CHAPTER 17: Royale

Once I stepped through the gate I entered a wide room. Just in front of me was a long line of people leading up to a luxurious desk behind which sat a serious looking young woman. I looked behind her and saw a wide grand staircase which led to a balcony that ran round the whole room.

I went around the desk and put my foot on the first step of the staircase when I felt a firm hand grip my shoulder.

I turned around and saw the young woman standing behind me.

"Where's your ticket?"

"Mhhm, what ticket?"

The woman sighed and massaged her temple.

"Your ticket to watch the fight?" Explained the woman.

"Ohh," I then chuckled nervously. "About that, I don't have one."

The grip the woman had on my shoulder tightened. "Then go to the back of the line."

She then pointed at the line which now reached the entrance of the stadium.

Sighing, I turned around amid what felt like either mocking or gloating stares from the people in the line and headed back to the entrance of the stadium.

'So it a fight.' I thought as I stood in the slowly moving line. 'Well I guess I deserve a break, just hope I have enough to buy the ticket.'

After thirty minutes of waiting, during which I contemplated just walking out of the building, I eventually reached the desk.

The woman looked up at me. "Regular, VIP, VVIP, or private booth?"

"What's the difference?"

"Regular seats occupy the upper rows, VIP occupy the middle rows, VVIP are the rows directly in front of the arena where the fights are going to happen, and I don't think I need to tell you what private booths are."

I nodded my head in agreement. "How much do each of the seats cost?"

"Regular seats cost two gold leclerc, VIP cost ten hundred, VVIP cost twenty-five hundred, and lastly the private booths cost one hundred leclerc."

I put my hand into my cloak and gripped the leclerc inside . "I've got twelve gold leclerc, it's not enough for the VVIP ticket so I guess I'll go with the VIP."

I pulled out the gold in my pocket before counting out ten and putting the rest in my pocket.

I slapped the money onto the desk, the woman just ignored me and held out a ticket which had VIP written on it with silver letters.

"When you reach the top of the staircase head down the hall to the left and when you reach the end open the door, someone will be there to guide you to your seat."

I grabbed the ticket, walked around the desk and soon was walking up the grand staircase.

When I reached the top I turned left and began walking down the hall. 

As I walked down the hall I looked in admiration at the exquisite pieces of art that were positioned in strategic places around the hall.

After walking for a minute or two I reached the end of the hall and in front of me was a pair of double doors.

I hesitated for a moment before I gripped the handles and pushed open the doors.

*WHISTLE*

*ROAR*

The moment the door opened I heard a loud roar, and as I looked around I saw the sound was made by the crowd, most of whom were on their feet cheering and whistling.

I looked around and saw that like me most of the people in the stadium were wearing masks.

"Can the esteemed guest please show me your ticket?"

I turned and to the right saw a man who wore a dress shirt with a waistcoat on top of it and pants, standing there with a polite smile on his face.

The man held out his hand. "Esteemed guest, your ticket please."

The man glanced at my ticket briefly after I handed it to him before bowing and extending a hand to the right.

"Please follow me sir."

He then straightened up, before turning around and walking down an aisle. I followed him down the aisle while observing the people in the crowd.

I then turned back to the man. "By the way, who are you?"

The man smiled then answered. "I'm an usher in this fine establishment sir."

I nodded my head before asking him another question. "And who's fighting today."

"You don't know sir?" Replied the usher.

"I just followed the crowd headed in this direction so I have no idea." I confessed.

The usher chuckled. "Since you don't know, I'll tell you." 

"First this is just the first fight in a series of eighteen fights that will take place over the next two weeks."

"All the fights are part of an event called Royale, where only Ranked that haven't reached the First Tier can enter."

"How come I haven't heard about it before?" I asked in surprise. 

The usher shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know sir, it was announced months ago and is common knowledge."

I thought for a moment before I asked another question. "Is it too late for me to enter?"

The usher nodded his head. "Oh yes, much too late. To qualify a fighter needs to win twenty fights without losing once, and anyway qualification ended last week."

"But this is an annual competition so it will happen again next year."

The usher then stopped at an empty aisle seat. "This is your seat sir, I hope you enjoy the fight."

With that he turned around and walked back up the aisle. I stared at the usher as he walked up the aisle before I turned and sat down on the seat.

'I'm around the middle row of seats,' I thought as I looked around the stadium. I then looked down and saw that at the center of the stadium and tens of meters below me was a circular stone platform.

'That's probably where the fights will happen.'

I looked to my left and saw that there was an old man seating next to me with his eyes closed who seemed to be giving off 'don't come near me' vibes.

I decided to respect his wishes and closed my eyes and leaned back on the seat.

'Well,' I thought as I relaxed my body. 'I might as well use this chance to refine my Hani. It's been a while, I sure as hell can't slack off.'

I then took a deep breath and began using my refining technique.

-

-

-

I heard the buzz of the crowd increase and opened my eyes.

"The first fight's about to start." Said an excited sounding voice from behind me.

I looked down and saw two people enter the arena through two opposite gates.

The first person was a brown haired man who had a confident smile on his face and was only wearing a pair of trousers.

I looked at his hand and saw he was holding a double sided ax.

One side of the ax was jagged and I swallowed hard as I looked at it. 'I'd hate to be hit by that.'

I then turned my head and looked at the other fighter. I squinted my eyes when I saw the person. 'Wait is that....Silver?' My jaw dropped and my mouth hung open. 'I'm sure it's him, that silver hair, the same cocky face that's begging to be punched, it's definitely him.'

I then thought back to a day two years ago 'I haven't seen him in two years. So he was a Ranked,' I sighed and put my hand on my chin. 'No wonder I lost.'

Silver was the first person I had fought in the Underworld. It was two years ago and I had come here with Agustin and Alistair for the first time. The first thing we did was sign up as fighters in a fight club and it was there that I met Silver.

He was the person I had been drawn to fight against and honestly the fight had been one sided. From what I remember before I passed out after he defeated me, it had taken him only one slash of his sword and a stomp to defeat me.

I looked at Silver's hand and saw the same sword he used back then in his hand.

'Doesn't matter if he defeated me before.' I thought as I sat up straighter in my seat. 'I'm almost three times as strong as I was back then. For all I know I'm much stronger than him by now.'

Both Silver and the other man reached the center of the arena and bowed their heads after which they took a few steps back and readied themselves.

I leaned closer with an eager smile beneath my mask as they suddenly accelerated and jumped toward each other. 'Now let me see how strong you really are.'

*CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG*

Both men appeared on the opposite side of the arena as where they had been before.

*CRACK*

Suddenly the sword of the brown haired man shattered into pieces, and as I looked on in shock he collapsed onto the ground.

There were a few seconds of stunned silence before the crowd began loudly cheering.

"SILVER, SILVER, SILVER!"

As for me, I just sat there in the stands and looked on in shock, with only one word running through my mind at this moment.

'What?'