Lorelei took the first step outside, and the two men followed behind her. As always, the sweet fragrance of the garden spread through the air. Fall was nearing its end, yet these flowers remained untouched, as if they had never been alive at all. How could the weather destroy a life that never belonged?
"I'm so excited to see ya fight out there!" Brant said, trembling with joy.
"Why are you excited? You aren't even fighting," Samuel replied.
"Mind your damn business, four-eyes."
"Stop f—"
"Aren't we supposed to be happy today?" Lorelei interrupted.
"…"
By the time Brant and Samuel finished trying to kill each other with glares, they had reached the bottom of the stairs and passed through the gate. Even though morning had just begun, the number of people walking the streets was nothing to scoff at. Voices rose; people laughed, smiled, and ranted about anything.
"Lots of people are going to see it, then," Brant stated.
"The tournament?" Lorelei asked.
"Yup! The tournament." Brant leaned in a bit closer to her. "They're all coming to see you guys."
"Stop trying to scare her," Samuel said. "Anyway, let's hurry."
They ran through the crowd, dodging passersby and doing their best not to bump into others—but in doing so, time was slowly slipping away.
"Reili!" Brant called out.
Lorelei stopped running and turned to him.
"Stay still."
Brant crouched and lifted her onto his shoulders before waving at Samuel, who took both the briefcase and the sword. He then leaped onto a rooftop and ran as fast as he could. Lorelei's hair twirled around at the mercy of the wind. Her torso wrapped in Brant's arms, compressed against his shoulder. Her legs kicked in the air, trying to escape.
"Stay still, I told you. We're gonna fall."
"Let me go! I can do this just fine!"
"No can do. Can't have you tired before it even starts."
After a bit of struggle, Lorelei decided to stop hitting Brant's back and crumbled onto his shoulders. Not long after, they reached the dome in record time. Brant leaped from the building all the way across the park and landed smoothly on the ground without causing much damage. Samuel landed right after them, making no noise at all. Brant placed Lorelei down, and Samuel gave her the weapons. Just like in the city streets, the park around the dome was filled with people in line, all waiting to enter—but thanks to Brant, they had skipped the entire queue.
"Wattcha waitin for? Come on, let's go."
Brant and Samuel walked up the stairs, and Lorelei lifted her head to read the writing at the top.
"Entrance B."
She quickly ran up the stairs, and a light pierced her eyes. Right in the middle, huge circles of shapes, symbols, and inscriptions floated around, emitting particles into the arena. Ramps layered all the way to the bottom, and rails stopped people from falling to lower levels. The levels wrapped around the squarish arena in the middle. Two closed gates stood at opposite sides of the arena. Even though the matches hadn't started yet, the crowd sparked with joy and excitement, anticipating the upcoming battles.
"Come, let's find seats," Samuel said, moving along the busy rows.
They must have gone around the whole bottom and middle layers before finally finding two seats next to each other. Brant had had enough of searching and proposed an idea.
"I'm tired of searching for seats; just let Reili sit on my lap," he said, seemingly proud of his genius.
Without even saying a word, Lorelei and Samuel left him alone in front of the two seats and went to search for more. Just a little further, a lady with blonde hair tied back in a bun waved at them.
"Samuel! Right here!"
Samuel went ahead and sat next to the lady, but Brant froze on the spot. He started sweating, and his hands grew moist. The lady got up and walked over to Brant. Seeing her walk, Brant turned his head.
"Something wrong… Brant?"
"Uh…" Brant scratched his head.
Lorelei took a step aside, and the lady pulled Brant down by his collar.
"Thought you could have your way with me and just leave?"
She gave him a forced smile, and Brant tried to find the words to get himself out of it. Seeing that Brant wasn't coming up with anything, the lady let go of him.
"Well, I'll let you go for today."
Brant knelt in front of her.
"I'm sorry..." he said, lowering his head on the ground.
He got up and walked to sit down next to her. Lorelei followed right behind and sat down next to Samuel. Even though the lady had said she would let Brant off the hook for today, the air around them seemed awfully tense. Samuel decided to break the tension.
"I'm surprised you would show interest in stuff like this, Rami."
"Well, I guess it's not bad to come see the young'uns sometimes," she answered.
Slowly, the number of particles floating around the dome doubled, almost tripled in Lorelei's eyes. The children around were dazed by their beauty, while the adults talked among themselves, waiting for the tournament to start.
"So? Who's that girl next to you? I'd be surprised to hear it's Brant's kid, considering he doesn't take responsibility for his actions."
Brant seemed to shrink even more in his seat.
"She's participating in the tournament."
"Oh!" The lady seemed surprised and looked at Lorelei before giving her a warm smile. "What's your name?"
"Reili."
"Reili Fidelya," Brant added proudly.
"Shut up," the lady said, and Brant immediately stopped talking.
"Well, good luck! I'll be cheering you on."
"Mhm."
The particles swirled around, creating a gust of wind. Right in the middle of the dome, the particles mixed with the inscriptions and symbols before disappearing in a blast of blue light.
"CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME!!!"
Four screens appeared in the middle, displaying different angles of the arena. A man's excited voice resonated through the dome.
"WE ALL REUNITED IN HERE FOR ONE AND ONLY ONE THING! THE SIXTH ANNUAL ENTRANCE TOURNAMENT OF VINHILL'S ACADEMY! ARE WE ALL READY!!!!"
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause.
"FOR THE FIRST PART OF THIS YEAR'S SIXTH TOURNAMENT, I, LARUSO, HAVE THE HONOR OF BEING YOUR HOST!"
The crowd all stood up and clapped together in a synchronized rhythm. Lorelei joined in too.
"WE'LL BE STARTING SHORTLY ONCE WE'VE GATHERED THE FIRST COMPETITORS!!!"
Among the crowd, people dressed in suits were calling in the competitors and escorting them down. Not a while after, the announcer spoke again.
"FOR THE FIRST MATCH. AT MY RIGHT—WELL, MY LEFT—WELL, THE FIRST GATE. WE HAVE JINUS AROY."
The gate opened, and the four screens zoomed in to get a close-up of his face. A young, tall boy with yellow hair and a relaxed approach stepped into the ring.
"AND ON MY RIGHT—NO, LEFT. I MEAN, ON THE SECOND GATE. WE HAVE VISEL AVIS!"
Just like the first time, the gate opened with a long delay to build up the crowd's excitement. A muscular figure stepped up and climbed the stairs to the arena. The screens zoomed in on him, revealing his bruised face and tattered brown hair.
"STEP FORWARD!"
Both of them walked toward the center, trying to impose fear on each other. The more muscular boy towered over his opponent and reluctantly shook his hand before walking back.
"GIVE THEM THEIR WEAPONS!"
The same suited people who had escorted them down walked out of their respective gates and gave the muscular boy a huge silver sword that he effortlessly brandished toward his opponent with a single hand. His opponent, on the other hand, was given a thin-looking sword, almost as thin as his finger. After handing them their respective weapons, the suited people left.
"ARE WE READY?"
The thin-sworded boy placed one hand behind his back and spread his legs. The other lowered his body until his free hand grabbed the floor.
"GET SET!"
Their facial expressions hardened.
"GO!"
At the sound of his voice, they lunged at each other. The yellow-haired boy launched a flurry of attacks while his opponent raised his sword to protect his vitals. As soon as his footwork left an opening, the other pushed his sword forward and struck horizontally. He ducked below the strike and swept his legs, but the amount of strength he put into it was not nearly enough to make him budge. His opponent had already prepared the second part of his attack and lifted his sword up with both hands before striking him. A cloud of dust filled the arena, and everyone was left waiting in anticipation. The host didn't miss a single action to comment on. Then a gust of wind blew the dust away, and the muscular-looking guy was flung across the arena into the wall. The crowd started counting down alongside the host.
"5!"
"4!"
The muscular man tried getting back into the arena, but another gust of wind sent him flying away. It was the yellow-haired boy. He stood guard, blasting him away with gusts of wind emitted from the green particles gathering around his sword every time he showed the slightest hint of movement.
"3!"
"2!"
The long-sworded guy got up, and his body, coated in particles, deflected the wind burst from his opponent. His sword extended with the particles, and he cut his opponent's body cleanly in half.
"WE HAVE A WIN BY KNOCKOUT!!!"
Even though the muscular guy slashed him cleanly in half, there was no blood coming out; rather, only particles flowed out of his body. Lorelei turned to Samuel and pointed at the arena.
"Don't worry, just watch."
Suited people came into the arena and helped both fighters leave. As soon as they stepped into the gates, their bodies almost magically returned to how they were before.
"See."
Lorelei was amazed that something like that was even possible.
"THE WINNER OF THIS FIRST MATCH IS!!!! VISEL AVIS!!!!"
The crowd erupted in screams and cheered on the boy. The announcer gave everyone time to rest and prepare their minds before calling out the start of another match. The matches succeeded each other and were as exciting as the first. Some even fought just by casting spells that looked deadly to Lorelei. Shortly after the fifteenth match, she noticed that the announcer called the fighters by the order of the first letter of their family name. They had gone through the whole line of A, B, C, D, E, and were now moving on to F.
"It's gonna be your turn soon," Samuel said, smiling at her.
Right at these words, a suited man appeared before Lorelei.
"Reili Fidelya?"
Lorelei nodded.
"This way please."
Lorelei got up to follow the man.
"You gotta win that!" Brant screamed, all excited.
The lady smacked Brant's head and gave Lorelei a thumbs up.
"Give it your best!" she said, giving her a warm smile.
"I will!"