Chapter 188: Arriving at the Meeting Grounds
Chapter 188: Arriving at the Meeting Grounds
Nero and the others had only just arrived within the compound of the meeting grounds. As he looked around, he saw quite a few individuals, many of who he couldn't even begin to understand due to their overwhelming auras. Still, regardless of those who were superior to himself, he also caught sight of the talents who had accompanied such persons to the meeting.
At this time, Elly, who stood nearby had a lively expression as she hinted towards various persons while chatting away in his ears, but as for Ryo and Screwgelman, they walked a little distance away from the duo.
Screwgelman led their group to the compound's main meeting area with sternness; he saw a few of his rivals who were eyeing him and didn't dare to let his guard down.
As for Ryo, he walked a little distance behind Nero and Elly, almost like a shadow, but if one looked at him closely, they would notice something different about him. His eyes were a bit cold and icy as his gaze wandered towards a certain sector of the crowds of digitizers.
"Look, look, quickly! That gloomy fellow over there; I hear he's that newly rising talent of the Shadowblood faction, his fame only inferior to that Maxim Craydus. Let's see... I think he's called... Kyle something, I think."
Elly said a slightly awkward expression on her face as she pointed at a gloomy youth around their age, garbed in a hoody with head covered by the hood. He gave one a dark and scary feeling as if he didn't want anyone getting close to him.
"If he's so famous, then why can't you say his full name?" Nero asked as he glanced at Elly.
Elly's face turned red due to embarrassment, but that soon changed as she snapped back, "Hey, it's not like I can know everything about a talent; besides, I only know a bit of these affairs."
"I see, I see," Nero said in an offhanded tone, even waving his arms as if saying it's nothing.
'Nero... just you wait...' Elly thought as she glared at him before snorting; she felt like grabbing his side and wringing it like a wet rag, but thinking back to her mother's mantra, she took a deep breath to calm herself.
With a sigh, her eyes then wandered around a bit more before noticing a few other figures. It was a group of mostly Asians in martial wear with a few persons of other ethnicities. There were two young prodigies; one was a female that wore a Chinese wushu uniform with a ponytail and a sharp set of eyes; the other was a short-haired male with a sheath on his back.
"Oh, that's Kailua Mei and Kojima Ryusei; I think they are the top running talents of the newly rising batch from the Martial Union."
Nero caught sight of the two she mentioned and couldn't help but show a face of surprise as he heard Kojima. He turned and glanced at Ryo, who walked behind them, and soon noticed that he was staring in the direction of the person mentioned.
"Ryo, is that person related to you?" Nero asked.
Elly also realized something; her eyes flashed with realization as she covered her mouth in shock while looking at Ryo in thought.
'His name was Kojima; how could I forget? Not to mention he's following this freak, since it's so then it's likely that he came from the Kojima clan, but that's odd... why would someone of such a family willingly follow behind Nero?'
When Elly's thoughts reached here, her eyes became stern as she shifted her eyes to Nero; it was the first time she felt she didn't know much about him, she muttered to herself.
'Is there something about him that I don't know... if so, I wonder, what it is?'
While Elly pondered to herself, Screwgelman gave Ryo and Nero a deep look but said nothing in the end; his eyes flickered as he stared at Nero a little longer while in thought.
'I've heard about it from the master, but it seems that this kid's last name might be more than just a coincidence... a Valstine, heh, how exciting.'
Not paying attention to Elly and Screwgelman's reactions, Nero kept his eyes on Ryo, who only turned his attention to him. He then replied in an icy tone, 'It doesn't matter.'
Nero felt a surge of hatred in his voice; he could tell that the relation between the two wasn't anything good; thus, he decided not to pry any further and mind his own business.
'Hmm, such a powerful Spiritual Awareness, who is it?'
Nero thought in alarm as he felt something scanning him; his eyes shifted around before noticing someone in another group, or rather, a lone wolf that stood apart from that batch, a familiar red-haired youth with pale skin and a cold set of eyes.
'What? It's him, that guy from that time... what's he doing here?' Nero thought in alarm.
The last time he saw that person was in the alleyway of Rambruck, but never did he think they would meet here. After scanning Nero for a while, the youth seemed to have lost interest as he turned his sights away.
Nero frowned at this as he muttered, "Who does he think he is? He thinks that he can check me out as he wishes and show such a manner; he's truly asking for it."
Adult Nero chuckled at this and spoke, "Haha he's quite famous, you know."
'Oh, and who might I this famous fellow be my all-knowing self?' Nero inwardly said while rolling his eyes.
Adult Nero rolled his eyes before replying with a playful tone, "You're sure to know him, after all, he goes by the title - Child of Blaze..."
Nero was about to retort, but as he heard his older self's words, his eyes widened in shock as the look he gave the red-haired youth changed drastically. The number one within the [Rising Talent Ranking List], he was a youth of mystery, even more so than the Gold Spear Child.
Noticing Child of Blaze's indifferent manner as if he merely glanced over a fly, Nero felt angered for some reason, but he didn't dare to jump out and provoke him, he calmed his mood once more.
After a moment of silence, Nero gripped his fist tighter with a firm set of eyes while thinking, "So that's how it is, tch, no matter, he won't be arrogant for too long."
Adult Nero leaned back lazily and said nothing; he allowed his younger self to bud with intense emotions as he looked around with a frown. All this time, he had been looking around for a form, but no matter where he looked, he found no clue.
'Odd, this is where we were supposed to meet; why isn't he here yet? Could it be that even this has changed? How troubling...'
Adult Nero's eye's narrowed as his thoughts reached here, his eyes vaguely recalling a form that caused him to brew with endless killing intent. Still, but he didn't stay focused for long as both he and his younger self noticed that a group had approached them.
"You stinking brat, you dare not to call me and say when you were coming!" Yullia's voice sounded from before them.
The two Blood Steel Society talents Kenra and Judy had bad looks on their faces as they saw Nero, it looked like they were displeased with his manner.
Nero looked ahead with a slightly awkward look on his face; he scratched his head and explained, "Aunty, I'm sorry, but I had already received an invitation from my friend."
When Yullia heard the word friend, her attention turned to Elly, who now had a bit of a red face, Elly, knowing Yullia's fame, hurriedly spoke in her most refined tone.
"Greetings miss Yullia; it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Aww, so cute and refined, just like your mother; when you get back, be sure to tell her that I said Hi," Yullia said with a smile.
"Of course," Elly replied obediently.
Nero felt it odd that Elly, of all persons, was so obedient, he couldn't help but look at Yullia in a more stern light, knowing that she was even more dangerous than he could imagine.
Yullia glanced at Ryo before looking Screwgelman with a smile and speaking, "Mr. Vondelez, I see that you're out and about again; you've caused our society quite a deal of trouble, you know, the leader isn't pleased."
Screwgelman was initially at ease, but his forehead started to run with sweat as he heard 'leader'. He gulped as he tried to explain himself, "Haha, miss Dark Witch, I... as you can see..."
"Hehe, it's fine-its fine; the leader though angry has decided to let it pass, don't worry. He said he'd speak to you about it another day," Yullia said with a sly smirk, causing Screwgelman to sweat even more; he sighed, not saying anything as Doppleman's figure appeared in his mind, causing him to grit his teeth.
"Well, come on, let's get over to the main area; the meeting will soon start," Yullia said as she beckoned for everyone to follow her over to a group of chairs.
"Okay," Nero and the others replied as they followed behind her, stirring eyes of quite a few powers which began to whisper about them in secret.