There was something off about that girl. Ashton's instincts were screaming at him. The look she gave him left a weird taste in his mouth. But before jumping to any conclusion regarding the girl or the man who was with her, he needed to get some information about them. It could be that they were friendlies or a neutral party.
Or it could be that the Gruntas were still not going to let the matter go and hired these people to cause a ruckus in his life? Given all the money they had, it wouldn't surprise him if they actually did something like that. After all, a noble's ego was something once hurt, would take a lot of effort and revenge to mend.
As much as Ashton wanted to leave for the black market, he decided it was not the right time to do so. He better postpone it for a few hours.
'What am I even thinking?' He vigorously shook his head, 'This is the best opportunity to leave. I wouldn't change my plans just because a couple of random people showed up out of nowhere.'
Ashton convinced himself he was simply overthinking things and made his way out of the academy. The Director was still near the gate when Ashton headed outside, but she did not acknowledge him in any way. It appeared that her friendly persona was long gone. At least that's how it looked to Ashton.
Either way, it wasn't like he desperately wanted to talk to her either. While he appreciated allies and helpers, he wasn't going to let anyone bend him to their will. Not if he could help it, obviously.
***
It took a while for Ashton to reach the black market. Basically, because he was stopped by the city guards at every fcking square he had to cross. Of course, the officers only had one intention in doing so. To pester a kid who was walking the streets by himself.
However, that changed the moment Ashton showed them his academy ID. When the officers saw his ranking, they immediately let him pass. They didn't do so because he was an S ranker, but because they were worried about the backing the kid must have had. Had they known he did not have any backing, their reaction would have been very different.
On top of that, since Ashton was roaming the streets by himself, they assumed he was being 'guarded by the shadows'. It was a term used by the commoners to depict the possibility of nobles being protected by bodyguards and mercenaries who were hiding from plain sight.
'Guarded by the shadows, my ass.' Ashton thought to himself before augmenting his face, away from everyone's eyes, 'If it wasn't for their presumptuous nature, they would have delayed me even more.'
After he was finished preparing, he entered the black market. Even though it was daytime, the place was hustling and bustling like never before. Probably because most of these people would have wanted to get out of there before sunset.
Ashton had a feeling, no one would want to wait there while there were terrorists on the loose. Ashton knew there were no terrorists in Contingent. After all, he was the one because of whom all this crap started in the first place.
Without wasting any more of his precious time, he walked straight towards the counter to get himself registered for a fight. But there was an issue. Since he wanted to level up his werewolf genes, he had to fight as a werewolf.
That meant, he could not use his alias as Mr Virgin this time, who was a vampire. Nor could he use the [Mask of Vampirism], or his twin blades as they were times used by vampires. In the end, he had to create a new identity for himself, which was a good thing, considering it was something he needed to do in order to level up [Alteration].
__
[Name: Vince]
[Class: Classless]
[Type: Brawler]
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Ashton register himself as a brawler because, well, he could not have used either of his two weapons. The twin blades were the weapons of Mr Virgin, while the Bone whip was something Ashton used and using the weapon here might out his real identity.
So he decided to go fight with his transformed fists. After all, that was the way werewolves fought most of the time after transforming. As for the matches, he was lucky as one of the fighters from the next scheduled match had walked out and they had a free spot available.
Ashton took the spot without any hesitation and placed a 2000 blue units bet on himself. After all, he was confident in winning. But when he asked about his opponent and why did the other guy ran away, he got no answer from the counter.
'Well, whatever, guess I'll have to figure it out myself.' Ashton thought before heading towards the ring.
Unlike the previous time Ashton fought there, the ring or arena as some called it, wasn't covered by a cage. Which meant, basic arena rules were applied to the match. Two ways to win, either knock your opponent out or push them off the arena. Pretty simple.
Ashton felt a bit relieved upon finding out the rules. He was there to fight and gain exp. But just in case things started going south, he should be able to win the match by pulling off something like he did with Donovan. A moment later, the announcer started doing the introductions as usual.
"In this corner, we have some newfound talent, going by the lame name Vince!" The announcer found a way to screw Ashton's alias once again, "And on the opposite corner, we have the man who can never have enough toys in his arsenal, The Master Baiter!!!"
"The hell!? What kind of bullshit name is that?" Ashton instinctively spoke.
"A name that's much better than yours, Lame name Vince." The announcer taunted Ashton before hurriedly scurrying away.
Just then, Master Baiter entered the stage. He wasn't very tall, only about 5'4" and was carrying a large sack on his back. He did not have a single strand of hair on his head, face or shirtless body. Also, his eyes were covered with huge black goggles that made him look like some mad scientist.
"Great... I enrolled in a fight with a joker." Ashton shook his head, "No wonder the other guy backed out. The odds of winning the match would be leaning overwhelmingly towards him. Thus he would not have made much money despite winning the match.. I just hope this fool gave give me some exp at least."