Chapter 109 - A Very Confident Summoner Girl?
Theo didn’t have to search the stands for long.
Owen spotted him from afar and pushed himself up from his seat.
’’There he is!’’ he shouted, waving from the corner of the VIP section. ’’You’re actually insane, you know that?’’
Theo raised an eyebrow.
Owen walked up and smacked him on the shoulder.
"Provoking that old bastard like it was nothing?" he continued, shaking his head. "Seriously... that was crazy."
Then he grinned.
"Congrats on freeing your family."
Theo nodded once, a wide, appreciative smile appearing on his face.
’’Thanks,’’ he said.
Iris stood up next.
Her lips curved into a soft smile.
’’You did amazing,’’ she said softly. ’’Congratulations.’’
Theo nodded once again.
But as he looked at her—
Something felt off.
A faint hesitation flickered through her eyes, which didn’t match her tone at all.
’’...Are you okay?’’ he asked.
Iris blinked once, clearly caught off guard.
"Of course," she said immediately, nodding.
A loud thud echoed through the back of his mind.
Theo’s eyes narrowed for a moment.
’She’s lying.’
’’Are you sure?’’ he asked again.
For a split second, her expression stiffened.
Then she nodded once more.
’’I just didn’t know you had this relation with the Whitmores,’’ she said, smiling faintly. ’’But that just means I need to take care of something later.’’
Theo tilted his head.
’Take care of something?’
He didn’t want to push it any further.
Suddenly, Owen clapped his hands together.
"Anyway," he said, stretching his arms. "I’m fighting in like half an hour."
Theo glanced at him, then raised an eyebrow.
Right...
He’d almost forgotten about that.
’’There’s no way you’re nervous, right?’’ he said, tauntingly.
’’Nope,’’ Owen responded, shaking his head. ’’I’m just going to crush my opponents.’’
Theo let out a soft chuckle.
’’Know that you’ll never live it down if you do lose.’’
Owen snorted.
’’Please,’’ he said, waving him off. ’’As if that would happen.’’
The rest of the day passed quickly.
Owen’s matches weren’t even close.
From the moment they started, he absolutely dominated using his dark earth spikes alongside the sheer amount of brute force he had.
’He’s definitely gotten better with his sledgehammer too.’
Owen continuously put immense pressure on his opponents, quite literally chasing them down in the arena without even giving them the chance to breathe.
Most of his opponents didn’t even last a single minute.
Iris wasn’t that much different either.
Except, her fights were much cleaner.
Each of her movements was precise, each spell perfectly used to put her opponents at a disadvantage.
Theo watched all of it calmly from the stands.
’Owen could learn something from the way Iris fights,’ he thought. ’Wouldn’t be bad for him at all.’
Just then, his phone buzzed.
He stepped away from the stands, walking into a quieter corridor at the back.
’’...Theo?’’
His mother’s voice came through immediately.
He let out a quiet breath.
’’Hey mom,’’ he said. ’’Did you see what I sent you?’’
There was a brief moment of silence on the line.
’’...Is it real?’’
’’Yeah,’’ he said. ’’You don’t have to worry anymore.’’
Another moment of silence fell as his mother digested everything.
Finally, a relieved and grateful voice came through.
’’Thank you,’’ she said.
Theo glanced out over the arena for a moment.
"You can come to New York after the tournament," he added. "I’ll set everything up."
His mother let out a small, emotional laugh.
’’Alright,’’ she said.
The call ended a few minutes later.
Theo stood there, smiling as he stared at his phone.
Then he slipped it back into his pocket and returned to the stands.
’To think the Whitmores kept dad at work,’ he thought. ’They couldn’t even see the beginning of the tournament.’
He fell silent for a moment.
’Maybe that was better though. I highly doubt they wanted to see me provoke such people for them.’
As he sat down, his gaze dropped to the field again.
One of his eyebrows shot up right away.
In the center of the arena stood a tall girl with light blue hair.
In front of her stood a large tiger-like creature, nearly twice her size. But what really attracted his attention was its long tail, being nearly three times the length of its actual body.
’What even is that?’
Theo frowned slightly.
It wasn’t the only creature by her side either.
Behind her hovered a second creature. Its body was slender, almost humanoid, but covered in dark, feather-like scales.
Long wings stretched from its back, beating slowly as it stayed suspended in the air. Its face looked almost like a bird’s, with hollow, bead-like eyes.
’Now that I do recognize,’ he thought. ’A harpy.’
Just then, a low hum vibrated through the arena, kicking up dust.
The girl’s opponent froze immediately.
Blood slowly began leaking out of his ears as the spell he was forming dissipated in the middle of the air.
’Sound attacks.’
Theo cursed, shaking his head.
He watched as the young boy dropped to the ground and pressed his hands firmly against his head.
’That’s not exactly what I was looking forward to.’
Then the announcer’s voice finally rang out.
’’The match is over!’’
’’Winner, Lyra Miller!’’
The crowd around him immediately began cheering wildly.
Down in the arena, the girl didn’t react to the cheers at all.
She simply lowered her hand.
A large white portal appeared behind the creatures, sucking them back inside in an instant.
Finally, a smile appeared on her face. She pointed at the camera displaying her everywhere, a cocky expression plastered across her face.
’’I’m going to win this tournament!’’ she shouted. ’’And it won’t even be close!’’
The crowd exploded into even louder cheers than before.
Theo blinked once, his eyebrows still raised.
’That was quite the switch-up...’
Just a moment ago, she’d been so calm and casual.
And now... this.
Owen let out a low whistle beside him.
"Damn," he muttered. "She’s got confidence and beauty."
Theo glanced at him briefly.
"Confidence?" he repeated. "That’s one way to put it..."
His eyes lingered on her for a moment longer.
’That sound element... it’s going to be quite troublesome.’