Chapter 82: Magic Tournament

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VVVVVV

The xothican girls managed to secure a table near the tournament arena. They already checked in with the tournament officials. Everything was in order for Tala to participate. According to them, Tala was to be in the second round which gave the group a good amount of time to relax.

They managed to find a table-bench near the arena that had a table attached to it. Tala used her Flamethrower ability on a low setting to melt the snow and then dry the table and bench.

The arena stage itself was enormous and was comparable in size to a football field. Man-made obstacles were placed all over the field to break the line of sight and to give cover. There were large pillars at each corner of the arena to protect the audience and the fighters. The audience stands surrounded the arena in an oval shape and had enough seats for thousands.

"We might have arrived a bit too early," Vivian said as she noticed that there were only a handful of people in the area.

"I think we're good," Sylmae said. "We managed to snag a good place to sit that's right next to the tournament stage. Even the nobles and affluent will be jealous of us."

Tala noticed a worried look on Reia's face.

"Are you okay, Ree?" Tala asked her.

"I'm fine, it's just..." Reia paused on her thoughts before she continued. "Everyone, I have something to bring up."

"Okay," Amber said.

"I woke up early today and found Tom on the beach in the aftermath of a panic attack."

"What?!" Sylmae gasped.

"He was in bad shape. Kara's death was weighing on him very heavily and he's been having nightmares because of it. I feel really bad I didn't see it before."

"Is it okay for me to be here for this conversation?" Lucia asked. "I'm fairly new to the team and this seems very personal."

"You are a part of the team, Lucia," Reia said. "We try to open up with each other. We go through a lot of shit and we need to hold each other up. You're not alone. So... Everyone. I am not suggesting we go up to Tom one after another and ask him if he's alright. I'm pretty sure that will make him feel worse. I let him know he can open up to us. So be ready to lend an ear. He shouldn't have to bear this burden alone."

"Right, got it," Vivian said. "Oh, speak of the devil. There he is."

"Hey girls," Tom called out. "Sorry for the delay. Fucking racists."

"Things turn out okay?" Tala asked.

"Yeah," Tom replied as he sat down. "Thankfully, they were a bunch of cowards so the threat of being put directly into a jail cell was all I needed to chase them back through the Portal. The problem resulted from our Portal operator. He apparently joined Atlas due to his misplaced anger."

"What happened to the operator?" Sylmae asked.

"I had him arrested. He will be dishonourably discharged and will face a ton of charges." Tom let out a sigh. "He made his choice, so let's not dwell on it. I see you all scored us good seats."

"Sure did, but you'll have to find your own," Vivian jokingly said.

"You sassy girl."

"Tom, we have our seats, can we finally get some breakfast now?" Reia moaned. "So hungry."

"Alright, alright. Blueberry pancakes sound good?"

"Sweet goddess, yes!" Sylmae exclaimed.

While everyone waited for the tournament to start, Tom went through setting up the table including a tiki torch, butter, plates, utensils, juice, maple syrup, and table cloth.

Tom teleported back to his kitchen to cook the food leaving the girls to their own devices. The girls more or less people-watched as they waited.

"So I found that orb, Lucia," Vivian said matter-of-factly.

Lucia went wide-eyed at the statement.

"What orb?" Sylmae asked.

The other girls looked at Lucia whose light green cheeks began to change to a light tan colour.

"Lucia kept an image orb that displayed an image of Tom," Vivian answered.

"I-I swear I'm not here with ill intentions!" Lucia sputtered out. "The reason I have it is, is-"

"You're in love with him?"

Lucia's mouth was agape.

"I've seen you look at his butt every time you think no one is looking for the last few days," Vivian said. "Am I wrong?"

"Is this true, Lucia?" Reia asked.

"It- It is," Lucia admitted. "I think I felt this way before I even met him."

"Why's that?" Amber asked.

"I spent weeks before you all arrived listening to my parents tell tales of your exploits. They told it like you're villains, but to me you were heroes. For the first time in my life, I wasn't alone in my struggles. I admired you all. Felt like there was someone else out there just like me."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"That's sweet," Reia cooed.

"I don't get it, though," Tala said. "You're practically Judge Dredd on our missions. Here you're about as shy as me."

"I didn't have any friends growing up," Lucia explained. "And I never got any familial affection. Fighting is easier for me. I don't have to form emotional connections with my enemies. I don't really know how to, you know, make friends or create a romantic relationship."

"Well, you're in good hands," Vivian said.

"Definitely not in your hands," Sylmae muttered.

"Oh, come on!" Vivian exclaimed in indignation.

"The best thing for Lucia is to take it slow. Lucia."

"Yes?" she replied.

"Tom is going to take you on a date."

"He is?"

"Yes, he will," Sylmae reassured her. "Are you okay with that?"

"Yes, of course! I'd love that."

"Then it's settled," Reia cheered.

"Did you all go on dates with him at first too?" Lucia asked.

The question made everyone cringe a bit. Sylmae rubbed the back of her head.

"What?"

"Well, it's just... Well," Vivian tried to get out. "Know this. Humans on average are actually a monogamous race. There are outliers, of course, but yeah, monogamous. This resulted in a month of sexual tension. Tom liked us, yes, but having his human mindset, he didn't make on moves on us and stayed with Reia. Reia had to sit him down and tell him to go for it. And stuff happened."

"Stuff happened?"

"Stuff happened, repeatedly," Vivian admitted.

Lucia's eyes widened once she realized what she meant. "Oh!"

"We of course had our share of dates, both together and individual," Sylmae quickly expanded on. "It's just the moment was very emotional and we had to... release ourselves."

"Released ourselves right on Tom's d-," Vivian laughed.

"Vi!" Tala yelled out to interrupt her. She jabbed a thumb into Vi's side. "Inappropriate!"

Just then, Tom reappeared with two plates with massive stacks of pancakes on each.

"'Kay, girls. Breakfast is ready."

Tom noticed that the girls had big smiles on their faces while Lucia was flushed in the face.

"Did I miss something?"

"Nothing you need to worry about for now," Sylmae replied. "Food, please."

The stacks of pancakes Tom made and brought in were just slightly smaller than the dinner plates he placed them on. Each one of them got a stack of six pancakes. A slice of butter and a dousing of maple syrup made them into a perfect breakfast.

People started to come into the area as they got halfway through the pancakes. Some of the nobles started to arrive to find places near the stage. Most of the general population avoided taking any of the bench seats by the arena stage to avoid upsetting any nobles.

The sound of crunching snow coming towards the group made them look up to see several nobles, a few soldiers, and a butler walk towards them. Everyone immediately turned their attention back to their food. The noble group reached their bench and one of the nobles coughed in their throat.

"Ignore them," Vivian whispered.

"Can we help you?" Tom asked in annoyance.

The lupine beastkin noblewoman whispered something to her butler.

"The Duke and Duchess Donoll of the Hollow Wood Kingdom requests that you all relinquish your seat so they may watch the tournament," the butler announced.

"I'm sorry, but we were here first and as you can see, we have set up our things."

"Regardless, they demand you give up this table and turn over the tiki torch so they may seat comfortably."

"We are not going to move," Tom said in a more direct manner.

"Look here!" one of the Duke's guards roared. "I don't think you heard, but this is the Duke and Duch-"

"I heard," Tom quickly interrupted. The agitation in Tom's voice was more audible. "We have decided that we like this seat. So much so that we came here three hours early to get it. Now please find your seat somewhere else."

"Insolent fool! These seats are to be used by relatives of those who are participating in the tournament."

"Yeah, and I have a family member in the tournament." The guard was really pushing the limits of Tom's patience. "Tala here is in the second round."

The Duchess scoffed and then whispered something else to the guard.

"You know I'm right here," Tom scolded. "I find it unbelievably rude to use intermediaries when you can just talk to me directly."

The Duke and Duchess rolled their eyes.

"The nobles of Hollow Wood will not speak directly to commoners of no status," the guard said.

"Really?" Tom said incredulously. "Alright, then. Then convey this message. We're not moving. So would you kindly find somewhere else to sit."

The guard reached for his sword which surprised the Tom's group. He pulled it out and pointed it at them.

"Are you serious?!" Reia yelped in surprise. It wasn't in fear but at the disbelief that this guard would escalate the situation so fast.

"Move or I will make you move," the guard growled.

"I just wanted to enjoy my pancakes," Tom sighed.

Tom teleported in front of the guard and quickly palm struck him in the chest. The guard fell to the ground and slide several meters. The others guards reached for their weapons.

"I would suggest you think this over," Vivian said to the guards. "We are The Unknown Title. The ones who killed Ithaqua and Mordiggian. We are rank one Adventurers. It's obviously that Tom held back his strength so he didn't hurt that one guy. Now you can try to attack us, but... we can't guarantee that it won't be the last thing you do."

The guards hesitated. Tom turned to the two nobles and said, "Now would you two kindly fuck off and find somewhere else to sit?"

"Well, I never!" the Duke finally said.

"And now you have," Tom shot back. "Now fuck off. And hurry." He glanced around the heavily filled seats. "It's almost full."

The nobles and their entourage quickly turned and went somewhere else. Tom let out a breath and went to sit back down.

"I'm sorry, Tala," Tom apologized. "I didn't want that to escalate."

"You tried," Tala cooed. "And you did de-escalate the situation after Vivian's threats."

"I can't have those assholes ruin my breakfast," Vivian chimed in. "Though you'll probably will need to report to Commander Steele about this."

"Yeah, you're right." Tom sat down to continue eating his pancakes. "Shit. I'll do it after the tournament. I don't want deal with politics right now." He checked his phone to see the time. "They should start any time now."

Right on cue, Headmaster Wunyar walked onto the arena. He held a long length box under his left arm and his staff, that he used as a walking stick, with his right hand. The thousands in the stands began to clap as the Headmaster walked to the center of the arena. Wunyar chanted a spell and a round sigil appeared in front of his mouth.

"Good Morning." The sigil allowed his voice to reach everyone in the area like a megaphone. "I am Headmaster Vulin Wunyae of Skysign's Magic University. I welcome you all the nineteenth annual Magic Tournament. For those who are new here, this tournament was originally started to find the new owner of Leo Ordata's staff: The Staff Of Exile. Leo Ordata was one of the six heroes who led our world to victory against the Yellow King and his army. He lost his life in his battle against the vile being but his staff was recovered with a special magic casted on it. That magic prevents anyone but the worthy from using it. Today we have sixteen people here who claim to be worthy of this powerful staff. Let us see if any of them are. Let the tournament commence!"

The audience erupted into cheer at the declaration.

"The first match is between Nilla Raon of the Dragon Ridge City and Tok Vekid of the Bolaweth Kingdom."

A female vulpine woman walked up to one side of the arena while a young male dwarf went to the other side. Tom watched with great interest because this would be the first time he would see a trained magic user get into combat. The Headmaster walked off of the arena and held up his staff. A brief shimmer surrounded the arena.

"The barrier is up," the Headmaster announced. "Are you ready, combatants?"

"I'm ready," Nilla answered.

"As am I!" Tok replied.

"Then let the match commence!"

Tom was amazed at how much the Headmaster's voice was able to sound like a boxing match announcer.

The two mages raised their staffs and immediately fired off their spells. The mages immedaitely took cover behind a rock pillar to dodge the attack. They then only peaked out of cover to fire off a spell at each other. This went on until the pillar was ready to crumble and the mages had to run for new cover.

The fox woman fired off a Lightning Strike at the dwarf as he moved to different cover. The lightning attack struck him in the side and the barrier that surrounded his body flashed red. The force of the attack sent him to the ground. The pillars around the arena flashed red.

"The match is over!" Vulin declared. "Nilla Raon is the winner!"

The crowd erupted into cheer.

"Wait, what?!" Tom exclaimed. "That's it?!"

"That's it," Vivian sighed. "What do you expect? It's mostly rich students who participate in these tournaments. They have no battle experience and are usually level one because their parents would never allow their 'precious babies' to get their hands dirty. They mostly rely on taking cover and firing off at each other until they rush to new cover.Their HP is usually so low that one attack will take them down. Occasionally, we get an actual adventurer to join in, but they usually don't come back if they fail to wield the staff. Too costly."

"Well, shit. That was pretty lame."

Vulin returned to the arena floor and raised his staff. The damaged pillars reformed into their original state.

"Congratulations to Raon and Vekid for a wonderful match," he said. The crowd cheered in agreement. "Onto the next match. Our participants will be Jade Hawke of the Duellia Kingdom and Tala Mau of Canada."