Chapter 1587
Chapter 1587: Section 1588: Joining Forces
Nausicaa's conversation with Reynaud came to an end. Reynaud bowed to Nausicaa one last time before turning around and leaving.
When Reynaud arrived at the courtyard, he saw Angel, who had returned to his normal state. Reynaud immediately bowed respectfully to Angel.
Angel nodded with a smile. Reynaud had offered many insights to Lyon before, regardless of whether he knew Lyon's identity or if it was intentional. From this point of view, Angel could not possibly look on him with indifference.
Shan had originally planned to invite Reynaud to stay for a barbecue in the courtyard. However, after seeing Angel, Reynaud seemed a bit reserved and shook his head to refuse, only saying he had things to do before leaving first.
Watching Reynaud's departing figure, Shan's expression revealed suspicion: “Was he rejected by Nausicaa?”
Shan pushed open the big door and looked at Nausicaa, who was sitting in the hall.
Nausicaa still held her smoking pipe in hand, and the air was filled with the exotic scent of the tobacco. Amidst the smoke, Nausicaa's eyes appeared hazy, as if she was pondering, yet hesitating.
“You look hesitant. Don't tell me Reynaud confessed his feelings and you're uncertain about whether to be with him?” Shan lifted the curtain of the hall and ran next to Nausicaa.
Snapping out of her reverie upon hearing Shan's words, Nausicaa couldn't help but laugh lightly: “What are you imagining? Reynaud was just discussing some matters with me.”
“Discussing matters? What matters?” said Lyon, who had followed Shan into the hall.
Nausicaa glanced at Lyon, then fixed her gaze on Angel who was beside Lyon. She exhaled a puff of white smoke and lazily waved her hand towards Angel.
“It's rare to see you come over.”
Angel: “I've been working on some casting experiments lately.”
Nausicaa stretched lazily: “After the New Stars competition ended, I've been planning to seriously study tricks. After Second-Level Tricks, trying to learn each new one feels like it's draining my essence. If I don't enrich myself, I might not even make it into the top hundred if there's a similar competition next time.”
Strong as Nausicaa's bloodline abilities were, she wasn't at the point of being overwhelmingly powerful on her own and certainly needed tricks to supplement her abilities.
After some simple pleasantries, everyone sat down, and Nausicaa began to answer Lyon's question.
“Reynaud came to see me because he wants to collaborate with me on something.” Nausicaa's fingers lightly touched her forehead. “I'm hesitating about whether to go.”
Nausicaa did not specify what it was about, probably because it involved Reynaud's secrets; nobody pressed for more details.
“Why doesn't Reynaud partner with someone else? Why specifically seek you out?” Angel asked.
“Because the place Reynaud wants to go has something I need as well.” Nausicaa's response was still vague, but it clarified that Reynaud's and Nausicaa's needs might be different, yet their goals aligned, so Reynaud invited Nausicaa.
Seeing Nausicaa's hesitance, Angel refrained from giving any advice.
Weighing the pros and cons, Nausicaa did better than he could himself, knowing what she was pursuing and never acting impulsively. Thus, there was no need for Angel to instruct Nausicaa on what to do.
However, as a close friend, Angel still remarked: “If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to seek me out.”
Nausicaa paused for a moment, then smiled: “Of course, it'd be a waste not to rely on a golden thigh when it's right beside me.”
Nausicaa didn't want to dwell on Reynaud's matter and quickly changed the subject: “Speaking of which, Ganke is grilling meat today. It's great timing for you to join us.”
Angel caught Nausicaa's drift and didn't say more. At the upcoming barbecue, Angel encountered Serum and the rarely awake Xiliu.
Serum appeared somewhat downcast, not because of consecutive losses in the competition or plummeting rankings. He was simply saddened by the prospect that the Black Classic showed no signs of awakening.
Concerning this, Angel suggested: “If the Black Classic has said he'll come back, then perhaps you should believe in him. If you're truly worried, next time if you see the Book Elder, you could ask him. If all else fails, there's also Dororo.”
Serum's expression eased somewhat upon hearing this. He might not be able to meet Book Elder; as for Dororo, Serum only knew that Dororo was a Prophecy Apprentice and had a very close relationship with Angel, but beyond that, he knew nothing of Dororo's abilities. However, knowing that the other person belonged to the Prophecy line was still a pathway.
After Serum's mood brightened a bit, he became more talkative. The atmosphere at the barbecue also became lively from its initially silent state.
That's when Angel voiced his own doubts: “Do you have any more matches coming up?”
Nausicaa had no more matches unless someone challenged her. But her ranking was already among the bottom hundred, so it was unlikely that anyone would challenge her.
Serum, on the other hand, had several matches coming up, though all were challenges from others. Serum himself said he didn't plan to participate and would concede directly. Therefore, there was no need for Angel to go watch specifically.
From this perspective, Angel could completely avoid watching the ranking matches.
Having reached this conclusion, Angel asked about the last sixteen ranking competitions and their respective brackets. After all, Xiliu was still in the competition.
“I don't know who I will be up against; the list will be released tomorrow evening,” Xiliu spoke methodically, as if he could fall asleep at any moment.
Xiliu didn't seem to care about his final ranking, but with Barbarian Cave having only Xiliu left, everyone still hoped Xiliu could rank higher.
After leaving Fangling Hall, Angel returned to the estate, continuing his research in the Wilderness of Dreams with Frode.
The next night, Angel left the Wilderness of Dreams and took out his communicator to check the top sixteen tournament brackets.
On this list, the ones he cared about most were naturally Xiliu and Qi Li.
He also hoped that the two of them wouldn't have to face each other since both were friends to him, and with one being fire and the other water, neither could prevail over the other.
After looking through it, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The sixteen contestants were divided into two brackets, and Xiliu and Qi Li were not in the same one; unless they both made it to the final, they would not meet.
Xiliu's first match was against the “Sparkling New Star.”
Angel remembered that this Sparkling New Star had played against Reynaud before and Reynaud lost. Everyone thought Reynaud's “John's Counterattack” luck had ended, but actually, Reynaud avoided a battle with Jiebo because of that loss.
Sparkling New Star lost to Jiebo in combat. Nevertheless, he was still judged to be in the top sixteen, indicating that his skills should not be underestimated.
Angel was also familiar with Qi Li's opponent, known as “Spring Waltz” Dominico.
Angel estimated that the outcome between Xiliu and Sparkling New Star was unpredictable, since he didn't really know what kind of person Sparkling New Star was, but if it were Qi Li versus Dominico, Qi Li almost certainly had the victory in the bag.
The ranking matches were not yet over, and the eight bracketed matches all kicked off on the same day.
The popularity of the Infinite Battle Tower peaked on this day. Angel hadn't entered the Infinite Battle Tower yet, but just soaring through the sky, he felt an overwhelming enthusiasm.
Within a 300-meter radius of the Infinite Battle Tower, it was nearly a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, which showed how many people came to watch the matches.
The sensational matches also led to a scarcity of tickets.
Particularly for a few eye-catching matches, like those of Jiebo, Kavoline, Dong Liz, and Onassis, tickets were sold out in an instant.
Angel didn't need to buy a ticket, however; he went to watch the matches with his status as a special judge.
The match he chose to watch was Xiliu's.
“Xiliu VS Sparkling New Star.”