Meanwhile, the Brownblood tournament was proceeding just exactly as expected. It took the whole day, but the seeding for the final part was locked in.
Of course, since Jaku opted out of the test, he became dead last on the seeding.
"Wake up!" yelled Brock.
Jaku groggily opened his eyes and looked around. "What?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"It’s time for you to fight your next opponents!"
Jaku yawned and took a second of silence before he fully processed what Brock just said.
"Wait, did you say opponents?"
"Yes, opponents! You’ll be fighting three people in quick succession."
Jaku just stared at Brock for a few seconds. "....huh?"
Brock put his hands on his waist like a disappointed father. "Yeah, that’s what happens when you’re in the last seeding. Didn’t you listen to the explanation?"
How could Jaku have listened to that when he was so busy sleeping? He also couldn’t be blamed because who in their right minds would think up of a tournament this convoluted? Couldn’t they have just gone with a straight single-elimination bracket?
"Usually, this would be a team game. But since you’re the only person in your group, you’re going to have to have to do all the battles yourself," explained Brock.
Jaku couldn’t help but grumble after hearing this.
Yes, he shouldn’t have been lazy, and yes, he should have listened to the tournament explanation. Now, he ended up with a lot more work than if he had just participated in the seeding battles.
But Jaku just couldn’t help it. There was something deep inside him that was giving him an insatiable need for sleep and relaxation.
"Come on. You’ll have to fight now or else you’ll be forfeit. You can sleep, but your company is going to be out of the competition."
There were two sides of Jaku currently fighting inside him.
One was telling him to lay down on the grass and enjoy some nice sleep while the skies are dark and the full moon is above his head.
While the other part of him wanted to complete the task that Michael set out for him.
As contradictory as it may seem, Jaku wanted nothing but the best for the Reborn Company. He would do whatever it takes to make it succeed the way that Michael envisioned it to be.
But... he also wanted to sleep.
So which should he do? Should he continue to lay on the grass and do nothing, or should he just pull himself by the bootstraps and defeat as much opponents as he had to so that the Reborn Company would come out on top?
While Jaku was having this existential crisis inside his head, unbeknownst to him, the GodForge pieces in his chest were starting to light up.
He was starting to awaken his Aubility Power!
"Urgh," Jaku grumbled. "I JUST WANT TO BE LAZY!"
As soon as he said that, a subtle earthquake spread around all the lands.
Everyone within a few mile radius of Jaku found themselves steadying their footing as the ground underneath them started to feel unstable.
"Did you feel that?" Brock asked Jaku while clutching his chest.
Brock didn’t know if it was because of the sudden earthquake or what, but he felt something tighten around his chest. It felt as if his heart was being pushed with a non-negligible pressure—not enough for concern, but enough to be noticed.
The Werewolves noticed it the most. With the full moon up above them, their senses were amped up to the maximum, which meant that they would feel any kind of anomaly around them.
And they knew that this wasn’t a simple earthquake. It didn’t come from deep within the ground. It came from something on the surface—they just didn’t know what.
Howls echoed in the night as the Brownblood Werewolves rushed to their chief’s house to convene.
"Chief Lupan! What’s happening?"
"There’s something wrong with the air. I can feel it."
"That’s not a normal earthquake either."
And when they arrived at their Chief’s private room, they saw him pacing back and forth with a serious look.
"Chief?"
Lupan snapped his head towards them, surprised at their presence. The Chief was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice their presence at all. The fact that the chief of the Werewolves was this distracted meant that something truly serious was happening right now.
Finally, Chief Lupan made a decision. "We must go to the Draconians Tower."
"Why Chief?"
Lupan looked up at the moon. "Because I think they cracked it."
...
...
...
Meanwhile, in the middle of the meeting between Michael, the professor, and Chief Klaus Goldblood, they suddenly felt the ground shake underneath their feet.
"An earthquake?" the professor asked.
But Chief Klaus immediately knew that something was wrong. "No, professor. This is much worse."
Michael knew that something was happening too, but he just couldn’t put a name to it.
There was a strange power that came with the Earthquake. It was very weak and subtle, but he could feel it. It felt familiar but unfamiliar at the same time.
[KUKUKUKUKU]
Harbinger laughed to himself.
What is it? he asked. Clearly, his Diva knew more about this situation than he did.
But before Harbinger could answer, Chief Klaus suddenly howled from the top of his lungs.
Immediately, Ernest and a couple of other Werewolves rushed inside.
"What’s happening?" the professor asked.
"Didn’t you feel that, professor? The earthquake... the change in the air... that subtle feeling of someone grabbing your heart..."
The professor put it all together. "The signs," he said. "You think that the Draconians finally cracked the Antique?!"
Chief Klaus nodded. "That’s the only explanation. This has to be a manifestation of the Ancient Roar."
The Goldblood Werewolf Chief didn’t want their rivals to have this sort of power for themselves.
"Professor, we have to go meet with the Draconians now," Chief Klaus insisted.
"We?"
"Yes. We are going to escort you there. I have no doubt that the other Werewolf tribes noticed the signs as well. Most of them will remain neutral, but my brother will be there to celebrate the news of his ally’s breakthrough."
The professor nodded. "Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!"
Chief Klaus may not be feeling good about the supposed Ancient Roar discovery by the Draconians, but the professor held a different opinion. This was a joyous occasion for him and the rest of the world! If this proved to be true, then this would completely revolutionize the way they thought about the Ancient Era!
AWWOOOO!
Ernest howled at the moon, and suddenly, his body started to bend and expand as if the bone inside his body grew to twice its original size.
He bent down, with his posture changing from a straight standing position, to one where his torso was parallel to the ground.
His hair started to grow wildly all over his body, growing thicker and longer than what was normal.
Michael watched as Ernest turned into a massive grey Wolf right in front of his very eyes.
Seeing it up close, even he felt intimidated by their size. They looked nothing like the ’wolf’ dog breeds that were popular in his previous life. They were more akin to trucks than dogs because of how big they were.