Chapter 102

I was a little surprised at how many people actually signed up, while I did not have an exact figure, I did see someone sporting a four digit number appear on the screen.

Been sitting here for about an hour now, my 'match' already came and went, I didn't even have to go to an arena to be told I progressed. Which, was an obvious thing, but I kind of just wished 'something' happened.

I looked around at some of the contestants, though none really drew my attention….except one.

Standing up, I walked over to a nervous kid in the corner, I would guess his age to be around 16, about the same as Ruby give or take.

He obviously looked nervous, clutching his weapon tight as he looked around, foot constantly tapping on the ground.

"Hey there, kid." I saw across from him.

"H-hello?" He looked surprised as I greeted him.

"No need to be nervous, just wanted to kill some time while I wait." I set my sword down next to me. "Couldn't help but notice your weapon."

"What about it?" He said quietly.

It was a spear.

But that isn't what caught my attention, it seems like everyone here has a weapon that can transform, but this kid is using a normal spear. Albeit with some additions that I could only assume was for utilizing Dust, but a normal spear nonetheless.

"Just thought I'd strike up a conversation with someone who also didn't have a mechashift weapon." I tapped my sword.

"Oh." He seemed less 'on guard'. He just shrugged at my statement. "Never really cared about them, thought all I needed was my spear and I would be fine."

"That's a good mentality to have. Some thrive with choices, others just need something simple and reliant." I nodded. "I'm curious, what're you here for?"

"To compete?" He answered unsure.

"I mean, some people want the glory, the thrill, or even the money. I can pretty much spot those all around here and easily guess….you not so much."

"The money would be nice" He mumbled.

"But that doesn't seem like your real reason."

"I wanted to fight?" He asked more of a question.

"That's fair." I nodded at his answer.

"It is?"

"Why not? Fighting is fun. It's not like you're going out and doing death duels. If you want to prove yourself, go for it, if you want the thrill of a fight, to get your blood pumping as you and your opponent push each other to their limit, awesome." Who was I to judge?

"Oh." He said quietly. "Yeah." A bright smile formed on his face. "I like to fight, dad taught me since I was a kid. But no one in the village wants to fight me anymore." He looked a little sad. "But I saw some strong people here so I wanted to give it a shot."

"I like you, kid." I couldn't help but admire his pure intentions towards fighting. "The names' Wilhelm."

"I'm Rufus."

"Nice to meet you, Rufus." I gave a smile. Honestly, it seems like the kind of kid Scathach would love to teach. "I hope to see you make it to the top 18."

"Thanks" He beamed. "I hope we can fight in a round."

I was about to respond but. "Hey, I think you're up." I point towards the screen. "Number 443, right?" I eyed the tag on his shirt.

"Oh, yeah!" He stood up quickly. "I'll catch you later!" He sprint towards the arena listed.

Nice kid.

A little interested in watching him, but I'll let it be a surprise if he makes it far enough.

I sighed, leaning back in my seat, until another thing on the screen caught my eye. "What?" I muttered staring at my number being listed for arena 11….with no opponent?

Did Roman's guys fuck something up?

Gods dammit.

Well, may as well see how this turns out. Worse case I have to fight some rounds, not a big deal.

I walked out onto the Arena, several more in the immediate vicinity as referees watched kids beat each other up. I nodded to my own, the man standing in the middle of the arena, as I crossed my arms and waiting.

"Did you happen to see your opponent…?" He eventually asked.

"Don't got one."

"What?"

"There was no opponent listed for me." I sighed.

"That's not right." He muttered, taking out his scroll and tapping away at it for amoment before scratching his head. "I guess you win? I think you were supposed to get a 'bye'."

"Woo" I said, 'very enthusiastically'.

I was about to walk out the arena when a voice caught my attention. "Young man, young man!" I turned around to see a woman briskly walking towards me with a cameraman trailing behind her. "Could I have a moment of your time?"

Press? At this point in the tournament?

Well, I suppose it makes sense. Getting shots of some potential black horses, hype up the finals and what-not. Draw up some outrage or any kind of hype regarding events that happened.

"Sure, I would love to give you a moment." I put on my most charming smile.

She returned the gesture, fixing her hair and blowse. "Young may, if I may ask you a few questions?"

"Certainly." I gestured for her to continue.

"The preliminary rounds are winding down, can you give your thoughts on your fights so far. How hard has it been to come this far?" She asked, leaning her microphone towards me.

"Well, I havn't fought yet." I made sure to iterate.

"Pardon?"

"Oh, I'm just returning from the arena where I had no opponent, must have been a small glitch or something."

Seemingly misunderstanding me, she continued. "What about your previous opponents?"

"Had none."

"What?"

"I haven't had an opponent yet, this was technically my fourth 'Bye'." I smiled.

Her eyes lit up like she struck gold. "So you mean to tell me that you have made it this far and you have not fought in a single match."

"That is correct." I nodded.

"And that doesn't bother you? That the other competitors are fighting with everything they had at a chance to win the crown?"

"Well, luck is a part of strength, isn't it?" I asked. "Since my luck is the best, doesn't that simply mean I'm the best?" I smirked.

Might as well give her something to show.

The look on her face said everything.

***

I hadn't even realized I had fallen asleep until someone started poking me awake.

"Um….Wilhelm." A familiar voice ushered me as my eyes sprang open.

"I'm up, I'm up." I quickly readjusted myself to see around me. I saw Rufus standing next to me awkwardly, and a large crowd in the area, many of which were giving me some very unfriendly looks. "Sup?"

"The preliminaries are almost over….figured you would want to see?" He aske awkwardly.

"Yeah, yeah." I rubbed my eyes. "Thanks. Anything exciting happen?"

"Well…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Saw the interview you did."

"Oh." I realized now why these people were basically giving me a death stare.

"Yeah, and people started payin attention, wondering why you keep getting the free slots." Rufus looking a little uncomfortable.

"We're wondering how he keeps cheating." Another voice snorted, walking towards us. A large guy, almost fully donned in armor and a massive mace on his back that clearly took on other forms.

No idea who this guy was, and honestly didn't care. "Cheating? Prove it." I smirked.

"How else can you explain getting every single bye!" He shouted, gathering much more attention.

"Maybe it's my Semblance?"

He crossed his arms, clearly not buying it. "Then what's your Semblance."

"Being handsome."

"That's not a Semblance!"

"You're right, I guess my handsomeness is all natural." I nodded my head.

The big guy practically growled, reaching for his weapon before stopping. "You better hope you don't see me further up!" He shouted again, stomping away.

"Who was that?" I asked Rufus.

"Y-you don't know?" He asked in confusion, earning a head shake from me. "That's Gundy, he made it to the top 8 last year."

"Oh." I commented idly. I guess that's impressive. "What kind of name is Grundy?"

"I think it's short for Burgundy."

"That doesn't make any sense—"

"WILL ALL FIGHTERS REPORT TO THE MAIN ARENA." A voice bellowed out over the intercom.

"Guess it's showtime, kid." I slapped his shoulder, standing up and grabbing my sword.

"Yeah." He gripped his spear tightly in his hands. "I can't wait." He beamed.

How excitable. I look forward to seeing how these people fight, their aura, their Semblances. I wasn't exactly able to watch the preliminaries.

I followed behind him, walking through some large doors to the other side of the large complex. I could hear the echoes of the crowd in the stands from here. It would literally shake the place when they cheered.

My eyes sweeping the place, I caught a head of red hair that belonged to the supposed 'Invincible girl'. Some other faces I didn't recognize from the other area as well.

A man stood at the center as we all gathered around, flanked by a couple guards. He was well built, a no nonsense kind of look on his face. "Congratulations on making it this far." His voice was very commanding. "This was no small feat; you all have overcome extraordinary odds to be here. You have all bled and sweat, pushed yourselves to the brink to stand before me." His gaze shifted to me briefly. "Though some more than others." With his gaze, many others followed, and everyone knew who he was talking about.

"It's hard to be so handsome." I sighed, much to the annoyance of quite a few people. I saw the red head look at me in confusion and I just shot her a wink, much to her surprise.

The man looked very unamused. "The first round has been decided." He said evenly as the screen above us changed.

I looked up at it and rolled my eyes. "What a surprising result."

"Almost as surprising as claiming 9 'byes' in a row." He countered immediately.

"Touche." I couldn't argue with his logic.

It seems someone was pulling shenanigans over Roman's shenanigans. Not that it mattered, I just need to make it to this point in Roman's mind.

I looked up at the screen again, and wouldn't you know it, my opponent was 'Gundy'.

Still a stupid name.

Did the organizers have a way to 'force' matches incase someone like me shows up that just draws a bunch of bad press?

I wouldn't put it past these people.

The big guy eyed me angrily from over yonder, his armor making him stand out where most people just wore some light variants, he was decked out and ready to go to war.

"When do we go?"

"Now." The man said sternly, pointing towards the doors to the arena.

Wow, they must really want to get rid of me.

I just walked out, the sun meeting my eyes and the crowd's noise practically overtaking any sound. There must have been at least ten thousand in the stands. And the number of cameras that started flashing on me was insane.

Gundy smacked his shoulder into me as he walked past, ignoring everything and walking to his side of the arena.

I took a peek above us, the massive screens displaying our faces and a brief overview of our fights so far.

I had to hold back a laugh when I saw mine saying 'Bye' 'Bye' 'Bye' 'Bye' 'Bye' all the way till now. The people in the stands were also not wholly welcoming of me either. The shouts that were sent my way were very telling.

Makes me wish I checked the news on my scroll when I had the chance. No doubt the reporter's little segment on me must have made its rounds.

An announcer stood between us, tapping on his mic. "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN." He shouted. "THE FIRST ROUND OF THE FINALS IS HERE" He shouted as the crowd cheered wildly.

"ON ONE END, WE HAVE A FACE KNOWN ALL TOO WELL. HAILING FROM MISTRAL, GUNDY NICKELSON" He pointed towards the man in full armor. Then turned to me. "AND A NEW FIGHTER, MAKING HIS FIRST APPEARANCE WITH AN...UNUSUAL RECORD." He hesitated for a moment. "HAILING FROM VALE, WILHELM SCHWEINORG."

Huh, he pronounced my name correctly, props to him.

"Now, now" He calmed the crowd slightly. "It's tradition for each fighter's first appearance at the finals to give a few words." He walked over to Gundy, holding his mice out. "Gundy, you've been here before, you're experienced, what do you have to say to your opponent who has yet to fight a match."

Gundy, with a cocky smirk on his face grabbed the mic. "I'm gonna pound him so hard, his mom is gonna be jealous."

His eyes met mine and I just raised an eyebrow.

Well, I was going to be nice.

The announcer quickly took the mic back. "CLASSIC GUNDY." He tried to laugh it off, much to the crowd's amusement. He took a moment to walk over to me. "Now, Wilhelm, a lot of people have some words they probably want to say to you, do you have anything to say to the people watching at home? How come you were able to avoid every fight until now?"

"Well, that's an interesting story." I said happily, leaning towards his extended mic. "Though, if you don't mind can I give a shout out to someone who supported me all the way here?" The announcer just smiled offering the mic to me. I cleared my throat. "I just wanted to thanks the person who made this all happen. I wouldn't have made it here if it wasn't for him. So, in honor of the man who taught me everything I know , I have some words he left me with." I cleared my throat one more time. "Go fuck yourself, lil' Miss Malachite, Love Roman Torchwick. Thank you." I handed the mic back to the silent announcer. Actually, the Arena became rather quiet as well.

"Erm…..that was certainly…..a unique thing to say." He had no idea how to handle my words.

Did they have a filter ready? Part of me wants to say no.

Even my opponent just looked at me incredulously

"Well then, when you hear the gong, the match will begin." He stated, clearly trying to move past that. "NOW!" He roared to get the crowd hyped again, moving towards the edge of the arena. "Let the fight begin!"

The sound of a massive gong vibrated through the arena.

Big ol Gundy stared at me, about to charge over but I held my hand up. "WAIT!" I shouted, a little surprised I could hear myself over the speakers from the entire arena. Were they able to redirect the sound that well? Remnant's technology was very interesting.

"What, wanna beg for mercy?"

"I have a question."

He snorted. "What?"

"Have you ever seen a fire dust crystal this big before?" I pulled a crystal of fire dust about the size of a car key out of my pocket.

"What the hell does that have to do with any—"

"Catch." I tossed it to him casually.

He kind of instinctually caught it in his hand, only to stare at it strangely as it began to glow brilliantly.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* A huge explosion rocked the arena, a figure was seen flying out of the new smoke cloud, slamming into the side of the stadium. His body, while clearly hurt, was still able to slightly move, indicating he was living still, even if his armor was in tatters.

Rune carved on a dust crystal, very effective.

Without a word, I turned around and began walking back out of the arena.

Only silence met my leave.

***

Don't got much to say, the tournament starts.

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