367 Chapter 367: What’s the point? (2/2)
However, I was still a little hesitant about this.
\”Isn't celebrating right now a little too premature? Shouldn't we wait until after Harrison's match, until after we actually qualify for the knock-out stage before celebrating?\”
\”Idiot!\” Craig Carlson threw a hand around my shoulders and chuckled. \”We'll celebrate again if Harrison wins and we get to the knock-out stages. The more celebrations, the better! Don't be such a wet blanket!\”
\”Let's live it up tonight, and leave the strategies and discussion for tomorrow!\” Sheila Scarlet added, getting caught up in the jubilant mood.
\”Yeah, no point stressing over it right now,\” Theodore Hammond agreed. \”It would be a good change of pace, and there really is no use worrying over something we don't have control of, especially when we will only know the venue tomorrow.\”
\”It's decided, then! Let's go!\”
At Pearl Pang's command, we all set off. Not immediately, of course. Shortly after the match, we still had the debriefing, we had to go through certain formal ceremonies – which were mercifully short – and speak to a few teachers before returning to the hotel for a couple of hours of rest. Then only could we finally leave for Aurora Bar once evening dawned upon us.
And then we were done for the day.
*
\”Hey, where did you learn your ice magic from? I don't remember you having learned such advanced ice magic before.\”
Craig was staring at me as he placed his mug of soda down on the table, the liquid foaming as it slushed at the edges of the cup.
\”That's because I don't remember telling you about it,\” I replied snidely. Craig glowered at me before playfully strangling me.
\”You rascal!\”
\”Did you learn ice magic from the Silver Wolves?\” Dong Fang Yue Chu asked, a little more diplomatically. I shook my head.
\”No, not really. But…well, you could say that I was indeed guided by a mercenary.\”
The merc with a mouth, to be exact, but I doubted that any of my friends would get the reference. Hell, the majority of my readers had never heard of Deadpool when I tried to explain why I spent most of my story breaking the fourth wall. They really ought to watch more Ryan Reynolds movies. Speaking of which, I needed to watch that Detective Pikachu movie soon, but seriously, who thought it was a good idea to only have the To Buy option, and no To Rent? Damn it. At least it was cheaper on Amazon than it was on Youtube…
Actually, that was a wasted opportunity. I should have been guided on ice magic by a yellow electric mouse wearing a cap instead of a guy in a red and black Spandex costume. I wondered which one would be more fun…
\”Who?\”
\”Secret.\” I decided not to answer Cody Crosby's question. They would never believe me, and up till today I wasn't sure if Ryan was actually real, or a just a figment of my imagination. Given how insane I was, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be a hallucination, but I had a feeling that he was real. No, I was certain that he was real.
\”Another card we can use for the knock-out stages,\” Theodore remarked with a bearish grin. \”I like it.\”
\”I'll have to get past the final stage first, though,\” Harrison muttered glumly, both of his hands on his mug. The poor guy…I could see the tremendous amount of pressure mounting upon his shoulders. Not only did he have to score as many points as possible, apparently it turned out that my performance was a hard act to follow. The guy would be hard-pressed to perform just as impressively, or he would lose his dignity as our captain.
\”You'll do fine,\” Pearl assured him. \”Don't stress yourself out unnecessarily.\”
\”That's right,\” Lily agreed whole-heartedly. \”Save your strength. Keep some of your techniques and spells in reserve…they will come in useful later, where they will take our opponents in the knock-out stages by surprise.\”
Harrison looked up sullenly. \”You guys are speaking as if we are already going to make it to the knock-out stages.\”
Whoops. That wasn't good. We were placing too much stress on the poor guy.
\”Well, the most important thing is for us to do our best, that's all. Even if we don't make it to the knock-out stages, we did well. Nobody will look down on us again!\”
I tried to lighten up the mood, but Harrison stared at me. Oh…yeah, coming from me, the guy who gave our chances of making it to the next round a significant boost, that wasn't going to be convincing. However, as the leader, Harrison was aware that he couldn't mope around, so he smiled and nodded instead.
\”Yeah. I will do my best. We'll definitely get to the next round. I promise.\”
He raised his mug high into the air, and we all followed his example, chinking our glasses together.
\”For our victory!\”
\”For our victory!\”
With that triumphant cry, we downed our drinks in a single gulp. Or several.