After fighting my way through the sea of people I eventually found Wren within the crowd. The problem was reaching him, After 5 minutes of pushing and shoving I was able to make it.
I tried to talk to him but was unable to. After the premier match the sound dampening arrays had been deactivated. The hubbub of hundreds of millions of people moving and talking was deafening.
Wren had to shout to be overheard.
“What's the plan?”
Instead of answering I gestured toward an exit. He nodded, seeming to understand and we left the Grand Arena hoping to escape the mass of people.
To my dismay, the human density did not decrease as we exited. Outside was a vast sprawling Market surrounding the Grand Arena. The Grand Arena was carved into the end of one of the roots of Nevermeyer. All these pop-up shops were on the flat ground next to the tree root. The sheer amount of stalls amazed me. There must have been at least a half mile of the shops in front of me. The fact that all of them were set up in less than an hour was also quite impressive.
Although the number of people certainly had not decreased. The noise level was still high but the open-air nature of the market allowed us to communicate.
“ I was hoping to see another match before our preliminaries,” I told Wren.
“They're supposed to be a good one between one of the squad commanders for the draconic order, and a guild leader at Arena Eight”
“Why Is a squad commander fighting a guild leader? I thought that guilds and the military only fought amongst themselves during the festival. ”
“I don't know why either is fighting. I just know it's supposed to be a really good match. I don't think the dragon is getting involved, which in my opinion will make it a much better fight.”
Before we could leave the market I smelled something delectable. My stomach rumbled. I wasn't able to get breakfast in my rush out the door so I was famished.
I tapped Wren on the shoulder and pointed towards the stand where the delicious smell was hailing from. He seemed to understand as he nodded. I entered the line of the stall and after a few minutes of waiting, I was ready to place my order. I stepped closer to the stall prepared to have to shout. Before I could make a noise the cacophony of the market died away.
“Uhh my ears thanks, for the sound-dampening enchantment”
“ Sure thing kid did you not bring any earplugs”
“ Earplugs?”
“ Oh I see, by that uniform then you must be a third year?”
I nodded.
“Especially around the Grand Arena, it is rather loud so most people wear these beauties”
He pointed to a pair of wooden earplugs made out of light cream-colored wood. I noticed that the earplugs were the same wood as the mask resting on the top of his head.
“The earplugs, have an enchantment to make them more comfortable. They also have an additional enchantment that only lets the sound within a certain radius of you enter into your ears. William is three stands down and is selling them.”
“ Thanks, anyway can I get two Kebabs”
The man started to cook the meat. “So kid are you competing this year in the tournament?”
“ Yeah I am”
“ Well, then these are on the house.“
“Really”
“Yeah, really it's a sort of tradition. Some people give the third years that are competing free stuff.”
The man chuckled at my confused expression. “Why? Well to be honest. It looks good for us. If you do well and you come back. Then people will start to look at the business better, due to its connection with an influential young cultivator. It's like an investment, The free stuff hopefully secures you as a customer, and potentially some other people.”
After he finished cooking the meat he handed over two kebabs. “What's your name kid? I'll try and stop by one of your matches.” Once I held the kebabs in my left hand he offered his hand to shake.
I shook it “Alex Grindelwald, my first match is in Arena Four at three this afternoon.” Well, I'll see if I can stop by.”
“Thank you.” I moved away so as not to hold up the line and headed back to where Wren was standing. As I rushed off I took a big bite out of the first Kebab. Wren seeing as I had returned without one for him gave me an affronted look. I just smiled back at him while chewing. After I finished swallowing the tasty morsel I handed over the second kebab to him.
It was easy enough to find the earplug stand. The stand was larger than the kebab stall. The earplugs ranged in size, design, and style. One that stuck out to me was a pair that resembled the great tree above my head. The materials that the earplugs were made out of also varied wildly, from paper to wood, some were even constructed out of stone.
The more ornately carved earplugs had additional enchantments, but all had the same two enchantments as the earplugs that the kebab stall owner had.
I browsed through the earbuds till I eventually found a pair made of Partawood. They were a bit more expensive coming in at 5 embers. But in contrast to the ones Wren selected mine were far cheaper.
Wren had picked out a pair of soft green earplugs. I wasn't sure what the wood they were made from was called but it looked almost as soft as a fur coat. It seemed he also got lucky. His plugs matched the wood that constructed his mask.
As we stood in line I asked him about his mask. “ I've been wondering since I spotted you this morning but what wood is your mask made out of”
Wren smiled at my question. “ I'm surprised Mr. Know It All didn't spot the infamous Ariusfagenus.”
I gave him a deadpan look.
“The Ariusfagenus tree Isn't that common so I understand why you wouldn't know of it. It is a tree that is highly sought after by cultivators with a wind affinity. Frankly, I'm surprised this stall had earplugs made of the stuff. The reason It's so coveted is because the tree produces a potent natural treasure called a breeze leaf once every 4 to 5 years.”
As Wren finished explaining the odd wood, I stepped forward. As I did I almost ran into the man in front of us. I was about to apologize but my tongue was tied after seeing his strange appearance. He wore armor which in itself wasn't too uncommon, the strange thing was its style. I was more used to smoother form-fitting armor. His armor seemed to be made out of square plates. In my opinion, its uniqueness enhanced its beauty.
The sword belted at his hip was just as strange as his armor. Unlike the armor, I recognize the style of the blade. It was similar to the ones found within the Emory Isles. I believe they called it a katana.
The man was of average height with long silky black hair that cascaded in a ponytail down his back. As I was looking at the back of his head I noticed his mask. It was made out of a rosy pink wood and was extremely elaborate. I saw my Dad's mask when he was carving it a week before the festival began. He was at the peak of the foundation realm and his mask was fairly ornate. The mask belonging to the man in front of me blew my Dad’s out of the water. I guessed he was well above the Earth realm. The man was probably in the high Sky Realm, If not the Low lord Realm.
I subtly nudge Wren hoping he would get the hint and not say something stupid.
“ What's up man”
I didn't talk, instead, I just pointed at the man in front of us. Wren Seeming to get the hint didn't say anything as he looked at the man.
I tried to listen into his conversation with the shopkeep but was unable to with the sound-dampening array around the counter. As the man turned I tried to get a good look at his face. He had a strong chin and cheekbones. He had a light beard that matched the color of his hair. but his most striking feature was his eyes.
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His eyes were a rich orange, with gold flecks and a blue ring at their center. The moment I laid my almost matching pair on them, I was captivated. I had only ever seen one man besides myself with a similar color of eyes. That was, of course, my dad. As far as I knew only people from my dad's homeland manifested their affinities in their eyes. Although my life had been short I had never once encountered another person with such eyes.
That of course meant that the man before me was either like myself, a descendant of a traveler from a far-off land, or a traveler himself. But before I could gaze further into their depths the eyes, and the man they belonged to vanished into the crowd.
Wren was not as fascinated by the mysterious swordsman as I was. He went up to the counter and paid for his earplugs. As I followed and paid I couldn't help but think of the man with orange eyes.
After pouring a drop of my Mana into the earbuds they perfectly melded into my ears. They seem to have a similar enchantment to that of the masks. Beyond giving off a similar feel, when I tried to shake my head and dislodge the earbuds. They refused to budge an inch. Their immovability confirmed my suspicion of a similar Rune attached to them. I predicted that it was the Rune that made them more comfortable.
With the noise-dampening earbuds, the walk toward the edge of the market was far more pleasant, and soon enough we arrived at Arena Eight.
The grand arena sat at the heart of district four or the bloody district as the locals called it. It was called the Bloody District because it was where most competitive matches were held. Including the Grand Arena, there were a total of ten arenas within the district. The Bloody District was the smallest of any of the districts within Nevermeyer. It was only about a mile wide and roughly pie-shaped. Nine of the arenas were located at the edge of the pie and the Grand Arena sat at the center corner.
Major roads connected the Arenas and made it easy for Millions of viewers to watch the proceedings. Compared to the Grand Arena each of the regular arenas was much smaller. Arena Eight and its matching siblings stood well above 10 stories high. Each was big enough to cover multiple city blocks. I saw many different types of people, as we entered through the south entrance.
They ranged from Cadets like ourselves. To more casual festival enjoyers like families, individuals, and couples. Amongst these groups, there were two larger ones. The Draconic Order and the Clear Lagoon Guild.
After getting through the crowds. We were able to find our seats in one of the middle rows of the Arena. It wasn't nearly as good as the seats we got for the opening ceremony but considering how long of a detour I made, I didn't complain.
“ Hello, hello everyone, and welcome today we have a very interesting first match.” The voice was deep and masculine. As the man spoke it felt as if his words vibrated my very skeletal structure.
“So Beth can you tell us a little bit about each combatant”
“ Sure thing Harold” The second voice was smoother and calmer. When compared to her co-star.
“ To start with, we have Miriam Glass, she's a hammer user and squadron commander for the Draconic Order. She comes from a small village outside of Frosthold and Is often thought to be the second coming of Aria Hammerfall.”
The crowd let out a large cheer, particularly from the section that was dominated by the Dragonriders.”
“That's quite some praise.”
“Well, she earned it. She was able to claw her way to the position of squadron commander by the age of 26. And now 3 years later she's almost at the peak of the Earth Realm”
Harold whistled. “Well that is certainly impressive but her competition is no slouch”
“ Owen Earnest Is one of three Guild officers for the Clear Lagoon Guild. He's a pure mage, quite the rare side here in the Empire. But although he might not be able to punch as hard as Miriam, don't take him lightly. Owen has some Wicked spell-slinging abilities.
After his significantly worse introduction. The cheering for Owen was a little bit less pronounced, but still authentic Particularly from the section of the Arena dominated by the Clear Lagoon Guild.
“ Now without further ado let's bring out the contestants.”
With Harold's words, two figures emerged from the bottom of the arena. The first was a tall woman. She was well-built at the shoulders and had long flowing brown hair. She had a kite Shield strapped around her right hand and on her left was a large war hammer.
The second figure was a skinny man. He had light green hair. And a rather distinct chin. Although quite a bit taller than Miriam he probably didn't even weigh half of what she did. He carried a staff and was wearing well-polished leather armor.
As the two looked at each other the arena shifted. Small stubs started to appear before rocketing into the sky. Those stumps turned into the Behemoth of the Glamorian redwoods found within the crimson spires. As the trees were emerging it was as if the center dueling area expanded. What was once around 30 feet across seemed to increase tenfold.
Unfortunately due to both the increased size of the Arena as well as the massive trees. I was unable to see the combatants. It was going to be an interesting fight but not being able to see it would be quite a letdown.
To my surprise, a flying contraption hovered in front of each section of the Arena. It carried a flat metal object. As I looked at the metal object color appeared and then crystallized into an image. On the peace of metal, I was able to see the two combatants.
I smiled and nudged Wren, he seemed unimpressed by the flying device.
“What's up with you? That thing is so cool.”
“What thing?”
I pointed to the Flying device.
“ Oh, the Drone?”
“Yah”
“ They're pretty common especially when dealing with matches. How else are we supposed to watch it?”
I thought about his answer for a second before nodding, deciding That trying to convince my friend of how cool the drone was would get me nowhere.
The arena had finally taken its final form, and now the two combatants stood ready. After a signal from the ref, both launched forward. Miriam charged, as a melee fighter she would want to close the distance between her and Owen. The moment the match started Owen leaped upwards. When he reached the apex of his jump he conjured a metal platform underneath his feet. With this new footing, he was once again able to jump into the air. He repeated this process several times before reaching an altitude of around 150 feet. He slipped into one of the low branches and waited for Miriam.
In the few seconds that it took him to reach the high altitude, Miriam had already closed the distance between them. She looked around trying to locate the other cultivator, but didn't expect him to have gone upwards.
Not letting his advantage slip through his fingers, Owen began to chant. I was unable to make out the words both because of the distance and due to the protective and sound-dampening arrays that divided the competitors and the viewers.
When he finished his incantation, five metal drills appeared around his head and launched toward Miriam. As they approached I could faintly see a pulse of mana exiting from the melee fighter. When her Mana interacted with the drills she whirled around. Smashing her Hammer against the ground, large pillars of Earth reached up to block the drills.
The drills slammed into them and were stopped. With his failed ambush Miriam now knew where Owen was hiding. She ran over to the side of the tree and started running up it. I had no idea how she did it but it was certainly an impressive sight. Her method seemed superior to Owens for It only took a few seconds to reach the low-hanging branches.
Owen tried to run but I saw he was slower than Miriam. He was unable to make a big enough gap before she reached him. When she did she swung down with her hammer. As The hammer was mid descend a red Aura seemed to appear around its head.
As the hammer hit allowed **clang** Could be heard even through the sound-dampening arrays. To my surprise Instead of being crushed, Owen had blocked the hammer With his crossed forearms, which were now coded in black steel.
Owen stayed on the defensive; he pushed Miriam back and gained as much distance as possible. As he did he conjured several thick steel walls to block Miriam's path towards him.
It seemed as if Miriam was unable to use her Earth Affinity within the air. I suspected she was still not able to overcome the Nimbus principle.
I suspected the reason Owen could overcome the principal was tied to one of his skills. Miriam, seeming to realize fighting in the air was a losing battle, decided to shake things up. She shot downwards. The earth seemed to embrace her as she hit the ground. From her point of impact, an undulating wave formed. The wave Grew before slamming into the trees around her. All the trees within a forty-foot radius of her creaked as they began to tumble to the ground.
I looked up to see Owen falling with the tree Underneath Him. As he fell he conjured a metal sphere around himself to alleviate the fall.
The sphere hit the ground. Now that he was on the ground Miriam took advantage and tried to bury the metal sphere in the earth. She was unable to do so as pillars of metal held the sphere In place. Miriam realized that she wouldn't be able to out Mana the pure mage. As she moved forward towards the sphere her hammer expanded and grew to the size of her body. The red aura once again appeared and she swung down at the sphere.
Before her Hammer could make contact with the sphere she stopped. She stood mid-swing, her Hammer still Ablaze with red energy, as a sword pierced through her chest. As she began to fall to the ground, Owen materialized behind her, dismissing the conjured sword that he had used to defeat his opponent.
As Miriam disappeared from the arena it shrunk back to its normal size, and the crowd cheered.
“Well you have it folks the winner is Owen Earnest, of the Clear Lagoon Guild”
“I couldn't have asked for a better opening match, congratulations to Owen. And folks don't go anywhere our next match will be starting shortly”
I was baffled by Owens' win. When Miriam had destroyed the trees he was using as cover I thought he was done for, and when she forced him to the ground I thought it was checkmate. But then Owen did something and pulled the win off.
“Wren, do you have any idea How he was able to sneak up on her? I know she could at least feel attacks coming using her Mana.
“I'm pretty sure It was a stealth or an illusion skill. A stethth skill would explain how she didn't find him. But seeing as we saw Harold get inside the metal sphere I feel like it was more likely an illusion-based skill.”
“Okay that would explain the sphere but then why didn't Miriam know about the skill ahead of time.”
“I bet she did. But From what I'm told, those sorts of skills are annoying to deal with, even if you know of them ahead of time. Miriam's strategy was to try and finish him quickly, and if she couldn't use her better physical endurance to wear him down.
“That was still one amazing match. Makes me kind of want an illusion skill if I'm being honest.”
“ I know right, imagine what I could do with my arrows. ”
“Ohh man”
As the two boys chatted about their future and the amazing match they had just witnessed. A man with long black hair, a sword belted at his hip, and wearing strange armor watched from the shadows.