Chapter 198: The Tournament Begins
Chapter 198: The Tournament Begins
"You seem happy," Cedric observed as he looked at his younger sister, who had a small smile on her face as she adjusted her armor.
"Do I?" Renelle asked without looking at him before muttering, "I guess I am."
After all, her date with her butler ended on a pleasing note, and there was also the fact that she met a cute child and another that reminded her of Adrian.
But perhaps the most pleasing was the fact that she also acquired her butler in a teddy bear form.
What was there not to be happy about?
"I see," Cedric nodded, suspecting that a certain butler had a hand in this, but he said nothing.
Not that he wanted to anyway.
Seeing his sister happy was more than enough.
"Ready?" he asked instead.
"Mm," Renelle nodded as she finished adjusting her armor and picked up Crystal, who immediately settled on her shoulder.
Cedric looked at the fox, noticing that his little sister wasn’t the only one excited.
"She seems excited," he pointed out as he watched the spirit’s four tails wag behind it.
Renelle glanced at Crystal with a small smile.
"She always is," she said simply.
[Kyu.]
The fox seemed to agree.
With that, the two siblings walked towards the arena’s preparation area, the sound of the crowd already audible before they even reached the doors.
They, as always, were excited for the final part of the festival.
It was even more so today since this was the stage where the strong would actually shine.
The representatives would finally face each other, and unlike the hunt and the dungeon raid, strength was all that mattered.
At least that’s what the South thought anyway.
The two soon reached the preparation area and noticed that it was already occupied.
Darius was the first they noticed since he was practically vibrating from excitement. Orion, beside him, was also clearly excited to find out how strong these kids were.
Conan seemed a bit nervous, which was quite the opposite of the expression Adrian had.
The butler even seemed to be in high spirits, something that was made obvious when Renelle walked in.
This basically confirmed Cedric’s thoughts, but again, he said nothing.
The other two that seemed to also be in high spirits were the prince and his saintess. The two stood hand in hand, waiting for the matchups to he announced.
Marion just had a small smile on his face as he looked at Renelle walk in, almost as if he knew exactly why she seemed happy.
Which he did, and even Adrian knew it.
After all, he had sensed a presence behind them, but since they had no intention of ruining his date, he paid it no mind.
It wasn’t as if he was doing anything secret anyway.
The representatives from the church, on the other hand, still had smiles on their faces as they also waited.
***
Meanwhile, outside the preparation area, the stadium was a lot louder than it had been during any of the previous stages.
The magic tools above the arena displayed the tournament bracket as it was being drawn, each matchup appearing one by one to crowd reactions that varied in volume depending on who was paired against whom.
The herald waited for the bracket to complete before speaking.
"THE TOURNAMENT STAGE WILL PROCEED AS FOLLOWS," he announced, "EACH FACTION’S TWO REPRESENTATIVES WILL COMPETE INDIVIDUALLY, ONE MATCH AT A TIME."
He paused and looked around.
"THE RULES ARE SIMPLE: FIGHT UNTIL SURRENDER, INCAPACITATION, OR RING OUT. LETHAL FORCE IS PROHIBITED."
He then paused again, this time to deliberately build anticipation before adding.
"EVERYTHING ELSE IS PERMITTED."
The crowd let out an excited cheer as they stomped their feet and looked at the pairings.
This was only just an initial pairing, and everyone would eventually fight the other in the end....well, save for those in the same group.
So the entire day will be filled with nothing but entertainment for the South....there was nothing else they could ask for.
"THE FIRST MATCH OF THE FINAL STAGE OF THE CONVERGENCE FESTIVAL—" the herald continued after the cheers died down a bit.
He paused and pointed towards one of the magic tools showing the pairings, "THE ACADEMY’S REPRESENTATIVE, CONAN."
The academy students immediately started cheering. They knew exactly what the first year was capable of, and judging by the pairings, the first match was definitely going in his favor.
"AND HE’LL BE GOING UP AGAINST THE WEST’S REPRESENTATIVE, LORD SETH SYLVARIS. "
The West’s crowd also cheered their representative going up first, though they weren’t as loud as the kids from the academy; it was a cheer nonetheless.
***
Back in the preparation area, Conan looked at his opponent, who also happened to be looking directly at him.
He was a boy in green armor, with matching hair and eyes.
Seth had a calm expression on his face as he looked at Conan. Of course, he had seen what the kid was capable of during Hunt, but still, he was certain that this match was about to go his way.
Without saying anything, Seth turned around and walked towards the exit.
"Are you nervous?" Adrian asked.
"A bit," Conan nodded before turning towards him and grinning, "but I’ve got people to impress, so I’m going to kick his butt."
"I see," the butler nodded with a small smile before adding, "then good luck."
"Alright!" Conan said with a smile as he walked out the door.
Darius immediately closed in on the magic tool that broadcast the happenings on the arena floor.
"The first year versus West," he said, mostly to himself, "this should be quick."
"Don’t underestimate the West," Orion said with a small frown.
"I’m not underestimating the West," Darius shook his head as he continued looking at the screen, "but I’ve fought Conan before; he’s strong."
Orion looked at his little brother with a bit of surprise before turning back towards the screen.
Perhaps this was going to be a lot more interesting than he initially anticipated.
Conan stepped on the setup stage and stood just opposite his calm opponent.
His eyes glowed for a bit as he scanned Seth, but before any words could be exchanged between the two, the herald’s voice filled the arena.
"THE FIRST MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT STAGE. REPRESENTING THE ACADEMY, CONAN AND REPRESENTING THE WEST, LORD SETH SYLVARIS."
"BEGIN!"