The door finished opening completely, letting in the last person missing.
Gerald stopped as soon as he crossed the threshold.
His gaze swept the room quickly, but didn’t take long to stop upon recognizing the faces before him.
His eyes opened a bit more than normal, and his expression shifted from simple curiosity to a quite evident mix of surprise and tension.
Sowhat ssy black hair, chubby body, slightly hunched posture... he didn’t exactly impose.
But at that mont, what stood out most was his reaction.
"Ah..." he let out, almost without realizing it.
First he looked at Aku.
He recognized him instantly.
It was impossible not to.
The mory still seed too vivid. The beginning of the trial, the chaos, the pressure... and that brutal beating that left him completely out of the ga before the combat even started.
Gerald couldn’t admit he held a grudge against Aku. However, Aku was everything Gerald wasn’t.
Handso and unfairly powerful.
His power was really unfair. Cheating.
While his rational mind prevented him from hating soone for that, he wasn’t going to deny he felt so jealousy toward the demon king.
Gerald swallowed.
"You..." he murmured, pointing at him slightly, without finishing the sentence.
There was no need to finish it either, or rather, Gerald didn’t know how.
What was he supposed to say now?
Nervously, Gerald turned his head.
And he saw him.
Bīng Xuě.
The reaction was different, but equally intense.
"And you..." he added, this ti with a different nuance in his voice.
There was no fear there. Rather... recognition mixed with sothing close to... The sa resentnt he felt toward Aku.
While Gerald was grateful to Bīng Xuě for saving his life at that critical mont.
He had those characteristics Gerald so hated. He was handso and unfairly powerful.
Though his power seed more moderate than Aku’s.
The blue-haired boy tilted his head slightly, observing him for a few seconds. Unlike Gerald, Bīng Xuě didn’t feel much interest in the green-skin summoner.
"Oh... yeah, I rember you," he said simply, without much interest.
He looked him up and down, evaluating him without any kind of disguise. He didn’t seem especially impressed.
"Hello," he added afterward with a neutral tone.
As if he had rembered you had to greet soone when you t them.
Nothing more.
Without enthusiasm.
Without real interest.
Gerald blinked, sowhat confused by the lack of reaction.
"Uh... hello too, I guess," he responded, sowhat awkward.
The situation had beco uncomfortable. Unnecessarily rigid.
Sylvie, floating to one side, crossed her arms, observing the scene with so renewed interest.
Aku, for his part, said nothing.
But he didn’t look away from Gerald.
There was sothing that didn’t fit.
He rembered clearly. He wasn’t strong. Not especially fast. He also hadn’t shown notable skills in that first confrontation.
And yet...
He was there.
Aku tilted his head slightly.
"How did you pass the trial?" the demon king asked bluntly.
Without accusatory tone, but without softening the question.
Gerald tensed a bit at the question. He scratched his cheek, avoiding eye contact for a second.
"Well..." he began, sowhat uncomfortable. "I’m not too clear on it either."
Sylvie raised an eyebrow.
Bīng Xuě yawned slightly, losing interest almost instantly.
"I think..." Gerald continued, searching for words. "The spectators... and you know, those evaluating everything... saw sothing in ."
Aku said nothing.
"My attitude, I suppose," he added, shrugging slightly. "From what I heard, they said it was... determined. And... heroic."
The word remained floating in the air for a few instants.
The demon king only rembered how Gerald had insulted him before "dying."
However, he did feel so interest upon hearing they saw Gerald as soone heroic.
Perhaps he could learn sothing from him.
Sylvie let out a small nasal laugh.
"Heroic," she repeated with so sarcasm. "Right. Well, I guess nowadays everything’s considered heroic."
Though the truth was Sylvie had reasons to say that. Not only because she had interacted with the strongest hero in her world, but also because of the irony of the situation, since she was floating next to a demon king pretending to be a hero.
Gerald looked at her, sowhat confused, but didn’t respond.
"I wasn’t the strongest," he admitted. "Not by a long shot. I an, you killed at the beginning of the trial. But... I didn’t give up. I guess that counted."
Aku observed him in silence.
Analyzing.
He didn’t seem to be lying.
His posture, his tone, the way he avoided embellishing his own words... everything pointed to a simple conclusion.
Never giving up was a quality that seed to define heroes.
Sothing he had also seen in Alexander.
Perhaps that was the key to finding the aning of being a hero.
Bīng Xuě tilted his head again, looking at him with passing curiosity.
"Hmm," he murmured. "I’m hungry."
The boy thought aloud.
Clearly, he wasn’t too interested in the conversation Aku and Gerald were having.
Though it was understandable, since Bīng Xuě didn’t perceive strength in Gerald.
And Bīng Xuě was only interested in strong people.
For soone like him, strength seed to be the only thing really relevant.
Gerald noticed that lack of interest. He lowered his gaze slightly, uncomfortable, but without saying anything.
Aku, however, kept observing him.
Not for what he was.
But for what he represented.
"Determination..." he repeated quietly, almost to himself.
Then he looked away.
He didn’t seem especially convinced.
But he didn’t dismiss it either.
Silence settled in the room for a few seconds.
It wasn’t tense like before.
But not comfortable either.
It was... uncertain.
Four distinct presences, with completely different objectives, histories, and natures, sharing the sa space for the first ti.
Sylvie floated on one side, still with that latent irritation.
Bīng Xuě had leaned against a wall, clearly disinterested in everything that didn’t involve fighting or having fun.
Gerald remained near the entrance, as if still not sure whether he should advance further.
And Aku...
Simply observed.
Evaluating.
As always.
Without saying anything.
"Well... Does anyone know how a tablet works?"
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