Chapter 1687 (1/2)

“Well, I cannot truly be considered to be his disciple now…” Bennio said modestly, while simultaneously puffing out his chest and flexing his arms to display his muscles for all those who cared to look. About fifty teenagers were gathered around him, listening to the story with rapt attention. They were pressed near the side of a large stone outcropping in a dusty scrubland. Beyond that first group, there were hundreds more teenagers and kids, giggling and whooping, gathering for the much anticipated Under Auction.

Bennio quite enjoyed the attention he received for taking that punch to the face. He coughed in his fist and looked moodily up at the sky. “...but there was a moment, just before he punched me. It felt like… he acknowledged me, you know? Heh, perhaps you don’t understand that sort of feeling… Fists are truly the words of men…!”

His hangers-on began to whisper excitedly to each other. Most of the listeners were younger boys; their eyes went starry at the thought of getting into a fistfight with their hero. Bennio nodded heavily, rubbing his jaw in the location where he had been punched. “And receiving that blow… in a way, it destroyed my confidence. But it also showed me a new way forward… I plan on isolating myself in a Dungeon for a few months, chasing this inspiration…”

“I cannot believe we were chasing the Ghosthound,” Eileen Krouse seemed to have been constantly shaking her head since she had learned the truth. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “No wonder… now wonder we could barely… was he toying with us the whole time…?”

Damien was standing next to Eileen and he patted her back. “The question is how Toddler managed to grab the attention of the Ghosthound. He has been improving a lot recently… do you think the Ghosthound has been helping him this whole time…? So the broken spear with his legacy-”

“I’m GOING to get that spear,” Eileen bristled and glared at Damien, who backed off and waved his hands in surrender. Then Eileen returned to looking at the ground. “No matter if the Ghosthound knows Toddler somehow… the Under Auction is fair. Not even the Ghosthound can interfere. With the demerits that Toddler already has… there is no way that he has a powerful enough Scrawl to beat me…”

Bennio looked over at Eileen in amusement. He folded his arms across his chest and release a long sigh. “Quite foolish… I remember when I had the gall to try and cross blows with the Ghosthound. Although it was an enlightening experience-”

“I was there you pompous ass!” Eileen snapped at Bennio this time. “Stop telling the same story over and over again! No one cares.”

Perhaps in the past Bennio would have been angered by Eileen’s display, but he was different now. He had perspective and maturity. He chuckled softly and shook his head. Now that he had been personally instructed by the Ghosthound, it was easier to understand the things that were important and the things that weren’t.

Fighting against Eileen wasn’t important.

Savoring the attention was.

“Enough,” Zack Krum stood and stretched. With a light hop, he climbed to the top of the large rock that the items would be auctioned from for the event. The nineteen-year-old had long limbs and a shock of frizzy red hair on top of his head. His freckled face looked around at the assembled kids mildly, but everyone lowered their gaze. Even Bennio, buoyed by meeting the Ghosthound, stepped to the side in deference. Almost a thousand kids had already gathered on the sandy scrublands, with more whizzing in on driftwood skyboards every second.

Zack Krum was the acknowledged number one fighter at Kharon Academy. He was the man considered closest to breaking through the to final room of the Kharon Labyrinth. He clapped his hands twice. The sound echoed outward, silencing the kids that hadn’t heard Zack’s initial word. Zack pointed out to the skyline. “Before we start the Under Auction… The man of the hour has arrived. Toddler, get up here; how do you know the Ghosthound?”

Perhaps because of the suddenness and enormity of the question, Todd’s eyes went big and buggy behind his massive glasses and he crashed into the ground in a tumble of limbs. Giggles rippled outward through the assembled kids. Feeling a small sense of comradery for Todd as the source of his new confidence, Bennio strode forward and helped the small kid to his feet.

Todd looked around wildly, suddenly very aware that basically everyone in the area was staring at him with an obsessive intensity. The demerits on his wrist clattered noisily as he continually pivoted in alarm at all the attention he was receiving. He licked his lips. “Ummm… what did you say?”

Bennio was generously brushing the dirt off Todd’s shoulders when Zack crouched down on that massive stone and answer. His eyes were just as intense as everyone else’s as he considered Todd. “How do you know the Ghosthound? Why was he acting as your bodyguard for the past several days?

“T-t-t-t-t-t-the G-g-ghosthound?” Todd seemed genuinely confused. “No, my bodyguard was… his name… uh… well actually...”

Another ripple of giggles spread out through the assembled kids. Zack Krum’s eyes hardened and he straightened once more. He began to methodically crack his knuckles. “If you refuse to be honest…”

Bennio stepped in front of the diminutive Todd and looked up with a frown. He owed the kid at least this much. “Ease off Zack. His secrets are his own.”

“Peh.” Zack spat to the side and stepped forward. His willowy body slid through the air until he landed on the ground. Then he stalked forward, a flinty edge in his eye. “I don’t mind you boasting, but you know the sort of place Kharon Academy is, ‘Superman’ Bennio. If you don’t respect the hierarchy… Do you really want me to humiliate you in front of everyone?”

Bennio was under no impression that he could suddenly fight Zack after his run-in with the Ghosthound; if he was honest with himself, he knew that he was shamelessly bragging about an interaction that the Ghosthound will probably never remember. But Bennio replayed that extended moment before the Ghosthound punched over and over again. The emerald eyes struck him with an enormous sense of solemn responsibility. Standing there in the moment, he was extremely conscious of the stunned Todd behind him.

He knew what the Ghosthound would do in this situation. He would not take a step back.

Bennio took a step forward and shrugged. “I suppose it is about time that I test the limits of the insight-”

Zack Krum moved quickly, lowering his head and darting forward. Although his limbs were long and slender, his Strength was the real deal. Bennio whipped his hands up into a fighting stance but Zack is within his guard, his freckled arms rotating in irresistible circles. Zack hip-checked Bennio and he was tumbling through the air, tossed weightlessly to the side by the Champion of Kharon Academy’s famous judo throws.