Chapter 12 Tournament of Blood(1)

As many positions opened up Jack as the old leader or new elder organized a tournament setting to allow only the strongest to become the leader and fill in the positions of a couple commanders and several guards.

Though with the retirement of many officials and the opening of the leader spot since the original leader that inspired fear in every kobold retired it left every kobold greedy for the power, influence, wealth and favor of Jack himself.

Jack organized the tribe and took in registrations from every willing participant and noticed that every kobold applied even the new adults that hadn't had their death match since they were delayed due to the tournament.

With a smile seeing that this tournament would be the beginning of great change within the tribe decided to allow something that would change his original plans.

Announcing to the tribe that every female adult would be allowed to participant in this trial for leadership sparked a new craze in the eyes of everyone as the females had much greater greed for power due to being oppressed the past years.

Female battles were always more brutal than the battles between men. As there was less blessings than for the men the woman frequently engaged in battle for positions as the spouse of guards since the current holders didn't receive permanent blessings they improved at the same rate as every other regular female.

With every adult participating besides the few crafters everyone lost trust in each other. Though the elders were the only people trusted due to their inability to participate and the children who weren't of age. This trust in the elders would allow for the elders to gain more influence and protection against the people in power.

Organizing a tournament of about 200 kobolds including old and new kobolds the day soon came where the first match would be held.

In the arena of ascension as the kobolds called it since here was where kobolds would ascend to a life of pride or die trying like going against heaven itself.

All kobolds young and old gathered in the stands to watch all the matches for the day. The children and elders would be cheering for their favorites while the adults would be observing their rivals.

As a bracket system was in place and the matches were announced the day before every kobold knew who they would be fighting.

All the kobolds realized that the stronger contenders were spaced out so the best fights would be at the end. Though with not a perfect number many contenders got free passes for the first round.

The first round would be probably the easiest day for the kobolds since all the stronger kobolds were given passes.

With everyone settled the leader elder announced the start of the first match igniting the blood of every kobold watching from the stands and from the rest arena for the next contenders.

The matches went by quickly with each taking on average 6 minutes with most resulting in the death of the kobold as even if it risked death all the kobolds wanted a chance to rise to the top.

Towards the end of the first day the arena was soaked in blood. Every step was guaranteed to touch blood.

The second day wasn't worse off with the storm throughout the night though it was clear in the morning the arena had a formed a pool of red liquid. A mix of water and blood caused all the kobolds anxiety no matter if they were the strongest or if they were far away. As long as they smelled the scent of this blood pool they were guaranteed to become a little mad.

With the new terrain the battles slowed as the participants had to adjust to the low mixture which stuck and pulled at the legs of the kobolds.

Each battle was about twice as long as the day leaving the last few into the night. The pool slowly rose as the day moved on as more people died within. Though the bodies were removed the large amount of blood spilt was left behind.

The arena formed a circle and the way to enter the arena was through a stairway from above so it was in essence a giant pit. The only way the liquid would disappear would be to dissipate into the ground which due to the stickiness of the mixture took a long time.

Within this darkness all participants who already fought went to sleep. With only the elders watching over the fights since their had to be a referee the adrenaline of all the fighters rose with each passing minute due to the quietness.

As the elders are tired from the day and their earlier cheering the only noise was the occasional cricket and the slushing noise caused by the steps of each fighter.

Taking advantage of the darkness each kobold for every battle tried to sneak attack the other kobold with little vision and partial coverage of the dark liquid. All the kobolds saw was the blood pool until the last moments of the fight where one kobold would die.

This quickly became a test of patience leading to long fights though as the night progressed the fights became shorter and shorter. Each kobold's cunning became better with each fight.

Using the dark to sneak around, faking the senses of the kobolds to trick the opponent, hiding under the blood to hide from the opponent, splashing the blood to blind the opponent, spitting the liquid onto the opponent to blind and confuse the enemy. Many other methods were created in this night raising the hopes of Jack for the end of the tournament.

He would have to organize future fights to be at night as they would be the most entertaining. Jack can see all that is happening since its his realm and he can see through its night.

As the final fight ended every kobold went to sleep preparing themselves for the next day. With only a quarter remaining of the adult kobolds the fights would only become tougher. With a few level ups throughout the day boosting the excitements of the crowd and Jack.

Jack looked forward to the next few days where he would have to protect the remaining contests so the tribe keeps a bulk of its power. Looking at his worship value and deciding the investment is worth it permanently blessed all the kobolds male or female.

About 20 of the 64 participants are lv 1 who Jack blessed before upgrading and the rest have a chance to lv up. Jack will personally descend to orchestrate the rest of the fights so lv 1 don't die. level 0 kobolds aren't worth it to personally protect and by the end of round 3 he expects most of the kobolds to be lv 1.