A splendiferous rounded complex suspended several meters above ground attracted the majority of young, enthusiastic Word Masters to compete against each other in fierce cultural battles. Many Barrier Scripts were floating around this ethereal expanse to keep its borders in check.
The Page Coliseum was producing a boisterous atmosphere replete with energetic individuals. Currently, many battles were taking place across the separate arenas designated for their specific divisions and classes.
The Page Coliseum consisted of numerous divisions according to the 6 major institutes in Raixom Academy. There were arenas where these institutes could compete against each other within the required terms or they could just compete locally against individuals from the same institute.
The Page Coliseum had many-many fields of battle and preferences to choose from. Dam Son and his companions decided to partake in team battles restricted only to students from Caromine Institute. As they entered, they went directly to the registration counter and signed up using their individual Guides.
The lady at the front desk was a bit startled when she scanned Dam Son’s dark Papyrus. “Is something wrong miss?” He asked.
“No, nothing is wrong. Here you go.” The lady handed Dam Son his Papyrus along with an extra sheet of paper. “These are the terms and conditions that you’ve agreed on. Make sure that none of you violates the rules.”
“Yes, miss. We won’t.”
“Good to hear. The arena you will be participating in as a team of 3 is over that way.” The lady pointed to a separate path that led down an expansive hall. “Follow the signs and arrows, you won’t be able to miss it.”
“Thanks again for your assistance kind miss.”
As they followed along the path pointed out to them, Sugar Bun grabbed the contract from Dam Son’s grasp and perused its contents. “Let me see here… oh, it says here that each of us will earn 50 Q-currency for every battle that we win. That means each team gets a total sum of 150 Q-currency per battle. First-time participants are allowed to participate in a match for free without incurring any sort of compensation. However, for recurring battles, each team will have to sacrifice a portion of their Q-currency if defeated by their opponents.”
Dam Son voiced his thoughts. “Then if we lose our first battle, we don’t have to worry about compensating other teams.”
“That’s what it says here on the pamphlet.” Sugar Bun continued to peruse its contents. “First-time combatants will be given an additional chance to battle for free until they’ve earned the sufficient amount of Q-currency to compensate their losses.”
“Then we better not lose more than once.” Said Xuan Li. “Are you 2 ready for this? We’re about to partake in our first real team battle. It won’t be a walk in the park, especially now that we can’t make use of our Guides’ Powered Scripts.”
“I’m a bit nervous.” Sugar Bun admitted. “But I think that the method we’ve thought out, we should be able to effectively apply them during battle. Our hidden weapon here is Dam Son’s Natural Verb Force. We just have to buy him enough time to activate it.”
“Yeah, are you up for the task, Dark-Human?” Xuan Li wanted to be sure he could count on Dam Son to succeed in their plans.
Dam Son responded, “I’ll do my best.” Dam Son started to feel a bit pressured; he clenched tightly onto his sapphire suitcase as he entered the particular arena designated for Caromine Institute’s 3-man team battles.
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“RAAAAAHHH!” Boisterous hollers and shouts permeated the tumultuous crowd present in the audience. A cacophony of voices clashed against each other. This was due to the heated battle taking place on Battle Arena 3 which was created for the most senior students of the institute. They were competing with Guides of the Hardcover evolution, hence why it attracted so much attention from the audience.
Battle Arena 2 had many plastered eyes as well. Students with their Manuscript Guides were putting on a helluva show. The area with the lowest attraction but had more combatants waiting in line was Battle Arena 1. This was where Dam Son’s crew was going to participate.
“Wow, this place is filled with so many people. They weren’t this many at the admission matches.” Dam Son observed his surroundings carefully. “They are even multiple stages with live action happening. It’s so confusing to keep track of all of them.”
“Welcome to the Page Coliseum Dark-Human.” Xuan Li tapped Dam Son’s shoulders. “This is how Vocabular usually is when it is energized. We should hurry and submit our application over there before the tournament board is full.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
The trio quickly went to the counter to submit their application for a team battle consisting of 3 Word Fu Masters. They also had to submit their main Word Mastery so they could be matched with similar opponents from their institute. However, Caromine Institute had a great lacking of Word Fu practitioners, thus Dam Son’s crew were matched with opponents of separate Word Mastery classification.
Additionally, before they officially began battling, they had to choose a name for their team that the Page Coliseum’s staff could easily identify them by. After some trials and errors, all 3 of them decided to go with the Drunken Brats. This cognomen was mainly influenced by their master, Jin Hennessy.
“Next team come up!” Shouted the referee for Battle Arena 1. He had a list in his hand that was constantly updated according to the added participants and those who were defeated. He called out the names of the teams that were going to compete next. “The Drunken Brats vs The Leaf Widows!”
“Huh? That’s us!” The Drunken Brats were startled when they heard their names being called so early. “I can’t believe we get to compete so fast. Who are we going up against?”
“I believe the referee called them the Leaf Widows.” Stated Sugar Bun. As they walked up the expansive stage, their opponents became more visible. “Aren’t those ladies from our class?”
“I recognize them.” Laying eyes on his opponents, Dam Son couldn’t help but gasp. The Leaf Widows team consisted of Trish, a Ladybug Demi-Human; Balloona, the chubby water lady whom Dam Son called pretty, and lastly, Cinder Burn, the fierce Demi-Human who detested Dam Son’s guts for how he humiliated her during the admission matches.
“Our opponents are those idiots?” Cinder Burn couldn’t help but glare at Dam Son when she recognized him standing at the forefront of Xuan Li and Sugar Bun. “I’m so glad that my opponent is you. I will make sure to pay you back for last time.” Cinder Burn was damn sure prepared to get her revenge.
“Oh, shoot. That one is so angry. I think that she’s mad at you Dam Son.” Sugar Bun felt threatened by Cinder Burn’s death glare even though it wasn’t directed toward him. “She really wants to tear you apart.”
“Then we just have to tear them apart first.”
“This battle won’t be as easy as we earlier expected.” Xuan Li knew what Cinder Burn was capable of. “With a savage Word Augmenter like her as their leader, we are in deep trouble.”
“Don’t worry too much.” Dam Son touched Xuan Li's shoulders as he eyed his opponents. “Leave Cinder Burn to me. You take care of that pretty one, her water attribute could help with your technique.”
“You mean Balloona?”
“Yes.” Answered Dam Son.
“You’re right. Even though I can’t make use of my Powered Scripts, my Water Guiding Stance should be able to cope with her abilities.” Xuan Li started to feel more confident.
“That’s the spirit Xuan Li. As for you Sugar Bun, that bug lady is yours.” Dam Son gestured to Trish who was a balanced Word Mage and Word Augmenter.
Sugar Bun felt fear creeping up his spine. “I don’t know if I can do much without my Powered Scripts.”
“Of course, you can. Just remember what we practised before coming here.” Dam Son encouraged his teammates. “Just attack with all your might, if that doesn’t work then defend with all your strength.”
“I’ll try my best.”
The 6 opponents standing opposing each on Battle Arena 1 gave each other a fierce stare down. This incited the referee to comment, “The atmosphere is getting really tense between these teams. It seems neither of them can wait to wreak havoc on each other. Let me reiterate the rules. Any opponent that has been knocked outside of bounds will be eliminated. The remaining members of either team will compete until their opponents submit or until they can no longer continue to fight. I know both teams are eager. Then without further ado, let the battle begin!”