Let's Start

"She's interested!" Rose didn't hesitate, not even for a second, to affirm this.

"..." Thorn opened his mouth slightly wanting to say something, but he remained silent in the end.

"I'm glad to hear that! Our guild doesn't have many proficient rookies, so we need all the help there is." Vei Dal said as he wrote Thorn's name on a paper he had in his hands. "All right, all is settled. Now all you have to do is to be, at the seventh hour, in four days, at the Zelu Mansion." Having said that, he hurried away to look for more participants.

Thorn looked at Rose, somewhat confused, and asked: "Why do you want me to participate in that tournament? Right now, we are busy trying to get money, we should not waste time on something as banal as a tournament."

Giggling, she responded: "If we talk about tournaments, of course, we also are talking about prizes! Perhaps it's a good enough prize to save us several weeks of work!"

"So, they give prizes in tournaments now... Okay, leave it to me. With my strength there's no way I'll lose! Hahaha..." Thorn laughed confidently, showing off a seemingly endless arrogance.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Four days later. The richest area of Lurep Village.

The Zelu Mansion in Lurep Village stood proudly surrounded by a large garden full of beautiful plants and plant monsters. The sweet-smelling scent coming from flowers filled the atmosphere with glamour, and the exquisite sculptures of the greatest blacksmiths of the Zelu family adorned both sides of the road from the entrance to the mansion with prestige. The mansion itself was only six stories high, but it was immensely spacious, it occupied an area of 5 km x 8 km. And its design was, of course, related to the smith profession. Some of its towers were shaped like large blacksmith's hammers, and others were shaped like towering swords. As for the main building, it had the shape of a sophisticated silver-smith anvil.

At this moment, the main road of the mansion was filled with beings of all civilized races, Thorn and Rose were among them.

Right now, Rose was wearing her red hair as a mask because she had learned that the governor of Lurep Village would attend this event.

Every so often, every village governor and city governor had to go to Cloud Cutter Castle, and on one of those occasions the governor of Lurep Village had seen Rose's face. In order to avoid troublesome explanations she had decided to hide her face. Though due to her current appearance, which was having her face covered with her red hair and only showing her green eyes, she was attracting quite a bit of curious glances from every direction.

Looking at the statues–which made one wonder: how the hell did they carve the dullahan's pitch-black smoke?–, Thorn praised completely flabbergasted: "Surely they have done a great job. These statues look almost alive!"

"Yeah. For some reason, those of the Zelu family have always been very good at manufacturing things." Rose commented completely depressed.

Thorn saw her in that state and felt guilty. "*Sigh*... Come on, don't tell me you're still in a bad mood for what happened in our last job."

"Of course I'm still in a bad mood for what happened in our last job! Do you know what the odds are of coming across a giant golden beetle monster?! *Grrr* If we had caught it alive, right now we would have been drowning ourselves in blue coins! But that will not happen because you killed it without questions the moment it showed up!" Rose scolded, a sharp pain still lingering in her heart.

"You can't put all the blame on me for what happened. Certainly, I killed it the moment it appeared, but it was because I had felt its aura before it appeared and it was clear that it planned to ambush us. So it wasn't entirely my fault." This was the third time Thorn explained this, but it seemed like Rose couldn't get rid of the thought of losing all that money no matter what.

They continued walking, and soon entered into the mansion.

The main hall of the mansion was ready to be used for the Lurep Village Mercenary vs. Adventurer Novice Tournament. In the center, there was a platform with the shape of a circular shield with a diameter of 100 m, it looked like a giant shield stuck in the floor. The western and eastern sides of the hall were occupied by the majority of the seats, there were almost fifty thousand of them, and several of these seats were already being used by enthusiastic spectators. In the northern side was a large platform with only four flamboyant seats on it. And in the southern side, there were exactly one hundred seats reserved for the upper echelons of Lurep Village.

Thorn and Rose sat on the eastern side and waited there for the tournament organizers to explain the rules.

Before long, the seats of the eastern and western wings were filled up completely. Most of the occupants of these seats wore casual clothes, and there were quite a few who were wearing armor and carrying some weapon. Obviously, the latter ones were going to participate in the tournament.

Suddenly, a female dullahan with a very seductive body slowly walked up to the center of the shield-shaped platform. Her pitch-black smoke had the shape of an 'S', and she was wearing a brown S-class zenanium light battle armor. She also carried on her back two dangerous-looking black S-class zenanium swords, which were showing off their sharpness. Somehow, her ready-for-battle appearance ignited the fighting spirit of everybody.

At that moment, all the audience members turned silent.

The female dullahan then spoke with a vigorous voice: "Welcome to the twenty-first Lurep Village Mercenary vs. Adventurer Novice Tournament! My name is Lenna Zelu, and today, I'll be your master of ceremonies!"

*Clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*...!

Loud and vibrant applauses resounded in the great hall.

"Hehehe... I'm glad to see that everyone is eager to witness this show of combat skills. Since that's the case, let's directly start with the presentations of our important guests who will be playing the important role of secondary judges in this tournament!" Lenna Zelu then pointed her finger toward the south and said: "I present to you Crok Alch, head of the Medical Center of Lurep Village, and his most capable doctors."

*Clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*...!

As soon as her voice fell, a large door that was behind of the one hundred seats slowly opened, and from within it, fifteen individuals of different races came out. Obviously, the one leading them was Crok Alch, who was a middle-aged human, solemn look, black and disheveled hair. They silently waved to the audience and then sat on their designated chairs.

"Now it's time to introduce to you the best blacksmiths of the Zelu family in Lurep Village." Lenna Zelu continued.

*Clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*...!

This time, the fifteen individuals that came out were just from the dullahan race, they all wore high quality blacksmith clothes.

"Look, there is Resh Zelu, the son of the best blacksmith of Lurep Village, Ramph Zelu. Rumors say that very soon he will surpass his father's blacksmith abilities." Someone in the audience commented to his friend while pointing with his gaze at certain dullahan who had his pitch-black smoke shaped like a chain link.

The dullahan of the Zelu family greeted the public and took their seats.

"Captain Fou Tre of the kingdom's military forces, and the best knights of Lurep Village." Lenna Zelu continued, respect in her voice.

*Clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*...!

The leader of this group of fifteen was a middle-aged, blue-skinned gargoyle, wearing a more extravagant armor of the kingdom than the other fourteen's.

"Now, let's welcome the veterans of one of the guilds participating in this tournament, the veterans of the Adventurer's Guild!" Lenna Zelu exclaimed with excitement.

*Clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*...!

The fifteen veterans of the Adventurer's Guild were of all kinds of races, and all wore sophisticated costumes. It should be known that usually, only people with great economic resources could join the ranks of the Adventurer's Guild.

"From the other participating guild in this tournament, let's welcome the veterans of the Mercenary's Guild!" Lenna Zelu's voice sounded once again.

*Clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*...!

The beings that came out this time were also of all kinds of races, but their clothes were completely varied in sophistication. Vei Dal was one of the fifteen and was the one leading them.

"Finally, welcome the members of the Governor of Lurep Village's house, the ladies and gentlemen of the Alch family!" Lenna Zelu shouted, a very faint hint of fear in her voice.

*Clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*...!

Fifteen humans, of different sexes, sizes and ages appeared. Among them, a young man stood out. He seemed to be twelve years old, he was blond and had blue eyes, and his face was perfect like of those young singer idols that could turn intelligent ladies into lunatic fans. As for his clothes, he dressed just like a king. However, he didn't stand out because of his clothes or appearance, it was because despite being so young, his aura was already at the Sixth Level Advanced Awaken stage!

"It's Arnold Alch! The greatest genius of Lurep Village!" Some girls exclaimed excitedly.

The Alch members were not the exception, they too greeted the present public, and they then just sat down.

"Very good! They are all the secondary judges. And as you can see, there are ten empty seats left. You don't need to worry about it. These seats are reserved for later." Lenna Zelu explained cheerfully.

"And now, it's time to present to you the four main judges of this tournament! The first one is the sir who lent us his house to do this event: the best blacksmith in Lurep Village, the great Ramph Zelu!" Lenna Zelu applauded as she turned her body toward the north.

*Clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*...!

The door behind the platform with four seats opened at this moment, and from the inside came out a dullahan in white armor. His pitch-black smoke had the shape of a pentagon.

He sat on one of the four ostentatious seats and calmly said: "It is an honor for me to receive you all at my house, I hope you enjoy this special occasion. I wish good luck to all the participants of this tournament!"

*Clap!* *clap!* *clap!* *clap!*...!!

"You're great Ramph Zelu!" Someone in the audience exclaimed spiritedly.

"The second main judge is Lurep Village Adventurer's Guild Branch's Branch Head, our beloved idol, Delia Adver!" Lenna Zelu announced without hiding her great admiration in her tone.

*Clap!!!* *clap!!!* *clap!!!* *clap!!!*...!!!!

Immediately after, she appeared. A 25-year-old-looking beauty, an elemental elf with a transcendental heroic aura. She was wearing a priceless-looking golden armor. And as proof that she was a Fire Element Awakened Skill user, she had crimson eyes and long bright red hair tied up in a ponytail.

"Aahh…!!"

"Ohh...!!!"

"Wowowow! The Fire Goddess of Lurep Village!"

The public's reaction was truly passionate and fervent. Such reaction was completely natural, after all, Delia Adver was not only the strongest person in Lurep Village but also a princess candidate for Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild!

She took a seat, and calmly demanded: "Try to surprise me, competitors."

*Clap!!!* *clap!!!* *clap!!!* *clap!!!*...!!!!

"You're great Delia Adver!" Someone in the audience screamed, his eyes full of passion.

"We have to give everything we have to make a great show worth the time of The Fire Goddess of Lurep Village!" Some participants cried out excitedly.

After a few moments of waiting for the masses to calm down.

"The next main judge is Arger Dal, Lurep Village Mercenary's Guild Branch's Branch Head!" Lenna Zelu continued the presentations.

*Clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*...!

The person that appeared this time from inside the northern door was a middle-aged shadow human, he wore casual clothes which had drawn on them several times the symbol of the Mercenary's Guild flag, which had the form of two arms crossed and with hands forming fists. As for his looks, he had brown eyes and black hair, resembling a lot Vei Dal's appearance, only he was somewhat older. Of course, this was because Arger Dal was Vei Dal's older brother.

He sat next to Ramph Zelu and said: "Thank you for your presence, esteemed public. And participants, do your utmost to give more than what you have! Why?! Because the prize this time is more plentiful than ever before!"

*Clap!!* *clap!!* *clap!!* *clap!!*...!!!

"Yes! That's what we wanted to hear! You're great Arger Dal!" Someone in the au—no, wait, this time Rose was the one who exclaimed excitedly.

Arger Dal gave Rose a forced smile and wondered: (Why is this weird woman so excited? With her cultivation she doesn't even have the necessary qualifications to participate, right?)

"The last main judge is our village governor, Cley Alch!" Lenna Zelu said, this time with the loudest voice since the beginning of the presentations.

*Clap!* *clap!* *clap!* *clap!*...!!

Obviously, for being an Alch, he was a human. He looked really old: his mustache and hair were white, and he had wrinkles around his blue eyes. Cley Alch wore simple pants, a t-shirt, and a cape, all blue and with golden patterns. Regarding his aura, he gave off the impression of being a kindhearted old man; however, few dared to underestimate him.

He sat on the last empty seat of the northern platform, and asked with a soft smile: "What are we waiting for?! I'm already here, let's start the twenty-first Lurep Village Mercenary vs. Adventurer Novice Tournament!"