Young Performers
The next morning, we grabbed grandpa and headed out for some breakfast. I was mostly focused on the contests, and the pet prize I could win. Mom tried to calm me down, but I really wanted to sign up already. "Alright, since we ate breakfast, we can go and sign you up for a contest. Father, do you want to go with us?", mother asked. Grandpa declined, and said he wanted to study that blob he got. I was really confused why grandpa liked that blob so much, but it didn't matter. Grandpa could take care of himself, and I wanted to sign up no matter what.
A short farewell later, me and mom headed back to the entrance of the Arena. That was where signups for those contests took place. There were three contests in total, but only one had a mysterious pet as a winning prize. "Young lady seems interested in that contest", a Lizard man said from behind the counter. I nodded, "Yes, I want to take part and try to win the pet!". "Don't you want to know what the contest is about?", mom asked. I didn't really think about that, and focused on the pet prize. "Mister, can you tell me what that contest is about?", I asked. "Of course. This is an endurance contest. In other words, all contestants will be tested on their endurance and ability to get past traps or obstacles. The winner will have the fastest cumulative time out of three races. In other words, even if you don't win one of the races, you can still become the overall winner… But, I have to warn the young lady. This contest is difficult and people can get really hurt sometimes. Perhaps you'd like to choose a different one, like the singing competition. That is very popular these days", he replied.
"No, I want to take part in this endurance contest. Can you sign me up?", I asked. "Are you sure my love? You can choose a different one, there is no need to push yourself. We are here to have fun after all", mom said. I shook my head, "I trained a bit, didn't I? I want to give it a try". She nodded, and told him to sign me up. The man asked about my age and name only, then handed me a badge of some sort. "This is your participation badge, please don't lose it. When the contest takes place, you will need it to enter the stage and you will have to wear it throughout the contest. The rules will be explained to the young lady at the time of the contest. I wish you the best of luck", he said with a smile.
The badge had a pit with spikes drawn on it. The badge was rounded at the bottom, but squared at the top. Mom took the badge from me, and said she would keep it safe for now. Since I already signed up for a contest and we toured the Arena, I wasn't sure what else we could do. "Don't worry, there are some light performances taking place right now. We can watch some of them if you want", mom said. "Un, that would be great", I replied while nodding my head. Mom got us some tickets, and we used one of the passageways to enter the performance area.
The stage was set up in the middle of the Arena, whereas people could view it from all sides. There were a few people on the stage already, so we quickly headed towards our seats. I didn't know what they performed, but it seemed like they were about to finish. Before I could get the idea, the performance ended and a small crowd cheered. "Don't worry, others will perform next. Throughout the years, more people chose to perform in the arenas. There are more people wanting to perform, than there is time in a day. Hence they choose the best and unique acts. Sometimes people can fail, so don't laugh at them, alright?", mom said. I nodded, and waited for another performance to start.
A while passed before some kind of pig-like creature made his way towards the centre of the stage. He looked around the spectator area and shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, today we have been blessed by the presence of an important guest. The following acts have been chosen as the most unique, from the group of young and rising stars. Please enjoy yourselves, and welcome the Elemental Triad as they appear on the stage!". I looked at mom and asked, "What is that person over there?". Mom replied angrily, "Those things are Orcs, don't associate yourself with those dirty scoundrels. Their shamelessness knows no bounds". I replied, "Alright, they don't seem friendly at all", but then asked, "He mentioned some sort of important guest, I wonder where that guest sits?". Mom remained silent for a while. I was worried she would leave, since that Orc really made her angry. "Oh! I don't know sweetie. Perhaps they sit in the premium section that we can't see from here. Don't worry about them, let's enjoy the performance", she replied after a while.
I agreed, and focused on the three Lizards walking towards the middle of the stage. They were completely grey, like aunt Alicia and Suly. Before the act started, they bowed our way and spread out around the stage. "Heeh, the important guest must sit above us. I wonder who that guest is?", I said to myself. I wasn't sure what performance we would see, but I had a guess. Since they were Lizards, and their name included the word "Element", my guess was Formations. A short while later, my guess turned out to be correct. Each of them used a different Element in their Formations, but that alone wouldn't be spectacular. The Formations clashed with one another, creating all sorts of beautiful effects. It was a display of nature, where Water and Fire Formations created steam, from which earth spikes extended like mountains in a cloudy area.
Not only was it spectacular, I could learn something from them. I watched attentively until the end, where they produced three pillars of different Elements and collided them with each other. The collision produced a massive twister with a large boulder spinning atop it. The performance raised a lot of cheers from the audience. I wasn't worse than others, and stood up to cheer on them too. "Not bad, right?", mom asked as the performance ended. "Yes! It was great. Can I do the same, if I study well?", I asked. "Haha, of course. It might take you a few more years, but you can achieve similar feats too", she replied.
"There will be a few more performances taking place today. Since we are here, why not watch them too?", mom asked. "Yes, I want to see more", I replied and sat back down. Soon after the performance ended, A few people got busy moving some stuff around. I asked mom about it, "Mom, why are there people moving stuff around? There are some campfires they extinguished, and water containers they emptied". "You haven't noticed, but the Elemental Triad used those things for their performance. The water inside those containers, allowed them to utilise Water Element and create stronger Formations. The same with campfires and other things. Without them, their Formations wouldn't be so strong", she explained. 'Oh! So that is why those Formations were so strong… Still, I think they did a great job', I thought to myself.
With everything cleared, another team of people came back to set some things up. We waited patiently before the Orc returned, and announced the next performers. This time they didn't use Formations, they used their bodies to perform all sorts of feats. They jumped into the air, posed in all sorts of ways and then landed. Others on the ground also jumped and twisted around, but mostly supported those who jumped higher and did those figures. The whole performance was very well timed, and looked great from where we sat.
After that performance, a few people walked up to us and brought us food. Mom just shook her head, but I grabbed the food anyway. 'Mom is really modest. Her workers really care about her, I guess she is very popular with Furians', I thought. The Orc returned for the last time, and announced the last performance of the day. Some of these people required a lot of time to prepare, but that didn't matter much to me. I still thought these people were great.
We watched the last performance, where a few people sang and danced on stage. The singing part was done by Shades, while dancing was carried out by Furians. Furians danced really beautifully, and they wore very fancy clothes. The Shades on the other hand, had very loud but clear voices. They could sing really well. "No wonder Leran wants to become a performer. They get cheers from the audience, and perform for so many people. I'm sure it pays well too", I said. "Do you want to perform too?", mom asked. I shook my head, "I would be too scared. Besides, I don't have any special abilities or talents I could display… Maybe except Formations, but I'm still just a novice when it comes to that". Mom smiled, "You are very talented sweetie, but true, performing is hard. Whether you do it alone or with someone, you need to have loads of time to master the acts. You already set your mind on Formations, right? In that case, just focus on your own things and enjoy the show".
I agreed with that. Although I admired the performers, I didn't want to become one. 'Now that I think about it, I haven't decided what to do in the future...', I thought. I studied Formations and Runes, but was that my future goal? I wasn't sure, and mom wouldn't know either. 'Hmm, there's still time. I can decide later', I thought to myself. Since that was the last performance, we left the stage and headed back towards our room.