Arthur had spent the whole day with Chronos. Once the day was over, Excalibur returned back to the weapon world. The next morning came by fast and it was time for Arthur to leave. He set his sight to the East, planning to cross the sea to Sahrak Darin. He geared up, wearing a clean, dark brown outfit and leather gloves. His clothes emphasised functionality and Amygdala was fashioned with a similar matching outfit.

"Kyahh~Look at us Arthur! We’re matching!" She exclaimed while twirling happily around.

Arthur tugged on his high-collared coat, "It feels comfortable...yeah, I’ll be able to move around freely in these clothes."

"Haha! I went out of my way to get them from the capital so I’m glad you like them." Kagekawa handed them both a bag to store all their items, "Here you go...with that you two are ready to go."

"Thank you master." Arthur smiled and then turned to Chronos, who looked to be on the verge of tears. He knelt down and ruffled his hair with a big grin, "Don’t worry Chronos. Before you know it, we’ll be back!"

Amygdala then picked Chronos up and gave him a big hug, "I’ll miss you Chronos!" She then set him down after a few moments.

"I-I’ll miss both of you too!" He said in a shaky voice, clearly trying to hold back his tears.

"Enough already you two! Go on now, shoo shoo!" He waved his hand dismissively as he sat down on a chair.

"Alright...we’re heading off now!" Arthur exclaimed, opening the door as he held Amygdala’s hand. They walked out of Kagekawa’s home, leaving for a long time.

Chronos ran out and waved his hand goodbye. "I’ll be really strong by the time you come back!" He exclaimed at the top of his lungs. Kagekawa sniffled, "...I’ll really miss those two." Tears welled up in his eyes, he made sure nobody would see him about to cry. "I’m so proud of Arthur!"

Chronos stood outside, watching them walk off in the distance. He had a huge grin on his face while still looking determined, "C’mon Chronos, this isn’t the last time you’ll see them! I’ll make sure to get plenty strong the next time we meet." He squished his cheeks with his palms as he encouraged himself.

Amygdala attached herself onto Arthur’s arm, which made him embarrassed. "Hey, Arthur! We’re going to go to Sahrak Darin, right? By ship?"

"Yeah, that’s the plan. First, we have to go to the city that’s towards the East of Vastos, Labout."

"Kagekawa did mention that yesterday...he said it’d take about two weeks to get there." Amygdala placed her index finger on her lips, just then a light bulb switched on inside her head, "I have a fast way to get there!" She brightened up.

"Hm?" Arthur gave a curious look to Amygdala. Suddenly, he couldn’t feel the ground beneath his feet, "Eh?" Before he realised it, Amygdala had swept him off his feet, carrying him princess-style. "Amygdala?!"

"Yes my dear husband?" She tilted her head with a guileless expression.

Arthur then covered his face with his hands while completely red in the face. He was completely embarrassed to the point that steam came out of his head, "This is...very humiliating." He couldn’t help but feel demasculated.

"Ah! There’s no need to feel embarrassed. I think you look quite cool in this pose!"

Arthur kept his face in his palms and quietly spoke, "Let’s just...go."

Amygdala carried Arthur all the way to Labout at speeds that even he could not achieve with his wind magic, making the two-week trip by horse only two days. Of course, they stopped by a few villages along the way to either eat or sleep in inns as well as taking on some quests. Arthur was able to take on A-class level quests due to him being an A-rank, making it easy for him to earn a lot of money.

≡

Vastos,

Labout

They entered the bustling and prosperous port city, Labout, planning to stay for a little before catching a ship to Sahrak Darin. It seemed as if a celebration of some sort was going on as there were balloons and odd bits of confetti everywhere. There were performances of all kinds taking place along with stalls set up, selling a variety of foods, which smelled delicious.

"Amygdala! Let’s go get some food." Arthur gleamed with joy while pointing at a stall selling crispy meat buns.

"They do smell nice, alright then!"

Arthur grabbed Amygdala’s hand and excitedly led the way. She couldn’t help but smile at Arthur’s eagerness to buy meat buns.

"That’ll be 4 bronze sigils for one meat bun, young man!"

Arthur handed him 8 bronze sigils, thinking that the meat buns in Eira village were cheaper but any dissatisfaction he may have had disappeared as soon as he took a bite. The rich and flavourful juiciness of the meat layered his tongue, blasting his taste buds.

"This is amazing!" His eyes widened as he gave the other meat bun to Amygdala. "Try it Amygdala, they’re really tasty!"

Amygdala then knelt over to the meat bun that Arthur took a bite of and bit into it herself, "I think I prefer this one~" She said as she moved her bang over her ear.

Arthur’s voice caught in his throat, he was unable to speak. "Ah-Ah-Ah." He was too stunned at Amygdala’s seductiveness.

Amygdala then placed her index finger on Arthur’s nose, "Yep, it’s tasty!" She exclaimed with a satisfied look on her face and walked a bit further down.

"Amygdala...that was an...i-indirect kiss..." Steam came out of his face as he quietly spoke. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Hm? Did you say something?" Amygdala spun her body around with both of her hands behind her back.

"N-Nothing!"

"I see..." She then faced forward, "Next time it won’t be an indirect kiss Arthur!" Amygdala teasingly exclaimed, she had in fact heard Arthur.

Arthur silently walked close behind with a blush on his face as he scoffed both of the meat buns.

"I do wonder though, what’s all this celebration about? Not that I mind it." Amygdala asked while looking around.

As they walked, Arthur noticed colourful posters all around. He grabbed hold of one and inspected it.

"A tournament?!" He exclaimed.

"Hm?" Amygdala leant over, looking closely at the poster. "Look Arthur! There’s a huge pool of money! 10,000 gold sigils to the winner."

"Maybe I should compete...it’s sponsored by Voyage so there’s probably loads of strong warriors coming to this tournament." Arthur then read through it and noticed something else, "The leader of Voyage will be fighting at the end of this tournament...that’s probably why they’re giving such a huge pool of money, they don’t expect someone to beat the leader of Voyage after all. Alright, let’s enter this tournament!" Arthur exclaimed with determination.

Amygdala then shot down his idea, "Darling...It looks like entries are closed." She pointed to a section of the poster showing the sign-up times, which was long past due.

"Ack!...I guess it’s fine if we just watch then."

"We better hurry." Amygdala suggested as she pointed to another section of the poster, showing the tournament had already begun a while ago.

Amygdala then ran across the town while holding Arthur, trying to find the tournament. It wasn’t hard to find as it was taking place in an open-roof, massive and very visible colosseum. They heard a loud roar coming from inside, seemingly from cheering fans, along with a loud voice, who seemed to be the commentator of the event.

"IT’S TIME FOR THE FINAL BATTLE OF THIS INTENSE TOURNAMENT!!!!!"

"Let’s hurry up, the main fight’s about to begin!" Arthur jumped out of Amygdala’s arms and rushed inside while grabbing Amygdala’s hand, who matched his pace. They both found a place to sit, which was pretty far from the actual stage. Fortunately, both of them had really good eyesight and could make everything out.

"STEPPING FORTH FIRST IS THE CHALLENGER!!!"

A woman with short dirty grey hair stepped forward. She was kitted with silver and black armour. Her eyes were an emerald-like green. She wielded a fancy-looking spear twice her size. Arthur could feel a great deal of power as soon as she walked into the Arena. He began shaking in excitement, "Damn...I wish I could’ve joined the tournament."

Amygdala then directed a pout at Arthur, feeling a little jealous. "I’m right here, you know! Hmph!"

"Ah!" Arthur frantically waved his hands about, "I meant that she seems really powerful so it’d be good to fight her, you know? You’re the only one for me Amygdala..." Arthur tried clearing up the confusion with a worried look.

"Fine! I forgive you!" She said even though her arms were crossed and her angry face didn’t change much.

"SHE IS THE YOUNGEST S-RANK AND HAS YET TO BE D-D-D-DEFEATED!! THIS FIERCE WOMAN HAS COMPLETED MULTIPLE S-CLASS QUESTS AND EVEN CLEARED FOUR TOWERS!! GIVE IT UP FOR THERESIA VOLSTEIN!!"

The audience’s adrenaline spiked as they erupted in cheer! She planted her spear onto the ground and gave a fierce look to the commentator. "I told you not to use my last name. It’s ugly sounding and I hate ugly things." She said in a cold and calm manner. This made the commentator sweat a little.

"Haha...sorry~ahem! WELL THEN, THE MOMENT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE MAN WHO’S KILLED COUNTLESS S-CLASS MONSTERS AND RECENTLY CLEARED HIS S-S-S-SEVENTH TOWER!"

Most of the other people watching couldn’t feel it as they hadn’t trained their magic to a degree to sense such a powerful presence. However, Arthur could feel it...a gripping pressure around his body.

Amygdala, who hadn’t paid any attention to the arena turned her attention downwards to the stage.

The man entered the arena with a normal-looking smile on his face. His spiky hair was blonde with red tints. He wore a completely clean, white outfit and strangely he wasn’t equipped with any weapon.

A droplet of sweat ran down Arthur’s face. He gulped as he smiled, "M-Maybe he just uses magic?...But he doesn’t have a staff...how does he fight?" Arthur leant forward, his gaze completely drawn in on this terrifying man. He couldn’t help but feel on edge. Arthur had felt a huge sense of curiosity come over him, he was completely focused just like everyone else in the colosseum.

"GIVE IT UP FOR ALBERECHT LEONHARDT!!!!!"