Joey and Bree decide finish shopping and still have an hour before they need to meet back with Tanner and Nathan so they decide to visit the tourist sights. After a while of walking around, they end up stumbling up a huge statue in the middle of an open garden.
Joey walks up to the massive stone statue while Bree goes and looks at the colorful arrange of flowers surrounding the statue. Joey notices a small metal plate at the bottom of the statue but it is unfortunately scratched out and is unreadable. Joey hears someone else had entered the garden and figures they are just another bystander.
"If you are wondering what this statue is about, it is our original king, Titus the Godly."
Joey turns around to see the person that explained the statue looked kinda fancy but militaristic at the same. He had a black set of clothes that were accented with gold while wearing a heaving set of boots. He stood straight up and his face lets off that he was an experienced warrior who had seen many battles.
"Thanks, that is actually interesting."
The man nods his head and continues to admire the statue. Joey decides he has seen enough of it and goes to see what Bree is doing right now. As Joey walks by the man, he throws a punch in Joey's direction. It seems half-hearted and Joey decides to just catch it with his hand rather than block.
BANG~
As the punch collides with Joey's hand, a sudden explosion of force comes from the impact of the two. Joey is certainly surprised by this but is also unmoved as his plate armor boasts insane defence. Another punch is thrown at an intense speed and Joey is forced to catch it with his other hand.
The two are now face to face and are completely unyielding to each other. The man pulls his fist back and bows at Joey while a toothy grin is stretched across his face. Joey is on high alert and is staring at the man intensely. The man sees this and puts his hands in the air as to be surrendering.
"I am sorry, I just like to test my opponents before we fight."
Joey continued to say nothing and quietly observe the man. The mysterious man begins to sweat and slowly back away before leaving entirely. Joey realized this man was going to be an opponent in the tournament but that wasn't a good thing. His fist sure did pack a punch.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Joey looked back to the statue and see it was tipped over from the force of the two clashing. He turns to look at the flowers but they seem to be completely blown away. Soon, Bree could be heard running over to Joey.
"What happened?"
"Well, it all started when...."
********************************
Back at the restaurant, the group of Niki, Tanner, and Nathan have finished their meals and Nathan is kinda worried about the presence of the one known as Lila. She continues to sit beside Nathan and stare at him as well as Tanner. She lets out a few remarks ranging from sounding awe-inspired, to sounding like she was hissing. It should be easy to tell who got what comment.
"So, why are you here exactly?"
"To gather information about you two for the fight."
Nathan is shocked by the fact that Lila is so open and straightforward. He then realizes that she is probably in the tournament and will be in fact their opponent. He looks at Tanner and he also has the same shocked expression that Nathan has.
"What kind of information?"
"Everything."
"Huh."
Tanner decided that he would ask a question and that is what it amounted to. They both look at each other and they both are on the same page. It is time to leave.
They both get up out of their chairs and exit the restaurant, followed by Niki. The girl just continues to sit there as she soaks in the mass amounts of information she had just received.
Both groups decide they have spent enough time wandering around the town and go back to where they will be staying. Tanner's group is the first to arrive and they decide to go ahead and go to bed while as Joey and Bree wander around their Inn a little. They eventually go back to their rooms, take baths, and go to bed too. Somehow Niki managed to convince Tanner to let her sleep with him and Catia was currently at the Guild so Nathan slept alone.
********************
The sunshine begins to fill everyone's room and this is the sign to get up and head of to the tournament. Nathan feels extremely groggy but surprisingly the rest is rather excited. Tanner has some powers he would like to test out of humans whereas Joey would love to fight for his country.
When arriving at the arena where they will be fighting, the 2 groups of assigned teammates split apart and go to their division. The first of the two groups to fight was Team Turncoat.
As they enter the arena, they are greeted with the sight of over 65,000 people sitting in the stands just waiting for the bloodbath to begin. On the far left side, the Emperor and his family sat on their thrones, watching for their amusement. On the other side of the arena from Nathan and Tanner stood two tall men. They were shorter than Nathan but they were more muscular than even Joey. They looked extremely battle worn and know their way around in a fight.
The King stands up and raises his hand. The crowd silenced and the atmosphere became full of bloodlust. The two men looked at Team Turncoat like they were going to eat them. The King throws his hand down in a chopping motion and the battle begins!