As they walked through the streets, Hannah, Amy, Jack, and Aurora could see many stands and people all around the area of the Deus Family’s Battle Arena. They could see the festive atmosphere that could only be witnessed every four years. People from all age groups could be seen enjoying the festival before the main event, the Deus Family Tournament, where the children of the Deus Family and the Deus Guild’s executives and top adventurers would face each other and show off their skills; their ages ranging from 13-19. After the qualifiers the day before, only eight participants remained. The group was excited to see how Oswald would perform in the tournament.
“Hannah, how do you think Oz will do?” Aurora asked.
“He might lose in the first round.” Hannah answered. “Although he is my boyfriend, I must be realistic about his abilities.”
“You never know, Nana.” Amy said. “I mean he can beat us in sparring matches.”
“You’re right about that, Amy.” Jack said. “But we can’t be compared to the opponents in this tournament; they are way beyond our league. Maybe you and Hannah can compete with some of the participants that were in the qualifiers, but the ones in the tournament are in a league of their own.”
“No, he will do better than anyone thinks.” Amy said with a smile. “I believe in Oz. He will surprise everyone.”
“You might be right, Amy.” Aurora said, smiling. “I mean if his girlfriend and best friend are thinking like this, he needs someone who believes in him. So, Jack, that means you won’t believe in your lovable girlfriend.”
“I will believe in you Aurora! No matter what odds you face.” Jack responded, panicking.
“I don’t know. I mean you don’t believe in your best friend.” Aurora said. “Let’s go and find our seats.”
“I can’t believe we are seated in the VIP section.” Hannah said, holding four tickets. “My boyfriend is amazing for getting us these tickets.”
“I think my Dad and Mrs. Lu will be in the VIP section as representatives from the Moon Guild.” Amy said.
“My uncle will be there, huh?” Hannah said. “Then why didn’t you say anything beforehand?”
“It totally slipped my mind. I was thinking about seeing Oz participate in the tournament.” Amy said while blushing.
“Let’s go in. I can’t wait to eat those delicious hot dogs.” Jack said. “I hope my wallet doesn’t suffer.”
“You’re very lucky.” Hannah said, reading the ticket. “It says on the ticket that we get a free buffet in the VIP section.”
“Now Jack’s wallet won’t hold back my appetite.” Aurora said.
“I am not that poor.” Jack said.
“Maybe not, but the Deus Family is way wealthier.” Aurora said. “Let’s enjoy the show.”
The group quickly made their way to the VIP section thinking of the delicious food they would eat while cheering for Oswald. The inside of the VIP section was spacious, giving the people inside plenty of room compared to the people in regular seating. On the other end opposite of the entrance there was a window taking all the wall looking out towards the arena and around the walls there were monitors displaying different views of the arena. Once in the VIP section, they were spotted by May Deus.
“You must be Hannah! I am May! Nice to meet you!” May greeted Hannah. “As his girlfriend, please take care of my nephew. And guys must be Jack, Amy, and Aurora. I can see Oz has quite a few friends!”
“Nice to meet you, too, May.” Hannah greeted back. “He is the one that takes care of me. He has spoiled me too much.”
“Then, I don’t have anything to worry about.” May said.
“Ms. May Deus, can I get your autograph? I’ve always looked up to you as a fashion icon.” Aurora said as she took out a piece and a pen from her purse.
“I am glad you’re a fan. Now that I am taking a good look at you. I believe you’re perfect for my new six college aged girl model team I am trying to assemble.” May said as she took the pen and the paper. “I already recruited Maria Kim, the girl rumored to be the next Saintess. Here is my contact card.”
“I have to talk it over with my parents.” Aurora said, taking the stuff that May handed her. “I want to be one of your models.”
“What about you Hannah and Amy?” May asked.
“Modeling is not for me, thanks for asking.” Amy responded.
“No thank you!” Hannah replied. “I’ll just stick to being an Adventurer.”
“No worries!” May said. “Now if you excuse me. I will be going to my seat. The opening ceremony will start soon.”
After May went to her seat the group also searched for their own seats. They found their seats near the window looking out towards the arena and they had the half of the row for themselves. The arena had an ample amount of space, which gave participants enough room to use any type of magic they desired. There was an entrance on the north side of the arena. The top of the arena was open letting in some sunlight. At the top of each of the walls there was a big screen. A couple of minutes later, a couple of middle school girls sat next to them, Alondra and Melanie, Carmen’s friends. Alondra looked at the group and pointed at Hannah.
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“You’re the one that snatched Oz from me!” Alondra stated, still pointing at Hannah.
“Huh? What are you talking about you little girl?” Hannah asked, glaring at Alondra.
“I have been Carmen’s friend forever and I have had a crush on Oz since elementary school.” Alondra responded, crossing her arms.
“So what?” Hannah said, pointing at Alondra. “Oz asked me out. So, your crush was one sided.”
“You … I don’t like you!” Alondra said.
“Calm down, Alondra!” Melainie was holding back Alondra. “Sit down. Sorry about that guys!”
“Nana, you’re fighting with a middle school girl. Please stop it!” Amy said in a serious tone. “I am sorry about that. Nana can be immature at times.”
“My name is Melanie and this is Alondra.” Melained introduced both of them. “We are Carmen’s friends. Nice to meet you guys!”
“I am Amy, this is my cousin Hannah, he is Jack, and she is Aurora, Jack’s girlfriend.” Amy introduced the group to the girls. “We are Oz’s friends. Nice to meet you too!”
“This high school and middle school drama is so fun!” Aria said observing the group with a big smile. “Good thing I already have popcorn!”
“When did you get here, Ms. Aria?” Amy asked. “I didn’t notice!”
“Well sneaking around is my specialty!” Aria responded, eating her popcorn. “I knew coming here would be fun. Instead of being with those executives and important people back there.”
“Wait! Aria Estrada! Man, you’re one of the coolest Adventurers! Can I get your autograph?” Melanie asked as she took out a piece of paper and a pen from her backpack.
“Thanks, Melanie! Let me take that!” Aria said with a big smile as she took the piece of paper and the pen and made an autograph for Melanie. “Here you go!!”
They started to talk to each other as they waited for the opening ceremony, while Hannah and Alondra were glaring at each other. After a few minutes the monitors on the arena were turned on and the image of Joseph Deus wearing a black suit could be seen.
“Hello everyone! I hope you are looking forward to our tournament this fine morning! Today I am here as Duke Deus for the opening. Before we get into the main event, I have an important announcement regarding the Deus Guild. We recently finished all the talks with the Japanese and Korean governments to be able to open two new branches. One in Seoul and One in Tokyo. These will be our international branches that will help us expand from America into other countries. The offices would be open in about one year once the construction for the building is done. As the leader of the Deus Guild, I am looking forward to growing the guild even more.” Joseph enthusiastically said. “Now onto the main event. This year all four candidates for the next Duke Deus qualified, so I am excited to see how much they have grown. Not to brag or anything, but my two children will be participating. Oz and Carmen do your best! I will be watching. As for the winner of the tournament, they will get a chance to wield the Deus Sword, which was wielded by Duke Leon Deus 500 years ago! Thank you everyone for listening! Now, I’ll hand it over to Ms. Lola Ramos to explain how the tournament will work.”
The screen switched over to a tan athletic woman with dark brown straight hair with blonde highlights wearing a white top with the Deus Family Coat of Arms on the left side, blue denim shorts, and black sneakers. She had an expression full of excitement.
“Hello! I am your announcer, Lola Ramos!!! Let me tell y’all how this will work! All the participants will be wearing a bracelet. This bracelet will take all the damage and once it receives a certain amount it will break. If the bracelet breaks, then the participant loses. The other way to lose is if the participant forfeits. The use of weapons is prohibited, so they can only fight using their fists and their Magic.” Lola explained. “NOW LET’S INTRODUCE OUR PARTICIPANTS! AND PARTICIPANTS PLEASE COME INTO THE ARENA ONCE YOU HEAR YOUR NAME! First off, we have one of the candidates for the position of the next Duke Deus, the handsome Leon Deus. Next is another candidate for Duke, Selene Deus. Oh my! She has beautiful hair! The third candidate for Duke, Joshua Deus! He looks so confident in himself! The fourth candidate for Duke and daughter of the current Duke, Carmen Deus! She is so cute! The next participant is the daughter of the man who will lead our Japanese branch, Hinako Shijou. Next up is the eldest son of the Ignis Family, Rodolfo Ignis! We also have the eldest daughter of the Romani Family, Ellie Romani! AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, we have Joseph’s son, Oswald Deus! I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO HOW THESE YOUNG WARRIORS PERFORM! NO MATTER WHAT, I GUARANTEE YOU FOLKS A FINE SHOW!”
In the middle of the arena the participants stood in anticipation of seeing their opponents for the first round. Leon with his piercing blue eyes was observing all the participants. He was placing most of his attention on the black-haired black-eyed girl, Hinako. He was familiar with everyone else’s fighting style, yet even when he searched on the web, he was unable to find much on Hinako’s fighting abilities. Meanwhile, the dirty blond, blue eyed Joshua was glaring at Oswald, he was annoyed that he had made it to the top 8. Joshua hoped he could face Oswald to teach him a lesson. Hinako was observing all the participants, but her eyes stopped at Oswald when she felt no Magical Power coming from him. She had heard he was magicless, but sensing no Magical Power felt uncomfortable and she hoped she wouldn’t have to face him. Selene was happy about seeing Carmen and started chatting with her. Rodolfo’s dark brown hair was a mess, and he was observing the beautiful light brown-haired Ellie. Ellie was also observing Rodolfo finding his messy hair charming. The monitors at the center started to show eight slots.
“Now, folks, time to decide on the matches. The matching will be randomly picked with certain biases. And don’t ask me how this thing works because I am as clueless as y’all.” Lola explained as the eight slots began to have a roulette effect with the image of the participants after a few seconds all slots had an image of each of the participants. “It looks like we have our matchups. First match will be Selene vs Carmen, second match is Oswald vs Joshua, third match Ellie vs Leon, and the fourth match will be Rodolfo vs Hinako. Now please the participants of the first match stay in the arena and the other six of you go back to the waiting room. The first match will start momentarily.”
After everyone else went back to the waiting room, only Selene and Carmen were left in the arena. They were facing each other, their gazes met and Selene had a happy expression, while Carmen had a nervous expression.
“Let’s have fun, Carmen.” Selene said. “Can you feel Magical power yet?”
“Not yet.” Carmen responded. “I am only 13.”
“No worries.” Selene said. “I’ll force you to do it during this match. Consider it a gift from your cousin.”
“What do you mean? How?” Carmen asked.
“You’ll see.” Selene responded.
Inside the VIP section, Hannah saw the entrance open. Joseph entered the room alongside his wife, Liliana, and two men, a Korena man and a Japanese man. As she scanned the room, she spotted Victor Deus and Pope Marcus and her mood soured.
“I don’t want to be in the same room as those men.” Hannah whispered to herself with an expression of disgust. “What I do for my beloved boyfriend.”
The spectators were going wild waiting for the first match to start. The monitors on top of the arena started to show a close-up of both fighters and the monitors in the VIP room had different angles of both fighters. Inside the waiting room, there were two monitors showing the arena. Oswald was intently watching to see how strong his little sister had become.
In the arena, Selene had a relaxed stance, while Carmen took a fighting stance.