thanks to my co-author N. Polsteam, without her you would be reading something of a 2 levels worse quallity
Tournament
After a short bicycle ride, Vlad arrived at the location of the gym. He found it easily, since it happened to be a well-known landmark of the eastern part of the city. It was a white geodesic dome, towering over the rest of the neighbourhood with around 100 meters in height and covering almost 9000 square meters at the ground floor level. Needless to say, it was a gigantic sports complex housing all the prominent clubs as well as lesser known ones, as long as they could afford the astronomical rental prices. The outer shell of the dome was covered with an extremely thin layer of protective netting, which made it appear white as well as reflecting the sunlight. The entire dome except for the inner walls was built out of glass and steel, and if not for the netting and a high tech cooling system, the heat inside would be unbearable.
Vlad parked his bicycle at a designated spot and looked up at the grand entrance. He eyed the long list of shops, clubs, gyms and an occasional cafe or restaurant which was displayed at the entrance, sorted by floors. There was a staggering number of 25 floors, 24 of which housed nearly 300 various facilities. The last floor housed only one though. Vlad tapped the fancy silver letters which glittered in the afternoon sun: Spectrum Gym.
'So that's where I have to go.'
He entered the lobby of the complex and found himself surrounded by a crowd. There was still plenty of time before the tournament so he wasn't too worried about being late as he made a beeline for the elevators. However, the crowd seemed to get denser the closer he got to his goal. A realization dawned on him: could they all be here for the tournament? 'No way', he thought as he violently pushed through the mass and managed to squeeze into a departing elevator. The doors closed and they were ascending. The elevator shafts were located in the very heart of the dome, and as everything else, made of glass. Every floor offered a different view, as there was a different themed lobby on each one. The lobbies got smaller as they went up, and Vlad noticed that the elevator hasn't stopped once since the first floor. His heart sank. Competition wasn't an issue, but crowds and waiting were, very much so. Most people there will most likely be complete amateurs, so sifting through them all could take a while. He just hoped that the evaluators had some quick tests in mind, otherwise they could be here all day. And night.
Finally, the elevator stopped at the top floor. The door slid open as a female voice announced the number of the floor, and the name of its only facility. People poured out into the already crowded lobby, and the elevator hurried back down, undoubtedly in order to pour more fuel onto the blazing inferno which was the crowd. Vlad looked around. The smallest lobby in the complex was circular like the rest, but the floor was lined with numerous luminous panels depicting the color spectrum. As he looked up, he saw that the ceiling was also decorated with stained glass, mirroring the floor. There were two exits from the lobby: the lounge, shower and changing area as well as an office for the staff, and the entrance to the gym itself. People seemed to be slowly moving in the direction of the gym, so he took a spot in the long, winding line.
'There must be at least 500 people here, plus the ones that are yet to come.'
He glanced at the people around him. Bored people, nervous people, aggravated people, scared people, angry people. Recipe for disaster. Linecutters, as well. Many tried to get to the front by saying that their friends were saving them a spot or some similar bullshit, and some just rudely tried to cut in line with no excuse at all. Fortunately, the security got involved and they were quickly disposed of before a major incident erupted. After that it was just a long, long, looooooong wait.
Soon enough, people who got in first started coming back, spreading the news of an entry fee and strange preliminary tests to the anxious and curious crowd. Vlad felt his brow furrow for a moment. A written test and 20 pushups? Will that be enough to disqualify most of these people? Surely there weren't many people who couldn't do 20 pushups. Darya wasn't exactly fit and even she could do at least 30.
The line moved constantly, and finally Vlad entered the gym with another 49 people. The seemingly uninterested instructor which introduced himself as Frank eyed them up, and told them to do 20 pushups in a minute, one by one. Upon confirming that the lobby rumors were true, a surprising amount of people left the room immediately. Vlad stared after them, making a mental note to tell Darya how he saw a burly, 2m tall guy who was apparently less fit than her. Or just a bigger pussy.
Meanwhile, Frank was switching songs on his mp3 whilst keeping an eye on the 12 y/o boy whom he had picked to go first, probably in an attempt to get rid of the weaker ones first. The boy kept at it though, and just barely made it under a minute.
Frank had gigantic headphones around his neck, the kind that just shove the music of his choice right in your face. His music of choice happened to be some random electro which reverberated throughout the room. Vlad couldn't be sure whether the music was there to give them a rhythm or to distract them, but he did notice a thing about Frank. The guy was obviously old fashioned. Mp3s are rare these days since everyone uses their smartphones, but not Frank. At one point, he got a message and pulled out the legendary, sturdy Nokia 3310. Somehow, this made Vlad respect him slightly.
Soon enough, it was his turn. He finished the pushups in some 25 seconds, and 10 minutes later, everyone was done.
Next came the written test. It turned out to be an IQ/personality test coupled with an RR questionnaire. Top 3 preffered classes, goals and aspirations for after entering RR - simple questions, really. As his preffered class Vlad went for: 1. battle mage; 2. fast draw samurai; 3. assasin. From what he'd seen, those seemed to match his style the most. As soon as they were all done, Frank instructed them to wait for the results outside, walking them to the door and calling in the next group.
Vlad looked outside and let out a deep sigh. The sun had set already. The preliminaries lasted at least an hour per group, plus the time they'd waited already, plus the time they would have to wait for the results to be announced. And that was just the preliminary tests. He realized that his prediction of staying there all night might just come true. To keep boredom at bay, he counted the time it took other groups to finish the test, as well as people who left right after finding out what the tests were compared to those that left after failing the pushup test. Typically, out of a group of 50 only about 10-15 people actually managed to finish the entire thing. As time slowly slipped by, the much smaller crowd grew more relaxed. Idle chatter was heard everywhere throughout the lobby, some of it cheerful, some boastful and some annoyed, as many people felt as if they were wasting their time. About half an hour after the last group finished, Frank came out of the gym, his face weary and his hand clutching a sheet of paper. The lobby went silent as all conversation died out instantly. Those that were sitting down stood up, and the ones that were standing up went completely rigid. The anticipation was downright tangible. Frank waved them in.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Once they were all inside, he held up the rather short list and started to announce names. Vlad's was the first, and soon another thirteen followed. They stood a bit to the side of the large group of people which grew more and more anxious. As he finished reading, he turned to the fourteen chosen people and spoke up: "Those whose names were read pass the preliminaries. The rest of you can leave.". After a moment of stunned silence, murmurs started amongst the crowd. Murmurs turned to talking and talking in turn turned to shouting. The volume was steadily rising as if someone was slowly turning the control knob on a speaker. People were discontent, desperate and most of all, jealous. Just before the situation escalated, Frank called in the security. As people got "escorted" from the gym, Frank's face absolutely lit up. He grinned as he turned his back to the rejects and faced the competitors. Vlad understood him fully. After hours and hours of watching people fail at pushups and solve IQ tests, every bit of action is extremely welcome. Completely rejuvenated, Frank cheerily walked to the opposite side of the gym where two large boxes were located. Their lids were slightly out of place, and Vlad could see an end of a jo stick topped with soft rubber poking out from within the box.
'Lucky!!', he thought to himself.
Frank clapped his hands together: "Right, equip yourselves! This is where the real fun begins!".
The participants crowded around the boxes, each taking a jo stick and fiddling with protective gear. Vlad took a closer look at the gear box. There were stuff such as shoulder plates, headgear and gloves specifically designed to slide the jo through the grip enabling the user to use thrusting moves, which are jo's main advantage over other weapons. As he put on the gear they were all approached by Frank who was handing out binded sheets of paper and pens. Vlad took a closer look: it was a contract. In case of injury, no charges are to be pressed against the gym, organizers or any other party involved. True, even with protective gear and soft rubber ends, it was entirely possible to seriously hurt a person. He signed it.
Next, they wrote their names on pieces of paper and put them all in a box to decide pairs for the matches. Vlad's opponent was a man called Randal and they were up fifth.
Rules were simple as follows: fight until your opponent gives up, faints or you score 5 solid hits and refrain yourself from casing unnecessary bodily harm. First four matches were a bit disappointing with people swinging jo's like baseball bats and generally using brute force. One guy managed to score four hits before he tried to be flashy and threw the jo as a spear only for it to be deflected, causing him to lose the match. When Vlad's turn came up, he stood across his opponent and set himself into a jo stance*. As expected, the other guy came at him directly, swinging the jo to and fro like a deranged baseball player. Vlad rotated his hips to bring out the full force of his body into the tip of the jo, his left hand pushing the jo while his right one controlled its direction. He thrust it into Randal's chest, stopping him in his tracks. Poor guy collapsed, ending the fight after merely a second. Seeing him fall, Vlad kinda wondered if he was a bit too rough.
Other participants were in utter shock and a silent agreement was unanimously formed: take Vlad down first. In the remaining matches they were trying their best to copy his form and the thrusting attack. Well they tried, at least Vlad can compliment one guy for a couple of good parries.
Some guy asked the obvious: „What happens now, there's 7 of us meaning one would have to go without a pair?“.
Frank grinned and clapped his hands, outright emanating giddiness: "Well then, how about battle royale?".
Vlad sighed as others smiled in relief and said stuff like : "Yeah, ok."; "I guess we can do it."; "No problem!", pretending that they didn't care.
"Alright then, please proceed if there are no problems."
Before the sentence even fully left Frank's mouth, everyone turned against Vlad.
Still, he wasn't very nervous. He had watched the rest fight and they were complete newbies. They surrounded him, but he simply evaded and slipped out of the circle. Aikido does, after all, revolve around evading and using the opponent's strength against them, and he was very well trained. Vlad used the front two people as shields so he wouldn't have to dodge all of the attacks at once, and allowed them to swing first. The big muscled guy on his left swung his jo, but Vlad skillfully deflected it straight into another guy's face. Flesh and wood collided with a deafening crack, blood spurting out of the surely broken nose. Before the poor guy even had he chance to scream in pain, Vlad swept the left man's knee, bringing him to the floor. Two down, four to go.
After witnessing that absolute overkill, the rest were a bit more cautious, but Vlad still kept taking them down until there was one guy left. For some reason or another, he tried to show off, spinning the jo like he was in a cheap action movie. Vlad felt that his display was an insult to martial arts and all those that commit their lives to studying them and finished him off quickly with a swift stab to the chest.
As he turned around he was greeted with a sight of Frank taking his gigangtic headphones off. He pat Vlad's shoulder as he congratulated him on his win. He then handed him a new contract, chock-full of limitations and starting plans. Vlad was to finish basic and intellectual training within two months and acuire a battlemage profession using only his staff as a weapon. He was also expected to join a certain guild and heed the guildmaster's every command. Vlad thought the contract strange as they were basically employing him. He'll be getting paid for playing Royal Road as his preffered class, and although bound to the guild, he'll most likely be free to do as he wishes most of the time. The money aspect bugged him though, since avatar trading was impossible with RR, so none of it made much sense. He wasn't stupid enough to let such a chance slip by though, so he signed the contract, shook Frank's extended hand, and left the complex. His bicycle was where he left it, and besides from stopping by his favorite sandwich stall, he was soon home. As dead tired as he was, Vlad just threw himself onto the bed and fell asleep almost immediately, completely forgetting to contact Darya and tell her all about his day.
jo stance* giving your opponent half the body to attack-standing sideways as from profile you are more or less 1/2 the width of your front, for left handed the stance would be - left foot behind facing west while in the same line(basically like the -x and y axis) right foot facing forward(north), left hand holding the jo by the back end resting on a hip while the right hand is set loose on about 2/3 length front (I just wrote that from my mind,didn't look up definitions)