A New Tournament Commences

A few days passed since Klaus met the twin Gods of Order.

Klaus focused religiously on his training since it was the final week before the commencement of the next tournament. He wanted to make sure that he would be certain that he covered every aspect of his training multiple times so he made sure to redo everything during the final week.

It was about two days left before the event would commence. Klaus took a long break that day to recover himself before proceeding to train around evening time in Main World time. He decided that since this was his last day of training, he would make the best of it and train until he could no longer do so, then recover the next day before the commencement of the event.

Unfortunately for Klaus, as he continued to train, he was unaware of the passing of time that his final day of training crept into the next day. Furthermore, he continued to train vigorously, still unknowing of the fact, that by the time Klaus had decided he was finally done and could no longer move a muscle to keep training, it was already almost evening time once again in Main World.

Since it was always daytime in Higher World, and also the fact that the training rooms were constantly lit with a white background, Klaus could not tell the time while he was training. His dedication to keep going also prevented him from checking his watch during this moment. He was also self-deprived of food since his body as a demigod could function properly without eating for a few days.

Klaus took a second to relax before he finally managed to muster the strength to head to the apartment building. IV waved him goodbye as he thanked his instructor for all the assistance he had received.

Klaus lay on his bed, with his breathing still audible, as he attempted to force himself to sleep before the tournament that was supposedly the next day. He closed his eyes and relaxed his mind as he slowly proceeded to drift into a state of slumber.

Suddenly, before Klaus could sleep off, a sound aired around his room, alerting him to his phone. Klaus was confused about what it was for about a second before remembering something so critical.

"It's Saturday."

He had forgotten about his plans with Avalon.

Klaus turned off his alarm as he picked up his phone to check for any messages that he had received within the last few hours. He checked his messages as he realized that she had sent him the details of the location she had planned for them to meet.

Originally, Klaus decided to just message Avalon, telling her that he couldn't make it due to some circumstances. But as he checked the time to realize that it was already fifteen minutes to 7:00 pm and that Avalon would already have been heading to the location, he felt like delivering such a message would be insulting to her.

Klaus thought of what to do about the situation since he was barely forcing his eyelids to stay open. His pupils were even dimmer than they normally were, which highlighted how exhausted he was. But after all the thinking, Klaus got up from his bed and headed for the transportation podium to Main World.

Klaus knew that thinking about what to do would just waste time and since he was not asleep yet, as well as promised her to always show up, he had to force himself to meet her regardless of his state.

Klaus got on the transportation podium and eventually teleported to Main World. The headache was more unpleasant to him as he rushed to where Avalon had planned their meeting instantly. Since he was so used to his burst speed, and that the location was not too far from the poster he usually spawned at, Klaus did not sweat on the clothes he had on. The stress from the running still had an impact on him, which was even worse with his state of deprived slumber.

When Klaus arrived at the front of what seemed to be a cinema, he instantly noticed Avalon standing around the front of the building. Klaus made sure he did not appear to be as tired as he was since he knew that it would just be a pain to explain if Avalon found out.

Avalon turned to his location as Klaus gradually walked up to her.

"Hey, Klaus," Avalon said as she waved at Klaus. "I thought you were gonna bail."

This statement made Klaus a bit uncomfortable when he realized that he was thirty minutes late for some reason. This was possible because of the time it took him to decide to show up, as well as get ready before heading to the transportation podium back in Higher World. Klaus also felt a bit bad for making Avalon stand and wait for half an hour because of him.

"I'm sorry," Klaus replied. "I guess I lost track of time."

Avalon smiled at Klaus as she responded that it was okay, before continuing with her plans for the day.

"Anyway, I have a lot of things and places planned for today. We can start here at the cinema, then we can head to an indoor go-kart track that I recently found out about. Oh yeah, we can stop to get some Chinese food at this really good place I've always wanted to go to. Then we can..."

In the middle of her statement, Avalon suddenly noticed something odd before continuing.

"Actually, I have a better idea," Avalon suddenly said to Klaus as she turned to her phone to order a ride to the location she had in mind.

Klaus was surprised by her statement but decided to just go through with it for the day.

They drove for minutes as Avalon decided not to reveal her intended location as usual. And after a while, they finally arrived at the spot. It was a scenic view of the city from a mountaintop with a few benches around. There was also a lot of graffiti work on the benches and the cemented floor, which made the place look more beautiful.

"Where are we?" Klaus asked.

"Well, let's just call this my special place," Avalon responded. "It's basically where I come to when I'm feeling down or lonely."

Klaus' eyes were fixated on the beautiful scene of the city from where they were. The view was phenomenal, but the art around was even more impressive to Klaus.

"Did you do all this?" Klaus asked as he stared at them one by one.

"Y-Yeah," Avalon replied. "They're not that good, but they were really fun to do."

"They're amazing," Klaus suddenly said to Avalon as his eyes were still scrolling around, impressed by the view.

Avalon blushed for a bit before remembering why she brought them there. She then shook her head back to reality before heading to one of the benches and taking a seat. Klaus was still looking around for a few seconds before she called for his attention. He turned in confusion as Avalon tapped her lap while smiling at him.

"What's going on?" Klaus asked.

"Well," Avalon started. "I noticed when you showed up that you seemed to be less energetic than usual, which says a lot since you're not typically energetic at all. It made me wonder if you are exhausted from doing something earlier, especially since you mentioned that you lost track of time. So instead of all the ideas I previously had, I decided to take you here where you can rest for a bit."

Klaus' eyes widened by this statement as he looked at Avalon. Avalon had just canceled her plans just because she realized that he was exhausted. Klaus did not expect that to happen, but he was snapped back to reality as Avalon called for his attention once more.

Klaus walked to the bench where she was seated as he sat beside her. Avalon tapped her lap once more, making Klaus realize what she was indirectly trying to say. Klaus didn't want to do it at first, but he knew that he could not convince her, and judging from his extremely exhausted state, he was too tired to make a big deal out of it.

Eventually, Klaus rested his head on Avalon's lap.

Time passed as Klaus closed his eyes, with Avalon slowly caressing his hair. Everything felt so unreal for both of them.

Klaus had forgotten the feeling of true comfort since he took on his duties as a demigod until this moment. He felt like he was in a dream where, for some reason, he didn't want to leave anytime soon. Eventually, Klaus slowly drifted into a state of slumber that he knew he needed.

As for Avalon, she felt like she could sit like that for hours if it meant she would continue to be with Klaus.

The silence lasted minutes before Avalon suddenly worded out something.

"Klaus..." she started. "I don't know if you're awake to hear me right now, but if you are, you don't have to say anything in return for what I am about to say."

The silence continued after Avalon's statement as it seemed Klaus was asleep. Avalon then took a deep breath before she finally said what she had always wanted to tell him.

"I think I have feelings for you."

Once again, silence filled the area as Avalon continued to smile and caress Klaus' hair. She knew she could never manage to say what she just said to him while looking him in the eyes, or even if he was fully conscious, so she was completely content with the silence that came after.

"Thank you."

Avalon's eyes widened as she realized that Klaus was awake, or at least enough to hear what she had said. Her face turned red as she processed this information, as well as his confusing response to her statement.

As Klaus heard what Avalon had said, he felt a bit off. It wasn't that he didn't reciprocate the feeling she had, but he felt like he was unsure if he did as well. Klaus felt conflicted by her statement that he genuinely had nothing to say in response.

It almost felt like what had happened between him and Rose back in Higher World.

Except this time, it felt a bit different.

Even though Avalon had mentioned that she did not want him to respond, he still felt like he had to say something to her to show that he heard the statement. Even though this wasn't the best response, he felt it was enough to indirectly tell Avalon that he understood her feelings and did not disregard them.

Avalon and Klaus stayed like that for hours, almost reaching midnight. Klaus was able to get a few hours of sleep and Avalon was more than happy to accompany him. And after that, they decided to call it a day and head home.

Klaus apologized to Avalon for having to spend the entire date on her lap, but she claimed that she was not bothered by it, so he decided to let it go.

Klaus headed home as he walked in. Natalie was still up and was on her reading desk with a few papers when Klaus walked in. She was surprised by his presence, but still rushed to hug him. He talked with his mother for a while before he headed to his room to finally sleep.

The next day, Klaus got up early since he knew that the tournament was starting early. He waved Natalie goodbye before heading to the poster and transporting back to Higher World. He felt so much better from the sleep so he immediately headed to the arena.

A lot of demigods had already arrived at the arena and a few were just arriving alongside Klaus.

"Hey, dream boy," Klaus heard as he turned to see Rose. "You missed me after these few weeks, didn't you?"

"Hey, Rose," Klaus responded to her.

Rose looked at Klaus as she smiled in confusion after realizing something odd.

"You seem to be in a better mood than usual. I'd expected you to ignore me or something," she said.

"Guess I'm just excited for the tournament," Klaus replied.

Rose felt like it was something other than that, but she decided to drop the topic and move on.

"Speaking of, how did your training go?" Rose proceeded to ask.

"It was alright, I guess," Klaus responded as they proceeded to walk closer to the arena.

Going in, Klaus and Rose ran into a few other demigods. Everyone stood and talked for a bit since they had the same plan of waiting for XVII to announce anything about the event. The stories of each other's training made it clear that a lot of them focused immensely on getting stronger for the tournament.

A few seconds later, Rose noticed that Klaus was not as focused on the conversation as everyone else. Klaus seemed to be scouting around, possibly looking for something or someone. Then she realized why he was doing so after noticing his slight frustration.

"Don't worry, he'll be here," Rose said to Klaus, knowing that he was looking for Shade.

"Yeah," Klaus responded.

Klaus still felt worried since he had not seen his brother for a month, but he decided to go with Rose and be patient.

After a few minutes, XVII finally arrived at the arena. He walked to the middle of the arena, where the stage was, and he proceeded to announce what he had for the demigods.

"Greetings, demigods," XVII started. "I assume you all have been keen on your training. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the effort that you all have placed in preparing for this event. Everything you all have done is easily beyond both the Gods and my expectations before your arrival."

XVII then paused before continuing.

"But with that being said, may I allow another presence to pass information about the tournament."

After XVII was done, he moved back a few distances before, suddenly, a tremendous force filled the entire area.

The demigods dropped to their knees as usual as a sudden landing sound echoed around the area, unlike the usual silence the Gods had when landing. After a few seconds, the demigods were able to be relieved of the force as they got up to notice that an unfamiliar God was present.

The God had long auburn hair that reached his shoulders and deep blue eyes. The God's appearance was a bit strange to Klaus since it did not match any of the other demigods at all, making it even harder to determine who the God was. And after the god turned his head, looking around the room, he finally spoke.

"Greetings, demigods," The God started.

The God's words felt like a lullaby to the demigods. Immediately after hearing his voice, the demigods were barely able to stay still as their vision suddenly became blurry and their knees weak. A few other demigods were able to persist, but it was clear that the God's voice was powerful.

Noticing this, the God immediately cleared his throat before continuing once more.

"Apologies, I am not used to conversing with you all," the God continued.

His words sounded a lot better and softer so they all focused on what the God had to say, awaiting his reveal.

"You might not all know who I am yet, so may I start by introducing myself. I am Sonar, the God of Sound."

This made why his voice having so much power make sense to Klaus and the other demigods. Everyone seemed to be content with his reveal so Sonar decided to continue

"First off, as XVII mentioned, all the Gods are proud of the effort you all put into becoming the defenders of the realm and also the effort you put into your training for this event. On behalf of all the Gods, I would like to appreciate you all and encourage you all to keep up the good work."

Sonar's words were like music to everyone's ears. It felt like a siren song was played to them as they all smiled and nodded their heads, excluding a select few.

"That aside, I know you all cannot wait for the tournament's commencement so without any more delay, I will now announce the event's format."

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the God as he cleared his throat once more before proceeding to relay the rules and information to the demigods.

"The name of the tournament is the Divine Tournament, and these are its rules. As mentioned before, this is an individual tournament where each demigod will fight another in a head-to-head match. Considering the convenience of you all being sixteen in number, the tournament will be a round-of-16 bracket, where the winners will progress into the quarter-finals, and then semi-finals, before the remaining two victors will head to the finals. The match will have no timer as well. And the way to win your opponent in battle... is to kill them."

Every demigod present opened their eyes in utter shock as they stared in disbelief at Sonar. They all took a few seconds to process what was just said to them. The Gods never lied or had any history of making jokes, so this meant that Sonar's statement was not a bluff or a joke. They were fighting to the death.

"K-Kill?" Rose asked in confusion.

"That is correct," Sonar said, confirming everyone's questions.

"Wait, but how are we supposed to do that?" Tyler asked in disbelief.

Muttering filled the area as all the demigods could not believe that this was happening. They all trained to win the event, but they also did not expect to murder another demigod to do so.

Sonar looked around as he noticed the confusion in everyone, except one, as he decided to elaborate.

"Demigods, relax," He said as all the muttering instantly stopped. "Allow me to conclude."

Not a single sound played before Sonar finally continued.

"While it is true that you are to kill your opponent in battle, they are not going to die. The soul and body of the defeated will be transferred to the medical facility, where they will be mended and prevented from dying completely as long as they remain in the arena."

This explanation made more sense to everyone, but it still meant that the battles were to be as extreme as possible so it was still alarming.

"This tournament is more fatal than the previous because similar to reality, there are no training wheels later on in life, meaning that there are possibilities where you can face a near-death experience and will have to muster all your strength to overcome such an obstacle. Another reason is for us to understand the capabilities of every single one of you, ranging from your strength to endurance, and even perception, and the best way concluded was to remove any limit to the battles."

The reasoning behind the event made perfect sense. And since the demigods wouldn't truly die on the battlefield, it was even more logical for the Gods to remove any possible limit in the battle. Even though this was not what everyone had expected, Klaus still knew that this was truly the best way for the Gods to receive information as well as push all the demigods even further.

After all the demigods finally accepted the fate of the tournament, Sonar turned to XVII before speaking to him.

"The order of the first set will be transmitted to you. And after each set, we will relay the battles for the next one." Sonar said to XVII.

"Understood," XVII responded.

Sonar then stretched his right hand as suddenly, the layout of the entire arena proceeded to change.

The stage proceeded to widen extremely, creating more room for the battles. The floor was also leveled at the center, making it seem like a fair battleground. He also raised the spectator's stand slightly, similar to the colosseum that was used in the final event of the Cosmic League, to give a more general view of the arena.

An invisible barrier also spawned around the entire battlefield to negate any attack from the inside to affect any of the spectators. The barrier was also the source that would cause the demigods who were to die to be transported to the medical facility instead.

Sonar also explained that in the case that the winning demigod was too fatigued to exit the barrier after thirty seconds, the barrier would also transport them to the medical facility for aid as well.

After Sonar was done with his creations and explanations, he said his farewells before growing his wings and departing for the domain of the Gods.

The demigods were still uneasy about the format of the tournament, but they all decided that there was nothing they could do about it. XVII then walked ahead of them to pass on the information that had just been transmitted to him.

"I will now announce the first battle that will commence with the Divine Tournament."

All the demigods focused on him as XVII paused before announcing the first battle.

"The first battle is... Lance Knight vs Ash Brimstone."