BXBX NOVEL Chapter 124 The Deck Group
Alten and Leon made their way over to an array of wooden benches crafted by the other students in their free time. There were about 10 of them spread around near the food stall area, and Rylan led them to one before sitting down.
Alten looked over to the direction that the bullies had gone, "So those are the core stealers huh... thankfully they don't seem to be too strong." Alten said as he sat down.
Leon didn't say anything, as Rylan immediately replied, "Haha... I wish." He said to Alten's confusion.
"Hmm?"
Rylan was happy to give context, "Dude, those bullies aren't even a part of the faction of core stealers. They are just some wannabe-" Rylan looked around again before speaking, this time more thoroughly than before, "Crooks that bully weak kids and sometimes get their cores. Most of the time though, they only bully kids with no core just to be bullies or whatever, I don't know why they do it. I know I wouldn't, but what I do know for certain is that they wouldn't take from kids with a lot of cores, since that would be taken from the actual core stealers. "
Alten was surprised to hear this, "Really? Shit, I thought they were the ones you were talking about... if not them, I wonder who the core stealers are."
Rylan sighed deeply before replying, slightly defeated in his body language, "You really don't have to wonder all that much. They aren't vigilantes, more like celebrities," He turned to look at the inner center dome as Alten did the same.
Leon on the other hand was too busy fueling up and chomping down on his food. He had missed even this level of food, which wasn't that good.
Rylan began to speak to Alten, "Out of the 4 marquees inside of that yellow dome, one of them belongs to the core stealing faction. Or, if I were to give their real nickname... the Deck group."
"I see... wait, the Deck group? What kinda name is that?" Alten chuckled.
As those two continued to talk, Leon observed a few random kids eyeing him from afar. They weren't just in one spot but spread around all across the place. As he ate, his eyes darted from kid to kid who made eye contact with them, but as he looked at them, their gazes quickly jolted away.
Leon thought this to be slightly odd, 'It's not normal... they could just be interested in me since I'm a newcomer. Or they could have heard of my name before. But... there's too many.'
As he continued to eat, a horn suddenly sounded from across the dome. Both Alten and Rylan stopped talking as they heard this. Seeing a multitude of kids head in a certain direction, all three of them looked there with interest.
It was a bit outside of the main hub area where kids roamed around for the most part. There was a small wooden platform, and on top of it was a small group of four kids, one of which that was blowing a purple horn.
Rylan suddenly stood up, "I guess it's already time," He said, looking over at both Alten and Leon who were understandably confused, "One or more of the factions is preparing to go hunt. It's really good if you can join them, but they pick a certain amount of people at a time so it's best to go as early as possible."
Alten and Leon looked at each other, "Want to go?" Leon asked.
"Might as well... there isn't much to do here anyways. We might as well get cores instead."
With this, the two stood up and jogged with Rylan to where the kids were gathering. With Rylan, they made their way through the crowd of kids and stood at the front.
"Hmm... isn't this a bit dangerous? I thought you said that the Deck group or whatever stole when out hunting sometimes." Alten questioned as they arrived at the front.
Rylan looked back, "Yea... but their hunts aren't that common, especially not anymore since they got as many cores as they needed id assume. But going hunting with a larger group is super valuable for those without many cores. Compared to going alone or with your group, the stronger group would help you and they share the cores fairly."
Alten nodded, understanding Rylan's viewpoint of it. He was still trying to understand the common mindset of someone in the center since he had only just arrived.
Another thought came to Rylan's head, "But... I've heard some rumors recently that the Deck group isn't just hunting for cores now, but also to pick off some stronger opponents for some reason. Something to do with the sun? I have no clue."
Hearing this, Alten was slightly taken aback. He was confused, "The sun? That makes no sense. What does that have to do with what you were saying previously?"
Rylan awkwardly laughed, "Haha... yea I don't know either. Forget it... those rumors are probably just stupid lies anyways."
"Listen up everyone!" A kid wearing a black robe with a sword sheathed on his waist who was on the wooden platform in front of every suddenly stepped up and spoke, as the kid holding the horn took a step back.
"We will be taking 20 in total!" The dark-robed kid proclaimed, as murmurs quickly spread throughout the crowd.
"Only 20 this time huh..." Rylan's exclaimed with a tone of disappointment.
With this, three of the boy's on the platform stepped down and began picking kids to go. Rylan stepped up with his chin up and chest out, confidently proposing himself to be the one to go.
After a minute or so, two of the three kids who were picking people got back on the platform as the last one made his way down the final line of students at the front.
He spoke as he got closer to Leon and the others, "16...17...18...19..." He got to where Rylan was and made eye contact with him for a few seconds. Rylan was excited, it had perfectly matched up and his time had finally come!
But then, the kid skipped right over him and picked Leon instead, "20," Before jumping back up on stage.