Horns blared in the distance, electronic recreations of ancient instruments blasting through Cyber Crane Megacity like strong winds. Hovering servitors flew threw the air, their blades spinning out holographic advertisements. Everything from luxury items to cybernetic enhancements danced across the sky, their pictures drowning out the lights above.

James walked under it all beside Nadia, nervous excitement on his face. The rest of Blue Mountain Sect walked around him, giving he and Nadia a wide berth.

On any other day, James might have tried to make a comment about the mistreatment. But today was the start of the games. Master had told him to be on his best behavior, which meant no backtalk.

Luckily no one in the sect tried to start anything. It seemed everyone was focused on presenting a good outward appearance. They needed ot show the semblence of cohesion, if only to convince the other sects that theirs stood strong.

Citizens of the megacity poked their heads out of apartments or gawked at them on the street. It seemed it wasn’t often that cultivators came out in force.

The small scattering of citizens soon turned into a group, then a crowd as the Sects walked toward their destination. James spied it in the distance, a grand stadium arena cutting a resplendent figure in the distance. Jade, gold, silver, and other precious items created a mural of dueling cultivators. Above the whole stadium rested a screen large enough to show pictures miles away from the structure. Currently, a rerun of previous games played.

As they moved closer, the sects starting converging. James saw groups in robes similar, but distinct, from the Blue Mountain Sect. One group even wore fiery red robes, though their bright colors were a minority.

The sects moved in columns toward the stadium, filing into the lower areas. Electric banners of each sect hung across the halls, declaring winners and runners up.

Nadia gently moved James away from the crowd and toward a descending staircase guarded by two imposing cultivators in white robes. They barely gave the two a glance as they walked down the stairs. Double doors at the bottom opened automatically, revealing the area below.

The series of waiting rooms were filled to the brim with cultivators and their masters. No more than five waited in any one room, an invisible buffer zone keeping them equidistant from each other. James caught mild looks of disdain across the lines of rooms. Not all directed at him, to his surprise.

Nadia ignored all of it, maneuvering James down the hall until they reached an unfilled room.

Two others stared at James as he and his master walked in. The first wore the most ornate robes James had ever seen, fancier than Fu’s even. Jade thread weaved shimmering patterns across their outfit, catching the light and dazzling James with it. On their head sat a jade crown that seemed to merge with their equally green hair. A part of James was surprised to see their skin wasn’t green instead of milky white.

They looked at James with indifference. He resisted making a face.

The second must have been the first’s master. They were equally dressed in jade, but their crown and threads were bigger and streaks of green painted their face as if they were a warrior about to go into battle. They looked at James with disdain. It seemed the rumors were doing their job.

Nadia bowed to the two before leading James to the corner. “You didn’t forget anything?”

“And if I did? Are you going to run back and grab it?” James asked.

“If needs must,” she answered.

James shook his head. “No, master. I’ve got everything equipped.”

She nodded. “Good. As I mentioned, the tournament is first. You won’t receive the bracket until the opening ceremony starts.”

“And when is that?” James asked.

“Soon,” Nadia answered. “No longer than thirty minutes.”

James leaned back. “Guess all we can do is wait then.”

He caught a glimpse of the others in the room. The one James supposed was a master had a face a shade away from rage. The other seemed to look at him curiously.

Right, James remembered. He was supposed to show Nadia respect and all that. He shrugged, if his master wasn’t going to say anything then he wouldn’t try to correct his behavior.

Eventually, more cultivators came into the room. Each seemed to be unique in their own way, though none stood out as much as the ones in jade. They seemed to be important as well going by the looks the other cultivators gave them.

After what felt like hours of waiting, a tournament helper walked into the room. “Can I have all contestants join me, please?”

James stood. “Well, looks like this is it.”

“That it is, disciple,” Nadia agreed. She laid a hand on his shoulder. “Go, prove your strength.”

He nodded, and for the first time felt his stomach twist in guilt. A part of him berated himself for hiding his deal with the gang from Nadia. The other part of him knew he needed that safety net, and that he had to get it himself to feel safe.

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He breathed out. “See you later.”

James walked out into the hall, following behind the others. More cultivators fell into step behind him, hundreds of men and women intent on making their name known. A dark stairway called to them in the distance, and James felt himself straighten as he moved up the stairs.

The brightness of the day blinded him momentarily. Then, the roar of the crowd hit him. He gawked, unable to help himself. The entire stadium held millions of people cheering for the cultivators that just walked onto the pitch. Their cheers drowned out all other sounds, a waterfall of noise that crushed anything else that attempted to bob to the surface.

Eventually, the crowd died to a trickle. James’s eardrums still rang. He only barely heard the tournament helper direct him toward the center of the field.

A voice, sonorous and smooth, came to life as they stopped in the center of the field. “Ladies and Gentleman! Mortals and Cultivators alike! Welcome to the six-hundred and seventy-second Cultivator Games!”

The wellspring of cheers overflowed once more.

“Today, one hundred and sixteen contestants will fight in a single elimination tournament for honor and prestige! Will they bring honor to their sect? Or crash and burn like rockets!”

Another waterfall of cheers.

“Of course, today’s games wouldn’t be possible without the illustrious support of the Ten Families and the sects!” The announcer said. “Let’s give them all the appreciation they deserve!”

James heard even more cheering. He wondered how anyone kept their hearing with all the noise.

“And now, without further ado, let me introduce to you our contestants!” the announcer said.

This was the part James was dreading. His master had told him he’d have to wait through the ceremony, but James wondered who in the world wanted to hear the entire list of contestants read out one by one?

The question was rhetorical, but James still scoffed at his thought. Each sect likely wanted to brag about their various skilled contestants and couldn’t bear to leave others uninformed.

It was still torture to wait, but eventually the announcer finished reading off the list of names. James breathed a sigh of relief. He’d survived.

The bracket appeared overhead, the names bouncing randomly across the lines like excited electrons. As time passed, names cementing themselves in place until every bracket had a competitor. James searched for his name, eventually spying it on the left side of the large bracket. His first match was against someone named Kanna from the Soaring Celestial Sect.

“Now, everyone! Let’s give a warm welcome to the contestants of the six-hundred and seventy-second games!”

James felt a rumble from the ground as the cheers again rose to deafening levels. The floor opened up all around him, the green grass of the stadium falling away to what felt like endless lines of identical arenas. Each hexagonal area sat with just enough space between them for two rows of cultivators to walk. Ropes of what looked to be metal cordoned off the arenas.

A tournament facilitator handed James a small medallion. “This will direct you to your station,” the facilitator said when James looked at him in puzzlement.

Soon enough, the medallion buzzed. James looked down to see an arrow pointing in the distance. The others around him started to move, prompting James to do the same.

He moved through the twists and turns of the stadium, following the medallion until it directed him into one of the arenas. A few seconds later someone else stepped into the ring. James assumed they were his opponent.

She wore the night sky itself, a black set of robes dotted with white stars. She held a sword in her hands, the blade shining like the moon. It was already unsheathed and pointed at him.

Kanna, at least that’s who James assumed this was, looked at him behind a mask of perfect makeup. Dark, eyeshadow covered eyes tried to pierce James in contempt. James parried with well practiced ease. Tsukiko had a stronger glare.

The woman turned her nose up in disgust, marring her perfectly set face. “Standards for cultivators in the Blue Mountain Sect must be low for them to allow one such as yourself into their ranks.”

James clasped his hands and bowed. He wanted to bite back at the comment but Nadia had drilled the etiquette into him. Plus she threatened him with her aunt if he made any mistakes. He did not want to experience that old woman’s discipline again.

His silence only made the woman angrier. Her sword whipped around in an impressive, intimidating display before she pointed it straight at him. “Come, let us exchange pointers.”

A holographic referee appeared between them and a buzzing voice sounded through hidden speakers. “Contestants James of Blue Mountain and Kanna of Soaring Celestial, are you ready?”

James nodded. Kanna scoffed as she assented.

The hologram went on to explain the sparse rules, mostly to ensure both contestants understood that any cheating would be met with the dire consequence of broken nodes. Cameras installed in the supports as well as hovering servitors would keep track of their movements and stop the fight if any issues appeared.

Once finished, the hologram again made sure the contestants were ready before counting down. Ten seconds appeared overhead, dropping as both competitors fell into a stance. James relaxed, spreading his feet to line up with his shoulders while his hands rested neatly at his side, one at the ready to pull a staff if needed. Kanna crouched low, her sword tucked in for an obvious leaping thrust.

Five seconds, four, then three. James tensed all his muscles at once, holding it for a second before releasing to remove any last bits of stress. He wanted to be as reactive as possible for this. After all, he needed to make the fight look close.

As the last second ticked away, James entered the Metastate. The lines of energy bounced around him, revealing the minutia of the world. He saw the small vibrations from the cameras, the pulsing air from the hovering servitors, and the tense coil of energy in Kanna as she prepared to move.

The fight started. James watched all of Kanna’s muscles push as one, her body only an extension of the sword before her. She moved fast, her sword cutting through the air with an almost unnatural smoothness. It looked as if gravity had forgotten to pull her down.

James responded with varied intent. He made movements to grab his staff, movements to step to the side, and movements to step forward and deflect the sword. Kanna’s eyes widened in surprise for a microsecond before steeling themselves. She kept true to her path, trusting in her speed and power.

Her sword point neared James, the man still sending waves of intent until the last possible moment. Then in one fluid movement he stepped slightly to Kanna’s left and used his right hand to push the sword away. His left hand came around toward the woman’s head.

James fulled expected her to react. However, he hadn’t realized something. All of his fights until now had been either spars with someone stronger, someone who wanted his life, or someone like Peregrine who knew just how reactive James could be.

Kanna was none of the above. She had the traditional training of a cultivator. Spars against opponents slightly lower than her level and training in large groups. Thus, she was wholly unprepared for James to react the way he did. She was so surprised she forgot to move when James turned and brought his left hand pushing down on her back.

In less than a second James shoved Kanna straight into the ground, knocking her head against the floor with a smooth push. Head met floor, and the head lost. Kanna fell unconscious, surprise still on her face as the servitor moved to confirm James’s victory.

The hologram appeared again, James’s name hovering high as it announced his victory.

“Ah, beasts,” James cursed. Now he had to improvise a new plan.