Round Two, Start!

"The two of us? We were on our way to the colosseum when I spotted you," Nyana told Iris. "Speaking of which..." she eyed the side of Iris' head. "Shouldn't you be resting? What are you doing out here? And why is that man not with you?" It was even more strange that Iris was out here in the first place.

"I- Um..."

"Iris!" The sound of someone shouting her name interrupted them. Iris felt a jolt go through her body when she saw who it was.

"Oh no..." Iris ran behind her sister as a very angry Sirks stomped over to them.

"Oh no, indeed..." he said in a stern voice. He stopped in front of Wompa and Iris, crossing his arms menacingly. "So, what do you have to say for yourself, young girl?" From running away and giving him such a hard time, Sirks had a lot to be mad about. He stared at Iris, waiting for her to explain what she was thinking, disobeying him and refusing to rest.

"How hard is it to lay down and not do anything!?" he asked her, not getting why she was acting like this.

"I want to watch the match!" Iris yelled back, distancing herself from Sirks, moving Wompa with her as well, using her as a shield. Iris was looking for a chance to run away. However, Sirks saw her looking around and caught onto her plan before she could execute it.

"Don't you dare..." he warned her in a threatening voice, knowing exactly what she was trying to do. "You won't get away from me a second time, especially now that we're in the open." Unlike the inn which was packed with people, it wasn't as crowded out here in the streets because most of the people had already gone to the colosseum to watch the fight. The only people that were still out here were the ones that either didn't care about the tournament or poor farmers who didn't have the choice to even take a single day off from work.

"What do I dare?" Iris mischievously asked, acting innocent. "I'm not scheming anything..."

"Not scheming anything? Don't take me for a fool." Sirks took a step towards Iris and the girl screamed.

"Ahh! He's going to kidnap me!" Iris shouted loud enough for everyone in the marketplace to hear. Immediately, everyone turned their heads to them and stared at them.

"What!?" Sirks took a step back, stunned by what Iris had just done. "Are you out of your mind!?" Surely, the elf may have healed her head physically, but not mentally. A couple of people started to walk towards them, trying to see what the fuss was about. Just like this, a crowd began to form around them. Although there weren't many people out here like there would normally be, there were still quite a number of them.

Iris stuck her tongue out again at Sirks before happily hopping away. "Have fun!" she said to Sirks, smirking.

"You rascal..." Sirks couldn't move from his spot since if he did, the people watching him would take action to try to stop him. He had to explain the situation to them first before he could do anything...

"D*mn it..." Sirks turned to the elf whose name he still didn't know and Wompa. "Are you going to sit here and watch this happen?" he asked the two.

"Of course not," Nyana said. She waved her hand and a green mist enveloped the area. After spreading to everyone in the area, it disappeared.

"What did you do?" Sirks asked, touching his body, checking if anything happened to him, not sure if he breathed any of it in or not.

"Oh, you don't have to worry. It only affects those I want it to," Nyana explained. "And as for what it does, you can see yourself."

Sirks looked around and saw that everyone was now on the ground. "Huh!? Did you kill them!?"

"No! I put them to sleep!" Nyana sighed. "And I also did the same to her," she pointed at Iris, who couldn't escape the mist either. "You better bring her back to the inn before she wakes up."

"Oh, okay. Thank you!" Sirks did a quick bow and then ran over to where Iris was. He picked the girl up, grunting and waving his hand near his nose. "Ugh..." He didn't smell much better either, but what could they do? They didn't wash for several days now and didn't have the means to.

Pinching his nose, Sirks took off back towards the inn with Iris. Giving a quick thank you, the man disappeared into the market.

"Okay... Shall we hurry it up then?" Nyana turned to Wompa. She nodded her head and they headed off to the arena. The match was about to start soon and they needed to move fast if they didn't want to miss it.

The streets were even emptier as they neared the arena. Even the guards and soldiers that normally patrolled the city were at the tournament. There were very few of them walking around and keeping an eye on things. The city was the most vulnerable at this moment. An enemy attack would take the city by surprise and cause massive damage to Otane.

Well, that would be the case if it wasn't for a certain, dedicated soldier keeping everything in order. The Iceblade was on duty today, charged with making sure the city didn't fall into chaos while everyone else was slacking off. She will make sure that nothing bad will happen. Diligently watching out for everything, and being notified by even the smallest disturbance, Rui alone was more than enough to handle the task of protecting the entire city.

The walk was a long one, but at their speedy pace, they managed to make it just in time. The guards let them into the arena where they saw the seats were almost all filled. There were very few spots still untaken and it took some time for them to find two next to each other and settle down.

"Close up where the action is..." Nyana said as she and Wompa sat down. The seats that they found were at the front of the arena since no one wanted to get caught up in the heat of the fight. However, today, there were so many people that some had to take the front seats if they wanted to watch the fight at all. "And not a moment too soon either," she added.

The two massive gates on either end of the arena opened and the two contestants entered the field. On one side, Ayrete appeared from within the gate. Suited in full armor and his red scarf, he was prepared for a fight. He wasn't taking any risks with his opponent as the previous contestants had. The crowd cheered when they saw him walk out. He had his arms crossed and looked directly in front of him at the other gate.

Kies walked out of the opposite gate. Unlike Ayrete, he wasn't very popular with the crowd. Wearing the same mask and cloak he had on the other day when he fought, Kies walked into the arena without a care in the world. All around him, the crowd was booing. However, to everyone's surprise, there were actually a couple who were cheering for him.

The rest of the crowd looked at them with disdain, but otherwise, didn't do or say anything directly to stop them from cheering for him. It was not like they didn't want to, but they couldn't. Most of the people cheering for Kies were former contestants who got eliminated by him and knew that his skills were the real deal. Picking a fight with one of them was not a great idea as any one of them could easily take on several people in the crowd at once.

Nyana smiled, glad that his future companion was getting a bit more appreciation now that he has shown everyone what he is capable of. But Kies himself, on the other hand, didn't care the slightest at all. He took note of the people in the crowd rooting for him, but that was about it. Other than that, he didn't look pleased or unhappy about it.

The two fights stepped into the center of the arena and stood there, waiting for the referees to arrive and start the fight. In the meanwhile, the soldier and Kies had a standoff.

"You use wind magic, no?" Ayrete asked Kies, his opponent.

Seeing that he couldn't hide it anymore, Kies answered him truthfully. "Yes, what about it?" The news was out, but was there really a point in asking?

"Wind magic... What a useless kind of magic..."

Kies flinched when he heard this remark. He hadn't heard this in a long time as he was always alone, and hearing this now made him remember. "Oh really? Why do you think so?" Kies calmly asked the soldier, keeping a monotone voice to mask his annoyance.

"It's weak," Ayrete blurted out without a moment of hesitation. "Other than the fact that it is fast and almost invisible to the naked eye, there is nothing impressive about it," he explained his reasoning.

"Is that so...?"

"Yes. Anyway, all magic is useless against me in the first place. We'll be fighting with our swords, meaning that it will be my win," the soldier said confidently, acting like he had already won.

"We'll see about that," Kies said in the same aloof voice, getting increasingly more annoyed at how smug and cocky the soldier was being. But it was all talk in the end. Kies will make him eat his words when they actually fight.

On cue, right after the two finished talking, the referees entered the arena. They stationed themselves ok the outer edges, furthered away from the center to not get caught up in the fight. A single referee strolled into the center where the two of them were.

The crowd quieted down, both anxious and excited that the match was finally going to begin. Kies had to give it to the tournament. They really knew how to advertise their fights and make money. He has never seen so many people in his life. It almost looked like the entire population of Otane was here today. And within them, his companions were watching as well... Or not.

He didn't know. He had only entered the arena a few minutes ago, barely making it on time to the match before he got disqualified. Luckily, the tournament was lenient on it since it would suck for one of their only three contestants left to be eliminated for such a silly reason.

Taking a minute to go or everything, and doing a final check of the arena before the fight began, the referees examined every inch of the place and it seemed acceptable. Holding up their hands, they signaled to the referee in the middle that they were ready to go.

"Looks like everything is in order," the referee noted. He distanced himself from the two contestants and asked the question that everyone was waiting for. "Are you two good to go?"

"Yes." Kies' reply was instant and this surprised his opponent who raised an eyebrow.

"So am I," Ayrete also said.

"Good." The referee ran away from the two contestants, running to the edge of the arena where the rest of the referees were. After he was clear out of the way, he raised his hand and declared the start of the fight.

"Ready!? On the count three! One... Two... Three... Let the fight commence!"

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