The week passed in the blink of an eye. Zaroth was preparing for bed when he received a ssage.
-----
[Attention]
To all participants in the tournant, congratulations for making it this far!
Tomorrow, you will all be expected to go to the Grand Arena, where your matches will take place.
You will also have the opportunity to watch the other fights for free.
May the best win!
All glory to Emperor Draconis VII, whose vision and authority have brought this Grand Tournant into existence!
-----
With a sigh, Zaroth shifted his gaze to Luna.
She was cutely playing with Nightshade. It seed that she really enjoyed cats.
"This past week I have tried to improve my harmony with my beasts as much as possible," he muttered as he clenched his palm into a fist.
He felt his heart rate increase.
Tomorrow, he would be watched by hundreds of thousands of people live. And if you accounted for the many orbs being used, the number of viewers could easily reach millions.
It was safe to say that he would beco famous.
A nacing smile appeared on his face before he even realized it.
"Nervous?" Luna's words made him raise an eyebrow.
"Ha, no way!" he rejected the idea.
Without saying anything, she approached him, wrapped her hands around his neck, and buried him into her embrace.
"We are connected, Zaroth. I can feel what you're feeling. There's no point in lying to ."
Zaroth opened his mouth to respond, but the warmth of her embrace was too comforting. In the end, he simply stayed still.
*****
"Holy fuck, this is epic." Zaroth couldn't help but exclaim as he took a glance at the Grand Arena.
He had been here before, but now that he was going to fight inside, it felt completely different.
As soon as he set foot inside, it was like the whole atmosphere changed.
Entering the room where all the participants were supposed to gather, he began to look for his friends, it didn't take long until he found them.
"I can't believe it! You actually ca on ti?!" Lily teased as soon as she saw him.
With a grimace, he responded, "Co on! I'm not late that often!"
Roran didn't wait a second to interrupt, "Actually, you are. It's rare that you're on ti."
Zack's laughter echoed across the room. It looked like Zaroth was on his own.
There was still ti until the matches started, so they began to speak about whatever ca to mind.
Sadly, as Midnight wasn't a part of the tournant, she wasn't with them, but Zaroth had no doubt in his mind that she was going to be watching sowhere from the front rows.
"Attention!" a man shouted as he walked over and stopped at the podium.
"First, congratulations on making it so far!" the man's voice echoed across the now silent room.
Everybody present was listening to the man intensely.
"Today we have 128 participants, aning we will have 64 matches."
The man pointed towards the bracelet on his arm.
"Everybody will receive a ssage consisting of a number. The number on it indicates when it will be your turn to fight."
"While you're waiting for your turn, you can either go and spectate the matches that will be happening or go and wait in the rooms that you've been provided with."
After the man was done, he took a step away from the podium and disappeared from view. It seed that this was going to be the explanation.
Zaroth looked at his bracelet and opened the ssage he had received. His number was 26, aning his fight would be the 26th of the day.
Taking a deep breath, he muttered, "Now it's the waiting ga."
He had originally planned to watch so of the matches, but he felt it would be wiser to head to the provided room and ditate until his turn ca.
He had gotten pretty proficient when it ca to ditating, as such hours passed in a matter of minutes.
After so ti, he heard a loud knock on the door.
"26, get ready," a woman's voice called out from the other side.
Without saying anything, he stood up and stepped out of the room.
Following the confusing corridors, he finally found himself on one side of the arena.
His eyes widened in awe.
There were thousands... tens of thousands of people currently watching him, and if one were to count the people using the orbs to watch, that number could have been a millions or even more.
His body shuddered as he felt a particular gaze. Looking toward it, he t the emperor's eyes for a brief mont. The emperor was seated on his golden throne, surrounded by his beautiful wives.
Zaroth, however, paid no attention to the emperor. His gaze was fixed on the woman sitting farther back, almost as though she had been instructed to remain hidden.
When his eyes t Althea's, he felt a surge of power. He didn't just want to win, he wanted to show off for the queen.
Realizing that it was a bad idea to stare at the emperor's family for too long, Zaroth moved his eyes to his opponent. He saw Aiden, the man was on the shorter side, aning that he was on the sa height as Zaroth.
He carried a wooden bow that was decorated with gold in his left hand, and on his back there was a quiver that stored dozens of arrows.
Even though Aiden's body was covered by armor, it was clear that he was skinny, aning that he really wouldn't be able to fight well in close combat.
Zaroth smiled a little, as it seed that his hypothesis had been correct.
"My people!"
Zaroth's thought process was interrupted when he heard the emperor's shout.
"This fight shall be interesting as it's the first ti today we have two individuals of the sa class! Both of them are Beast Masters!"
A few murmurs rippled through the crowd, as Beast Masters weren't the most highly regarded, but the emperor paid no attention and continued.
"For the glory of our empire! For the glory of our people! May this match be interesting as the others have been, and more!"
The audience erupted into cheers, signaling the beginning of the fight.
Zaroth's eyes shined, as did Aiden's.
They were summoning their beasts.
This was going to be a fight for glory.
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