Ascension: Online

Afternoon passed as evening rolled around, and at around 6 PM, someone rang the bell to our room.

I went to see who it was, and unsurprisingly, it was Ming Hong.

"Welcome," I said, inviting him inside.

He nodded, entering the room as I closed the door behind him.

"Where are Ming Kang and Ming An?" he asked. Of course that was the first thing he inquired about.

I stepped aside, letting him look for himself. Behind me, Hina-nee watched on warmly as Aisa played together with Ming Kang and Ming An. Of course, Aisa was in fact A.R.X.A. in disguise, but she could act the part of a human child surprisingly well if needed.

Seeing this scene, Ming Hong smiled, then turned back to me. "Thank you, Brother Kaze… those two have not played with anyone their age in years. Is it alright if they stay with you for a while longer?"

I shook my head. "There's no need to thank me for that… Aisa is the same. And of course, they can stay for as long as they want. But what of the information…?"

Ming Hong nodded firmly and whispered into my ear in order to avoid having his two little siblings, absorbed in their fun, notice he was here.

"I spotted the three you were talking about near the center of the city, where the preliminaries for Annual Qilian Regional Competition was taking place. However, they did not seem to be together… the girl was on her own, while the two boys appeared to be frustrated over something."

I frowned. "Frustrated? How so?"

"They appeared to be hitting some sort of invisible wall, but I did not see anything there…" Ming Hong scratched his head awkwardly.

I smirked. Looks like Ichigo and Horiya had not reached Level 30 yet - the invisible wall must be a barrier erected by Ascension: Online's system to prevent those who have not reached the required level from participating in the event. The two still had now until midnight to get to Level 30 and sign up, but they didn't hear the announcement the mayor had made, so they don't know.

"I got it. Thank you for the information," I said, patting Ming Hong's shoulder.

"No problem, Brother Kaze. The girl seemed to have joined the preliminaries, but the two boys just suddenly vanished in a shimmer of light. I do not know how they did that.'

I nodded. "That's fine. But speaking of the preliminaries… are you participating?"

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. I only know how to use hidden arts, so in a one-on-one duel, I will lose horribly."

"That's true… especially on such a small stage," I sighed. "Sorry to hear that."

Ming Hong shook his head. "It is alright. I will head back now to keep observing the girl if she is still there, and if the two boys return."

"Sounds good. Thank you once again."

"Stop thanking me so much, Brother Kaze. Compared to what you have done for the city, this is nothing," Ming Hong chuckled softly, then peered over my shoulder at his two younger siblings, still drowning in having fun with Aisa. "I will pick Ming Kang and Ming An up in roughly two hours, if I do not return before then."

Two hours… that's 8 PM.

"Got it. Oh and, there is one more person I want you to keep an eye on… I have a feeling he is the ringleader behind those three."

"Hm? Who?"

"He's pretty tall, and has blond hair and a mustache. Oh, and he also wears a cowboy hat."

"I see. I will keep an eye out."

With that, he exited the room quietly. I shut the door after he left and turned around, walking back to the interior of the room.

"How was it?" Hina-nee asked.

"Ichigo and Horiya both failed to reach Level 30, but just as I had feared… Furuwa managed to do it," I replied, biting my bottom lip nervously.

"Hm… of course it had to be the sharpest one, huh?"

"It's precisely because she's the sharpest one that she managed to be the only one to pull it off. I don't know about Jim yet, but even if he did hit Level 30, it seems he's pretty busy with real life stuff, so he might not even make the sign-up."

"All the better for us. So we just have Chiaki-san to deal with, huh?" Hina-nee mused thoughtfully as she tried coming up with a plan.

"Well, with any luck, we can avoid her for the next five days. Though when the main tournament rolls around…" I trailed off.

"When the main tournament comes on the weekend, Mazami-kun, Yamato-kun, and Fitzroy-san will all be able to spectate us fight as well."

I shook my head. "Jim, maybe, but not Ichigo or Horiya."

"Hm? Why?"

"According to Ming Hong, the two 'rage quit' after seeing they were forcibly blocked off from entering the tournament. Knowing their personality, they won't be coming back to the game anytime soon."

"S-Seriously? People can get that mad over a game?" Hina-nee, having no previous gaming experience whatsoever, was extremely surprised.

"Well, yeah. I mean, they have to wait a year now before they can do this quest again. But that's not even the main reason."

"Huh…?"

"Think about it. I got them suspended for two weeks. Don't you think they'll have a lot of work piled up for them to do? Even if they want to play, or to find the two of us in the game to confront us, I doubt they'll be able to," I explained. "Their parents are probably the type to not care if they get suspended, as long it's not permanent and they get caught up with their work after."

"I see… now that you mention that, it does make sense. I know a couple of people who have parents like that," Hina-nee murmured. "But that does still leave the problem of Chiaki-san."

I sighed. "I don't really have anything good in mind right now… we'll just have to deal with that problem when it comes."

A while later, Ming Hong returned to the room at exactly 8 PM to pick up his younger siblings. They were reluctant to part with Aisa, but Aisa herself was probably more than eager to do so. It was all an act, after all.

I did receive some good information from Ming Hong, however. According to him, Furuwa beat her opponent with ease. It seems that she might even have a chance of making it to the main tournament.

*****

The next morning, we woke up really early once again to prepare for the second round of preliminaries occurring at 6 AM. We cleaned ourselves quickly and headed out for the center of the city, grabbing some food on the way.

Just like yesterday, there was a huge audience, but still visibly less than before. The people rooting for contestants who had now lost naturally all left. Still, it was quite the popular event.

"Welcome to day two of the preliminaries of the Annual Qilian Regional Competition!" the mayor, Zhen Yuhan, announced excitedly. "All contestants, please form three lines in front of the stage just like yesterday to sign-in."

We did as told. After around half an hour, all the sign-ins were complete. This system was made to accommodate all contestants - those who have time now will battle against other contestants who have time now, and everyone will only do one battle per day - that was the system they were going with.

This was in fact quite advantageous to Hina-nee and I - if we ended up being called to fight after 3 PM, there was a chance Furuwa would catch us. No, she definitely would. Therefore, we needed to complete our daily fight now. All contestants fighting later would have to sign-in first when they arrive, then wait to get pitted against an opponent. We would be identified by the numbers we received yesterday.

And speaking of…

"15 against 27! Come up to the stage!" the mayor announced, looking at a sheet of paper.

Well, I was 15.

"Good luck, Kaze-kun~" Hina-nee cheered as she held Aisa's hand.

I nodded in return and headed for the stage.