Chapter 69: Ch 69: Let’s postpone the fight

Aiden took Caelion to the arena where the fight was supposed to take place.

There was a single guard that was guarding this place, which was not that surprising. Since it was a private event which was not even made public, spending money and effort on security was not needed.

Besides, everyone was here for the prize that could only be useful if you actually won the tournament. So that excluded any ulterior motives from forming either.

"Caelion, there is no need to put too much pressure on yourself. We don’t know the power level of most people here, so if it feels like too much, then back down."

Aiden assured Caelion that he could back down whenever he wanted. But that just served to make Caelion feel even more fired up.

"Please don’t worry, Priest Aiden. I will make sure not to tarnish your and Goddess Apophis’s name. I will show them why they should fear us."

Caelion had a thin and malnourished body due to being a slave, which made it look like he belonged to a hospital rather than a fighting arena. But the place where he gripped the railing was already bent due to his strength.

"That child is good. I have a feeling he will become a great shield for you. So I decided to bestow my blessing on him."

Aiden could not help but feel a stab of jealousy toward the grace his goddess provided Caelion with.

He knew that it was for his sake, but that did not mean he had to like it.

"Well, since this is your wish, I won’t interfere with it. Even I know that I cannot protect our territory alone. Especially since I need to look after you as well. But this does make me feel even more jealous..."

Aiden pouted, and his goddess rubbed her body against his wrist to make him feel better.

"I like it when you are jealous. However, don’t forget that you are mine while they all belong to me. You are different and special, and you will always remain the most precious thing to me."

Aiden felt the same way about this goddess.

He had decided to live in a new world and build a life here, all for the sake of his goddess. And he never regretted his decision.

Ever.

Ding

"Participants, gather around and take a participation number. You will be called forward according to your participation number."

The match preparation was finally starting, and Aiden quickly took a look around the arena.

He could not feel any unique or massive amount of power from any of the participants. In fact, he could feel Caelion standing out even among these people due to his goddess’s power.

[Probability of Caelion winning: 87.5%]

There were only 8 participants in this tournament due to the lack of advertising, and most of them felt weak.

If the system was calculating the percentage like this, then it meant that there was only one person here with the probability to defeat Caelion.

And it took Aiden no time to notice who it was.

After all, if a small light glowed in the darkness, you were bound to notice it. And among the sea of these weak fighters, Caelion shone the brightest. But he was not the only one who was shining a little stronger than the rest.

There was another woman...or rather, a kid around the age of 12 who looked ready to fight. And she felt decently strong compared to everyone else here.

As for everyone else...even if they had strong frames, their actual power level was debatable.

"Now I see why this was set up as a private tournament. There is no way any of these people would have made it to the second round in a regular tournament."

It was an unexpected stroke of good luck that Aiden accepted.

"Well then, let’s see how Caelion does in his first fight."

The matchups were done in a way where those who knew the organizers were pitted against anyone they wanted. And because these people saw Caelion and the other young girl as easy targets, they decided to go after them.

As a result, Caelion got matched up with the biggest person in the matchup.

"Heh! A kid? I cannot believe I will have my glory after defeating a kid. Hey, I will give you a chance to save yourself. Now that you see the difference between us, would you like to back down?"

Unfortunately for the bulkier man, he underestimated Caelion based on his size and experience. But Caelion had the blessing of Apophis behind him.

As such, a single punch from him knocked the other man out.

Everyone went silent over what just happened, and they blinked rapidly to try and figure out what was happening.

"Oi! What happened? Did that kid..."

"That should not be possible. Someone needs to check if he’s using illegal means-"

"But this is God Vaelor’s tournament. He won’t be able to step foot in here if he lied about using magic."

The organizers were suddenly in a disarray. They had spent a lot of resources praying to be able to hold this tournament, and they would only be able to hold the next one 10 years later. But their top candidate had just been taken out.

"Hey, should we cancel this tournament and then re-do it once this kid leaves?"

It did not take long before people began to conspire against Caelion.

"Tsk, Caelion won one round, and these people have already started to look for a way out? I guess everyone here was bought out after all."

Aiden had expected this to happen, so he was ready to speak up against this injustice. After all, they were taking away Goddess Apophis’s powers by doing this.

"Hey! This is not right! How can you even speak about canceling this tournament or cheating in this? I won’t agree to this."

The 12-year-old yelled, startling everyone. But her words caused them to start laughing soon.

"Little girl, don’t say stuff like this or you might get in trouble. Instead, you should go back home and play with your dolls."