B4 Chapter 44: The Tournament (Patreon)

For the fifth time in a dozen minutes someone bumped me with their hip.

"Sorry!"

Aight, fuck it.

Without a word, I grabbed onto Arzurous' fuzzy backside and hauled myself up, finding a standing position behind Igas.

"That didn't take long," Igas teased.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. My tail unfurled from my waist and I felt the stress melt away. "That's so much better."

"It's surprising the enchantment holds with your tail moving. Is it new?"

"Teddy's parents barged into my room, threw the new earrings at me and cartwheeled away."

He patted my leg and turned around to watch the crowd. The streets were packed, more people flooding the road to the point that Arturous–who usually allowed us to cut through the crowds–was a slow moving tank in a sea of bodies.

It wasn't much further; the arena was large enough to rival the great coliseums of Rome. The stone structure was adorned with flags of different colors and grand banners with some of the well-known champions painted on.

People streamed toward four lines, two for entrance into the arena itself, the third being an exit, and the fourth being sectioned off for prospects entering the tournament.

It took nearly half an hour, but we moved into the first line. Before I could hop down and look for Sereza, she pushed past two men in the throws of a heated argument and waved.

"Spotted you five minutes ago, but a group of teens knocked over a food cart. The idiots had to clean everything up."

Sereza was in her usual style of clothes but they were different. The usually brown leather jacket now sported emerald accents and various designs stitched in. The short shirt was replaced by a darker-green hoodie showcasing various teeth and claw marks sitched in along with drips of neon-yellow thread.

I whistled. "So you met Noira."

She spun and pulled down her collar, revealing Noira's emblem. "Think it looks good?"

"You look amazing," Celenae said, going in for a hug.

I was wearing my black hoodie for today, deciding that the subtle black and grays were better for blending in. With Sereza, the only person not sporting a designer hoodie was Igas, who preferred being shirtless.

"The jacket's different, what's it made of?"

"Hide of a Groolper. Tier two and enchanted for adventuring. With added resistance to acid using my mana. Cost a pretty coin. But sooo worth it," Sereza replied.

We continued in line, and we discussed a few things before I motioned to Sereza. She followed me to the side, which, admittedly, wasn't that private, but I'd make do.

"Thanks for coming. I doubt I'll get very far but I appreciate the thought," she started.

I shook my head. "Self-doubt does you no good. Aim to melt everyone into a puddle and get those prizes."

"But I can already attend the auction? My father's connections guarantee that. Whether I want to go or not."

"What about the enchanted item prizes?"

"Simple. I drag you into a dangerous, crazy monster. We defeat said crazy monster. Loot the monster. And win the prize in a bet?"

"So you still plan on sticking around despite everything you learned?" I teased.

She produced a dead expression with equally dead eyes. "You think after telling me everything, and after having experienced everything that I would walk away? Me, who literally ran away from noble life in an effort to experience adventure and excitement?"

"Fair enough," I conceded. "So I wanted to talk to you about something."

Her demeanor changed and she grabbed my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"It doesn't have to be bad news, you know."

"Yeah but..."

I shrugged her off and pointed to the orange wristband on her left arm. She glanced down and held it up.

"This?" she asked.

"Yep. That."

"What about it?"

"Well..." I said slowly. "There's been a change of plans. All the talk from Cal about things starting to ramp up had me thinking."

"Okay?"

The others were nearby and I knew they could hear me so I turned and addressed them as well.

"I've decided to participate."

I braced myself, ready for expressions of shock even anger. Instead, I received a series of confused head turns and more than a few narrowed eyes.

"That's it?" I demanded.

"Cyrus, what exactly did you expect?" Eodyne asked.

"Honestly? No idea. Figured you guys would be all weird after spending so long trying to hide things."

"Are you planning on revealing yourself?" Teddy asked.

"No."

"Scream to the heavens that you're a Reborn?" Isaac added.

"Still no."

The rogue shrugged. "Then go bash some heads in. Oh! Even better! Get your head bashed in so we can laugh!"

Isaac grinned like the asshole I knew but it didn't reach his eyes. But now wasn't the time.

"Haa, Haa. Anyway, long story short; I'm going to go register, meet you in the booth after?"

"Works for us. If anyone gives you trouble just show them this crest," Teddy said as he flipped me a metallic object.

It was a metal coin with his family emblem pressed into the metal. I pocketed it and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Thanks. I'll bring snacks."

"You better!" Isaac shouted.

As I waved goodbye, Sereza led me away from the crowd and toward the much, much smaller line for participants.

"So when did you decide to do this?" she prompted.

We dodged a large wolfman who crashed to the floor as people scrambled to stand up. Apparently one guy kissed another guy's girlfriend. 

I guess some things never change, even if the sports are replaced with magical combat duels. Sam would have loved this.

I ignored the pinpoint of depression and ducked to catch up to Sereza.

"Well?" she asked.

"Two days ago. Charity day. I think I told you about this when you came over for dinner?"

"About how the guildmaster attacked you and then spent the day deciding if you were a threat? What about it?"

"That day was good training for Áine. We didn't make a breakthrough but we learned a lot and cut down mana costs."

"That's great," she said after maneuvering around two drunken bearkins. "So you're participating because you want to train more?"

"Somewhat," I admitted. "Half of it is that, the other half is that another is what Cal mentioned and how one day I might be able to meet Sam again. And she'll kick my ass if I'm a weakling and she's not."

Sereza grinned. "Sounds like a good friend."

"She is. But another is that someone like the guildmaster could attack me. And as much training as Broken Tower has helped me with, I need some variety. More experience and all that."

We stopped at the entrance of the line, only four other people were ahead of us. A pair of elven women dressed in robes, a burly dog-headed beastkin, and a gruff man dressed in full leather with a sword belted to his waist.

The beastkin noticed our arrival but grunted and turned away.

Not so impressive yourself buddy.

We watched the crowd flow into the opened archways while chatting about mundane topics. Thankfully, Sereza had connections to all the hot gossip in the city. While I could have cared less about some noble peacock making an ass out of himself, she veered the discussion into what to expect competition wise.

The event was hosted by the Dawnborns. On any given day, fights were hosted in the arena, as was the nature of a city filled with adventurers. But an official event with prizes and the chance to slot yourself into a private event for the society's elites?

Beyond the random adventurer or commonfolk hoping to achieve glory, the nobles would be sponsoring their own members to join. It was the Dawnborns, a true noble house. Society demanded that the other houses show up one way or another and attempt to trounce the others.

I nudged Sereza's side. "Do we know what items are being sold in the auction?"

"Do you care?" she responded.

"Maybe. I have a funny feeling I'll need to start preparing stuff for more than just me soon."

She smirked and pushed me forward. "No idea. Not even my father knows what they have ready. Whatever they managed to loot from the recent expedition will be up for sale, but it's the Dawnborns. They'll have other prizes to throw in to entice the nobles."

"Next!" the man shouted.

He looked up from his clipboard and scanned Sereza, stopping at her bracelet.

"You're already registered, just head inside."

She pointed to me. "He's registering too."

He sighed. "Name, archetype, and tier. And will you be fighting in the mask or no."

"Yes?" I said. He glared and I cleared my throat. "Yes. Name is Strix. I use a spear and elemental attacks? Tier one."

"Of course another tier one. Take this, don't lose it, bind it with your mana. When your name is called the bracelet will turn green. And remember to adhere to all rules as stated inside the coliseum. Combatants will not be able to enter the arena if not cleared by the arena master. Do not attempt to argue or fight with the arena master. Such actions will have you thrown out and banned for an appropriate amount of time, if not permanently. Are there any other questions?"

His eyes lost focus as he droned on, becoming robotic and monotone during his explanation. I glanced at Sereza who shrugged.

"No?"

He snapped to life and shoved the bracelet into my hand. "Next!"

There wasn't anybody behind us. 

I put the bracelet on and inspected the enchantments. The first one I recognized as a simple color-changing rune. The second, I didn't, but the mana gave the impression of alarm and alertness through vibration.

After running my mana through the band, it adjusted in size around my wrist, and I tried to tug it loose. It stayed skin-tight.

"Smart. Can't get it caught on something."

"Exactly," Sereza said.

We moved inside, crossing the archway and into a flight of stairs leading downward. The main arena was above ground, but the training rooms and staging area were below street level.

Much like the streets above, the underground pit was packed. It was divided into two areas, one being larger than the other by a wide margin. She led me to the largest one.

"This is tier one. And the arena master is over there. He'll ask to see your band and then give you the rules of the tournament."

The woman in question was a yellow-skinned oni who looked like she could bench Igas.

I whistled. "She's a slab of beef, damn. Does she really need the pointy shoulder pads?"

The pointy bits of metal nearly took someone's eye off as he stumbled forward. But as the combatant neared, the air distorted around her shoulder and pushed him into the nearby wall.

She grunted and spat on the floor before stomping the ground. All sound in the area stopped.

"Listen up you idiots. The next person to start a fight without my saying so is getting punched. Do I make myself clear?!"