Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player



Klaus looked at the blonde, middle-aged woman behind him with a neutral expression, analyzing her for a moment. He could feel an aura of arrogance and superiority coming from her, which contrasted sharply with the mood in the air.

The man next to her seemed clearly embarrassed by the woman's attitude, Klaus could sense something familiar in his gaze. He could not immediately identify it, but he felt he had seen those eyes somewhere before.

The woman continued to grumble, now in a louder voice, clearly intending her words to reach others' ears. "I don't understand why everyone is so enthusiastic about this girl. Her elegance and grace are nothing but futility and a waste of time."

Klaus, though a little surprised by the woman's negative stance, kept his composure. He knew the competition was a field of rivalry, but he couldn't help but be annoyed. Therefore, he turned away and went back to drinking from his soda. However, it was clear that the woman did not share the same enthusiasm as the crowd towards Emma, so he wondered why they were there and what prompted her to express such displeasure openly.

However, before he could formulate any thoughts about it, the blonde woman continued to speak in a tone audible enough for Klaus and the people nearby to once again hear her.

"That's the typical attention-seeker display, isn't it? Just a way to draw attention to yourself and try to look special." The woman rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, as if bored with everything that was going on.

The man next to her muttered something in a low voice, trying to calm her down or dissuade her from continuing her negative comments.

For his part, Klaus felt a twinge of irritation, and a vein popped out of his forehead.

'Emma has just given a perfect performance and is receiving well-deserved admiration from the audience. There's no reason for anyone to spoil that moment. He thought.

So, with a serious expression, Klaus turned completely around to face the blonde woman. Her eyes conveyed a mixture of disapproval and questioning.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but what you said is not fair. Emma has just accomplished something remarkable and deserves the recognition she is receiving. She is not seeking attention; she is demonstrating the mastery she has achieved through her hard work. If you don't appreciate the effort and passion people put into their skills, perhaps you're in the wrong place."

The man next to the woman looked even more uncomfortable, and Klaus could see a hint of gratitude in his gaze as the woman was momentarily speechless, surprised by the firm response she had received.

Moreover, the attention of many around was already focused on the little verbal clash that was unfolding. The audience that had not yet dispersed after Emma's presentation was now witnessing this exchange of words.

Murmured comments spread, and many people seemed sympathetic to Klaus' protest.

The blonde woman seemed torn between irritation and surprise. For a moment, Klaus thought she might respond with more sarcasm, but then she took a deep breath and let it out with a frustrated expression.

"Let's go, Edgar. We don't have time for this." She cast one last disdainful glance in Klaus's direction before turning and starting to walk away, her companion following behind her.

Klaus watched them leave, and his posture immediately relaxed with a deep breath. He didn't like arguing with people much older, but he also couldn't keep quiet when he saw someone disrespecting someone's effort, especially someone like Emma, who was important to him.

Turning to the arena again, he watched the competitors preparing for the next round. After such a performance by Emma, the atmosphere was ecstatic.

Just then, Klaus saw that Max, Emma's Department colleague, was among the ten contestants in the next round of 'Hit the Duck'. So Klaus squinted his eyes and made sure to watch carefully.

Klaus observed Max preparing for the challenge. The bow the tall boy had picked up was a Sturdy Compound Bow, only that wasn't what Klaus was thinking about as he stared at him.

He didn't know Max well enough to understand what he wanted with Emma, but the look he got from Max when the doors opened was no ordinary look, although he was very friendly after that.

When the countdown started and everyone began to raise their bows, Max didn't do the same, instead he took the moment to focus completely on the task at hand. His dark eyes fixed on the targets, and when the challenge finally began, he moved with surprising speed for someone his size. Max took two arrows from his quiver, placed them on the bowstring and shot them.

The two arrows flew simultaneously at the same target and one hit, but the other did not. The people around were confused, because they had not seen someone do that until now.

'I just need to hit to score points, don't I? So, to compensate for my shaky aim, I'll shoot more arrows than anyone else!' Max thought.

Everyone in the stadium was baffled by Max's unique approach of shooting two arrows at once, as this was surprisingly effective, despite not being the technique traditionally used. Some arrows found their targets, while many others narrowly missed. However, his strategy of launching multiple arrows was paying off, because he was rapidly climbing the overall leaderboard.

Klaus watched with enormous interest, because Max was putting into practice a completely different strategy to deal with challenge, and the kind of competitor who deviates from the norm is definitely the most dangerous. 

...

E dited by: DrHitsuji

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