(EVE SOLARIS)

Amelia and I followed behind one of the directors of the selections who guided us to the waiting area for the tournament.

He was quite tall, standing around six feet high, with a chiseled build and broad shoulders, that seemed to only be amplified by the overly-tight blue shirt he wore, with brown, leather pants. His blonde hair was glowing faintly because of the lighting artifacts within the hall.

“Guiding the first ever participants to be selected by the first paladin feels like quite the honor.” I heard him say with a deep voice, though he didn’t turn back to look at us.

“Thank you for your kind words, sir, but we’re just two normal participants who got lucky.” Amelia replied automatically, while I remained silent.

“Hmm, is that so?” He asked, obviously doubtful. “Well either way, I’m excited to see what the first two apprentices of the first paladin have to show for us in this tournament.” He added.

“Did you participate in a previous tournament?” I asked, wanting to change the subject.

“No I didn’t, I’m from the Peruma family so this position was granted to me.”

“The Peruma family?”

“Ah yes, how rude of me. I am Brian Peruma, third to the throne of the Noble Peruma Family.

My confusion must have been visible on my face because Amelia giggled silently and leaned towards me.

“Peruma is one of the original nine noble families.”

I flushed slightly at Amelia seemingly reading my mind and smiled sheepishly, thankful for her presence.

“What would you do without me?” She teased.

“You seem quite well versed in the knowledge of noble houses.” He commended, throwing a slight glance back at Mayla.

“Knowledge is power after all, wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Peruma?”

“Yes, you are correct, young lady.”

The slightly awkward conversation came to an abrupt end as the meeting room gates came into view. We could already hear the other participants waiting inside.

“This is where we part ways, it has been a pleasure meeting the both of you, candidate Eve, candidate Mayla. Best of luck in the tournament.”

“Thank you again, Mr. Peruma.”

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Peruma, we definitely hope to impress in this tournament.”

“Definitely do your best. Being the first two to be selected by the first paladin, I’m sure there’s a lot of high expectations for you two.”

I just nodded as a reply, Mayla doing the same.

“Well Eve, you ready?”

Taking a deep breath, I slapped my cheeks to force away my nerves.

“Yeah, let's go.”

As we entered the waiting room and continued to mess with each other, I saw beautifully carved stone arches that looked like they had been done by the best artisans in all of Eden, with smooth oakwood flooring, accompanied by many chairs and tables.

However what really caught my eye were the murals of the paladins which lined the walkway all around the room.

Most I didn’t recognize; a black haired man shrouded in shadows that ate away at the unblemished marble beneath, the only light coming from his silvery eyes, an elegant yet wild green-eyed woman whose ivory hair danced in the eye of a hurricane that ravaged land and sea around her.

The next I realized belatedly, was Kalan. He looked so young yet his features were unmistakable, the pronounced line of his jaw, polished black hair in the exact same style as now, and his radiant golden eyes that seemed to stare into me.

“The Hall of Glory…” Amelia whispered, awestruck.

“The hall of what?”

“It’s where they commemorate the winners of the previous tournaments. Only the strongest of the chosen are worthy enough to be honored here.”

I let my eyes wander through the many different men and women until my eyes reached a familiar face.

‘Kalan, you were so strong at such a young age. Did something happen to you, like it happened to me? If I win this tournament, would I be on par with you at that age? Would that mean I could become as strong as you? Would I be able to surpass you?’ My mind spun with questions that I’d someday hope to be able to answer.

“Do you think we will ever be that strong, Eve?” Mayla asked me as if reading my mind again.

“It seems like quite the goal to reach for,” I replied with a sigh, “but we won’t know unless we try.”

“Yeah you’re right, who knows maybe one day I’ll be the first paladin with you as the second.”

“I’ll definitely be number one.” I replied with a smirk.

“In your dreams, Eve.”

Just as I was about to respond, a voice boomed over the arena, silencing everyone.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen of the Church, along with the families of those who will be participating at this tournament. We appreciate all of your patience and we are happy to announce the wait is finally over! Please bring the participants out to the staging area.”

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

On cue, the doors to the waiting area opened and outside waiting for us were four guards armed with beautiful white armor trimmed in deep emerald, along with matching onyx spears.

One hundred and twenty-eight people had graduated in total and had been split into four groups of thirty two, with us being group D.

The fights are set up for a full round to take place each day, meaning half of the participants for each group would be eliminated. The only exception was the first round spanning over two days due to the sheer amount of matches needed and the participants involved.

Round one would go from thirty two to sixteen, round two sixteen to eight, round three eight to four, and so forth until we reached the winner of each group, with each four group winners facing off at the end to decide who was truly the best among all one hundred and twenty eight.

The guards filed us into two single-file lines of sixteen, with two guards at the front and two at the back who escorted us to the staging area.

As I looked around, I saw people wearing many different expressions. Some were nervous, some fearful, some excited, and many more. I briefly locked eyes with Amadar who nodded his head with a casual smirk. I rolled my eyes in response. Surprisingly, I felt quite calm and collected despite the pressure of the tournament and by the look on Mayla’s face, she felt the same.

But that all changed as we reached the gates leading to the staging area.

Stepping through the gates, I looked around and gripped my clothes tightly.

Everywhere I looked was stuffed full with people waiting to watch. There were easily thousands of people all around this massive arena.

The cheers shook the earth beneath my feet, deafening screams and shouts that blended together into a conglomerate of different tones, showing their obvious excitement to see the upcoming fights. A warmth began to spread from my tightning heart, pushing away the anxiety their expectations and stares had caused.

‘Was this… pride?’

No one had ever cheered for me before besides my parents and friends. Being the unawakened daughter of the village chief, the few praises I did receive felt shallow and patronizing rather than satisfying.

Now though, those cheers meant the world to me. They recognized my efforts and were rooting for me…

‘I could get used to this!’ I thought, not even trying to hide my grin.

As we kept walking forward, I stole a cursory glance at the area we’d be fighting.

It was a massive rectangular stone platform surrounded by sand, with a singular pathway leading towards it from the area I assumed we’d be watching the others fight from as we awaited our own.

Upon reaching the resting area before the grand arena, the guards halted us and motioned for us to turn towards the platform. The guards stayed to our sides, standing at attention.

“Ladies and gentleman, these are your group D contestants who will be participating in this tournament, let’s hear it for them!” Another round of cheers, this time somehow even louder than before, erupted from the crowd as the announcer riled up the audience, waiting for them to die down before continuing.

“This is a special day, as we will all get a look at some of the men and women who will lead the Church into an even brighter future for many years to come! We are even joined today by the first two contestants to ever be picked by the first paladin himself!”

As he finished, another massive roar rang out among the crowd.

“So, without further ado, let’s get this tournament started! Contestants please go to your designated area and prepare yourselves.”

Immediately the guards motioned for us to go to the area behind us, an area that looked much like a grounded balcony with railings, made with oakwood, all along the side, with a circular roof from the same material, filled with chairs and benches all over for us to sit on.

I sat down next to Mayla and waited for a few minutes until the announcer's voice came back over the arena.

‘Please, don’t let me go first. Please…’

“Ladies and gentleman, we have decided to start this tournament with a bang. The first fight of this tournament will be Eve Solaris vs Armech Wondergo.”

‘Son of a-’

I immediately stood up and walked towards the exit, waiting for my name to be fully announced to go out to the arena.

“Good luck, Eve! You’ve got this.” I heard Mayla call from behind me.

I turned and gave a smile, before continuing towards the exit.

‘Why do I think this was intentionally done? Can’t catch a break…’

“Introducing first is Armech Wondergo! This man scored highly on all of his selection tests and will definitely have a bright future in the Church!”

“You got this, Armech.”

“Yeahh, rip and tear!”

I listened to the crowd cheer, as a young man probably around the age of twenty confidently strode towards the arena.

He had long red hair that went past his shoulders, and sported a black shirt with tan colored shorts. He wielded a short sword that complimented his shield, as he walked to the arena with a massive smile beaming with confidence.

“Next up is someone we are all excited to see, this lady is one of the two personally selected by the first paladin to serve under him. Please, a round of applause for Eve Solaris!”

As soon as I walked out, I heard many cheers and saw many whispering among themselves with curious expressions, obviously looking forward to seeing what someone who was picked by the first paladin could do.

As soon as I reached the staging area, I was met with a disgusted look by Armech.

“I can’t see why the first paladin would choose someone like you: a completely ordinary girl with no grace or customs. Just some average girl who’s probably from the middle of nowhere and doesn’t deserve this honor.”

“Then allow me to clear up any confusion you may have.” I replied with a serious expression.

Eventually, we lined up in front of each other, around thirty feet apart, awaiting the announcement to begin.

“Let the first match of the tournament begin!”

My bow was out and gale magic swirling around an arrow as soon as his voice rang out. To my surprise, Armech simply stood there with his shield up, pulling stone from beneath his feet onto the flat of his shield to strengthen his defense.

‘Is he planning to block my arrow then charge me before I can nock another?? Fine, I accept your challenge’

I smiled and drew the string back as far as I could. My muscles protested at the unaccustomed strain, but I forced them to tighten even more. I shaped an extension of sharpened wind around the tip of my arrow, and loosed it.

The gale augmented arrow cut through the air at a speed I couldn’t see. An explosion of sparks and the sharp bang of metal on metal bombarded my unprotected ears a heartbeat later. Armech had been pushed back a pace or two, the body of the arrow the only thing still visible from this side of his shield.

He shook his head from the force of the impact, his haughty expression replaced by wide eyed terror. Blood trickled from a very small cut just above his eye. He regarded me for a moment and opened his mouth to speak, but I didn’t let him.

I held up a finger to silence him and pointed to the arrow head sticking out of the back side of his shield. His eyes found the arrow and, more importantly, the still violently compressed tip of swirling wind magic. Panicking, he tried to unlatch the shield from his arm but it was too late.

“I hope this is clear enough.”

I released the compressed air, sending him careening off the arena and into the sand, his shield arm twisted and bloody.

“Eve Solaris is the winner!”

Massive cheers erupted from the crowds as I started to walk back towards the staging area, many obviously pleased with what they had witnessed.

‘That’s one win, maybe this won’t be so hard after all.’ I thought as I entered back into the resting area and retook my seat next to Mayla.

“That was amazing, Eve!”

“Thanks, Mayla. I can’t wait to see your fight as well.”

Mayla and I watched throughout the day as contestant after contestant fought, many leaving in tears and a few unlucky others on stretchers, admittedly it was somewhat boring. As everyone seemed to be trying to hide their true powers in the first round.

Then as the sun was beginning to set, it seemed it would finally be Mayla’s turn.

“Ladies and gentleman for our final match today, we will be ending it on a special note with the second person chosen by the first paladin.”

“Introducing first is someone who excels highly in close combat and swordsmanship, Oranel Signa.”

A very large, tall, bald man, with bulging muscles that showed just how many years he had been training wore a simple white long sleeve shirt and white pants to match, slowly began walking towards the stage.

‘It’ll be interesting to see how Mayla deals with him.’

“And lastly, the final combatant for today’s tournament. Mayla Saveer, the other person to be chosen by the first paladin, will she, like her partner, survive the first round?”

I watched Mayla slowly walk to the arena, feeling the anticipation to finally see her in action bubbling inside me.

“Let the final match of today begin!”

Immediately as it started, Mayla did something I wasn’t expecting.

‘She’s charging in?! Is she insane?’

However it seemed my worries were for nothing, as soon as he tried to slash his blade downward at her, she flipped out of the way, then threw her arm out, and then out came a roped kunai from her robe that sliced across the man's arm.

‘Showoff.’

I watched as Mayla continued to flit around her opponent, just out of reach. She weaved and danced the rope and blade around her opponent, blocking all his options before he had a chance to counter.

This continued for a few minutes until the blood loss and mental exhaustion from all the cuts seemed to catch up with the man and he dropped to his knees.

This was what Mayla had been waiting for. Already looping her rope around his neck, she caught the kunai and dashed towards him, pulling on the sling to accelerate further. Her knee impacted into his nose a moment later, so hard that I could hear the cracking of cartilage from where I was standing, and he immediately fell, sputtering, onto his back.

“The winner is Mayla Saveer!”

I felt joy well up inside me as I heard those words ring out. While I knew it was only round one, and many hid their true power, we were still one step closer to proving we deserved to be here.

As Mayla began walking back towards our staging area, I ran out and gave her a quick hug before pulling away. “That wasn’t too bad, Amelia” I teased, my goofy smile giving my real feelings away.

“Let's prove to everyone that Kalan made the right choice, Eve.”

We gave each other one last meaningful look before walking towards the entrance together, our excitement and pride clear on our faces. It was time to prepare for the next round.

‘We’ll get through this together, one round at a time.’