Chapter 72: Maturity

72 72 - Maturity

"So you finally decided to arrive?" James said with a critical look at Noah after he sat down next to Carlos.

Noah could already imagine very well what would happen next, but he was not in the mood to participate in this play for which he already knew the script in his head.

Noah saw that Carlos was frowning at what this guy was saying, and seeing that Carlos was going to say something in his friend's defense, Noah responded quicker and spoke up right away, "Yes, and you obviously don't like me. You can now start to list the reasons why you don't like me so that we can solve this as two adults, instead of you throwing a tantrum like a toddler and acting childishly to the obvious disgust of your teammates."

Noah finished speaking as he pointed to the other three sitting at the table. Carlos and the other two looked uncomfortably at each other and clearly did not want to continue experiencing something like this apparently again.

Hearing Noah's direct response, James was stunned. He didn't expect this boy in front of him to actually see clearly what he wanted to do and instead of doing like everyone he'd ever seen, and cursing him or bowing his head in submission, he actually decided to be honest and work it out with maturity. This was the first time that something like this had happened to James in all the years that he had acted arrogantly toward other people, and seeing the expression of his three friends, he realized that Noah was right about how they were feeling.

This was the same for the other three, especially Mateo who was the worst player in the group and was always criticized by James. He thought that either Noah would say something about justice, or Noah would accept James' attitude in submission, or worse, that Noah would take James' place as the "bully" of the group. But in none of the versions of what could happen in Mateo's mind did he imagine that this new guy would be one to act with maturity, looking like an old man who didn't like children's games.

Noah, to survive in the Fortresses before unlocking his Blessing, had to mature much faster than other people his age. Most of the time he just ignored dumb people, but this time it was different. Since he would have to deal with these people several times per week, he couldn't just ignore what was happening because he was too lazy to care, because over time it could turn the team's environment into something unnecessarily toxic.

Noah was happy that James had said what he really thought right off the bat, as it would save him a lot of trouble. And just as he imagined, this boy probably had a slight delusion of greatness, thinking he was superior to others and that no one could be better than him, and once again, Noah's good looks were the cause of a conflict influenced by envy.

"Okay, first. Please excuse me for making you guys wait for me; I really should have arrived early but I didn't imagine that on the way from my home to here my bus would break and I would have to wait for another one to pass. Second, I don't think I'm better than anyone, but I'm also sure I'm no worse than anyone," Noah said and paused to watch James, who, just as he imagined he would, made an expression of disgust at hearing Noah say he was no worse than him. "And just as your expression says, you remarkably believe that you are better than all present, and because of that, no one can make you wait and waste your precious time. So, before we continue, why don't we just end this bad impression of yours and resolve it through our skills?"

At that point, James, who was becoming outraged at Noah, laughed out loud and looked at Noah with a bemused look. "What are you wanting? A duel between the two of us? I gladly accept. A mere Blessed Rank E, and you think you will be able to be superior to me in a battle? Just don't regret what you said now that you know that I am Rank D," he said with a proud look.

This look was nothing new for Noah. He had become accustomed to this kind of look for a long time, having to deal in almost all Fortresses with arrogant Blessed who felt superior to everyone. Fortunately in Jasper's group, nobody was that way, especially after they saw Noah's power as a mage. If not, Noah would have done the same thing he'd been doing with James with the other people in his group two weeks ago when they met in that first Fortress with the Angry Birds.

"Okay, plug your phone into your HyperSense tiara and let's get this over with. I'm getting hungry and I want to end this useless confrontation before the food order arrives," Noah said while taking his own tiara out of his shoulder bag, which he brought because he thought something like this might end up happening, and connected himself to Valorwatch.

Carlos and the other two team members were very surprised by what was going on. They didn't imagine that something like this would happen right on their first meeting. Even though they knew James very well and knew of the arrogance he had, Carlos' two friends did not imagine that the new guy would start a conflict with James as he had done. Carlos, however, did not imagine that his friend who said less than a month ago that he reached Rank E would have so much confidence to deal with a Blessed Rank D.

Carlos knew that this was not arrogance on Noah's part. If he dared to propose this challenge, then it was because he was sure he could win. That was Noah's personality; he never did anything if the chances of losing were greater than the chances of winning. This had aroused Carlos' curiosity even more now, since he wanted to know what had changed about his friend who was so weak before, to now have the confidence to deal with a Blessed Rank D.

For normal people, Blessed Rank D were like monsters far more powerful than many normal humans. The more powerful someone's Blessing, the more resistant that person would be, so a punch from a normal human wouldn't normally do as much damage to a Blessed Rank D as it would do to an average human, because of the greater resistance that they built up from taking on monsters. This also made them more powerful as well.

Of course, that wouldn't stop someone like James from dying if they were shot by a gun; the improved resistance they had didn't make their skin into an organic bulletproof vest, so they could still be dealt with by technological means. But still, the damage that an offensive Blessing like James' bombs could cause was very great.

'For Noah to be confident enough to deal with a Blessed Rank D with no technological means at his disposal has to be because he also has a destructive force as great as James' with that flame,' Carlos thought as he remembered the flame that Noah showed him at the party at his house, 'But he only awoke the power of his Blessing two or three weeks ago when he told me that he had become a Blessed Rank F. And I already found it unbelievable, because Blessed spent years in Rank F before moving up to Rank E, but he rose from Rank F to Rank E in such a short time, that it was even more impossible, since even Blessed with Rank C Blessings still take several years before leaving Rank F for Rank E. James only rose to Rank D while so young because he had a very useful Blessing to use in combat, which made him slightly more powerful than people of the same rank as him, but what makes Noah so confident he can face this guy?'

Carlos's internal monologue was only generating more questions in his head, which he decided to put aside for a moment while connecting the television that was closest to his desk to the broadcast link for the match of the game lobby where Noah was waiting for James. The restaurant had transparent televisions that could connect to a customer's cell phone to transmit something to the people at that table, but to make the experience of being there even more enjoyable for everyone at the table, and to not disturb other customers, the televisions did not reproduce sounds, something that wouldn't stop Carlos and his two friends from watching Noah and James's match on the screen.

While James, who had just put the HyperSense tiara on his head, was connecting in the lobby room, Carlos realized that Noah's nickname which he had never stopped to pay attention to seemed a little familiar to him for some reason. 'Where have I seen this nickname before?' Carlos wondered.

Only a few seconds passed until James entered Noah's lobby room and they started the duel. When the match started, the appearance of Noah's character and his nickname finally made Carlos remember what made him feel so familiar with that nickname.

Carlos was not the only one who felt that way. James, Mateo, and the other member of the team also gaped when they saw Noah's character, since as Blessed Rank E, Mateo and the other boy had already played against him a few times. This player, who had won several matches in Rank E and had become a little famous for how problematic it was to play against him, had many people come to notice him after they found out that he had already appeared on a PigMan live stream until they eventually added each other to one another's friends list.

"Is he Lucifer?!" Carlos and the other two boys screamed in amazement when they saw the familiar red skin that had caused their defeat many times in ranked matches.

James, on the other hand, remembered Noah's character for a much different reason...

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