Sphere of Surprises

Once he announced the opening, each team soon started to move. But unexpectedly, they found themselves floating off from the surface of the sphere's walls. Each team member was confused and struggled fruitlessly to right themselves. As they did so, some of them had ended up crashing into each other.

"Hahahaha!" Mephys' amused laughter suddenly echoed in the viewers' ears, "My dear audience, may I introduce to you a new invention! This is a special device developed by the Belmont family. It manipulates a specific force called gravity. Because of that, the inside of the sphere renders all objects completely weightless. You'll have to adapt to the new situation."

Everyone who heard him was extremely confused by his introduction. What was "gravity"? What sort of force was being controlled here? They had many questions. But because this sphere was co-developed by the Belmont family, it was easier to understand where this "gravity" came from.

Hearing the name "Belmont", Leo recalled what he had learned from his class lessons and his father. The Belmont family originated in the year 715, with its founding member named Nikola Belmont.

Nikola Belmont was a foreigner who came from far away lands. Originally perceived as just an ordinary mage, this foreigner soon displayed his hidden talents with discoveries and inventions that shocked the wisest of scholars and mages in Bavalon. Soon, he won recognition of the royal family, the Felgrands. For his service and knowledge, Nikola was granted a lordship as well as lands to continue his studies. It was then that he soon took up the last name "Belmont".

Throughout the years, the Belmonts were rumored to have discovered many new secrets every generation. Nikola Belmont was the first to encounter spirit animals, as well as having founded - and later entered - the Spirit World. He had returned with the first ever phoenix to exist in the world since the Great Change. Another one of his notable achievements was the discovery and application of the power of steam in machines, in the form of the "steam engine". The man had been particularly remembered for inventions that surprisingly did not require any mana to be used at all. To this day, he is revered as both a genius and a wise magic caster.

In present times, the Belmonts have the reputation as one of the best inventors and scholars in Bavalon. The Image Displayer was one of their most famous products. As for newfound knowledge, it appears that this "gravity" will soon be included as another one of their discoveries.

'I wonder what the exact nature of gravity is?' Leo thought as he watched the teams struggling in the sphere.

Soon, one of the groups floating around was able to stabilize themselves using air magic. Creating a vortex around themselves, they manipulated the winds to fly in the weightless arena. As Leo took a closer look, he noticed that every team member had long pointy ears with slim figures and a tall height. They were obviously elves.

In the middle of the sphere, a strange ball of energy appeared out of nowhere. It was a teleportation portal. Anyone who touches it would be sent out of the sphere and lose. The point of this first round was to remain inside while getting whole other teams out. While one could simply avoid conflict, eliminating others would grant a team a special bonus in the next round.

"It looks like the elves have adapted quickly to this situation. Shame that not everyone can have the same capabilities," Mephys commented, knowing full well that those other participants can hear him clearly, "If they don't find a way soon, this round won't be as interesting."

When it came to learning magic, there were four fundamental elements to choose from. They were air, water, fire, and earth. After that, there were other basic forms, such as light and darkness. Most mages would simply choose to limit themselves to master specific types, as attempting to master all of them would be too difficult and time consuming. It was even more so for knights, as they usually prefer the art of melee using mana, and would not care too much on how many elements they can specialize in.

Looking at the remaining teams floating around, it appears not many of them had studied air magic. A few who did were unable to produce enough air to make a significant difference in their situation.

At this moment, the human teams from rivaling nations have each casted their respective magic. The first team created a metal platform, however they had a difficult time staying on it, so one of the knights used a spell to connect their greaves to its surface. They slowly drifted off by having the same person that summoned the platform steer it. A second team had all their members produce fire around their limbs to blast off and move around. While at first having a difficult time balancing themselves, these knights proved to be clearly well trained, as they adjusted themselves immediately and moved in formation. The third team had members that were much more independent, with nearly everyone doing their own thing.

Leo quickly noticed that the first two teams were individuals from Fermes and Spanyx respectively. From their unity and discipline, the members were clearly all familiar with each other and had most likely trained together. It appears that, being the first time they were allowed to participate, the two countries were looking out for their own champions as best as they could.

As for the third team, needless to say they were all from Bavalon. Having already participated many times before, the country simply sent members with their own individual desires to win. However, this was not necessarily a bad thing. The goal of this game was to get entire teams out. So long as one person from one team remained inside, the rest of the members were still able to pass. Having people who know how to look out for themselves means that they would usually be more skilled than normal people. On rare occasions, you could get individuals who could fight outnumbered.

"Seems like things are finally getting ready. Well, almost ready." Mephys smirked as he paused to look at the team of beastmen still struggling, "At least we all know one team going out today."

The beastmen appeared to not know how to adapt to this situation at all and seemed to be getting desperate. One of them tried to use their claws to stick into the glass walls, but unfortunately they had all already drifted too far away. They were even several meters away from each other.

As Leo watched, he felt like the best solution was for them to get a hold of one another and throw their teammates to the side of the wall using magic. But surprisingly, none of them seemed to want to join closer together. They all seemed determined to be independent. Why was that? After studying them for a bit, he discovered the reason.

"Ah, I see. They're all chieftains..." Leo said aloud.

Everyone confusedly glanced at him when they heard that. Jeffrey, however, had a knowing look on his face.

"Chieftains are all from different tribes," Jeffrey mused, "Because of that, none of them want to help each other."

Soon, comprehension dawned on the small crowd in the lounge. The situation was much clearer now.

The beastmen of different tribes looked at the incoming teams. They then begrudgingly looked at each other, not wanting to help their teammates. Every one of them entered this tournament to earn glory for their own tribe. But with their team being the first one targeted, they realized they had no choice. Suddenly, one of them immediately raised his weapon and summoned a burst of energy that hit two of his allies. The two allies looked pleasantly surprised as they collided with the glass wall. Using their claws, they stuck themselves to the surface. Unfortunately, it was too late for more comradery as the other teams already arrived and engaged fiercely with the beastmen.

Mephys stretched his arms as he watched this happen. Yawning, he gave further commentary, "What a shame. You know what they say folks, pride comes before the fall."

The beastmen were soon eliminated from the sphere. Though, to their credit, each member had fought fiercely to the end. What they lacked in versatility, they made up for in their durability and ferocity. A few had even kept fighting till they were severely injured. Luckily though, in Mephys' coliseum, there are magical devices set in place to immediately teleport a person away in case they were nearly killed. Although it can be disrupted with advanced spatial magic, no one had dared done it as they did not want to challenge Mephys' authority.

With the beastmen gone, the battle raged on. The elves were currently engaged with the dwarves in a fierce confrontation. The latter had summoned enormous mounds of earth which they controlled to protect themselves like a castle. As for the humans, the Fermes and Spanyx were working together to get rid of those from Bavalon.

Although the two teams were lucky to get a few, the remaining ones were much more troublesome. One of the members summoned a spirit animal that could fly without gravity. Two other teammates were working together and were each very strong. Even after getting outnumbered from time to time, they seemed incapable of being overwhelmed. As for the last one, well, it was surprisingly a knight who could teleport.

Eventually, after several minutes, it seemed that the last team getting eliminated would either be those from Bavalon or the dwarves. However, surprisingly, the two strong individuals from Bavalon suddenly attacked together, unleashing a powerful wave of energy. It stunned the members from the Spanyx team and blew away those from Fermes. Very quickly, instead of finding a way to knock them to the center of the sphere, the two decided to fiercely attack the Spanyx members. Each attack they dealt seemed to repeatedly stun and weaken the helpless warriors. Eventually, they were all severely injured and were forced to be taken out by the coliseum.