Chapter 187: Power of Cheesecake

Cheers erupted without a pause. Moon scanned the arena with a startled face. "What the hell am I looking at?" he exclaimed.

Not once before had the arena been this crowded; Moon hadn’t even imagined the branch had this many people to begin with.

He looked around. In the highest row, Ed and Samuel were seated, surrounded by even more onlookers. Moon felt a few unpleasant gazes, and he tried to identify them one by one. He was getting more sensitive to others as time passed by.

His eyes fell on someone he didn’t expect: Lucen. Moon remembered him. ’The flamboyant dude is here too,’ he realized.

There were other people Moon didn’t recognize; they were wearing the same uniform as Samuel, but Samuel didn’t seem bothered by any of these guests.

Below them, he saw Boa, Lexie, and Nola side by side. Moon also spotted all the other familiar faces seated close to one another.

He exhaled slowly and walked down the stairs.

His eyes soon fell on the girl from the Order of Assassins. Her gaze made him scratch his neck before locking eyes with her threateningly. He couldn’t see her eyes beneath her hood, but he was certain they were locked onto his.

Moon took a deep breath. ’There’s no helping it; I’m the one fighting, and everyone is watching.’

Moon took hold of his wrist and rotated it. "After this round, whoever stares daggers at me again will get their neck snapped," he muttered under his breath. Almost no one heard him, except for a few.

Ed, for example, heard him loud and clear. "Lucen, since no one invited you or these idiots, shouldn’t you at least come with a small gift? A box of chocolates or something?" he said mockingly.

"Aren’t we close friends now, Edmond? There’s no such thing between us," Lucen retorted with his usual bright smile.

"Living for so long stripped you of basic decency, too; such a sad life," Ed said, shaking his head.

Lucen chuckled softly. "I guess your parents never taught you how to respect your elders."

"They didn’t. I wouldn’t have survived this long otherwise," Ed casually struck back. "Anyway, stop staring at the kid. Your damn gaze is disturbing as hell." Ed’s tone hardened.

"I’m here for a good reason, actually," Lucen said. "I’ll cover my eyes every once in a while so as not to disturb him," he added jokingly.

"What reason?" Ed asked.

"Patience. You might already know, even while playing dumb. Who knows," Lucen said dismissively.

Meanwhile, Samuel was seated between the two, ignoring them both, treating them as if they didn’t exist to the point that Ed suspected he might have sealed his hearing completely just to avoid being bothered.

Right below, Lexie stood to watch Moon as he descended the stairs. "Our favorite starved skeleton—well, he doesn’t look so starved today," she said, shrugging.

Boa frowned. "You’re cheering for him, even against Lady Talia?" she spoke in evident annoyance.

Lexie’s lips curved downward. "You won’t get it."

"You traitor," Boa said. "You understand that the leadership and our future will fall into that savage’s hands if he wins. How could you support him against Lady Talia?"

"So what?" Lexie wasn’t convinced. "Why would I want her to lead instead of him?"

Boa’s face reddened in anger. "You—"

Lexie cut her off. "Did Lady Talia save my aide?" she asked suddenly.

Confused, Boa opened her mouth, but Lexie pressed on. "Did she beat up that scammer for me?" She was hinting at Dorbish, who had made a bet with her once and tricked her—a key reason she had refused to place any bets this time.

Boa blinked, trying to follow, but Lexie added, "He took my cheesecake once, but it’s fine." She looked completely unbothered.

Boa rubbed the bridge of her nose, exhaling slowly. "Everything you said is fine, but it doesn’t mean he’s qualified to be responsible for a large-scale group trial." She tried to reason with her.

Lexie pursed her lips, sitting back down. "Boa, you know what?" She looked ahead at Moon. "I never knew I loved fist fighting before I saw him."

Boa’s face twitched, but Lexie paid it no mind. "I’ve seen those who fought formally and systematically my whole life, but this is new, and it’s beautiful to watch."

Lexie looked over at Nola, whose eyes were already shining. "Right, Nola?" she asked.

"Sir Savior is the strongest!" Nola clenched her fists.

Boa, on the other hand, looked shaken. "Do you perhaps have... you know?" she asked hesitantly. "You’re from a clan; no matter where it’s located on the scale of clans, whatever you’re attempting is just wrong!" Boa urged anxiously.

"No one can stop me. I’ll do whatever I have to get what I want," Lexie retorted with absolute confidence.

"Do you understand the gravity of what you’re saying right now?!" Boa raised her voice.

"What’s wrong with wanting to learn fist fighting? Has your brain rotted?" Lexie pointed right at the center of Boa’s face.

Boa, thoroughly confused, blinked. "Wha—"

"Just because he doesn’t fight in the way the clans do makes him unqualified to present something new?" Lexie raised her voice further. "I’ll learn fist fighting from him. No one can stop me!" she declared.

Ha~

Haha~

Boa found herself sweating, weak laughs escaping her twitching lips.

Lexie ignored her and started cheering for Moon, while almost everyone else cheered for Talia.

By then, Moon was already standing on the opposite side of the ring from Talia. Uon stood in the center between them.

"Didn’t think I would be this late," Moon said apologetically as soon as he met their gazes.

"It’s fine, I arrived early," Talia said softly, standing barefoot just like Moon.

Her attire was different from her usual armor and sword. She wore a white training uniform—a thick cloth upper garment folded and tied with a belt at the waist, paired with loose pants.

Moon studied her clothes for a moment before nodding. "These are good clothes." He praised the practicality they offered.

"Thank you. I also have to say that your body looks to be in considerably better condition than before," Talia commented. "I can tell you’ve worked hard for this."

Moon blinked before looking down at his own torso.

His abdomen was much more defined than before, showing the clear outline of a V-line. His ribs were no longer the only prominent feature on his chest.

Even his arms had changed. His forearms had lean, dynamic muscle that moved whenever he rotated his wrists. He raised his hand to feel his bicep—or as he called it, ’the round, pumpy arm muscle.’

As soon as Moon flexed his arm back and forth, satisfaction washed over his face. "Power of cheesecake," he couldn’t help saying. "And three meals a day."

He also recalled that hammering metal in the smithy every day had yet to grant him the [Heat Resistance] trait, but it had accelerated the development of his arms. He’d trained so hard over the last week that his stats had experienced another slight increase.

He rotated his fist while squeezing his bicep, admiring the feeling. "I’ve gotten a little stronger than last round, it seems."

Talia nodded with a smile. "You sure did."

Uon looked at the two of them, one after the other, with his usual gentle smile. "Are you ready?" he asked.

Moon stepped forward, and Talia did the same.

"Ready!"