Chapter 817
Suddenly, the former village chief stepped forward and came to stand before Ujir and Alex.
"Ujir."
"Chief..."
"Go. Go with Alex."
The chief patted Ujir's shoulder and said, "Not choosing you before—that was my mistake. I didn't see your potential clearly and made the wrong judgment. Your talent isn't lacking. I was simply too cautious. The problem wasn't with you—it was with me."
"Ujir, you need to believe in yourself, and even more importantly, believe in your friends. Since Alex chose you, then go with him. Stand tall. I believe you'll achieve excellent results in the martial trials. From now on, you'll be the hero who walked out of our village."
Ujir looked up at the chief.
"Chief, do you really mean that?"
"Of course."
Only then did Ujir smile and turn to Alex.
"Alex, this time, you got ahead of me. But next time, I won't fall behind."
"Then prove it to me!"
Alex lifted his chin confidently. "I won't just stand around waiting for you to catch up. I'll keep getting stronger—stronger and stronger. That's a promise, my friend."
Ron had more or less figured out the rules of this martial tournament.
First, it started as a series of matches between villages. Each village would send out their chosen warriors. These warriors were the ones who actually fought.
The victorious village would earn the right to plant their flag at the defeated village's gate, symbolizing that they had conquered it.
The losing village would then be barred from further participation in the tournament.
What's more, the winning village had the privilege of selecting warriors from the defeated side to fight for them.
The scale and destructiveness of the martial tournament were somewhat less than Ron had anticipated. However, what Ron still didn't fully understand was the actual impact this had on the villages. On the surface, it seemed like a competition among warriors alone. But if it was something that commanded such importance across all of Minpo, there had to be more to it.
Ron simply hadn't seen it yet.
"Let's move out. To Black River Village!"
Alex's team now numbered four. Ron was among them, but only as an observer—he wasn't part of the team itself.
Surrounding them, faint glows began to appear, drawn toward the crystal sphere, though the pace remained slow and the progress thus far was still low—barely two percent.
However, based on Ron's previous experience, as long as he stayed with Alex all the way through to the end of the tournament, his Observation mastery would eventually reach one hundred percent.
Of course, that depended on Alex continuing to win.
If Alex were to lose, Ron would immediately switch his observation target.
After all, he wasn't observing a person—he was observing a phenomenon, an environment.
"Outsider. Can you tell me—why exactly did you come to our village?"
Ujir had approached Ron.
This question clearly weighed on him, as it did on the rest of the village. Ron, so overwhelmingly powerful, had suddenly appeared—and gone straight to the shrine. But his demeanor hadn't been hostile.
Still, Ujir couldn't help but ask.
"I just came to retrieve something," Ron replied. "Something that didn't belong to your village to begin with. It simply returned to the hands of its rightful owner. It won't bring any harm to your people."
"Really?"
"If you don't believe me, Ujir," Ron said calmly, "I could go back right now and destroy your village. Would that make my intentions clearer?"
Ujir's expression shifted dramatically.
"No, please. I believe you. I believe you."
Before long, they arrived at Black River Village.
Ron didn't move forward with Alex and the others—this was their battle, not his.
A crowd of villagers emerged.
At the center stood two individuals with unusual appearances.
One was an obese woman, wielding a massive spiked club. Beside her stood a boy with pink hair. They seemed to be a couple—but something about them made that uncertain.
"Alex?" the fat woman said, narrowing her eyes. "So it's you who won. But if you think you can defeat Black River Village, you're sorely mistaken."
"Hurry up and start already. We've been waiting a long time."
"Once I've crushed you, I'll be heading out in earnest."
Ron observed the two of them.
The fat woman was hideous in appearance and had a nasty personality, but her strength wasn't bad. Among the pair, she was clearly the strongest—especially in terms of raw power.
Even the villagers of Black River showed hints of fear when they looked at her.
Nonetheless, Ron believed Alex would win.
He didn't use divination—just his eyes.
As an S-rank Nen user, Ron might be young, but his experience far surpassed the norm. For battles at this level, one glance was enough for him to judge the likely outcome.
Alex crossed his arms.
"Let's begin."
In the next instant, Alex's team charged forward.
Neither side had Nen users, but their roles were still clear.
Alex led the front. Rondo covered the flank. Ujir provided long-range support. Melissa handled command and coordination.
On the other side, the fat woman was the core powerhouse.
The pink-haired boy wasn't even stronger than Ujir, the weakest on Alex's team.
However, the sheer strength of the fat woman allowed the opposing side to hold its ground—for a time, the battle appeared evenly matched.
But the numerical advantage couldn't be ignored forever.
Ron found one thing puzzling: why did Alex's group start as a team of three, while Ujir's village had been able to send out six? And now Black River Village had only sent two?
They were all villages—so why the discrepancy in team sizes?
While pondering this, Ron continued observing the battlefield.
"Gyo."
He once again saw traces of Nen.
The entire battlefield was enveloped in a faint, complex Nen field. The setup resembled what he had seen in Greed Island.
Beneath the ground, vast Nen formations were etched.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, the fat woman's body was hurled backward.
Under the combined assault of Alex and Rondo, she was defeated.
Then, a glowing orb—visible only to those with Nen—emerged. It passed through the bodies of the fat woman and the pink-haired boy, then split into four portions and floated toward Alex's team.
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Note: ....OK I am pretty sure you all know where this is going. Just enjoy it lol