Barely a few moments had pa.s.sed by upon their entry into the city when the old man looked like he yelled at a cloud."Chief K, when are they showing up?"
Several moments pa.s.sed before a small flash of light heralded the arrival of a man which looked even older than Master Li, bowing politely as soon as he appeared.
"They felt you coming a while ago – they"ll be here, soon."
"As expected, allow me to introduce the two newbies I brought along," the old man replied, gesturing to Jake and Liam, who were surprised at the new entrant.
Since when has he been following us? As soon as the old guy called out, he showed up immediately – most likely, he was near us when he was called upon.
The scariest thing is that we never sensed him coming; he was like a ghost."
"Oh, wipe that look off your face," the old man said as saw their surprised faces, "as I"ve told you before, the city of Carter is the domain of the Grand Duelists. Anything happening here, the division will know. As soon as we stepped foot here, Chief K came out to meet us."
"Why do you call it "Chief" here instead of "Director", though?" Jake asked Master Li, still not quite accustomed to the names and t.i.tles of Nohas, and the reason behind them.
"Different t.i.tles for different divisions," the old man replied, "or it just so happens that "Chief" sounds fancier and more modern. Either reason works."
Jake had a brief moment of confusion before it made sense to him.
"So, this is how he chooses t.i.tles. As expected, this old man is just as much an eccentric as I am. I"ve had this hunch since I met the old man, and when he asked me if he was cool in the middle of a rather serious situation…
It"s a bit too "how do you do, fellow kids" to me, but who am I, a pathological shopper, to judge?"
"Sounds modern… yeah, that"s just about right," Jake admitted, because to him, "chief" did sound quite modern; at least more than "director". "I mean, why not? It"s not like we"re in a martial arts comic or anything."
The old man gave Jake a strange look for a moment before nodding in understanding – it was then that Jake realized that he and the old man had the same strange tastes.
"No wonder he brought me on board here. He was probably just as big a show-off as I was when he was my age. Should I start worrying about my watch? …Maybe I"ll get him one as a retirement gift or something."
The kind of thoughts Jake went towards the possibility that the old man had the same sense of vanity as he did: gold chains, expensive watches, all the trappings of luxury…
He only noticed that he had returned his pocket watch when the older man began to speak.
"You"ve heard our Master call me Chief K. My name is Klay, nice to meet you."
Liam was the first to take the extended hand and shake it, bowing afterward.
"The pleasure is ours. My name is Liam."
"The name"s Jake," the other novice awakener said after shaking Klay"s hand. "Haven"t had the chance to treat Gramps to some pizza; why not come along?"
Jake suddenly stood straighter, almost as if someone sneakily elbowed him in the side.
"What?" he suddenly asked. "But really, I have some orders of pizza and a few buckets of chicken saved up for that occasion. You two elder statesmen could use a pleasant afternoon with some fast food and a good conversation."
Klay just laughed at Jake"s antics; either he was good at not showing his surprise, or he"d already seen his fair share of similar things from within the division.
"This guy," Master Li said, all the while reaching for Jake"s head and ruffling his hair, "is quite the handful. So long as you ignore half of what he"s saying, you won"t get drawn into his circle of weirdness."
The chief nodded.
"I can see that," he said with another laugh as Jake tried to pry the Master"s hand off his head, to no avail, even with Liam trying to talk him out of it. "So, Master, what are we going to do with them?"
For some reason, the mood in the suburbs of Carter changed, as upon their arrival, Master Li and Chief Klay were now set to decide what to do with their new recruits.
Jake and Liam sensed the mood change as soon as the old man pulled his hand away from Jake"s head – he still had the same aura as before, but it was a lot more guarded than before.
"Find them lodging. For now, we"ll let them experience life here for a while."
"Understood, Master."
***
"Father"s come back to town?"
"He"s due to arrive any moment, and this time, he brought some new blood."
"Interesting."
News of Mater Li"s return to Carter spread quickly around the division he led; despite the recent loss of reputation the Grand Duelists had, it had not affected their information network or their hold on the city of Carter significantly.
"Your father brought in two awakeners."
"Well, it"s been several evaluations he"s gone to Kingsville, and he"s always come home empty-handed. Anything you"ve found out about them?"
"Nothing much; the only thing worth noting is that they"re wearing gear closer to first- or second-year awakeners, completely unlike novice awakeners," the scout said.
LJ was absolutely sure that the information he just received was already being pa.s.sed on to the other faction.
"Two fully armed and armored novice awakeners, huh? I wonder what you found in them that got you to bring them here, Father…
The schism here has been going on for a long time, and it is worsening even further, with no sign of it settling down anytime soon.
The tension here is thick enough to cut with a knife; everyone here is on edge due to it. It"s like a bomb set to explode at any moment."
Master Li has not yet declared for either faction to succeed him; if he intervenes, it"s a certainty that the tide of the conflict will begin to turn.
As to who it would favor, n.o.body knew, hence LJ"s interest in these novice awakeners his father brought in.
"Sucker bet Connor also knows about this now; it"s only natural. Also, there has been quite some time since my old man brought new faces to our division.
I wonder what changed his mind, and how will this wild card influence the ongoing schism in this division…"
"We should wait and see for the moment; we will not make any hasty moves."
"Understood, sir."
"All right, let"s get ready to go and greet my father," LJ said, rising from his seat, preparing himself to welcome his father back home.
***
"Ritzy as heck."
Those were Jake"s actual thoughts when he and Liam arrived at the home of the Grand Duelists.
"It"s like one of those villas in Monte Carlo or something."
Jake had walked through the cities of Carter, expecting that the home of the Grand Duelists would look like a castle, a barracks, or a dojo.
Instead, what he saw looked something straight out of that old show about the rich and famous: every building oozed tradition and opulence, and the streets that led out into the city proper were paved perfectly.
When they were guided into the complex, Jake couldn"t smell any sweat or find a building to train anywhere.
"If I pretend for a minute, it"s almost like I"m in Monaco or something," Jake whispered, and Liam concurred with a nod.
"What do you think?" Master Li said, turning at them with a proud look on his face. "All the comforts of home, huh?"
Jake and Liam just gaped at the old man"s propensity for designing the Grand Duelist complex like one of those "Lifestyles of the Wealthy and Celebrated" mansions or something.
"Sir, I don"t get the reason you"d want to make this place look modern," Liam said, still confused.
"Well," the old man explained, "I find that training in a place with modernity and beauty inspires me to discover new skills. There is another thing that matters most to me, though."
"What could that be, sir?"
"We"re unlike other divisions. Should you visit their domains, the difference is like night and day. I find their sense of aesthetics to be horribly outdated; I find it distasteful to stay in places like those for more than a few days."
Liam"s questions and Master Li"s answers confirmed a hypothesis in Jake"s head: the old man was cut from the same cloth as he was.
"This old guy sounds like he could be my grandfather or something! Could we be related? A distant relative? We have different family names… but why does he feel so familiar?"
Jake was in the midst of concocting another outlandish theory when the sound of marching boots brought him back to reality, and he turned to see a row of people, all in the same garb, marching towards the old man, with someone at their head.
"Duelists!" the awakener at the head declared. "Salute the arrival of our leader, Master Li Liang!"
As the awakeners gestured as one, Jake could notice that these awakeners were made up of people of all ages, genders, races… and was his eyesight playing tricks on him, or did one of the women in the left column wink at him or something?
"I keep telling you to tone down your ceremony when I show up back here," the old man said. "I trust the lot of you have been doing well? I suppose you are doing as well as usual, if you are not spending your time staring your fellows to death."
"Master Li is treating a greeting like this with insouciance?" Jake wondered, shocked at first. "Interesting."
His thoughts shifted from the old man to the awakeners, sensing the aura they were emitting.
Not too little, not too much.
Everything is perfectly organized, as if they were a single, cohesive unit.
"Fascinating."
Still, though, he wasn"t the only one trying to hide their shock or fascination.
"Who is this guy?"
"Is this the guy Master brought here?"
"What is he wearing?"
"What"s that on his shoulder?"
Their thoughts were all revolving around Jake"s ridiculous appearance and ostentatious equipment that looked too strong for a novice awakener who just finished the tutorial to wear.
Of course, as they were all arrayed in parade formation, all they could do was scrutinize this new arrival through their eyes alone.
Their conjecture was interrupted as someone walked up to the front of the formation from the rear.
"Ah, father. You have come back with new recruits?" a middle-aged man who looked a lot like a younger Li Liang said as he emerged from the formation of awakeners, flanked by two other awakeners in uniform.
Before they could say any more, the three of them saluted the arrival of their leader, and Master Li regarded them with an odd indifference.
"I have; and has our division crashed and burned so badly that they are involving novices in their affairs? I don"t need to be a mind reader to know what you are planning."
LJ laughed, but his face held no joy. "You do not need to worry about that, Father – we shall mind our own business and let the novices get themselves used to life here. Did you hear that?"
"Loud and clear. We haven"t had novices here for some time; do you think we"re that bad to pick on them?"
"Also, this guy looks like he means business. Where did he get his gear? Someone from Kingsville gave away his items or something?" the third man flanking LJ added honestly.
LJ was about to answer that question when a voice stopped his question cold.
"Master, it is good to see you finally return – did you encounter any discomfort or disturbance during your trip? I asked you to bring an escort, but you insisted on going alone…" someone said, jumping into the conversation, and changing the atmosphere of the place completely.
Just then, the air began to grow thick with tension, as the man who interrupted also brought along a group of uniformed awakeners, their uniforms differing slightly than the group of awakeners that Jake and company first encountered.
"So, these are the two fighting for the succession," Jake thought. "This guy doesn"t have to introduce himself for me to know that these are the guys who are quarreling over who the leader of the Grand Duelists will be."
"Do you really have to bring your schoolyard squabbling in front of the new blood here?" the old man asked, clicking his tongue. "Coming here in separate groups, talking over each other…"
He shook his head sadly, and LJ got the cue and turned to his group of awakeners.
"You heard the man! Stand together, we are all one family! This appearance has been a shameful display for our newest recruits!"
A feeling of relief swept over the awakeners who came out to greet their master after that declaration, and went even further beyond as Connor followed suit.
"Yes, today is supposed to be a celebration, to welcome the newest members of our family into the Grand Duelists! Let"s put our troubles away for this day. Understood?"
It was a question that showed off who Connor was, and the awakeners with him responded as one: "Yes, sir!"
"Then, we should hear about our newest members" experiences!" Connor declared, right after his awakeners filled the air with their response. "If you"ve made it here, then the tutorial must have been a cakewalk for you, right? I would like to hear your story over a bottle of warm mead and a crackling fire!"
And just like that, Jake and Liam were now part of the Grand Duelists.
The notification showed up in the corner of Jake"s eyes as they were being brought into the main hall of the complex, where preparations for the celebration were about to finish.
[Congratulations on your brand-new division membership! Because of your achievement, the Gold Label has just set up a "Rookie Event" for you. It"s got a lot of things that a new division member like you might need, so head on over to the Awakening Store ASAP to see what"s up! See you there!]
Thus, the event based on new division membership got off to a fine start.
***
After waiting for a while, the members of the Grand Duelists threw a grand dinner befitting their name to celebrate Jake and Liam joining them.
Liam was proving to be rather good at striking up conversations with the more seasoned awakeners in between dinner, but Jake found himself horribly distracted, as the notification of the "Rookie Event" was lurking in the corner of his eye all the while.
He couldn"t wait until he was sequestered in his own quarters to look through the event.
"Rookie event, huh? Wonder what you got for me?"
And in between the eating, the drinking, and the merriment, Jake looked through the event details.
[As a novice awakener starting out in a new division, the most important thing is to start off strong, by making a great first impression! These two items will be sure to help with that greatly!
"Do you want to come fly with me?" That is the question the GOAT asks, and with these Retro Flyers, you"ll be wearing the same kicks the GOAT wore when he saved the universe in a basketball game! Feel free to dunk on people and point at them afterward while wearing these sneakers! Multiple colorways available, you"ll want to come fly with the GOAT, too!
Limited Edition GOAT colorways also available with the GOAT"s signature embroidered on your sneakers! Now that"s flying in style!]
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"f.u.c.k me running," Jake thought out loud, earning him a strange look from a nearby awakener who heard him. "They should have sent a poet."
This was more than just a pair of shoes. This was his first love, something he thought he would never get to have.
"GOAT Flyers?"
He never thought he"d get it back on Earth, and never thought of getting it in Nohas.
"But still… GOAT Flyers.
LIMITED EDITION GOAT Flyers.
Those kicks are the kicks you start a franchise sneaker collection with.
And if you had the funds, you"d complete all thirty-three of them.
But holy s.h.i.t… LIMITED EDITION GOAT Flyers."
These have embroidered signatures, the black-with-white colorway, and it"s the eleventh release out of thirty-three so far.
Judging by Jake"s irrational reaction, the event hit shopping addicts like Jake right in the middle. And based on how the Gold Label came up with and brought these new products… they knew for sure how to get their business off the ground.
"LIMITED.
EDITION.
GOAT.
FLYERS.
Saving the universe edition.
Embroidered signature.
Nothing else matters."
Jake was dragged into the Rookie event without a fight.
Simply mentioning the GOAT Flyers roused his shopaholic urges without fail, and whatever he needs to do to acquire them, he will do.
Still, as that telemarketer loves to say…
But wait… there"s more!
[You may want to come fly with the GOAT with our limited-edition sneakers, sure. People will look at you different, sure. They"ll know you"ve got the swagger. And when they get in close… BOOM! A shot of aromatic fragrance right through their nostrils to let them know that you smell like a boss, too.
Included in this promotion is a bottle of our timeless cla.s.sic, the Icehammer Dark!]
As Jake read through the second item, his shaking started to grow stronger, and when he was done reading, he couldn"t help it.
"HOLY s.h.i.t, THIS IS AMAZING!"
Jake shouted his amazement loudly, earning him the gaze of everyone in the party, nearly all of them thinking "has this guy knocked down one too many drinks already?", all except one.
And that one – Liam – already changed his seats to the opposite end of the table, palm firmly placed on his face in embarra.s.sment.
***