All three had a signed Nocturnal contract in front of them, titled: The Raid of Heliodor’s Raiders against the Drowned Court.
They had paid for their tickets with the help of their friends since they didn’t have access to the dimensional network as normal Daywalkers... only CRS Rifters had access.
"Shit... they better win it." Sergio was already grumbling, "How come their tickets cost so damn much? One thousand Aegis coins... It’s daylight robbery, robbery I tell ya!"
The more he remembered it, the angrier he got... for someone as stingy as him, paying one thousand coins for a ticket was something that even torture wouldn’t get him out of.
"Aight, aight, relax... You will gain it back with your bet." Rayan grinned excitedly, "I have already put down all of my savings as well as a debt of twenty thousand SA coins from the family’s treasury... I am gonna get rich off them and use it to buy the materials needed for my evolution."
"... you really are following Levi’s plan." Jamal smiled wryly.
During Graduation, Rayan was the only one from the C2 Classroom left behind... Levi and his friends had moved on, while the others perished... may their souls rest in peace... all except Demetris.
Even Instructor Seraphis was still in a coma with no signs of waking up any time soon... barely holding on to the last string of life.
Although Rayan was offered to graduate with the others, he decided to remain behind and join a different classroom... he refused to graduate without a Rifter Contract in hand, as he had no plans to be a Seed Farmer for the rest of his life like the majority.
Luckily, Lord Idriss had informed him that a perfect evolutionary path for him had been found, and they were in the process of trial and error to check its validity.
But unlike Levi and the others... he was a low priority in Lord Idriss’ eyes, even though he was a family member.
Thus, he was offered the value of the materials needed to concoct the formula, and he was told to pay for them if he wanted the perfect evolutions.
Lord Idriss had already invested a significant part of their family’s wealth in Heliodor’s Raiders... he had no plans to invest more in Rayan, even if he was family.
This was the Morningstars’ way of handling family business... if one wanted unconditional support, they had to earn it.
Although the material’s value was high enough to make his legs turn mushy, Rayan didn’t let it get in his head... he wanted to catch up to his friends, and he was going to do whatever it took to make it happen.
When Levi heard of his woes in one of their regular rooftop hangouts, he told him to give him his money to bet on the Raid at one of the many gambling dimensional dens.
He told him that he would be doing the same, so as the others... seeing their brimming confidence, Rayan didn’t hesitate to go into debt and invest all of his savings in this.
His insane commitment left his friends speechless, but they kinda understood him... for an adrenaline junkie, it must suck to see them moving up rapidly in life while leaving him behind.
While the others couldn’t stop or slow down for anyone, he knew that he could only speed up his growth to prove his potential, too.
Jamal and Sergio had also committed some of their money to support their friends, but they weren’t as crazy to take on a generational debt for a single bet.
Just as Sergio was about to comment, he swallowed his words at the sight of the Nocturnal contract suddenly transforming into two pairs of shadowy goggles.
The boys glanced at each other, and they swiftly wore them on their eyes.
"Woaah... this shit is so gas."
Rayan’s eyes widened in astonishment after his senses were instantly connected dimensionally to the Raid’s map.
His eyes reflected the three islands surrounded by a scarlet sea, and separated by blood-like rivers... they were arranged like a claw mark across the ocean, their landscape long and shallow.
The islands on the right and left were concealed under red and blue domes, hiding them from the viewers... These were Redfang Isle & Bluefang Isle.
The central island, which was the biggest of its sisters, wasn’t hidden... allowing Rayan, Sergio, Jamal, and the tens of millions of eyes across the crimson sky to marvel at its menacing beauty.
It had purple and pink trees mixed up across its surface, with a slightly richer red grass field, stretching from one end to the other... as for the beaches? The sand was dark, but it still sparkled under the crimson light of the massive moon in the background.
"Ayy, ladies an’ gents! Y’all ready to get entertained tonight?! Ready to witness the hottest new crew of Planet Tera hittin’ the stage? Are ya reaaaddy to feel that blood sizzle?!"
Abruptly, Rayan’s ears were blessed by Gamemaster Sparks’ unconventional accent... his words as informal as they could get, but his voice... oh, that voice, it carried a slick, streetwise charm... smooth yet rough around the edges.
When he looked at him, he was dazed to see him sitting on a floating platform with a couple of squirrel ladies in his arms... the platform resembled a club’s VIP table with its black leather couch and small table packed with alcoholic beverages.
He was using his cane as a microphone while the low-dressed ’ladies’ were throwing themselves on him.
It was clear... He was the Big G of his race.
-Woooaaah!!! Gamemaster Sparks, I am a big fan!!-
-Gamemaster Sparks!! I can’t believe I had the chance to witness his legendary commentaries live!!-
-Kyaaaa!! He is so sexxxy!!!-
His loyal viewers were instantly electrified by his swagger and voice, screaming at the top of their voices... some even seemed to faint on the spot.
"Aw yeah, make some noise, baby! Let it roooaaar! I wanna hear that crowd shake the sky! We ain’t here for no quiet night..., we here to set this place on fire!"
Kaboom! Kaboom!
The moment Gamemaster Sparks finished, fireworks exploded in front of the viewers, making Rayan and the others flinch... the realism was on point since those shadowy goggles linked their actual senses dimensionally to the map, making them hear, see, and feel anything going on around them even if they weren’t there in flesh.
"What a feeling... my skin is tingling nonstop." Rayan murmured as he gazed at the wall of eyes stretching around him, "No wonder everyone is paying to watch those games..."
"This isn’t a normal attendance..." Jamal replied, "Levi and the others were right... This weird Gamemaster does have a massive following, and he brought them down here with him."
Rayan and Sergio nodded... as the boys were waiting for the start of the game, their eyes weren’t the only ones from Heliodor’s region.
Lord Idriss, Madam Naima, Lord Hicham, Feng Ling, Madam Ysara, High Chancellor, the rest of the Governors, Velmira, and the majority of the region’s Raiders tuned in live... as for the rest of the Daywalkers with no access to the dimensional network or had the money to pay for the tickets, their agencies had them covered.
Everyone was requested to gather in their agencies’ open lobbies and had the dimensional livestream played for them... unlike live spectatorship, one only needed to pay for a monthly subscription, and they would have access to thousands of channels.
It was more or less a dimensional TV with channels playing live-streamed games or replays from both the CRS Platform and Nocturnal Ring.
Of course, there were news channels and even freaky alien corn channels... if one thing was certain to persist across the ages, it would most definitely be prostitution and corn.
Kabooom!!
Following one last firework, Gamemaster Sparks brought the cane close to his mouth... then, he extended his left arm to Redfang Isle and shouted, half puffing a cigar.
"Give it up, give it all the way up for Heliodor’s Raiders, baby! First time steppin’ in the ring and they goin’ straight for a Shadow Castle Nest?! Hah! That’s that big boss energy right there!"
The moment the red dome collapsed, Rayan and the rest of Heliodor’s viewers cheered at the top of their lungs at the sight of Levi and the others chilling around an altar in the center of the island.
The island was largely similar in appearance to the central one, except for the addition of the Altar... a gray boulder shaped into a platform, etched with crimson IIthorien inscriptions.
Arthur was leaning against the altar with arms crossed... Nurah was chilling above a tree branch near them, hiding in the shadows like always.
Jojo was sitting in a meditation position in the center of the platform... praying with her eyes closed. Once in a while, Arthur nudged her to annoy her, just to have her elbow him in the back.
Shia was sitting on the grass field like a hooligan with a popsicle in her mouth and an arm resting on her raised knee.
As for Jasmine and Levi?
They were also sitting near a tree, conversing with faint smiles through signs... seemingly going on a picnic date.
If it wasn’t for the team wearing a fully black leather uniform with the team’s name written in bold letters on the back, no one would believe this ragtag group of children was a team.
Seeing their behavior... High Chancellor, Lord Idriss, and the rest of their chiefs couldn’t help but sigh helplessly.
"I told you... Uniforms are useless; you can’t curb individualism, and you shouldn’t... Individualism is one’s main source of strength." Feng Ling shook his head while lighting up a cigarette in the back of the Council, watching the game with the rest of the Governors.
Hearing him say this while dressed in a government officer’s uniform left the governors twitching their lips, unsure whether he was also taking a jab at the government.
"We didn’t want to curb their individualism... just make them look united as a team."
High Chancellor smiled wryly at the sight of Arthur and Jojo amidst another bickering session, forcing Levi to cancel his quick date to break it off.
As expected, when the viewers saw Heliodor’s Raiders’ unserious attitude, resembling a bunch of kids hired at the last second to fill the numbers, doubts started flying already.