Jacob returned to the inn in afternoon. Just two hours before the tournament started. He ate his lunch and walked to the room after it.

After entering the room, he greeted his father and saw a newly repaired armour on the bed. The armour was a bit broken from a side due to Jacob failing to dodge an attack in time during the fourth match yesterday.

In addition to it, he also found some other things. One of them was a head covering in which only his eyes would be exposed. Another was a straw hat.

"Father. What are these all about?" The things lying on his bed were obviously brought here by his father. So, he asked him.

"What is the day today?"

"It is the day of the tournament."

"Correct. So, how much audience will be present in the coliseum today?"

"It will be choke full of people."

"Also correct. So, will the people in the audience also belong to the other cities?"

"Yes. Many people from outside of Agoross will come to watch the match."

"So, is Worlen included in those cities?"

This question made Jacob stop in his tracks. His mind whirled and realization dawned on him.

"Are you saying that it is possible for people from the Rokas clan to come to Agoross to spectate the tournament?" Jacob said while being a bit uneasy.

"It is not possible. It is reality. People from your precious clan have also come to watch the matches. So, you need to hide your appearance. There is still a chance they will recognize you." The news hit Jacob like a hammer. He became a bit curious that how his father came to know about such a piece of news but not voice his questions. He had long stopped asking his father such questions.

Throughout the years, he had consciously ignored his past about the clan except a few things such as his mother and some other kind people. Now, he had to face the clan again.

"So that's why you brought these things." Jacob said with a worried tone.

"Yes. Take a rest for now and calm your nerves. No need to think too much about things now. The tournament is your priority." The elder read his son's mood like an open book and told him to calm his nerves.

"Yes. I understand." Jacob nodded toward his father as he sat down on the bed and closed his eyes to soothe his nerves. There was no room for distraction just before the tournament.

Soon, it was only an hour to go before the tournament started. Jacob got up and wore his armour. After that, he wore the head covering and the straw hat. He was feeling a bit uncomfortable in them due to the novelty but assumed that it would go away in time.

After saying goodbye to Gifford, they started walking toward the coliseum. The streets were crowded as usual. But it was a different kind of crowded this time. Jacob noticed that many people were headed in the same direction as they were. He assumed that they were also going to the coliseum. It was a special day today.

It took them a few minutes longer to reach the place. It was very crowded. The father son duo's walk came to a crawl as soon as they reached close to the coliseum. There must of thousands of them. Jacob thought as he looked at the sea of people in front of him.

Fortunately, there were many guards here to maintain order. They were trying to maintain order as much as they can. Several long lines were formed in front of coliseum as people poured into the building from all the entrances.

Jacob quickly found a separate entrance for the participants after asking the guards and he along with his father entered the coliseum from that special entrance.

A person quickly came to take Jacob toward the arena after a quick verification and directed the elder to take a seat in the audience.

After nodding at his father, Jacob followed the person toward the arena. He had no idea why they were heading toward it right now. The tournament still had almost half an hour to begin.

"Mister. Why are we going to the arena instead of a waiting room?" Jacob could not hold it in for much longer and asked the person walking in front of him.

"You will know when you see it." The man replied without looking back.

"Ok." Jacob became silent after that and kept following the man. Jacob could hear muffled noises as he followed the man.

Soon, the passageway opened into the open space and they stepped on the arena. Jacob looked around and his eyes widened in surprise. He was no longer listening muffled noises but a full blown noise of thousands of people.

Half of the sitting area was filled by people and the rest of the space was also filling up. Jacob had never seen so many people at the same place at the same time. Neither had he attracted so much attention at the same time.

He noticed that many people were looking at him with curiosity. Even the ones making noise a few seconds ago became silent as they concentrated on him.

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The clamour made by the large audience died down a bit as people paid attention to Jacob. They were curious about the newcomer and the strange outfit he was wearing. He really looked eye catching in a head cover and straw hat.

"Go sit there. The tournament will start shortly. You are not allowed to fight outside of the matches otherwise you would be disqualified." The man pointed at a few rows of chairs lying right next to the arena wall.

"Got it." Jacob said as he started walking toward the seats. Half of them were already occupied by the participants. The noise also picked up as people stopped paying him attention.

Jacob quickly picked a seat and sat down. Many participants looked at him for a second or two before doing their own things. Jacob could not find the annoying guy and the girl from his room from yesterday. He wondered that they would arrive later.

As Jacob relaxed, he looked around at the audience again. He was trying to find his father. He had an inkling that it would take more efforts than yesterday to find his father in so many people.

As he was searching for his father, his gaze was attracted to the raised platform in the sitting area. It was empty yesterday but today that was not the case. It was filled to the brim today.

Nobles? Jacob mused as he looked at the people sitting there with greater concentration. He found that many people sitting there had their backs straight and had seemingly nonchalant or slightly arrogant expression. They were radiating a regal aura.

As he was looking at them, he found a couple of people somewhat familiar. They were sitting at some distance from him so he could not make out their faces more clearly.

Black eyes and light blonde hair... It is clan head Rokas. He really came. Jacob's pupils contracted as he recognized one of them. Using this, he quickly deduced the identity of the second person sitting near Rokas. It was the current clan leader Kai.

As Jacob was looking at them, he immediate noticed that they were also looking back at him. Realising this, Jacob quickly averted his gaze and started looking somewhere else.

Phew. Thankfully, I hid my face. Even though I am grown up now, there is still a chance they can recognize me. Jacob breathed a sigh of relief as he started looking for the elder again.

As the minutes passed, people kept pouring into the sitting area. Similarly, Jacob's competitors also kept arriving. Just as five minutes till four were remaining, all the seats including the ones near Jacob were filled.

Jacob looked back and found the armed guy from yesterday sitting a few chairs away from him. He was currently waving at him. Jacob also waved back before looking forward toward a certain spot in the sitting area. An white robed elder was sitting there and waving at Jacob. Jacob smiled as he also waved back. He had succeeded in finding his father a couple of minutes ago.

After that he looked toward the audience. He was still in a slight daze. He was astounded by the vast amount of people in front of him. Almost ninety thousand persons were sitting the audience area. The noise they were making were deafening. It was not that Jacob had never been in the fully packed coliseum. It was just that his perspective was changed and he was in the centre of attention.

As the time was up, a loud voice resounded through the coliseum as Jacob looked around to find out its source.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the coliseum. Today is a great occasion for us. A great tournament is being held with a priceless beast core as the grand prize. Please welcome our brave warriors."

The audience cheered loudly at it. It was so loud that Jacob felt that he would have hearing problems for the next few days.

"Before we officially start the tournament, let me introduce you to someone present among us. We have the third prince Ajisth Ursus himself. Please welcome him."

The crowd went into a frenzy as it heard the announcement. It was a great news for them that a prince of the ruling clan was present among their midst. Many of them were awed and surprised. For most of them, the ruling Ursus clan was beyond their means.

"We also have the Aumrin clan patriarch and the second elder here accompanying the prince. Cheer for them also."

The audience cheered again. But this time, the cheering was relatively less enthusiastic as compared to the previous two. They were already familiar with the Aumrin clan. Many of them had seen the clan patriarch many times. So, there was no longer the element of surprise.

"Now let the tournament begin. We have forty six participants. Dear participants, please pay attention. You have to win a match in order to get qualified for the next match. In the next round, you have to win a match again in order to advance. Such will be the routine until one of you win the finals. As for the odd number, a draw will be done for the skip. Rules will be the same as yesterday. Prepare yourselves."

As the loud voice stopped speaking, the audience erupted into a deafening noise again.

Jacob mentally prepared for the upcoming matches. His name would be called in any time.

"First match. Biren Vs Rimu. Please step forward."

Two participants stood up from their seats and started walking toward the centre. One of them was the armed guy and the other one was a tanned girl with a ponytail. A judge had already arrived there sometime ago.

They arrived at the center of the arena and stood a few meters away from each other, weapons ready.

"As you can see, we have a handsome young man in front of us. He is none other than the grandson of the coliseum leader, Biren. He is well versed in the sword and shield. In the preliminaries yesterday, he had defeated his opponents back to back easily. He is a strong contender for the tournament."

"As for the lady, Rimu, she is the daughter of Durango clan patriarch. Well versed in the art of staff, she is a tough challenger for Biren. Can she prove to be superior than his male opponent, we have to see. Let the match begin."

As the voice ended, the judge told them to begin.

Seeing this, the girl ran toward Biren who was standing rooted on his spot. Biren quickly raised his shield and braced for the impact.

Thuk

The tip of the staff collided with the shield and Biren was pushed a couple of steps back before the momentum behind the attack faded.

Biren waved away the staff and moved forward toward his opponent. Rimu quickly delivered an overhead smash next but the attack was blocked again.

The armed guy was acting like a simple sword and shield warrior. But all his movements were refined and traces of training could be seen from his moves. He was blocking the attacks perfectly with measured steps and turns. He also squeezed out an attack or two while advancing toward the opponent.

Similarly, the opponent maintained her distance and kept attacking Biren from all the angles she could. It was now a battle of stamina. The arena was quite large so Biren could not hope to corner Rimu against a wall.

As the fighting continued, Rimu started becoming a bit breathless. She was attacking constantly and her arms were badly aching. Compared to her, Biren was at ease. His victory was imminent.

Jacob watched the entire match with rapt attention. Today, he was allowed to watch the matches unlike yesterday. He watched both the fighters closely and observed their moves. He watched then and constantly imagined himself in their shoes. Thinking what he would have done in response to this move and that if he was facing them. Similarly, he also imagined himself how to counterattack after blocking or parrying the enemy's attacks.

Such thought processes were extremely beneficial for Jacob. In addition to learning more, he could also observe his future competitors and detect the flaws in their fighting styles so that he could use them to his advantage later. Although, there was not much room after training with his father, he was still picking the bits he had thought unimportant in the past.

A few minutes later, the match ended with Rimu giving up. She was not wounded at all but tired. So she could not continue much longer.

"We have a victor here. As expected, young master Biren have defeated the opponent at last and came out victorious. Cheer for him."

With a lowered head, she exited the arena with a crestfallen expression. As compared to her, Biren headed back to his seat with his head raised with a loud cheering. Some were even shouting his name.

Jacob had observed the match from the beginning to the end without missing any detail. He was not impressed at all. It was not as if Biren's stance was impenetrable. Although he blocked all the attacks beautifully, everyone could do with a couple of months of training.

The reason he won seamlessly was just that the opponent was a bit slow and weak. She did not pack much power behind her attacks. In addition to that, her arms were also weak. If Jacob was in her place, he would have make him drop his shield with relentless hammering or swept him off his feat while catching him off-guard.

Biren nodded toward him as he sat down, surprising him in the process. He nodded back in return after which he started waiting for his turn.

"Second match, K......"

The next few matches were just like the first one. Jacob observed them all without losing concentration. Many stunts and moves were displayed during that time.

Just like the first one, whenever someone made a mistake during the execution or showed weakness in some aspect, the opponents took full advantage of that and defeated them. It was not as if the winners did not make any mistakes or did not have any weakness, it was just that the mistakes they made were lesser than their opponents and they better hid their weaknesses. All of them were injured to various degree due to yesterday preliminaries.

But they were not able to hide it from Jacob. He quickly picked out their weak points and decided to use them against them to achieve easy victory. This was a future deciding tournament, everything was allowed in it except killing. So Jacob was not much perturbed about taking advantage of his opponent's weaknesses.

"Eleventh match, Jacob versus Nila. Please step forward."

Jacob stood up when his name was called. He looked toward his left and saw a girl standing up with him. She was carrying a whip in his hands.

A strange choice. Jacob thought as he walked toward the center of the arena calmly. He was having doubts whether she would be able to hurt him with that whip. He was wearing an armour after all. He still decided to not underestimate his enemy. He had heard from his father that certain whips packed quite a punch if utilized correctly. He also decided to protect his face at all costs.