Chapter 66: Anxiety

With no official signal beyond the announcer leaving the arena floor, the fight began.

At least... it should’ve.

Instead, the two men, Lev and Gordon, simply stood, slinging insults at one another.

Both were belligerent and arrogant; however...

’They obviously don’t wish to wield a sword against a person.’

Lucas’s excitement quickly faded, replaced by the rapid tapping of his foot.

As the match stalled, the anxieties he’d suppressed began clawing their way back to the surface.

’Man... I need to break something.’

For as long as he could remember, Lucas had carried a box of toothpicks. Meticulously snapping them one by one had always helped calm him down.

He’d picked up the habit in his youth to stop himself from repeatedly snapping pencils during tests and lectures. It had stayed with him ever since.

However, over the years, Lucas had found another method that worked much better at relieving stress.

MMA.

Lucas wasn’t the most technically skilled fighter, nor was he the strongest, but punching people was strangely therapeutic.

All he had to do was imagine the arrogant, annoying face of someone he held a grudge against — usually his father — on his opponent’s body and go to town.

’Of course, I’m not a maniac.’

Lucas never wanted to seriously hurt his opponents. He merely wanted to quiet his anxious heart.

After being transported to the goblin trials, ragging on the little green creatures had quickly become his new favorite form of stress relief. It had even distracted him from his missing toothpicks—toothpicks he couldn’t replace with fallen branches because, at the time, he’d been afraid of pissing off the trees.

But...

After dealing with Cynthia, Cory, and the other self-righteous idiots, he had already been on edge. Now, after learning that Axel and the others were dead, his thoughts wouldn’t stop racing.

Lucas had carefully assessed the situation and ordered the shards to be funneled into a select few — people he considered valuable in one way or another.

Connor and Ryon were supremely loyal. They didn’t question Lucas, nor did they oppose anything he said.

Claire and Maks were gullible and easy to deceive and control.

’Zayn...’

Lucas had always had a bad feeling about him, but Zayn quietly followed his orders. Rather than make an enemy of the man whose mere presence twisted his stomach, Lucas had decided to keep him as close as possible.

He’d learned that he couldn’t control Zayn, but he could at least make Zayn believe he was the one in control.

He was doing the same with Amaya.

’That fiend...’

And, finally, Axel...

Lucas possessed an instinctive certainty about that man — Axel was salvation incarnate.

Axel clearly disapproved of Lucas’s methods, but he was too feckless to openly challenge him.

With no way of knowing what the future held, Lucas had planned to exploit his hero complex.

As long as Lucas continued playing the leader and everyone obeyed, Axel would remain inclined to stand by and follow along, clinging to the hope that he could protect the others from Lucas’s cold calculations.

Lucas could have kept him on that invisible leash until Axel became little more than an extension of his will.

Axel would be Lucas’s pawn who thought himself a knight.

’But...’

Now he was gone. The most valuable piece on Lucas’s board had been swept away.

’It’s my fault.’

The two men in the arena finally began fighting, their clumsy strikes colliding as they recoiled from every impact.

’I let this happen...’

Lucas clenched his fist as he watched the two men continue to trade pathetic blows.

’I should have been there.’

But Lucas had been afraid to leave Ruby behind. So, he’d engineered a situation that allowed him to remain by her side while ensuring she wouldn’t have to face the Goblin King.

Not that their situation had been much less hopeless...

They had survived only because the destruction caused by Claire’s fireball had formed a wall of corpses, funneling the attackers into a narrow space.

Below, the two fighters finally began growing accustomed to facing another human. Before long, the match reached its conclusion.

The smaller man with large, protruding eyes executed a clever maneuver, sweeping Gordon’s legs out from under him before raising his sword to strike.

At that point, Gordon immediately surrendered.

The announcer cheered:

"The winner is Lev Fedorov! If you wagered on this match, head to the broker to collect your winnings. No other fighters are currently in the queue, and Lev has chosen to fight again. Anyone interested in challenging him should proceed to the registration area to be added to the queue."

Lucas’s eyes lit up.

’You know what...’

He had considered participating later. But...

’I can’t take it anymore.’

Watching the pitiful fight had ignited the need to relieve his stress even more.

Lucas stood and made his way down to the registration table, where he promptly handed over his ID and paid the registration fee.

While registering, he discovered something else: his guild’s name would be announced alongside his own.

’I’ll be able to scout people and spread Camelot’s name.’

Assuming he was strong enough to make a favorable impression.

However...

After witnessing that pitiful excuse for a fight, Lucas felt quite confident in his abilities.

With his last coin, he paid the wager at the queue booth and was escorted to the waiting area.

He didn’t remain there for long. A guard soon raised the gate and ushered him into the arena, where Lev Fedorov waited after hearing that someone had volunteered to challenge him.

The announcer hurried past Lucas, took center stage, and launched into her introduction of both fighters.

While she spoke, Lucas approached Lev and said:

"I bear no grudge against you. I do hope you hold none against me after we fight."

Leaning on his sword, Lev raised an eyebrow. Completely disregarding Lucas’s oddly formal remark, he asked:

"Huh? Bruv, where’s your weapon?"

Lucas looked at his empty hands.

’Ah, right.’

"I don’t have one."

It had been left behind in the trial.