Rules and Regulations

"Ahem Ahem… Now that every seat is filled, I will explain the rules. As you might notice, there are a lot of people you probably don't recognize. Matches from all four hunter guilds are being held for the next three days, and then with a one day break, the semi-finals will be starting. You will only be fighting people within your same Hunter guild, and will most likely have two matches today, and two matches between tomorrow and the day after. All you need to do to move onto the next round is win at least three matches. The goal is to knock out your opponent, or make him submit. If you willingly show your killing intent by attempting to deal a killing blow, or even succeeding, you will be instantly disqualified. This is your chance to show your potential to the entire kingdom. The qualifiers won't be very packed with spectators, but the semi-finals and finals I assure you, will be packed full of people. I can't say what you will get out of this, that is for yourself to determine and express, but I suggest you do not take this event lightly. There has never been a public event like this to showcase your talent in the history of the kingdom before."

Illustrations of illegal attacks were shown on the wall in the sight of everyone. The basic four elements were only shown, and anyone lucky enough to have a rare element understood the idea. The repercussions were not disqualification, but also gallons of hate being directed towards the illegal attacker. Hate has never gotten anyone places they wanted to be in this kingdom. In fact, within the teachings the parents explained to their children, examples of these hateful people were blatantly told without remorse.

Financial fraud, stealing, and a 'whistle blower' on allegations related to the kingdom that are 'not true'.

"Now, please follow the attendant outside the room to the arena. Your weapons, as well as water and small amounts of food will be given to you at your leisure. There will be a very large board that will tell you who you are matched against. The attendants will cover everything else, I hope everything goes well. Good luck." Lorsen wasn't exactly unhappy with his job, but felt bored after many times of the same job. He did however give Elijah a sinister stare. His gray eyes squinted and shortly followed with his head turning quickly. This made Elijah feel empty. It was and wasn't his fault. 

Slowly, the eighty kids of all ages walked out of the room one by one. A five minute walk between buildings brought them to the hallways surrounding the arena. And within a large room with a massive entrance into the dirt arena, stood over five hundred children. This was one of the eight transition rooms around the arena, which meant there were well over four thousand participants!

Familiar faces were seen all over the place. By walking closely to the wooden board suspended from the ceiling. Elijah saw his name under the red core group.

'Taylor. I wonder if they are female or male.'

"Do you guys see your opponents?!" Elijah asked without looking behind him only to feel two hands grab his shoulder.

"Elijah. I am happy to see you again."

A slight smile broke the static lips of Elijah, and when he turned around, he shook the hand of the changed man. "Niko, you as well. I wish I had a way to contact you, but I suppose it's better late than never."

"Yes, we can talk about it later. Are you planning on winning?" 

"Of course! Why wouldn't I? You better make it to the finals, that is the only way we can face off against each other."

Elijah and Niko traded banter, laughed about their past, and were introduced to Novius, Alexia, Raylen, and Theon, who had arrived before them. Theon had pointed to the board.

"Look Elijah, your name is in the queue!"

Explosions, rumblings, and all kinds of natural torrents of elements alongside the clashing of metal rang outside the transition room. Most people were stepping on each other's heels trying to get a look at what was going on, and others were shaking in their shoes.

After walking up to the attendant at the board and confirming his identity, the man behind the desk walked into a room, and five minutes later came back with his short sword. "Elijah, here is your sword. Please wait in the line behind the board, the attendant at the entrance will bring you to your match area when ready."

Every single thing about this tournament was extremely organized. The funneling of people from the room where the rules were clearly spoken, to the collecting of weapons and redistribution of weapons, and the organization of the bracket and people. Whoever planned this did a fantastic job.

The earthen ground was by no means soft, but had a small layer of dust and loose dirt and rocks on the top. Maybe this was done to emulate a rough terrain, but this would also give anyone with an earth affinity a massive advantage. However, this advantage is something they always had, a part of life is what it is called.

Small one foot stone walls were erected as barriers separating each arena from each other. In front of Elijah was a lady with short brown hair and brown eyes. She was known as a referee, and would be watching over Elijah and Taylor's match. However, Taylor was coming from the opposite side.

Taylor was a female with medium length gray hair. Her gray eyes instantly let Elijah know her affinity, as well as Taylor giving a smirk with her understanding Elijah's affinity. From the get go, Elijah knew most people would underestimate him, and he would use this fact to his advantage. 

The ref was on the side next to the stone wall, and with both of her hands that lowered to the floor, the match commenced.

"GO!"

Sidestepping, Elijah dodged a thick gust of wind that threw him off balance just barely, and ended up quickly clashing swords with Taylor who sped up her movement with air underneath her feet.

This feeling was like no other he had felt before. Beasts were beasts, and weren't fighting with intelligence, but this girl in front of him, was. This fight felt different then his many spars with Amaris. There was something on the line, and with the combination of the small crowd and other witnesses, he felt this urge to achieve greatness.

To show off.

Taylor looked like she was a Noble, which Elijah wanted to demolish her privilege she potentially felt within her.

Between the small few centimeter gaps of his shoes, a wave of water quickly blanketed the earthen floor, and caused Taylor to fall back. Her face winced, but quickly threw a blade of wind heading straight towards Elijah.

'Too easy.'

A large and thin barrier of water appeared in front of the wind blade, and was severed while stopping the momentum of the attack. Meanwhile, Elijah shifted his momentum with his water magic pushing and sliding himself around in a curve, and appeared directly in front of Taylor.

The water fell to the floor creating a distraction. And with a single wave of his hand, Elijah let loose a simple, but large water ball that had to be blocked by wind, albeit not all of it was blocked and sprayed in the face of Taylor, and followed up with the bottom of his sword.

Bang!

Elijah had played this perfectly with a hit to the head using the flat side of his sword. A major advantage with water magic is when used properly and quickly, once could create an unavoidable attack that would temporarily blind the enemy. Taylor slowly began her fall, but was caught by Elijah's muscular arms.

A graceful act of kindness within a highly competitive competition.