25 First Challenge End (1/2)

Ernst was honestly speechless.

His whole intention behind stepping down and having Jenny take up the mantle was that these two kids would have an easy time.

Of course, he had been fully aware that Jenny was in possession of a flying-type Tera, which had a natural advantage over land-type Teras like Aaron's husky and Edmond's Bewitching Fox.

Yet, at least, in Hamlets, it was frowned upon if a Hamlet Chief used a type advantage to bring matches to a draw.

The whole objective of Hamlets, or, at least, the easier Hamlets was to give Ascenders a boost of confidence. So, Hamlet Chiefs usually attacked and gave opportunities for Ascenders to defeat them even if they had advantages like these.

After all, at the stage of a Hamlet, only one Tera would be participating. So, unlike in advanced battles where a Tera Master might have access to Teras of multiple types so that they wouldn't be helpless in similar situations, it was typically impossible for an Ascender to be able to beat their opponent if a type advantage was unduly used when they had just started on the Path.

Even the crowd knew this, but they didn't say anything as they didn't want to mess with Jenny, who was the strongest Tera Master in the village if Ernst wasn't counted. So, they just kept cheering half-heartedly in the hope that some action would unfold.

With a stiff smile on his face, Ernst walked to Jenny's side while Aaron and Woof stared at the butterfly in the air, trying to decide what they could do.

”Jenny…”

”Ernst, he scared J. J hasn't even been eating properly since that incident.”

Seeing the tone of dead seriousness in Jenny's voice, Ernst slapped his forehead.

Right.

This woman was usually very kind-hearted and fair, but when it came to the matter of her Pink-Winged Butterfly which had accompanied her for a long time, she would turn into someone vengeful.

Shaking his head, he considered whether he should be forceful, even though that might result in tension that would be bad for the whole Hamlet.

This was supposed to be a favor, dammit!

Seeing Ernst's expression, Jenny chuckled.

”Don't worry. I just want to teach him a lesson. I'll make sure to have J attack in the next match. Let this be a draw. It'll do him good, right?”

Sighing, Ernst was about to nod, as it looked like he had no other choice.

Yet, he heard Aaron speak at that moment.

Indeed, Aaron had been pretty flummoxed on seeing this situation. It was an empty ring, so there was nothing for Woof to use as support to leap up high and get the butterfly which even seemed to be gloating on seeing the helpless expressions on their faces.

So, at that moment, Aaron had gotten an idea.

He had been introduced as a Tera Master. Yet, there were 3 additional classes of individuals, too. How did they battle?

”How do other types of Ascenders battle?”, he asked, and the answer from the Chief made him smile.

”They enter the ring themselves, and the same rules apply. Why do you ask?”

”I want to enter the ring, too.”

Hearing this, Ernst frowned.

”You can do that, but it's not needed in Tera Master battles at the Hamlet stage. Weak Tera Masters have no abilities to defend themselves. Later, that gets rectified, but this is a glaring weakness of all Tera Masters who are starting out. Because of this, when the Path first came into being, Tera Masters couldn't progress at all as they were highly vulnerable targets when inside the ring. So, the World Government laid down a rule that Tera Masters taking part in Hamlet-level Challenges do not need to enter the ring. Their Teras can fight it out against the Challenger, no matter who they are.”

Even Jenny didn't know why the kid was asking this. He was just a normal human who hadn't been enhanced in any way! Even the weakest Tera would be able to kill him. If he entered the ring, he would just be an easy target for J!

”Good.”

As if he hadn't heard the warning in Ernst's words, Aaron stepped forward without hesitation.

The butterfly was 10 feet up in the air. It looked curiously at Aaron, who looked at it with an odd expression.

If it had known that this was the expression he usually got when he saw food, it would definitely have been feeling fear by now.

After glancing at the butterfly and seeing that it kept shifting positions, Aaron came up with a plan and put his hand on Woof to communicate it.