Hello~

Travelling through the shadows, Magna headed towards Argus. Today was the start of the Mistral regional tournament.

Even as he slipped through the forest, Magna could see many different flyers that were stapled onto the trees.

After a few minutes, the city finally came into view. Slipping out of the shadows just a small bit away, Magna quickly transformed back to normal as he made his way towards the gate.

The closer Magna got to the city, the more people he saw leaving. Some carried farm tools while others carried pickaxes. As he walked pass, people would smile and wave to him before continuing forward.

Magna finally made it to the gate when the loud roar of a crowd echoed from within the city. The cheers bellowed through the streets as people smiled.

Everyone was just so… happy. And it wasn't fake either. Spending some time with Kurama, Magna learned a thing or two about reading people's emotions.

He wasn't at the same level when he used Naruto's emotion sensing ability but he could tell when someone showed a fake smile.

However, Magna quickly shook these thoughts from his mind as he screamed in his head, 'I'm gonna be late!!!'

Sprinting through he crowds, Magna finally came across a huge crowd that surrounded a giant stage made from stone.

He walked towards the crowd and spent a couple minutes looking for the sign up booth but with no success.

Suddenly, a hand gently tapped his shoulder as a cheerful voice said, "Hello~ You seem to be looking for something. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Turning around, Magna saw a teenage girl, about the same height as him. She had vibrant red hair, emerald green eyes and wore armour reminiscent of the spartans in his old world.

The moment he saw her, something clicked in his mind as he absent-mindedly muttered, "Pyrrha…"

The girl raised an eyebrow at him as she cautiously said, "Have… we met before?"

Mentally slapping himself for slipping up, Magna hastily said, "No! I uh… saw a bunch pictures of you when I passed by Sanctum. There were a bunch of people cheering for you there."

Pyrrha sighed as she face palmed and softly muttered, "I even asked those guys to stop before I left…"

Magna mentally sighed in relief as his lie somehow coincidentally matched with reality. Releasing a small cough to garner her attention, Magna gave her a bright smile as he held out his hand and said, "Well, since I already know your name, I might as well introduce myself. The names Magna, Magna Opus."

Pyrrha smiled brightly as she happily took his hand and said, "My name is Pyrrha Nikos. Though, I'm sure you already knew that."

A chuckle escaped Magna's lips as he smiled, "It's a pleasure to make the acquaintance of such a beautiful warrior."

Her cheeks became as red as her hair as she bashfully punched Magna's shoulder, "Do you flirt like that with everyone you meet?"

This caused an awkward look to appear on Magna's face as he scratched the side of his face, "Actually, I don't. I have this childhood friend, she always tries to flirt with me. It's this back and forth thing we do to try and embarass the other. Now, I kinda get flirty when nervous..."

What appeared to be an envious look appeared on Pyrrha's face as she softly muttered, "How nice…"

Magna obviously saw the look on her face but ignored it. They had only just met so he can't just barge into her personal life and start asking questions.

Coughing once again, Magna changed the topic as he said, "Do you think you could help me find the sign up booth for the tournament. I travelled here from Patch to compete."

A more natural smile appeared on Pyrrha's face as she said, "So your here to compete. Luckily, you ran into me! I was just on my way to the booth when I got… caught up on something."

Magna gave her a sheepish smile as he said, "Sorry."

"What? Oh, I didn't mean it was bad or anything like that. I'm actually quite happy that fate allowed us to meet."

Before Magna could speak, Pyrrha grabbed his hand and started leading her through the crowd.

It took a couple minutes back Magna finally reached the sign in desk. A very serious yet beautiful lady wearing an atlesian military uniform sat behind the desk as she quickly and efficiently sorted through a multitude of papers.

She stopped once she saw Magna and Pyrrha as she said, "Are you here for a ticket or to sign up for the tournament."

Both Magna and Pyrrha quickly said, "I'm here to sign up!"

The woman only glanced at them for a second before handing then a sign up as she spoke, "Atlas and our sponsors are not liable for any and all injuries that occur during the tournament. Restrictions have been put in place to assure the competitors safety but please keep in mind that bullets and blades have no eyes. Injuries and in some cases, death, can occur during a fight."

After her speech, she turned back to her papers and ignored the pair.

Pyrrha's smile twitched a bit but she still signed the paper. Magna didn't really care since he could tell she was faking her uncaring attitude.

Her hands were shaking while she delivered her speech as kept full eye contact with Magna, her eyes pleading for him to actually be careful.

Magna quickly signed the paper and handed it back as he smiled, "Thanks for the warning. I'll make sure to be careful."

An almost non-existent smile appeared on the lady's face as she nodded before turning back to her papers.

Pyrrha quickly hand her papers to the lady, thanked her for the advice and ran after Magna. Their was a special area designated for contestants.

After finding a seat, both Magna and Pyrrha sat down as a man wearing a flashy white suit styled like the atlesian uniform as he spoke into a mic, "HEL-LO PEOPLE OF ARGUS!!! HOW IS EVERYBODY DOING!?!"

The crowd roared in excitement. It took a couple minutes for the cheers to die down as the man continued, "Well, don't you all sound excited? I can't really blame you though because boy, do we have a show in store for you!!!"

A giant holographic screen appeared on the showing the fighting bracket.

"This year, we have a staggering 32 contestants, which we have divided into 4 different pools. In each pool consist of 8 people and the battles are single elimination."

"Now, I would like to ask the contestants to gather in their pools. Please use the tournament bracket to see which pool your fighting in. Do note that the gathering spot for each pool is marked by a giant number."

Seeing that Magna was in pool 1 and Pyrrha was in pool 4, Magna smirked as he turned to the redheaded spartan and said, "Good luck."

Watching Magna's back as he left, Pyrrha smiled as she cupped her mouth and yelled, "Let's meet in the finals!"

Magna stopped for a second before yelling back, "I'll see you then! Don't get eliminated!"

Before she could yell back, Magna fell into his shadows and disappeared. She raised an eyebrow as this display but smiled nonetheless as she looked forward to battling Magna.