not yet incorporated the most recent accomplishments of the countries.

"We are currently at five, below Canada but I think that would change with the seeding. After all, I'm around. My presence alone is enough to boost us to number four."

Once he said that, everyone turned to look at him. Would it kill you to stop boasting?

Ye Xiu saw their angry expressions and just laughed. "What? It's the truth."

Yes, it's the truth but must you say it?

Ye Xiu laughed and continued with his analysis. "There will definitely be a few changes to the rankings reflected in the seedings but I don't think it will be so drastic. The countries that move will move at most one rank up or down."

"It is difficult to make so many adjustments to a team in a short period of time so most of the teams will still retain the ranking they had two months ago." Wang Jiexi said.

The pros agreed. But that meant that give or take, there were four stronger teams standing between them and the World Cup.

"It'll be difficult but… we can do it." Zhou Zekai said.

The atmosphere immediately lightened up. "Well said, Great Gunner." Yu Wenzhou said, giving him a pat on the back.

It was difficult, no doubt, but they would do it.