Chapter 12 – Tournament Round Three

"64 challengers remain, and boy have we got some exciting matches! Around now, the lower realm competitors won't be as lucky."

"Jasper don't be mean! We all want to see Royalty Realm powers duke it out, but the best fights we've seen so far have been those in the mortals and sages."

"I guess you're right Ruby, but let's get a move on to our first match: Wandering Sage Jing versus the Pop Idol Aquamarine."

"This will be a highlight of the tournament for sure. We watched as Jing brutally humiliated a poor girl in the first round, but he stealthily made his way through the second round in spite of the constant booing.

Aqua is a famous singer who wants to bring her musical talents into Hell. What do you think about that Jasper?"

"Hmm, I mean, her background as an adventurer makes her qualified, but I'm not too sure I trust a singer to defeat the armies of Hell."

"I'd rather her than Jing, that's for sure. Let's go live to the battle."

Jing took his stance. Aquamarine used her voice as an amplifier for her aura and could shout blasts of aura at Jing. Jumping away from the sound blasts, Jing counterattacked. Breezing past her, he cut a lump of hair off of Aquamarine's head by accident as she dodged.

"This guy must hate women; don't you think, Ruby?"

"What a menace to the tournament, Jasper!"

Nearly facepalming, Jing swiped at Aqua again, landing a clean, deep hit and defeating her.

"I'll make you pay for this one day!" Aquamarine barked at Jing, clutching her cut hair.

"Boo!" The crowd booed unrelentingly.

***

"Our next match: Dungeon Shade Omira versus Goliath the Adventurer!"

Another highly anticipated duel, Goliath had convinced the higher ups of his prowess to rig the next duel to be between the two of them.

"If I win this duel, I wish to go out on a date with you!" Goliath declared.

"What in the world… disgusting." Aventi remarked to Cheptah. Omira was objectively repulsive. Shades could shapeshift naturally, but the natural form of a humanoid Shade had grey skin, red eyes, and a sinister complexion and aura. Nobody in their right mind would find a Shade attractive unless they were mentally deranged.

"I could never love someone who knocked my friend out of the tournament!" Omira spat at Goliath. "Face my wrath!"

Striking at each other, Omira and Goliath send ripples of aura throughout the stadium with every clash. Goliath's raw strength made up for his deficient aura compared to Omira, but she was, a short and petite woman. Her scary and violent tendencies came from her raw strength as a Shade. The juxtaposition of a small woman and a gigantic man ravenously fighting each other was a scene most who saw would never forget.

Fifteen minutes of head on combat ended with Omira standing on top of the unconscious body of Goliath.

"I have avenged you David! Hahaha!"

***

It was time. Clico hobbled into the stadium. From his beatdown against 11, he could barely move, yet he couldn't just quit. His opponent was another masked individual. Many participants wanted to hide their identities; it was strange.

Bowing to Clico, the man took off his mask. It was an average looking man in his twenties. He looked younger than Clico and had remained lowkey throughout the entire tournament.

"Wait a second! That's that guy I told you about Gileon." Stern remarked to Gileon. After being given strange advice by '21', Stern had told Gileon and Samcyra, but no one else. He didn't want to bother Clico nor Aventi with the strange occurrence that happened to him in the second round.

"Greetings Clico, I'm 21, the Wandering Sage who gave you advice during your previous round."

"What are you doing here?" Clico questioned.

"I would like to tell you a few things. Firstly, I am a prophet, and secondly, I also gave your friend Stern advice on his previous match as well."

"Hmm it makes sense how he won then," Clico pondered.

"Thirdly, I am here to tell you I will be participating in the Great Dungeon Party, and so will you. All we have to do is tie this round."

"What, is that even possible?" The spectators asked each other.

"What is he doing down there?" Thundered Grand Councilman Ziphe inside his VIP room.

"First the masked numbers, then 11, and now 21? Who are you people? Why should I trust you? Why are you helping me?" Clico asked skeptically.

"I forgot how untrusting you are." 21 laughed to himself.

"I will give you one reason to trust me: Nillvia sent me." The corners of 21's mouth curled into a smile.

"Who told you to say that?" Clico's weak aura bristled. He didn't have much left to give, but he was furious.

"Trust me or don't, but on the count of three, take that necklace of yours and meet with me when we enter Floor One of the dungeon."

"Explain yourself!" Clico yelled.

"Obviously, I hit a triggering point." 21 giggled.

"One," 21 began counting.

"Should I really trust him and surrender on three?"

"Two," 21 raised his hand.

"What are they talking about? I'm so confused; why are they standing there?" Omira asked Aventi.

"I don't get their conversation, are they surrendering?" People asked.

"Three," 21 winked to the cameras. Clico raised his hand as well.

"I surrender," both said together.

"Umm, it's a tie?" Jasper announced.

"According to the judgment of Grand Councilman Ziphe himself, the Wandering Sage in question, Theseus will not go on, but Clico will. In the event of a tie, a coin is tossed, and Theseus lost the coinflip." Ruby explained after hearing from her superiors. Upon hearing the name Theseus, several individuals among the competitors beamed at the man, 21.

"What just happened?" Aventi asked Clico when he returned to his spot in the stands.

"I, don't know." Clico confessed.

Cheptah and David angrily asked Clico, "Who is that man?"

"I'm not sure, he called himself, 21, a prophet." Clico responded. Omira frowned. Prophets were phonies.

***

Wandering Sage Mite and his party were having a field day in the third round. Wandering Sage Isabel, another sand mage originating from Pyrite and member of Mite's party, ended their streak on a high note.

"Wandering Sage Isabel, do you have anything to say on the camera to your ex-comrades in Pyrite. You left Pyrite to join Mite and his party, and they have single handedly wiped out over ten Pyrite mages over the course of the last three rounds!"

"While I do love my country Pyrite, my loyalty to Mite and his party can be shown on screen." Scenes of Mite's party annihilating institutional mages flashed on screen.

"Mite's wife Utone, our tanker Kiln, and I will continue to serve the Great Dungeon Party well in the future! Thank you for your time."

***

Quietly, fan favorites advanced to the next round. Although some of the masked number's aura deficiencies were seen, most progressed to the next round, securing themselves spots with the Great Dungeon Party. Numbers one, two, and three, were not so lucky.

Job, Dregey, and the Shades wiped the floor with straggling sages and mercenaries. The prophetic duo, Mo and Do, also advanced quietly. These boring battles led into a hilarious battle between Vice-Headmaster Love and the leader of the Pyrite Faction, Aaron.

"Do you love me Sage Aaron?"

"Yes, of course, no, no, no!" Aaron banged his hands against his head.

"How interesting! I've never seen someone try to fight it to this degree." Love mocked.

"You can win, just kiss me. NO! I will not be bewitched!" Aaron started toward love but stumbled to the ground, lovestruck.

"Finish me off; I can't defeat the woman I so desperately need!" Love laughed and walked over to blast Aaron unconscious.

At the last moment, Aaron pounced at Love with earth magic to propel him from the floor.

"I can't believe you fell for that!" Aaron gasped. The Pyrite Faction needed a win, and by the gods and Authorities, Aaron would lead Pyrite to victory!

"You're foolish." Love condemned. "Of course, I knew my own skill didn't work." She swiped down at Aaron, defeating him immediately.

"Winner! Vice-Headmaster Love!"

***

The no names were methodically defeated one by one, and soon, the competitive battles would begin. One of the last civilian participants, a young man with an inherited artifact, was facing Anaxmai the adventurer.

Driving into the stadium in a High Sage graded artifact, a magical tank rolled up towards Anaxmai.

"Rich kids think they rule the world," Cheptah whispered to David.

Anaxmai scoffed at the expensive tank enchanted with extravagant runes. As soon as he finished off this clown, the civilians would be out of the tournament completely. Unlike before, Anaxmai couldn't use all his aura at once to take out his opponent. Summoning his gigantic scythe from his storage ring, he charged at the tank. The rich kid inside, Sergei, shot blasts of aura at Anaxmai. With incredible speed, Anaxmai dodged and slashed repeatedly at the tank.

"Get him off, get him off!" The kids in his late teens frantically hit the buttons in the inner control room of the tank.

Good for long distance combat, Sergei had won thus far because of his favorable matchups. Anaxmai should've been the same, but his experience and speed made his fancy artifact useless.

"Winner! Adventurer Anaxmai!"

***

Clico's party didn't have the luck he did. Cheptah luckily won against another tanker, but Samcyra fell to a Phanec Sage named Dagon, Gileon lost to a Galeon Sage named Hirune, and Stern unfortunately lost to the Werewolf Prince Cain.

Cain was especially brutal, continually pounding on the limp body of Stern. Aventi's match was now about to begin. Like Stern, she was facing an advanced Sage from the beast countries, Lizard Princess Delilah.

"Another lizard person huh," Aventi remarked and eyed the Princess up and down.

"I will avenge my brother!" Delilah shouted.

"A classic NPC line," Omira whispered to Clico, but he ignored her and watched intently.

Summoning Noosphere, Aventi clouded the battlefield.

"Oh, come on! Not again!" People grumbled.

Five minutes later, the mist cleared, but both were still standing, highly exasperated.

"Incredible. Your spiritual arts are impressive indeed. I acknowledge you as an opponent." Delilah bowed to Aventi. Upon seeing the mist dissipate, Aventi pulled out her mirror.

"Why is she so self-conscious about her skills?" Omira asked Clico.

"She's worried Lavilin will find out somehow." Clico responded. He said it to get Omira to stop pestering him, but he wasn't too far from the truth.

"What is that mirror?" Delilah asked. Her green eyes twinkled at the change in combat.

"Attack and find out." Aventi signaled for her to attack. Like her brother, Delilah was a melee fighter, but Delilah used her claws to fight. Generating claws of aura, Aventi mirrored her combat abilities back at her.

"Wow, you can copy me after one duel. You impress me more and more Wandering Sage Aventi." Delilah complimented.

"Enough talk." Aventi said flatly. Another ten minutes passed, but both were too tired to continue.

"Another tie! Let's see what the coinflip says!"

One minute later…

"Winner! Lizard Princess Delilah!"

Back in the stands Omira kicked the ground in frustration.

"Why didn't she just continue using her main abilities? She would've won!" It was true, but the sad reality was dawning on them; the only three with concrete spots in the main party were Clico, Cheptah, and Omira. Unless the others got lucky and were picked from the 18 spots decided by the Council, they couldn't join the Great Dungeon Party.