Joining Up

Lydia was currently signing some papers in front of a chubby guy wearing noble clothes and a cloth hat. This chubby guy was the tournament master.

"Looks like things are in order. May I know what event you are going to enter?" The tournament master stood up from his seat and offered Lydia a broken lance.

"Just hit the shields of whatever event you want to join."

Sadly, this was Lydia's first time to do this kind of thing so she asked, "Sorry, but may I know what these events are and what those shields are. Mind telling me about it?"

Except for Jay, when everyone heard her, they tried their best not to laugh. Some even face-palmed themselves and thought, "Seriously? You are going to join the tournament but do not even know what the events are? Seriously???"

The tournament master coughed to silence the crowd trying their best to laugh and explained, "My lady, as you can see, there are 7 wooden shields hanged to a rope behind me. Each shield has a drawing on it, and each drawing shows a certain event. The events are Sword Fighting, Jousting, Archery Duel, Melee, Team Melee, Magic Combat, and Auxiliary Challenge. Does this answer satisfy your question?"

Lydia finally got it and nodded. So she used the broken lance and poked 3 shields. The one for Sword Fighting, Archery Duel, and Magic Combat.

"Alright then." After seeing her choice of events, the tournament master took out three tokens from his pocket and gave it to Lydia. Each token had a different engraving on it which shows the event someone participated in.

"So that's that? I just have to go to the specified area if these tokens glow right?"

The tournament master nodded and thanked his gods that Lydia knows how the tokens worked and did not have to explain it.

"Alright. Next." One of the black knights gestured Lydia to leave and the next person to come forward.

...

"Finally. It's my turn. I wonder if the other guilds will participate in the tournament?" After muttering to himself, Jay walked towards the tournament master and said, "Greetings friend. I am here to join the tournament."

But sadly, Jay forgot that he was just 12 years old, so when everyone heard he was entering the tournament, everyone got a bit skeptical and some even laughed.

"Bwahahaha!!! A kid like you joining the tournament? Are you sure you are in the right place? Can you even lift a sword with those skinny arms of yours? Bwahahaha!" The guy at Jay's back who was wearing the generic steel armor set laughed his ass off while he mocked Jay.

"Are you sure about this kid? I know there is no age restrictions for this... but you can die in this tournament you know?" The tournament master warned Jay and asked his confirmation if he really wanted to join.

"(Just wait until I whoop all of your asses to the ground later.) Of course. Don't worry about it." After that, Jay picked up a contract in the table in front of him and signed it.

~~~

Greengarden Tournament

To the participant reading this contract, please be informed that the moment you join this tournament, you are at risk of dying. But risks comes with great rewards. Very great rewards.

Conditions before you are allowed to join:

1. If you die in this tournament, your family and friends will not retaliate against the one who killed you until a month after the tournament.

2. You cannot share your rewards with other participants of the tournament. If caught doing so, you will have to double the stuff you gave and hand it over to the royalty as a sign of tribute and repentance.

3. You promise not to kill unless necessary. If caught killing without remorse, you will be disqualified from the tournament and banned in future tournaments held in Greengarden.

If you agree to the conditions above, sign your name here...........

~~~

"Alright. Good sir, the lance please." After Jay signed it, he happily and impatiently asked for the broken lance.

"Oh, okay." The tournament master did not know what was running through Jay's mind, joining something dangerous this early in his life.

After he gave the broken lance, Jay poked 5 shields. The one for Sword Fighting, Jousting, Melee, Magic Combat, and Team Melee.

When the tournament master saw this, he sighed and thought, "Kids these days, how impatient. They cannot even wait until they are older. Well, it's none of my business anyways after they signed the contract." After thinking of this, he handed over 5 tokens to Jay.

The moment Jay got the tokens, he did not wait for the black knight to tell him to leave and immediately left.

...

Lydia was currently waiting for Jay and the moment she saw him finish joining up, she hurried over to him.

"Hey, don't leave me alone again."

Jay smiled at her and said, "Right. Want to eat something before the tournament officially starts? It looks like they are still fixing the arena."

Lydia nodded. But just as they were walking away, they both saw the guy who got kicked out earlier. The guy still haven't moved an inch away from the wall after he was kicked.

"Hold on. I am a bit curious about this guy. Let's meet up at a restaurant later." After saying this, Jay handed over a spare guild emblem he had.

"Just activate this using your magic to talk to me or anyone else in the guild."

Lydia stored the token in her bracelet storage and told Jay that he must not forget about her this time. After she walked away, Jay approached the poor guy.

"Hey, you still alive mister?"

~Cough, cough...

"Huh? Who are you? You here to laugh at me too?" The guy looked so pitiful that it looked like he was about to commit suicide if he is left alone.

Jay suddenly took out 10 gold coins and gave it to him.

The guy immediately regained a bit of joy and started crying.

"Thank you. But why? I know we haven't met before. So why?"

The moment Jay got a clear look of the guy's face, he finally got an idea who the guy was and why he was so familiar.

"You're the chief warrior Philson aren't you? How did you end up like this? (Well, I already know his story, but it's not so bad hearing it from the person himself.)"

The moment Philson heard of Jay speak his name and his previous status, he suddenly stood up and looked at Jay happily.

"You know who I am? Great! That's great! Why don't I tell you all about myself while we drink... or eat. (Too bad he is too young for ale.)" Philson was so happy that he did not know how eye catching his actions were to the onlookers nearby.

Just as Jay was about to say something, he suddenly heard Lydia talk through the guild emblem.

"Sure. I suppose my friend already found a nice spot to eat. Oh, and that armor of yours, you sure you want to wear it around? Isn't it a bit uncomfortable?"

After that, Jay and Philson headed towards the spot Lydia found.