Scarlet

The Knight says more than a few compliments while riling up the crowd and getting them more and more excited until he eventually snaps his fingers, making me appear on a much narrower tower with some sort of massive hologram of me that follows my every movement floating above my head. And out of the corner of my eye, I can see both Lucas and Tempest with their own towers and holograms as well, albeit with theirs being lower in elevation than mine and with a less grand appearance overall.

“We have now finished the very first Primary tournament of this year’s Interschool Tournaments! Now would you give a round of applause for our top three finishers!” Black shouts before the stadium suddenly dims in lighting and a spotlight appears, illuminating Tempest and her hologram as she calmly looks out at the audience. “For our third place winner, she will be getting a total of one million credits and ten points for her to use however she wishes, along with ten points for her Guardians University, Hunter’s Peak!”

Loud cheers echo throughout the stadium while the girl wearing a set of what looks like purple and blue medieval armor simply waves out at them, not showing an ounce of fear or shyness.

The spotlight on her vanishes along with her and her hologram, following which a different spotlight appears over Lucas, showing the man as he simply stands there with his arms crossed looking out at the audience.

“And for our second place winner, he will be getting a total of five million credits and fifty points, along with twenty points for his Guardians University, Aquatic Pride!!!” Black shouts, making the audience roar even louder with who knows how many squeals mixed in that has me raising a brow.

And just like before, the spotlight vanishes along with Lucas and his hologram. But unlike before, several different spotlights begin to move about seemingly at random throughout the stadium while avoiding me as Black begins talking slightly quieter this time, “And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” The spotlights all suddenly focus on me and my hologram, making me briefly want to squint my eyes but I stop myself. “The winner of this year’s Class I Solo Primary Tournament, the Scarlet Wolf, Scarlet Asgeeeerrrr!!!”

All at once, the stadium goes wild with screams of excitement. Almost as if every single person within the stadium filled with millions and millions of people suddenly decided to shout all at once. And amidst the shouts, who knows how many people have stood up while clapping, making me feel more than a little pride at where I’ve climbed.

First place.

Then again, guess it’s to be expected since I’m only half human.

“Well, not necessarily,” Tar says, making me raise a brow as I put my hands in my jacket pocket and look out over the crowd as they go wild. “You’re only Class I, so the only things you have that the humans here don’t are some higher capabilities. Nothing more. And even that doesn’t matter as much since you’re only Class I. You also don’t have most of the skills and powers blood lycans have as they haven’t been given to you yet in the form of inherent skills. Such as blood metallization for example, and your full transformation that you’ll eventually get.”

Oh. Guess you’re right.

“What I’m trying to say,” Tar continues, sounding slightly amused, “is that this is your win. Not your genes. Accept it. Feel pride in it. But don’t look down on it just because you’re half blood lycan.”

Hmm. Okay.

After letting the crowd go wild for a bit, Black continues speaking, “And for her rewards, she will be getting a total of ten million credits and one hundred points, along with an entire thirty points for her Guardians University, Lion’s Heart!!!”

Once again the crowd goes wild at that, and I can’t help the grin that immediately splits across my face.

Ten. Million. Credits.

I’m rich. I really am rich.

What games should I buy first? Oh, and a car. I need to buy a car. Never did do that.

Actually, no. I’d rather have a motorcycle. Or both? Yeah. Both.

Then there’s the five hundred thousand credits I got for our team winning the secondary tournament as well, which is nothing to scoff at either.

“Shouldn’t you invest some of that?” Tar says, sounding amused at my reaction to the monetary reward. “And you sound like you’re forgetting the points entirely.”

Oh. Right. I did.

I’m suddenly teleported out of the arena and back into my private booth where I’m immediately swarmed by too many people, including Aria, Allen, Cynthia, and my team. Or old team, I guess.

Meanwhile Black’s voice rings out as I’m trying to wiggle my way out of the group towards my chair, “Don’t forget that these lovely winners also get Platinum Fracture Passes, or PFPs for short. If you don’t already know, these wonderful passes give the Guardians access to whatever Fracture they want regardless of if it’s claimed by another Association or organization already!”

My eyes widen as a hint of glee enters them.

Right. I almost forgot about that.

We only got a Diamond Fracture Pass for winning the secondary tournament, but a Platinum one is better. Not really by much, but better. The only real differences is that there’s more authority attached to it since someone with a higher ranked pass can still block someone with a lower ranked one from entering the Fracture. But only if the owner of the pass is there personally to do it.

After sitting down in my chair again, giving me a bit of a breather, Aria immediately sits on my lap, apparently uncaring of the many people around us and somehow trying to use her presence as a buffer between everyone while wrapping her arms around me and saying, “You won! Just like you promised!”

I laugh at that before patting her on the back, taking amusement in how my old team is staying back out of supposed fear of the girl. Despite how much I’ve told them that it’s fine and that Aria isn’t gonna hurt them. And that her father isn’t gonna hurt them for being near her.

Oh, right. What were you surprised about earlier?

“You’ll see as soon as you leave the magical reality,” Tar says rather ominously.

Okay…