-------Holy City of Solis, Gold Tower--------

Ari and Esti looked at their reflections in the bathroom mirror preparing for Ari's upcoming debut.

Ari kept rearranging her hair, not quite finding the look that seemed right, while Esti just preened at the sight of himself, raising his scales as he fell in love with his own reflection repeatidly.

Ignoring the narcissistic lizard, Ari continued her battle to find the right appearance while thinking about all that this day entailed.

Today was the first day of the tournament, but more importantly, it was her first day being revealed publicly as the Church's chosen Hero Candidate.

She felt a little overwhelmed. Well, more than a little, if she was being honest. She'd traveled from her home continent, leaving her people behind temporarily to become the Hero.

She'd done this all so she could grow strong enough to protect her own people while vanquishing evil in the world.

Her public debut was the first major step of that journey. If she ended up falling short here she'd never forgive herself. No matter what she was determined to make today count.

After cycling through a few different styles she settled on an acceptable appearance before giving herself a nod, an action Esti immediately mimicked, before they both left her room and headed down to meet Arthur.

---Holy City of Solis, Radiance Square---

"And let the tournament begin!"

Not even an hour later, Ari tried to stand as tall as she could while the deafening cheers filled her ears. She couldn't help it as a smile spread across her face. This wasn't so bad. Even Esti preening by her side seemed to be loving the attention.

Once the cheering died down she gave a wave to the crowd before sitting down next to Arthur on their floating platform.

The transparent box she was currently standing on floated high above the city, making her clearly visible to anyone whose view wasn't blocked by one of the Pillars' massive Towers.

The box's sides had been opaque until suddenly going transparent and revealing just how high up they were. Ari was very happy she didn't have a fear of heights or else the speech would have gone far differently.

Thankfully, the speech wasn't too complex. Just a few minutes long all she'd said was how she was sworn to seek out and destroy corruption in the world and to let good win. Even in front of so many and suspended high in the air it was still a simple task after enduring all the training she'd been put through by Arthur to prepare for it.

Speaking of the man, as Ari sat down, Arthur stood up. His brown hair turned golden signaling he was about to cast. Ari's internal question about where exactly the tournament would be occurring in this crowded square was answered right after, as three golden platforms made of semi-transparent light appeared in the sky.

A few moments later, six more floating platforms appeared, seemingly triggered by other casters.

And triggered was the right word for it.

Ari had watched Arthur's mana flow the entire time. He hadn't made those platforms as much as sent some mana to activate something to trigger the platforms to appear. Was there an artifact hidden somewhere nearby?

As the cheers began to die down once more and Arthur returned to his seat next to hers, she leaned over to ask.

He looked back at her and chuckled while bringing his pointer finger to lay across his chin and nose.

"It's a secret."

"Of course it is." Ari playfully harumphed and dropped it. She'd investigate it later during a less pressing time.

A single column of light appeared below each Light Arena, identical to the other pillars of light used as a form of vertical transportation throughout the floating city.

Three dark silhouettes entered each pillar and floated up to the Light Arena above.

Focusing on the closest one to her, Ari identified two of the figures as armed participants with the third being an officiating Priest.

A moment later, thirty-six new golden platforms appeared, four surrounding each of the nine arenas. Immediately much larger columns of light appeared under each and a stream of people from the squares below began rising up to the new viewing platforms.

These new viewing platforms were quickly filled with audience members clamoring to watch the games from a better vantage. It seemed even the everyday man in Solis would have an opportunity to have good seats for this tournament.

Each Light Arena and viewing platform was the same size as one of the city's blocks and was completely flat. Ari suspected more than a few participants would end up being knocked off throughout the tournament.

Not that falling off would end in a fatality.

She spotted many floating boxes of light, similar to the one she was currently on, positioning themselves for better views of the arenas. Unlike the larger platforms, these were far smaller and could be moved around easily. They also had four walls and a roof all of which could be changed to be transparent or opaque depending on the occupant's wish.

These boxes were occupied by the more influential individuals in Solis, so it went without saying each box had at least one Mage who could save a falling participant from their otherwise inglorious fate.

On one of the boxes, currently set to be fully transparent except for the floor, Ari spotted the Pink and Purple Pillars. Although she hadn't had the chance to meet any Pillars yet, Ari couldn't help but look up to them in awe.

Any of the Pillars were legends of the central continent. But for Ari, the Pink and Purple Pillars were especially so. They were so young, yet had already achieved so much.

Their level of power was one she aspired to.

The presence of those two alone would mean no one would be allowed to fall to their deaths during the tournament. Not that they would even be required to act.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

Two visible Pillars were just another layer of safety in addition to the officiating Priests stationed on each platform who were charged with overseeing each match and administering healing as required to the participants.

Ari watched the viewing platforms quickly fill until it seemed like everyone had a chance to get in the spots they wanted to watch the tournament. Then the officiating Priests on all nine arena platforms threw up their hands in sync sparking the crowd to erupt in a deafening cheer.

Above each arena, two golden names belonging to each of the current competitors appeared. Unlike the viewing platforms and boxes, Ari could trace these spells back to various officiating Priests of the Church who were actively maintaining the spell.

She was drawn to the floating names that appeared above the light arena above the Gold Square first.

Virozoh VS Hiosilonkol

Her attention may have been drawn to that particular arena because it was closest to her, but it stayed for Hiosilonkol's appearance.

The man looked like he spent his days carrying grown oxen on his shoulders. His muscles bulged like they were trying to escape his own skin. He carried a great axe in each hand. The great axes despite being as long as an average man looked childlike in Hioslonkol's hands.

His towering figure was almost twice as tall as his normal-sized opponent who had the appearance of a young man who'd barely reached adulthood. His only noticeable features were his ashen hair and scared face. His lanky physique was partially concealed by the violet robes he wore. For his weapon, only a simple sabre was visible at his waist.

One was a giant at his peak, another a young man who seemed like he belonged behind a desk as far away as possible from an arena, let alone an arena facing someone like Hiosilonkol.

Looking at the two, Ari couldn't help but have the feeling these first few rounds would be rather boring. It likely wouldn't be until the third or fourth round when they'd begin to see Mages of the Third and Fourth consistently start to face off against one another.

Half writing off the match already, she allowed her gaze to drift to the Light Arena above the Green Square when a sudden flash accompanied by the sound of cheering brought her eyes back to Virozoh and Hiolsilonkol's arena.

She was just in time to see Hiolsilokol's glowing name above the arena fade. The only name now remaining was Virozoh. Its golden letters glowing progressively brighter as they floated higher for all to see.

Shocked, she looked down at the arena only to find the hulking man, who she had questioned was young enough to participate, was now face down unconscious with a Priest administering aid.

The unassuming young man was standing a bit away from his defeated opponent, visibly unphased. In fact, Ari didn't think his expression had changed from the plain one it had on before the fight.

They'd already had someone advance and she hadn't even managed to see it? Ari turned to ask Arthur if he'd seen it only to see the man's eyes glued to the boy with more focus than Ari had seen him have since he'd left her to run Prim to safety over a week ago.

Ari turned her attention back to the platform where the ashen-haired winner was now giving a bow to the crowd like some kind of performer before stepping into a beam of light to be brought back down to the floor. As he descended Ari could finally make out what the crowd was chanting.

"SENATOR'S CHOSEN!"

Senator's Chosen? Ari thought to herself. What an odd nickname for the boy to have.

"Do you know anything about him, Arthur?" Turning to her teacher who's eyes were currently locked onto the boy.

Arthur turned to her after a moment and recovered his normal friendly look, "He's one of the favorites for the tournament."

"Really? But he seems so unassuming, I thought for sure he'd be a known sleeper at the very most."

"He likely would have been if it wasn't for his prominence in a group known as the Constituency."

Ari searched her memory for the name. "I think Fluma brought them up once. Some type of debate group, right?"

"That's just one of the organization's avenues. They're currently spreading across Solis like wildfire. Their membership system promises wealth for those who bring others into the fold making it extremely fast to spread among young or desperate people."

"Oh, that makes Fluma's attempt to recruit me make a lot more sense," Ari replied finding some clarity in that odd encounter with her friend.

Her innocent words made Arthur's eyes narrow for a moment, "Fluma tried to recruit you to the Constituency?"

Ari spared her concerned instructor a glance and let out a chuckle. "Don't get so bent out of shape I said no. I might not have wanted to sit through all your lectures on what it means to be the Hero, but I at least learned what it means to have the Hero of the Church support something. I won't go joining some random organization and give the Church a headache in the process." Ari gave a sly smile, "At least not unless I'm mad at you for something."

Arthur relaxed and even gave a half-hearted smile back at Ari's poor joke. "I'm just glad I managed to get that much through that thick skull of yours."

"Hey!"

"It's good you didn't end up involved with them. The Constituency is a splinter group from an organization known as Tyrant. A horrible shadow organization that ran the underbelly of the Hervalle Empire."

"What? Why are they allowed so openly in the city and while marketing to the Church's youth no less?" Ari's full attention was immediately brought back to the conversation.

"I said splinter group when I really should have said remnant." Arthur continued while turning his focus back to Virozoh who had just arrived at a group of violet-robed individuals in one of the viewing platforms still cheering him on. "Tyrant eventually failed due to infighting and rebellion. Three groups emerged from it that we know of: the Constituency, Nox, and the Iron Guard."

Ari let out an audible gasp, "The same Iron Guard who are fighting in Hervalle's armies against Vernicus?"

"The very same. All three were believed to be supporters of the Hervalle Empire; however, the Constituency recently approached the Church to request an alliance in exchange for their chance to enact vengeance on Tyrant's old leaders. Leaders they claim are still running Hervalle."

"Still it's surprising the Church allowed them into the city so easily. Couldn't they have malicious intentions?" Ari questioned still confused at why the Church would be so friendly to a suspicious group.

"The Church didn't just let them in. They actually invited the Constituency to attend the tournament, but more importantly, the Church agreed to allow the Constituency to move into some of the city's libraries, research labs, and a few other academic places if they agreed to relocate a few of their people here." Arthur raised his hand to cut off Ari's question, "Before you ask, it was for the same reason the Church was so willing to agree to an alliance with a relatively unknown organization in the first place: their knowledge."

Two new golden names emerged above the Light Arena closest to them accompanied by a renewed sound of cheering, but Ari's attention wasn't going to be so easily distracted from this conversation.

"Still it seems like a high price to pay. If all their members are recruiting as aggressively as I saw Fluma was, they'll have massive sway over a large portion of the city's populace before long." Ari's rebuttal was met with a nod from Arthur.

"You're right it is very much a risk, but as you will learn soon enough the Church is not as securely positioned as it once was. There are forces of corruption on this continent that we know little about. Forces of corruption some suspect Tyrant had close ties with, close ties which allowed them to make breakthrough after breakthrough in magical fields the Church had been stagnant in for more than a century."

"Is this the same evil corruption plaguing the world you mentioned to me back when you first offered me the position of Hero? The same corruption you asked me to help eradicate?"

"The very same." Arthur responded solemnly, "I'm letting you know all this because these are the types of foes you'll have to face as the Hero. Evil that hides in plain sight, monsters that try to befriend you behind false smiles. To unmask and destroy those monsters while seeking out and vanquishing corruption wherever it lurks in the world is your responsibility as the Hero."

"You make it sound like I can never trust anyone again?"

"The life of a Hero is a lonely one, but friendship is still possible when you can truly trust someone. Even just one friend you can confide in makes the heavy burden you bear feel far lighter."

"But pick that friend carefully. If I were you I'd treat this tournament as a way to gain a better understanding of the people who'll be in your party. Every tournament battle is an opportunity to learn how they treat an opponent. What they're willing to do to achieve their goals. It's a chance to see what type of person they really are behind whatever facade they normally show to the outside world.

Ari turned her eyes to where Arthur was looking where she found the cluster of violet-robed audience members still congratulating a calm Virozoh.

What type of person was such a man really? Ari thought to herself. Well, she would find out during the tournament, just like Arthur said, people were bound to reveal something about themselves in such a setting.