Chapter 113: Narcissism
"If you need anything, you can call me, sir," The attendant said in a professional and concerned manner while looking at Noah.
But before Noah could answer anything, Robert believed the attendant was talking to him like that and responded with a little arrogance, "Yes, I'll let you know."
Noah looked at Robert, who didn't even notice that the attendant's eyes and speech were directed at Noah and not himself, and just shook his head. Noah looked at the attendant who proceeded to ignore Robert and continue to stare at him, waiting for an answer, and so Noah nodded positively, immediately after which the attendant turned and left.
Robert was not looking at either of them, so he didn't notice this exchange that had taken place, and Noah didn't bother to explain.
Looking around, they were now in the area that apparently was dedicated to the audience. It was a little dark, but given the quality of the objects used for the lighting, Noah assumed that the dark climate was, in fact, intentional.
Waiters and waitresses paced and served lavish drinks to guests. Given the cars that were parked outside, it was to be expected that the treatment of the people there would be nothing less than luxurious.
Noah was not feeling the least bit uncomfortable in that environment; even though he had lived a life of poverty for many years. After all, the parties that Carlos's family had invited him to at their house were that way: very luxurious and extravagant.
Since he didn't know anyone and Robert had paid his admission fee, Noah just accompanied Robert wherever he was going. He didn't have to wait long to find out, since in just a few moments Robert had already adopted the arrogant expression of a rich young man and walked with grace and elegance over toward his friends.
Noah looked at each off them in turn and realized that these friends, in fact, were all just like Robert, with arrogant expressions, expensive clothes, and snobbish mannerisms. Through their bodies' expression, Noah was able to perceive a high degree of arrogance and narcissism.
"Hehe! Is it possible that Robert has finally found someone interesting to bring in for the fun?" one of the young men said as he looked Noah up and down as if he were a new toy.
Hearing him say that made the other youths in the group laugh, which Noah noticed and started trying to piece together the situation.
Robert gave a light laugh so as not to be uncomfortable and responded with a little sarcastic contempt as he looked at Noah. "Unfortunately, I think I will have to disappoint you gentlemen. I just brought this boy up here to be a joke since he is still a Blessed Rank E at best."
Hearing what Robert said, the other young men immediately looked at Noah differently. Before, they were curious about Noah's strength - since to fight here without thinking about dying, one should at least be a Blessed Rank D. But that would only just mean he would have less of a chance of dying, not that he would win the championship.
So knowing that Noah was just a Blessed Rank E, made the young men stop looking at Noah with curiosity and instead glance at him with black expressions. They just ignored Noah, treating him like he wasn't there or didn't exist.
It was enough to have made anyone angry, wanting to prove themselves and show that these boys were wrong, but Noah, he never cared what these young men were saying. The only thing he wanted to do was fight right away and take the cash prize that he had a right to win.
"Damn, so you just brought a disposable? You should have done like David here: he got a fighter from the top of Rank D this time. Maybe we are in the presence of a champion today guys? Hahaha!" One of the young men explained the situation to Robert and laughed while pointing at another young man who apparently was not so close to the group, but because of his body language, he was trying to get along with them.
Robert was surprised by what his friend had said and looked at David, who was smiling with pride on his face.
This place was actually meant for young people from the most influential families in the city to have fun, but nobody knew who the organizer was, indicating that this organizer was actually more powerful than most of the people who were here, and it looked like almost all the most influential young people in the city were gathered there.
Basically, this place consisted of an arena where rich and influential young people brought powerful fighters to compete on their behalf, and whoever brought a winner would receive a reward from the event organizer. There were some rules to prevent the young people from just asking their parents to get a Blessed Rank C for them, which forced the young people to get a Blessed One for themselves. If by their own merit they could get a blessed Rank C, that wouldn't be a problem, but in addition to being very difficult to find one available for a job, it was even more difficult to convince one to participate in an underground fight on behalf of someone else just for the fun of bored rich young people.
Blessed Rank C often had their own pride that concerned them. Being some of the most powerful people in the city, it was asking too much from these people, who often received hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, to fight other Blessed Ones in the name of a spoiled brat.
So basically, the top of the championship was almost always decided between the peak Blessed Rank D. Nobody with less than that had ever won the championship. The lower ones were usually Blessed Rank D who had recently moved up in rank, but never had a Blessed Rank E survived entering the arena, and that was common knowledge: If someone brought a Blessed One below Rank E, that very person would probably die in the arena, being slaughtered by the another competitor.
Young people liked to feel that they had the power to control the lives of others, so often they just lured people with high prizes to send them to their deaths.
This was something that did not go unnoticed by Noah. If he really were an ordinary Blessed Rank E, he would most likely just die in that arena, and Robert knew that very well.
'I must teach this boy a lesson after the fight. It's one thing to keep talking bullshit to me; it's another thing to conspire against me and basically put me in a lion cage so I can die for your own entertainment... I did like that Aston Martin DBS that he was driving around the place. Maybe I need to change the color of the interior leather, but there probably wouldn't be any better compensation than that, right?' Noah thought, as he looked at Robert, thinking about several things.
Robert felt Noah's gaze, originally thinking that Noah would be terrified to hear what his friend had said and finally realize how the place worked. But in fact, Noah had a calm look on his face, as if what they were saying didn't have anything to do with him, which made Robert raise an eyebrow in surprise.
'Either that boy is too stupid to understand how this place works after the whole explanation he heard, or the boy is just stupid enough not to realize that he is so weak that he will probably just die inside the arena. Well, in either case, he's stupider than I thought, which just proves that I was right to bring him here to die. At least he has a chance to fight and win the first place prize... pfft... Who I'm trying to deceive? His life will just be discarded like all the others,' Robert thought as he looked at Noah with contempt.
The other boys didn't even bother to look at Noah. For them, he would just be dead meat in the near future.
"Excuse me, sir. Your battle will start in a moment. Can you please come with me to the preparation room?" The attendant who dealt with Noah when he arrived, showed up again, and once more treated Noah with a lot of respect, which surprised the group - but not for the right reasons.
They were instead looking at Robert in amazement, thinking of what he could have possibly done to the attendant, who was often so arrogant, to treat his throwaway fighter that way.
Robert, when he saw the gaze of the other boys couldn't help but be proud of himself. Even though he had done nothing to cause the attendant to change his treatment, he still believed that the change was because of himself. Maybe the attendant had realized the greatness that was Robert Pattingrandson?
Noah ignored this narcissistic idiot and just followed the attendant, showing him the same respect he himself showed Noah. Noah was that kind of person: If someone treated him with respect, he would treat that person with twice as much respect, but if that person treated him badly, he would treat that person even worse when he had the chance. (Of course, unless it was something idiotic and futile; he would not lower himself to that person's level for that.)
The youngsters didn't even look at Noah leaving while having a polite conversation with the attendant; the only thing they cared about was Robert and trying to find out what he had done to change the attendant's attitude.
Little did they know that they were ignoring the exact reason for this change in attitude just a few minutes ago.
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Please read the author's notes down here! he he :3 ↓↓↓
I am writing a novel with my girlfriend called "I became a Necromancer Cat". About the greatest Necromancer who became a cat after dying and transmigating to modern earth.
Give the novel a try, just look for "Necromancer Cat" on ReadNovelFull that you will find.