Chapter 14 – Tournament Round Five

"We're really getting down to it now Jasper. From 256 outstanding participants, we are down to the best of the best."

"That's right Ruby. We are finally down to the final sixteen participants. I don't even think there are any Mortal Realm candidates left."

"As expected of some of the best individuals Ryko has to offer!"

"These fights will surely be some of the most anticipated battles in modern history. We have the Pyrite mages, ex-Kings, Dungeon Shades, an ex-party member of Lavilin, a princess, and so much more!"

"For sure Jasper. This first match is between the tournament villain, Wandering Sage Jing, and the Pyrite Sage Elle. Stay tuned!"

Shortly after, Elle faced Jing on stage.

"For the sake of females everywhere, I will take you down!" Elle was a beautiful woman. Her long blonde hair and blue eyes glowed with determination.

"Look, it's not what you think." Jing tried to explain.

"Stop talking. Your actions speak louder than your words." Elle stopped listening and attacked. Using fire and light magic, her bursts of magic shined throughout the stadium. Jing was going to surrender, but instead he was busy dodging the swirling lights. Every time he tried to raise his hand to surrender and explain himself, a volley of energy smote Jing from above.

After fifteen straight minutes of dodging, Elle collapsed of exhaustion.

"I can't go on," she moaned.

"Wait no, I surrender." Jing raised his arm, but Elle had already raised hers.

"It's a tie!" Jasper announced. From the audience's perspective, they both ran out of aura and were too tired to go on.

"Wait! Stop. I want to surrender. I never meant to hurt anyone!" Jing tried to explain his perspective, but it came out rather poorly.

"Stop toying with me!" Elle yelled from the ground. "You already won. Why are you torturing me by trying to surrender now?" Elle started to cry. She thought Jing was messing with her.

"He made her cry! What a scumbag." The audience whispered.

"The results are in. Winner! Wandering Sage Jing!"

"Scumbag! Scumbag!" The audience chanted over the booing.

***

Adventurer Anaxmai and Dregey stared down each other intently. Anaxmai knew he was no match for the ex-King. Instead of wasting his time, he decided to surrender.

"I'm a S rank Sage, and you're a mid-rank King. I can't win. I surrender."

Dregey and the spectators looked dissatisfied, but no one argued with his assessment.

Another match went the same way.

Wandering Sage Mo, a mid-rank Sage, was facing Ahab, a mid-rank King. An entire realm of difference was too exaggerated. It would make some sense for not to surrender if the ranks were only a few sub-ranks away from each other, as like the matches between most of the Sages, but a match like this would be too one-sided.

"I look forward to seeing you in the finals Dungeon Shade Ahab. As a prophet, this is my prediction."

"I appreciate your kind words prophet Mo. I will see you when the party reconvenes." Ahab responded.

"Winner! Dungeon Shade Ahab!"

***

Pyrite Sage Zircon, a low-ranked Sage, was not as practical. Facing the tremendously powerful Dungeon Shade Samson, he wouldn't back down.

"It doesn't matter how strong you are, there is always a chance!" Zircon boasted to Samson.

Samson laughed. He looked at the camera and quoted Murdoc, "A Sage challenging a King? Pathetic."

Omira pointed at Samson with delight. "Haha! I've started a trend!"

Inevitably, Zircon was devastated in one blow.

"At least you have guts," whispered Samson. He really meant it.

"Winner! Dungeon Shade Samson!"

***

The remnants of the Pyrite mages were unyielding. Pyrite Sage Pan, a high-tier Sage, was facing ex-King Job, perhaps the tournament favorite.

"Pyrite will never submit!" Yelled Pan. Ripping off his clothes, a potential rune was inscribed into his skin over where his heart was. Unleashing the rune would permanently damage Pan's lifespan and vessel. Depending on the magnitude of the potential seal, it could even kill the user after its use for the exchange of aura potential. It was akin to trading in lifespan for aura.

"You fool! Don't dabble with potential seals!" Job warned, but Pan had already unlocked the runic seal. Soaring from a high-sage up to the low-king realm, Pan faced Job arrogantly.

"Such power!" Pan exclaimed and attacked.

Clico watched from the tunnel; it was his turn to fight next. He was well aware of the rune. Potential Seals were dangerous and could only be used safely if stacked on top of a vessel protection rune. However, rune stacking was incredibly complex and took a lot of time to prepare. A stacked potential rune was a trump card for legitimate runic path users, but seeing Pan's aura, he instinctively knew his potential seal was unstable and poorly conceived.

"Never submit!" Pan screamed while dual wielding two long broadswords.

Job deflected each blow with the thin saber he wielded. Although Pan's aura grew immensely, it was still not enough to close the gap between him and Job. Before long, the potential seal's effects wore off, and Pan lost all will to continue.

"I can't submit." Pan cried on the ground. Job positioned his sword to Pan's head.

"Your recklessness is not appreciated. Your desperation to win has overshadowed the point of this tournament, to find the best of the best.

As your new party member, I implore you to never use a dangerous rune like that again. Hell cannot be conquered with reckless abandon. Teamwork, strategy, and regimented training are much more desirable than what you just did. Do you understand me?" Job lectured Pan and the audience members who cheered Pan on.

"I understand sir. I'm sorry." Even though Pan was overzealous, he recognized the retired king's skill and wisdom.

"Winner! Ex-King Job!"

***

"The final hope for the Pyrite mages is Pyrite Sage Angiuli, a young woman and rising star in the tournament. Facing her is Wandering Sage Clico, an underdog most known for his identity as an ex-party member of Lavilin before his descent into darkness."

Strangely enough, Angiuli resembled Clico. Both of them had blonde hair and blue eyes. They could be siblings, but the Pyrite Sage didn't care.

"We are similar in aura, which will make this a good fight. Good luck." Angiuli said before releasing her summoning skill: Water Barrier. Around a part of the stadium, a dome of water formed, and sharks created out of aura infested the water.

This appeared to be Angiuli's trump card. She could breathe with an air pocket skill. Clico was in a terrible position, facing sharks in an underwater dome.

"That's awesome!" Kids watching and pointed to the sharks.

Unless Clico used his own trump card, he didn't stand a chance. There wasn't really a good reason for him to do so. He wasn't like the Shades or mages with something to prove; he just wanted a spot in the Great Dungeon Party. His goal was already achieved.

Nonetheless, this was also the perfect opportunity to limit test his abilities. Aventi wanted to keep her skills out of the public eye, but Clico didn't think like her. He knew Lavilin all too well; he didn't have a spy network watching the outside nor did he care about what skills his opponents had.

Omira and Lavilin's fighting styles were both erratic and unrestrained. Therefore, Clico needed to push his skills to the limit. Building himself methodically like Aventi would be good in the long term, but only experience could push his abilities further faster.

"Skill: Runic Blasters." Clico gurgled in the water. From his arm tattoos, Guns made from aura emerged and started to fire at the sharks.

"Skill: Tier Two Potential Seal." Compared to Pan, Clico's potential seal was considered tier two because it had a vessel protection rune stacked on top of it.

"Skill: Runic Mask." Activating the runic tattoos behind his neck, a mask of aura generated, allowing him to breathe normally as well as see and hear better. Senses heightened, he continued.

"Skill: Tier Two Speed Enhancement Seal." Activating the tattoos on his legs, Clico's speed rose exponentially.

"Skill: Tier One Power Seal." The runes on Clico's arms strengthened his aura capacity temporarily.

In a frenzy, Clico moved unnaturally fast, blasting each summoned shark as he went. Angiuli kept her distance, and the sharks respawned. Moving faster, Clico evaded the new sharks and tried to close the gap between him and Angiuli.

"Skill: Sudden Impact." Clico's whole body moved twice its current speed and appeared above Angiuli. Flawlessly, Clico released the aura accumulated from his runes all at once. Angiuli fell to the ground, and the water barrier shattered, leaving the ground wet.

"Winner! Wandering Sage Clico!"

"Impressive, that Sage used only runes." One councilmember told a lanky looking man.

"Nure, you've got some competition," said one councilman to Nure, the man in question.

"It's not often someone uses exclusively runes. There's not a hint of natural aura on him." Councilman Nure wondered out loud.

***

"There are two matches left for the day, Lizard Princess Delilah versus Adventurer Elijah and Vampire Lord Jonah versus Lizard King Herod."

"I predict Elijah's win, and Herod's win." Ruby predicted.

"I'll go with the opposite," Jasper retorted.

Adventurer Elijah was an ex-guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild branch in Agate. After attempting to climb Heaven, he returned enlightened. Reigning from his leadership position, he wandered the world in search of a way to conquer Heaven. Now that Hell had opened, Elijah decided that Heaven could wait. Heaven would still be there for him when he returned.

Dressed like a priest, Elijah fought passively. Every match, Elijah waited for their opponent to run out of energy. Hands behind his back, he never attacked once.

"If you ask me, I think you're playing a role. If I don't attack you, the time limit will end, and chance will lose you the fight in the coin toss." Delilah critiqued.

"You can believe what you will." Elijah bowed respectfully.

"Hmph, I've watched your previous fights, and I'm calling your bluff." Princess Delilah sat on the floor in rebellion. Elijah shrugged his shoulders and followed suit.

Spectators watched at first, but then, got angry!

"Come on, fight already!"

"Why are they just sitting there?"

Yet, the two sat on the ground, meditating. Thirty minutes passed, and the match time limit concluded.

"Because the match wasn't decided within thirty minutes, it is a tie!"

"According to the coin toss, Princess Delilah wins!"

She stood up from the floor, and asked Elijah, "Was it worth it?"

He looked up at her and responded, "We're both entering the final party, what does this tournament matter to me?"

***

At last, the final match arrived. Vampire Lord Jonah, a beast man who grew stronger from consuming other beasts, was up against Lizard King Herod. Both were Kings estranged from their countries due to the Shade War. Vampire was a relative term to describe the succubus race Jonah represented.

As they were both in the low-Royalty Realm, the spectators were excited for a real fight after the last match's let down. Vampires took on the abilities of the beasts they consumed, but each Vampire had different limits their body could handle at once. Jonah had specifically prepared to counter the Lizard King. Lizards are fast and strong, but their defenses were lacking. Sitting in the arena, Jonah waited.

Lizard King Herod and Jonah were longtime friends, and Herod watched Jonah sitting carefully.

"He has a trap prepared," thought Herod. For minutes, Herod stared at the Vampire meditating in the center of the arena.

"Not again!" Spectators complained. It was looking like another snoozer.

Patience was a virtue Herod did not have, and suddenly, he attacked. His long claws stuck Jonah, but no damage was taken.

"Kufufu, what do you think?" Jonah boasted. "I consumed the meat of a tortoise and that of a cheetah. I have speed and defense, while you have speed and attack. I will slowly whittle your defenses until you fall." The Vampire stood up and attacked Herod weakly with his fists.

"If that's all you got old man, my attacks will wear down your defenses before you take down mine!" Herod challenged. What followed was a slugfest of two middle aged men. Like a fast-paced boxing match, the two fought each other head on at breathtaking speeds.

"Finally, why didn't they fight like this at the beginning?" Omira asked Clico. She truly had no sense of strategy. Aventi shook her head at the impatient Shade.

All thirty minutes passed by with no victor. In spite of the copious ties throughout the tournament, this was the first time the battle ended in a true tie.

"The coin toss is in, and the winner is Lizard King Herod!"

"Our final eight participants will advance to the sixth round, the Quarterfinals. We had some real strange, exciting, and strategic battles today, don't you think Ruby?"

"Who would've thought strategy looked like waiting thirty minutes for a coin toss? Am I right Jasper? Anyways, the excitement will continue next week, in the Quarterfinals! Thank you everyone for tuning in, and we'll see you all real soon!"