Fourth World

Northern Hemisphere

Forest of Holes

(Underground Empire)

One hour before the competition..

Hundreds of people stood in this forest which connected the world above the ground and the world below. Some of these people chatted and laughed excitedly while others just stood there silently, waiting for their turn.

The Forest of Holes lacked any trees and wildlife. There wasn't even a single grass in the entire place. The inhabitants couldn't help but called it 'cursed'.

The place was literally full of 'holes' - tunnels that ran from the surface to the underground. Each tunnel was at least fifty meters wide, and no matter how you peered inside you wouldn't see their end. Some believed the tunnels had no end.

Even more surprising was how the Dénizens navigated these tunnels and built a city under the ground. The only way to enter or leave the underground cities was through these tunnels, and only the Dénizens could navigate them. There were lost civilizations and cities like Shadeniz under the ground. If you got lost in one of the tunnels, you would never come out, dead or alive. People had stopped trying.

The people currently following the line to enter the tunnels trod carefully. Even though, they came for the Jinzidal and were protected by the Jinzidal Army, no one could afford to be careless.

It was simple: follow the line, pay your tax and collect your navigation ayrid. There were hundreds of officers specially positioned to help people register and get entry. Some of the officers personally accompanied the guests, depending on their status.

The navigation ayrid had a powerful teleportation magic that was designed to activate as soon as you entered the tunnel. It would take anyone holding it to Seerish - the capital of the Underground Empire.

The Underground Empire could be described as a massive hole at the bottom of the ground. There were five cities built inside this hole. Four of them were circumferentially built around the fifth city which was the capital. Each city had a designated number of teleportation rooms that received visitors, and it was through these rooms that the people entering the tunnels above the ground were currently coming out.

Surrounding these five cities was a wasteland that had zero nature energy. There was another forest behind the wasteland which was surrounded by a wall. A wall enchanted to repel anything. The wasteland alone was several times larger than all the five cities put together. No one had ever crossed the wasteland and the forest behind it to reach the wall. So no one knew how to bypass the wall's enchantment or what was behind it.

There was an arena at the western section of the capital which had hundreds of chairs specially built in a theatre fashion to cater for the large audience. Just below these chairs, there were small rooms built for the participants. At the centre of the arena, there was a ring - a large, battle ring which was specially enchanted to absorb shock and elemental damage. Even though, the ring looked new and colorful, it still gave a strong aura of death indicating a long history of bloodshed. There were several enchanted bulbs surrounding the entire arena, which actually served to stir a desire for battle in both the audience and the participants.

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Some of the participants had already arrived and were inside the rooms below the viewing area. Each of the participants represented somebody's freedom. They were dressed in fancy armors and held their chins high. They were seasoned mages which were tested and trusted to perform good, mainly for their repetition. A Jinzdial wasn't a game: if you lost, you lost your freedom. No country would send a weak mage.

There was a huge a rock just behind the arena. Two sections of the arena were built from it. The first was a small cubicle for the commentator and the other was a large hall covered in a transparent glass. You could see members of the participant countries sitting on their cushion chairs inside the hall. Each country had its supporters which made the audience quite huge.

The audience stood outside the arena to welcome their heroes. They called their names with reverence.

A young man accompanied by seven mages all dressed in white walked into the crowd. The crowd grew into a frenzy. They pointed at him like an idol.

"Ah... So, it's true!"

"I would have never expected him to be here. This is going to be one hell of a Jinzidal."

From the side, a young boy who looked to be around eleven, pulled the robe of the nearest adult. "Please, I can't see, who is coming? Is it prince Déniz Bizaya?"

The adult turned around and shook his head. "It's someone born in hell, a scion of House Hán and a legend of the Third World. Hán Amuru, the seventh son of emperor Hannibal. The people accompanying him are all big names."

Before the old man finished, his voice started shaking, as if he saw his worst nightmare.

The boy understood and stopped him. "It's okay, uncle."

Hán Amuru passed and several less impressive groups came. The audience calmed down but not for long. The next wave brought three famous groups. The ground shook as the audience cheered their heroes up. The sound of cheers reached every corner of the city.

"Prince Déniz Bizaya!!"

''Oh my...! That's Tyren of the rebellion."

''That large group in black and white came from Mikrom. I heard they are offering information about Triple-factor for anyone who wins the Jinzidal on their behalf.''

"Yes, I heard it too. No wonder they have many participants. They have a handful big names amongst them, most are mercenaries and bounty hunters."

"It's so like them. Mikrom has never sent their own to the Jinzidal, always hiding behind outside help. I really don't get these people."

The first group had five people all dressed in yellow. Déniz Bizaya was there. The second group had only two men: Tyren and his servant Kána. The last group had several hundreds of people dressed in different attires. They weren't coordinated and most of them looked barbaric. The audience looked away from them. Even when they approached the gates, the audience only recognized Tyren and Bizaya, anyone else disappeared into the background. The worst part for Mikrom was Bizaya and Tyren didn't even register, unlike them who had to pay another five hundred ayrids each.

Most of the audience followed Tyren and Bizaya into the arena, but the commotion took several minutes to calm down.

It was almost time when prince Niyashi arrived. He chose to travel by sea hence he was late. The people remaining saw him.

''What? Is that.. Prince Niyashi?"

"I swear that's him. He has the same red hair. And that's his trademark spear. What do they call it? Um.. Zephyr? No, Zendra."

"No, it's Zuwais - the Spear of Hell."

Before long, word of the prince's arrival had reached every corner of the arena.

"Hohoho... this Jinzidal is epic. I am already satisfied. Burja has sent prince Niyashi, the Underground has sent prince Bizaya and the Third World has sent Hán Amuru. I wonder who will be sent by the sword worshippers in Sisiya."

"Haha... they are probably waiting for an order from their sword."