n

n

n

"Huh?! What do you mean, you're not gonna be fighting in the next round?!

" The young woman in front of Foster, Jasmin, glared at him as if he had just insulted her honor or something. But he didn't really care, he mostly just entered this so that he could test himself a bit, and well... He did. While these ones that Foster had fought with right now probably weren't the strongest in the whole tournament, he really didn't care about winning something like this.

nWhile he wasn't planning on staying completely low-profile, he didn't want to put himself out there to make it easier for Joyce and Aaron to find him either.

n

"I said what I said, I'm not gonna be fighting in the next round. So be happy, one less guy you've gotta fight with or something.

" Foster rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the arena, ready to return back to his room and head to sleep for the night. But both of the people beside him were trying to stop him.

n

"Are you **ing dumb?! The next round is a team competition! We'll have to compete 'with' each other, not 'against'!

" Jasmin exclaimed, and Foster looked back at her with a light frown,

"And how is that my problem? I specifically asked, and I was told that I was allowed to drop out at any point throughout the tournament without repercussions.

"

nJasmin stared back at him, angry at this situation, until she realized something. Her angry expression turned to a light grin,

"You know, that might be the case officially, but... There are plenty of people that wouldn't be all too happy to see someone drop out so easily in such an important part of the competition... if you don't wanna deal with the real big shots of this town, then-

"

n

"Oh, you mean like the criminal underground? The guys really running this city from the shadow? Actually, that'd be a great chance, I wanted to meet those guys anyway. So, everything's working out for me in the end. Thanks for the tip.

" Foster said bluntly as he turned back around, walking toward the exit. But suddenly, he stopped. He could feel something... moving inside of his clothes. Did a bug get inside of them or something?

n

"Hah, are you reconsidering it after all? What, you scared all of a sudden now?

" Jasmin asked with a grin, and Foster let out a deep sigh,

"Listen, just figure this ** out yourself. I genuinely don't care, and even if you manage to somehow force me to compete, I'll just fake being beaten by the first people we meet. So just shut it, and-

"

n

"You really are a horribly selfish man, are you not?

" The spearman, Argo, asked, and Foster immediately nodded,

"Yup, you got it.

" He was still burrowing through his clothes, trying to find whatever was moving around inside there, but he just couldn't see it at all.

n

"Then how about we deal with it like this? You and I fight, one on one. If you win, then you don't have to compete, and if I-

"

n

"Do you think I'm actually dumb or something? There's genuinely no reason for me to do that. As I explained earlier, you have no leverage to keep me in this competition. If I win, I gain nothing, and if I lose, I have to do something I don't wanna do. There's literally no way for me to win.

" Foster said with a deep sigh. He had to deal with plenty of idiots like this before, people that thought they could annoy him into doing whatever they wanted.

n

"But you-

"

n

"Oh come on, I told you already, I'm not going to keep taking part in this **ing competition. Just get off your high horse, will you?

" Foster groaned out loudly, clearly beyond just annoyed because of these two people behind him as well as whatever it was that was crawling through his clothes. At least the latter of those things finally disappeared just now, but he still had to deal with the other two pests somehow.

n

"What... What is that?

" The girl asked, looking at Foster's face. Or rather, she was looking to the top of his head,

"It's called hair. What, do you have Alzheimer's or something?

"

n

"She means that... bug, or whatever it is, on your head!

" Argo replied with a deep frown, and Foster raised his brows,

"Bug? Huh...

"

nThinking that whatever it was that had crawled through his clothes before now made his way to his head without knowing, Foster simply tried to grab it without letting it escape. But when he did, he felt something surprisingly familiar, just... a little different.

nLoosening his grip, Foster pulled it off his head, and grinned broadly when he realized he was right,

"Aster!

" He exclaimed,

"I thought you weren't gonna wake up, buddy! What did you do, scaring me like that?

"

n

"...You know what that thing is?

" Jasmin asked with a wry smile, and Foster immediately nodded his head, now suddenly incredibly happy,

"Yup, it's my familiar, Aster. Sorry, but I have to head off and take care of him for a second.

"

nSince both Argo and Jasmin seemed incredibly confused all of a sudden, Foster was able to leave this part of the building quickly without them bothering him any further.

nBut where Foster was standing just now, the two of them slowly looked at each other,

"Did that Martial Artist just say he had a Familiar?

"

n---

nFoster made his way back up to the Inn, where his friend was already waiting for him. He was standing by the entrance, just waiting for Foster to get inside, standing there silently.

n

"Yoo, how you doing, man? I thought you were gonna head to bed or something...

" He said with a wry smile on his face, and Lynol slowly turned around,

"Nothing, mister Brutal Martial Artist.

"

n

"Oi...

" Foster said nervously, following his friend,

"It ain't like that, alright? I just wanted to finally test my 'Block' martial skill out, that's all!

"

n

"Huh, really? It looks like you were really enjoying yourself, though.

" Lynol pointed out, a fact that Foster didn't know how to respond to. So instead, he used a skill he learned during the time he started actually going to school... Blatantly changing the topic when people asked him about what he was up to.

n

"Ah, here! Aster woke up!

" Foster pointed out, pushing the Nature Spirit forward. Lynol looked at him, and then raised his head to look at Foster again,

"He shrunk down a bit.

"

n

"Well, yeah, but... You know, I kinda figured that might happen.

" He replied immediately, looking down at the tiny version of Aster that was currently sitting on his palm. The body that had now formed around the tiny porcelain mask had scaled down properly as well... So Aster's body was no bigger than Foster's index finger right now. But that kind of made him cuter.

nAs they were heading toward where their rooms were, Lynol turned back toward Foster,

"Well, I guess it was kind of to be expected. But also, you never explained to us what that name was about.

"

n

"Ah! It comes from 'Asterism'. It's like a generic version of a 'constellation', basically any grouping of stars is referred to as an Asterism. And his fur kinda looked like that.

" Foster explained with a smile, nearly about to geek out again, when Lynol stared at him for a few moments. Foster looked back with a wry smile.

n

"...What?

"

n

"Oh, nothing.

" Lynol replied,

"I just thought it was funny how your familiar's name is based on stars. You know...

"

n

"Don't you **ing say it...

"

n

"...you being the star of the tournament, and all.

"

n

"Go ** yourself, Lynol....

"

n