After days of training and getting prepared, the day of the most talked about and hype up tournament have finally arrived. The Ghoul Stadium which was hosting the spectacular event was overflowing with an unwavering crowd of people. The V.I.P section was slowly being harvested by a group of rich-influential individuals. Among them was the elusive and renowned—West Wu, the King of Gamblers.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what that mistress have in store for me. He-he-he. I can’t wait to devour her.” West Wu intertwined his fingers maniacally and smirked cynically while glancing down at the multiple groups of Tomb Riders who were making their way to the centre of the arena.
“Yeah! Wo-hoo!”
“Go get them, baby!”
“Rip them to pieces Zhredder!” The tumultuous crowd was getting really noisy. They couldn’t wait for the tournament to begin.
On the paved platform below where all the participating Tomb Riders were gathering, the audience could see that they were separated into 25 groups. Each having Tomb Riders ranging from 3 to 5. In all, they were over113 individual Tomb Riders participating in the tournament. Which was quite a lot when compared to regular events.
A lot of elated voices were being exchanged among the Tomb Riders. They almost sounded indistinct due to the clashes of echoes. Among these unscrupulous hoodlums, the Shackles of Death squad was the least gossipy, maybe because of the illustrious mistress who was the head of the group.
“So much noise, gosh.” Angelina grimaced at the myriad of uncontrollable vibrations which were forcing themselves into her ear.
“Here, maybe this would help.” Cockroach who was standing abreast Angelina offered her an earplug. He did this in a show of kind fate.
“No thanks, I’m good.” Angelina refused Cockroach’s gift for it was unnecessary. She had her own way of dealing with the terrible sound. Angelina touched an interface on her headgear which diagnosed a simulation to curtail the surrounding vibrations which were hitting her on the head. Of course, she didn’t block out too much noise because she needed to hear what the Initiator of the tournament was about to say.
Just like her first Qualifiers Race, the same Initiator was presiding over this tournament. He was dressed in an article of similar dark clothing, in addition, he was hovering over the Tomb Riders on his smartphone motor.
“Ahem.” The Initiator cleared his throat so that he could speak into the microphone that he had dragged out of his motor’s interface. After gaining the audience attention, he commenced his speech.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen! The moment that you have all been waiting for has finally arrived! Today marks the day of the first Mid-Class Promotional Tournament since the start of the year!”
“Yeah!” Some members of the crowd gave off an exciting loud cry while others blew whistles and hoots in return.
The Initiator gave them time to settle down before continuing. “For tonight’s tournament, we’ve decided to make things a lot more interesting. We’ve asked the Tomb Riders present to form groups containing no more than five members. These groups will be competing against each other to determine the best among them. The theme for tonight’s tournament is called, Scorching Dunes!”
Boom!
As the Initiator called out the theme of the tournament, myriad of decorations and monitors blasted out of nowhere. The monitors were depicting a desert scene of scorching death. Sand was spread about everywhere with skulls, graves, Ghoul Monsters and some historical monuments that were occupying a wide expanse of space.
“As you can all clearly see on the monitors, this is where tonight’s festivities will be taking place. Scorching Dunes. I know that you are all excited for the tournament to begin so I’m just going to jump right into the details.”
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The Initiator pulled up a screen which depicted all of the rules and objectives for all to see. “Upon entering the Simulated Field, each team are tasked with the same objectives. First, you will all be teleported to separate locations where you will be in possession of a certain artefact.” The screen displayed an ancient-looking statue that was over 5 metres tall.
“This particular artefact is called the Grace of Pinnacles. It is also what will determine if you are worthy of the winning grace. Each team will have to carry these artefacts to a designated location that is marked on their map. The place is known as the Sanctuary of Pinnacles. You don’t have to worry about the weight of these artefacts because they can be easily carried by synchronizing with their tags. There is an area prescribed for every team present, moreover, they are several vacant slots to be filled with these various artefacts, each slot requires a special amount of Ghoul Souls to be opened. Once placed, they can never be removed. The teams that filled the most slots within the time period of 3 hours will be qualified for a promotion.”
“Now I know what you are all thinking and the answer is yes. You will most likely have to steal the Grace of Pinnacles from other squads or you can go with the option of hunting special Field Monsters that are carrying the artefact, it is up to you really. The first five teams to fill the most slots within the time frame will be liable for a promotion. However, the winning team among them will receive special privileges and a series of our latest Ghoul Gems that enables versatile transformation.”
The Tomb Riders mind was blown away after they heard the prizes for first place, even Angelina’s heart was thumping. A Ghoul Gem that was equipped with versatile transformation was really rare. Only a handful of professional Tomb Riders could afford one. Who would have thought that they would be giving away such an extraordinary item at a Mid-Class Promotional Tournament? Now all of the Tomb Riders present were excited for being able to participate.
“That Ghoul Gem is ours’ bitches!” said a member from one of the squads closer to Angelina.
“Dream on. You’ll never get past us!” Rooster shouted back.
“And who might you be, a squad of losers? Hahaha!” The opposing factions laugh at Rooster and his team.
“You dare to say that again, jackass?!”
“Jackass like your face! Piss off and go crawl back into your mama’s shrivelled up snatch! Hahaha!”
“How dare you insult my mother? You want to die?” Rooster and the opposing faction was getting ready for a fight when Angelina stepped between them and tried to placate the situation.
“Easy guys. We can settle our differences in the race. Doing it here won’t solve anything. We both want to acquire that item but if our teams were to be disqualified before we could even participate then where would that leave us, huh?” Angelina made a valid point which seemed to have calmed down the other parties.
“My-my, don’t you know how to get into people’s head. I see your deceptiveness haven’t dulled since last we met.”
When Angelina finished settling the dispute, she heard a familiar voice behind her. Turning around, she saw a smug face that she wanted to crush so badly but she tried her best to restrict her anger and responded nonchalantly. “Who are you again?”
“Haha, very funny.” Resotnero got closer to Angelina and put his mouth beside her ear. “You’re going to get crushed out there tonight. You and your flunky squad.” After agitating Angelina more with his insulting words, Resotnero walked away with his teammates as if he had just spoken to a fart in the wind.
“Who was that douche-bag, A.J?” Cockroach glared at Resotnero’s back.
“I think I recognize him.” Answered Hard Steel. “Isn’t he that Rollerblader who you rode with?”
“What? That was the guy?” Rooster and Cockroach were stunned.
“Is he your Ex or something?”
“No! That dick is not my Ex. All of you just shut it with the unnecessary questions ok?! We have a race to focus on.” Angelina almost snapped on her own teammates. Lately, Resotnero had been getting under her skin.
“Everyone, your attention please!” The Initiator garnered the attention of all participating Tomb Riders before he touched an interface on his motor which brought up multiple colourful tombstones all around the area where the Tomb Riders were gathered.
The tombstones started opening one by one. Some cool air escaped which gave off a familiar feeling of death.
“These tombstones will teleport you into the Scorching Dunes Simulated Field. Now go ahead and enter; one team to a portal only. The moment you are inside marks the beginning of the tournament”
The moment the Initiator finished speaking, the teams of Tomb Riders began rushing into the tombstone portals, each hoping to get a head start over the other groups.
“Come on! Let’s go A.J!” Angelina and her teammates also rushed into a nearby portal.
After entering the tombstone portal, Angelina and her squad found themselves surrounded by a scorching hot desert. Everywhere was populated with sand and bones.