WIN FOR US

The crowd cheered as the tournament was about to begin. There were people from all over the kingdom and the leaders of all fourteen provinces.

Kojo thought back to the weeks prior. He'd spent his time training and building up strength, hunting dangerous beasts as well as sparring with his friends.

He'd also gathered information about the tournament.

Archadia had 14 provinces:

Tarquis

Sapphir

Garn

Emraldus

Topaz

Quartza

Opal

Onyx

Carnellia

A'get

Beryli

Chalcedony and the capital of Dia' Mon.

Each province was ruled over by a member of House Listowell.

(SAGE: The Royal family are the ones who rule the Kingdom by making sure that each of the provinces has a royal as head. Despite their titles of Duke and Duchess, they are essentially the governors of their various territories, administering them as they see fit. They only report to the king on important matters, and the king, in turn, only gives general orders. Aside from that, he equally administers to his territory, Dia' Mon. The Leaders of the Kingdom are the children of the previous King Dumello Listowell. In order to avoid conflict, he shared the territories among his children according to who was born first. The older you were, the more rich your territory.)

"But how come Duke Philip got Opal? According to what Jack told me, they're twins with equal right to the throne, so how did he end up getting the worst territory?" Kojo asked, using his axe and sword to slice through a pack of Kobolds on the mountainside.

(The Province of Opal is similar to the Garn and Carnellia regions, having both forests and mountains. It is blessed with the famed element Mystium.)

"What's that?"

(Mystium is an element that is formed when Arcana solidifies, taking physical shape. Its properties include being nigh indestructible, magic Amplification, and curse Nullification. It's this element that was used to form the seven sacred swords.)

"I thought you said there were only three of them," Kojo said, avoiding a blow from the Kobold lord then dividing it with an upward slash of his axe before burning it with fire breath. He looked around the mountain peaks and realized he'd killed the entire pack. He pulled their bodies into his pocket dimension.

(No, I said the first hero possessed three: Durandel, Caliburn, and Ascalon, two of which are lost. I don't even know why I bother if you're not going to listen.)

"Hey, isn't Ascalon that time-rending weapon Yuki has?"

(You've already started calling her Yuki. Wink, wink.)

"What's that supposed to mean?" He said, looking up as a flock of griffins flew overhead. He scanned them before jumping after them, floating through the air with a cloud.

"If Mystium is so great, then why isn't it being utilized to develop the province?"

(You initially asked about the separation between the Listowell brothers. Should I proceed?)

"Yes."

(The Duke lost a duel against his brother for the succession of the throne. The duke wanted to marry outside the nobility.)

"Oh, this crap. Always happens," he said, floating above a griffin, dropping and slashing its throat with one clean strike, moving on to the others who sensed danger and attacked.

(His younger brother Gorges took advantage of this situation and challenged his brother. If he wins, he'll step down as candidate for the throne and allow the duke to be king.)

"I don't see how this connects to the duke's love life."

(At least he had a love life.)

"Hey. That's mean."

(Wimp.)

A griffin blew him away with wind. He made lightning arrows and impaled it then converted the lightning to fire arrows which he directed to kill the rest. He absorbed their bodies too and flew on.

(If the duke won the duel, he'd be unable to marry the lady he desired.)

"So he and his brother planned it out so he'd be able to marry her. Aww, that's sweet. Though it cost him his place as heir."

(Him being sent to Opal was punishment from the king for mixing blood with a commoner.)

"Figures." Kojo spied a troop of Greater Apes and descended, punching the ground as he landed, creating a shockwave that blew them back while creating spike walls all around them, causing them to get impaled.

"Is that all of them?" Kojo said, taking their bodies. "And to think these things used to give me trouble when I first got here."

Quicksilver.

He ran through the forest.

(As for your second question. The reason for the province's underdevelopment is that apart from his brother, the other siblings don't know of the arrangement Philip had, so they despise him, and the king made it so that no one would provide aid. Even though his brother is the king now, he cannot change the decree because he'd need a majority of votes from the Council, which consists of the other rulers of the land. Aside from that, Opal lies at the border with the empire of Adonis. The Kingdom and the Empire haven't been on friendly terms, so establishing trade relations is nil. Aside from that, the Province could benefit from the vast amount of Mystium found here. But it has caused the beasts to multiply and grow exponentially stronger.)

"Really?" Kojo asked as he caught the mouth of a Death Viper and tore it in two.

"I guess that's the difference in our power. I really have grown stronger."

(These beasts like to gather where there is an abundance of Mystium, so it's easy to find but extremely hard to extract.)

"I see," Kojo said, scanning the area. He saw a small blue crystal which was giving off a large amount of power. But there was a huge centipede blocking his way.

"Sage, tell me about the opponents I'll be facing," he said as he easily dodged the beast's attacks, cutting its legs with his weapons. The severed limbs regenerated, and it scratched.

"Tch," Kojo jumped back to avoid a spray of acid. He then ran around to avoid the barrage of spikes the beast was shooting at him. He crossed his weapons in front of him.

Poison King: Synthesis.

Combining Toxin and Venom.

A magic circle went over his weapons, causing them to give off a deep purple aura.

The Centipede jumped in front of him. He stopped running and slid under it, cutting two of its legs.

The stumps didn't heal, and the severed parts burned up. The beast tried to run underground, but he used earth magic to pull it back up and used his poisons to create poison spikes that impaled it from the ground. Its body burnt up. The aura around his weapons vanished, and he picked up the Mystium crystal. It gave off a blue glow. He put it in his pocket dimension and walked back toward the forest.

(There have been many strong warriors who have participated in the tournament, but both of them have met their end at the hand of the strongest warrior in the kingdom. She's said to be so strong, she reduced an army of 100,000 strong to nothing just by staring at them.)

"Wait, what?"

(She's a succubus who has been Champion for Dia' Mon for decades, though her reason for deviating and becoming a fighter are unclear.)

"Wow, a succubus," Kojo said dreamily, his mouth beginning to water.

(You didn't hear anything aside from the fact that she's a succubus. Not even the fact that she can kill you with a glance.)

"Yeah, right, that."

(You're hopeless.)

"Come on."

(Pervert.)

"Anyway, it seems like the kings enjoyed a lot of victories with her fighting for them. I need to come up with a plan if I want to be able to beat her." He stood on a hill and saw the view of Opal.

"I'm not some hero, but what those noble jerks are doing ain't right. Think I'll put in effort and win this thing. For the duke and my friends. Lemme get to Glenn's place so he can make me some gear. I'm sure with the materials I've got, he can make me a pretty good costume. And I know just the thing."

Quicksilver.

"You can do this, Kojo," Lin said, bringing him back to the present.

"We'll be here cheering for you," Sharone added.

"And try not to get killed during your first match," Koniko said.

(Aww, they really do care about you.)

"Kojo, my boy, my reputation as well as that of the province depends on your fight. So does your life," the duke said cheerfully. "Do your best." He patted Kojo on the shoulder.

"Yeah, no pressure," Kojo thought to himself.

He sighed and was about to walk towards the arena. Someone caught hold of his jacket. It was Adriana.

"Um. Please win," she said shyly.

"Ok, I'll win for you, princess," Kojo said with a smile.

"Hey, Kojo," Rey called. "Don't screw this up"

Adriana let go and quickly walked out of the room.

" For me" she repeated her face turning red.

" You just had to ruin the moment didn't you"

Rey smirked.