Chapter 13: Leaving for Chicago, first time in an airplane!
After a few minutes, a large bus that almost looked like a team bus professional footballers used to travel to short distant places arrived at the university.
It had a black and gold color pattern on it with a commissioned house-on-fire print which was visibly the logo of Grindhouse Wrestling.
"Ready to go?" The dark-skinned man smiled at the students.
Everyone nodded in unison and approached the entrance of the bus with a walking queue. Arnold was walking silently at the back with a grim look on his face. If one looked at his face, one would notice that he was feeling great at this moment.
It wasn't as if he was entirely sad or something... Arnold was... He was kind of feeling bad for not repaying Mia's help the other day. If she hadn't helped him, he might have been long dead after the accident in the stairway.
However, it was certain that there was nothing he could do to meet her at the university again...
"I'll make sure I repay your kindness when things turn good for me someday. That's a promise, Mia," Arnold muttered with a sincere countenance and entered the bus.
While others chose to sit around the front section of the bus, Arnold calmly walked and sat alone on the extreme back. He heaved a sigh of relief right after, dropping the bag he was carrying by his right-hand side.
"Attention everyone!" A masculine voice sounded from the front side of the bus. "The journey from Arizona to Illinois would be too long through the land, so we are heading for the international airport and would journey by flight."
"You are ordered to remain calm and collected throughout this journey to prevent regretful penalties!"
This voice didn't seem to be coming from any of the two Grindhouse Wrestling officials, it was the driver.
The whole student didn't dare to go against the rules as they made sure they were on their best behavior. At some point, the bus seemed to have gone silent due to everyone shutting their mouths, and the bus's engine powered on.
Soon, the bus zoomed slowly and steadily towards the exit pathway of the university, disappearing from the range of towering buildings planted in the educational expanse.
'Phew... Really? Am I now going to become a Grindhouse wrestler?' Arnold couldn't help asking himself inwardly, his heart filled with inexpressible joy.
Everything came like a short drama. After losing nine out of ten matches in the exams, who would believe that he could end up being selected?
No one would...
'This wouldn't have been possible without you, system,' Arnold inwardly said.
'Thank you.'
[You are humbly welcome, Fury.]
[But, can I just have a different name apart from the "system" you call me? I deserve a more personified name, host.]
Arnold shrugged.
He could even communicate with the system in his head and no one would be able to hear a sound.
'What kind of name do you want? MVP? Paul Heyman? What?'
[No, host. Just a better personified name than "system". Why not call me "Advocate"?]
Arnold flinched in an instant.
'Advocate? What's special about that name?' Arnold couldn't help but ask.
[I'll be your guiding figure throughout your professional wrestling career. Isn't that name worth it?]
'If you say so...'
Arnold wasn't in the best state to argue with the system so he quickly agreed and tried to focus on their journey.
[Name of Pro Wrestling System selecting...]
[Do you want to name the system "Advocate"?]
'It was your choice.' Arnold replied.
[Pro Wrestling System name selected.]
[Name: Advocate.]
[You have gained four status points to distribute freely.]
After successfully granting the system its new name, Arnold suddenly received strange information at the very last message.
'Status points? What does this mean?' Arnold was a little confused.
[Status Points are unused points that can be added to any of your Attributes. For instance, when you add one status point to your current Strength, it would increase by One.]
After the system's explanation, Arnold came to understand. Although he wouldn't add the status points to any attribute right now, he was pretty delighted that he could make a little progress in his Attributes without doing any training.
Even though he did, the fact that he had some free points waiting in the corner would increase his chances of getting higher rates of progression in his mission to reach 50 overall attribute points.
Arnold checked his stats and noticed that the Status Point feature had already appeared.
[Status Point: 4.]
Glancing at the blue screen, he sighed softly and returned his focus to the journey.
It didn't take long before they arrived at the Arizona International Airport in Phoenix. The Ultimate Revolution Wrestling Management already made completed arrangements for the arriving newbies so they weren't stressed before entering the airplane and taking off.
Truthfully, this was the first time Arnold was entering an airplane in his life. Unable to afford a flight fee when traveling to Arizona from San Diego, Arnold spent 36 hours and 30 minutes by land transport, almost freaking out during the journey.
Now that he was finally entering an airplane, Arnold's joy couldn't be expressed. Most rich students in the group didn't act as if it was a new thing to them as most of them didn't even observe the area, however, it was as if Arnold was the only novice in the group.
He kept staring around with a smile on his face even though some students were casting awkward gazes at him. Arnold never paid any attention until the airplane took off, disappearing into the skies after a few periods of land movement.
The journey only took three hours and a few minutes before they got to the Chicago International Airport, and they were transported right to Capside Centre immediately.
Arnold only sat and observed every observable scene and took some pictures with his smartphone. When they arrived at Capside Centre, a group of women clad in black suits and shoes were already waiting at the entrance.
It was as if these women were receptionists, however, while staring long at them, one would notice that they were also officials in Grindhouse Wrestling just like the bald and dark-skinned man.
When the students came out of the team bus, they were welcomed by these women and led to the office of the General Manager at that minute.
Capside Centre was even more massive than Arnold expected. It was more like a doom building with the structure of a stadium, constructed with expensive-looking ceramic materials and metals, the luminescent light bringing its beauty to life. With a height of about 3400 feet, the Grindhouse Wrestling home was much like a fort of emperors.
Although, as a show for mostly beginners in the professional wrestling industry, Grindhouse Wrestling never made weekly travels to different cities like the top shows. Their travels were only occasional in their pay-per-view events. However, this show was seen as a place for one to showcase his/her talent and prove their worth to the Ultimate Revolution Wrestling Management.
Sometimes, there were even cases when some Grindhouse stars were allowed to participate in the Great Rumble, one of the hottest pay-per-view events in the top shows of Ultimate Revolution Wrestling. If they accidentally win or make an incredible impact...
It could really be a life-changing action.
Well, it was just that the low-level stars in this show didn't get the right opportunity until they proved their worth to the top of the roster.
At this point, Arnold Gallagher, the Max freaking Fury, had something crazy in mind.
"I don't know how, but I'm taking the Grindhouse Omega Title with me..."
"... sooner than many may think."