Claire was delighted that she could have such a normal conversation with the leader of the fishmen tribe.
'He even invited me to attend their Olympic events! Maybe I can actually fit in among these people... I suppose a little force is all it takes... being unkillable sure is useful...'
Claire was lead to a fancy room with a large clam shell as the bed, curtains draping on either side and a large marble nightstand with a mirror on the side of the room.
'Now this is a room fit for a queen... I need to order my subjects to build me something a little better than that shabby old hut I've been staying in... perhaps something vampire themed... heh...'
Claire almost thought she felt her fangs elongate as she thought these things.
Something was happening to her.
She couldn't deny that she had become... a completely different person after this visit.
It all started from the first time that she chased down that fishman in order to stop him from escaping.
There was a message at that time that Claire had been too busy to pay any attention to.
[Alignment has been Determined]
[Chaotic Good AND Lawful Evil]
----
Ploritan was back to swimming laps, this time even more furiously than before.
He had all the reason before to give his all in order to win these games before this... however now, even more was at stake.
It was no longer a matter of bad leadership coming into power. It was no longer a matter of his own opinions, clashing with that of another.
It was a matter of steering this ship which the fishmen were paddling themselves forward on... either straight towards the rocky coast, or to narrowly avoid it.
Ploritan had no doubt that the woman he had met with was actually the Determined.
He had no doubt that she was lying in anything she said.
Her presence... her aura... her being...
She was too elegant, too graceful, too beautiful... too.... otherworldly.
To be anything or anyone else.
There was a group of village elders who held the games each year, deciding on the festivities.
In the games, there were 16 representatives who were chosen, one from each of the 16 sectors of the fishmen village. The village was split into a 4x4 grid, the palace area aside, and if two different people from the same sector wanted to participate, they would do one of two things. Either they would fight it out until one gave in, or they would have an election within the sector to determine who the populace wanted to represent them.
Of course, fights like this were rare, as most of the time the person who represented a given sector of around 100 people was an obvious choice.
The fishmen tribe was filled with strong men and women, however there were some fishmen who stood out even among them as great warriors or athletes. The decision was usually an obvious one. Especially so when certain fishmen had unique abilities that others simply couldn't compete with due to the variety of species within the village.
On top of that, the one chosen would devote their very being to training themselves physically in order to represent their sector.
'I cannot lose... not to Kota... not in these trifling times... I have to work harder... I have to do better... I have to become better...'
Kota was lungless and at a disadvantage on land.
However, this was no reason to underestimate him.
The first reason being that if the game was held underwater that Kota would have no troubles. No... one could say he was even better due to losing a lung. Kota spent much more time underwater than any of the other fishmen, and had honed his skills in that manner.
The second reason was simply because of just how formidable Kota was as an opponent.
Kota's arrogance was not unfounded. If Ploritan had not caught Kota off guard, he never in a hundred years would have landed such a lucky blow, and even now Ploritan was unsure whether he would be able to beat Kota in a head on fight.... even if it were on land.
That was how impressive Kota's athletic abilities were. Especially his speed.
If only he would do something about his personality, he would be a great leader among the fishmen... but it was exactly that personality which forced Ploritan to work so hard, in order to ensure that Kota kept his fins off the throne.
Tomorrow was the big day, and Ploritan readied himself.
He spent the rest of the night until midnight training. Running. Swimming. Lifting. Doing anything and everything he could to prepare.
He found that he could barely sleep at night he was so consumed by nervousness and the pressure of losing- and the repercussions of doing so.
'I can't lose. If I lose, the world as I know it might be over... the entire fate of this tribe... of this people.... they are within my grasp... I cannot let them down."
----
Claire woke up bright and early, stretching her arms.
"Yaaawwnnn...."
She looked around the room and cracked her back before getting up and taking a look at herself in the mirror.
She noticed a brush made from the bristles of sea urchins and began to comb her messy hair with it until she looked presentable, and continued to get ready before going out.
What a wonderful sleep she had the previous night.
What was it?
She felt, for the first time since she came to this world like she could fully and truly RELAX.
She had been consistently stressing about her role in this world, her duty to save and help others, her position as a hero. Not a day passed by that she hadn't been worrying about if she was doing enough to help people. So often, she was consumed by these thoughts.
'You aren't doing enough.'
'These antiheroes are holding you back.'
'You could be doing more if you were to just ditch them and help people on your own.'
All those stresses were now gone.
She felt like she could do anything. She felt like she could be anyone. She wasn't held back by a desire to help people, and she felt no guilt at not doing enough.
'I am fine as I am. I am already doing this much for the fishmen. This is enough.'
So Claire thought, as she prepared to go outside with a smile.
'Ah... what a lovely day it is outside... even in the darkness of this underground cavern, those jellyfish lights sure are beautiful...', she sighed.
Claire made her way out to the palace before coming upon a herring guard.
She smiled in a sweet yet mature manner while she walked past him, and he merely stood there and barely managed a nod.
"U-um! Y-your eminence? I was told b-by our chief to take you to the arena grounds..."
"Oh. I see. Then, lead the way."
The fishman walked in front of her, trembling and pushing himself forward- struggling to make each step.
He was beyond a state of fear. Who wouldn't be with such an elegant yet powerful being right behind them?
The underground city of the fishmen was laid out as such:
When one entered from the underwater cave, they would enter through the city gates into the residential area, which formed the 4x4 grid surrounded by walls and split internally by canals. Behind the residential grid was a mountainous plateau, which had stairs leading up to the palace on top of it. Claire was led further behind the palace- to a location where the plateau completely dipped off into a section of land hundreds of feet below.
On reaching this massive cliff, and looking over to see what was there, Claire was filled with awe over the outstanding view.
A glass ceiling covered a massive arena, with all sorts of obstacles, fields, and gaming areas.
From the top of the cliff, Claire could see the entire scene as if she was sitting in the box seats of a football arena.
There was a stairway which led down underground into rooms which had been carved out in the plateau, which had glass windows on the cliffside. The rooms were created for people to sit in order to view the scenery below from a comfortable location. Claire was directed into the first room- the uppermost one. This was the VIP box.
There was a twisted shell in the top corner of the room which seemed to be connected through seaweed wiring... was it some kind of can and string speaker?
The seats were luxurious, and Claire plopped herself on the couch, crossing her legs and folding her arms. The guard simply walked over to the entrance and stood there.
"T-then, if there is anything you wish to have, your Eminence, I will be right here awaiting your orders."
"Got it. Now leave me alone."
The guard nodded energetically and shut the door behind him.
'Ah... peace and quiet.... and most importantly.... solitude.'
Claire slumped into her seat, similar to how Ashley presented herself when dictating over her subjects.
'Ah... nice and comfy... perhaps I should order a drink or something...'
"Oi! Guard!"
"What is it, your Eminence?!', the guard said, cracking the door, clearly surprised at having been called back so quickly.
"Get me a drink. It doesn't matter what it is, just make sure it's good."
"Right away!!!"
The guard closed the door and Claire heard running steps from the hallway.
'He should be a little quieter... those loud steps will ruin my fun...'
Claire sat back and watched as an elderly group made their way to a porcelain announcer desk near the entrance to the arena at the bottom of the cliff.
There was a whale, a narwhal, and a dolphin, and a manatee and two of them had white beard's of varying length and styles. The whale looked to be balding on the top of his head, and the narwhal had a full head of grey hair whereas the dolphin had none and a small grey goatee. The manatee was completely bald aside from a few whiskers, though his eyes seemed tired.
The four sat down at the announcer desk and the narwhal who sat in the middle picked up a shell that was connected to the seaweed.
"Hello everyone in the seats up there!! I hope you all can hear me. Welcome, one and all to our 345th annual Olympic competition!!!! Our current chief, chief Ploritan competed in last year's competition and was able to overcome the odds and win the spot of chief- and he will be attempting again this year to reclaim that spot!! However, competitors from all 16 districts have arisen to participate once more in the festivities of this year's competition!"
The old narwhal had much more spunk than his looks would suggest. He seemed to be placing his humanoid foot on the table while excitedly broadcasting, and Claire was able to hear the broadcast from the shell speaker in the room.
"And now, for the introduction of the sixteen contestants for this year..... reigning from the first district,.... don't piss him off or he might get a bit snappy on you.... it's Hurgan, the crabman!!!"
A buff crabman who was walking upright like a human but with the thin legs of a crab, and three sets of thin arms followed by a pair of claws walked up front while waving to the cliffside audience. His bright red shell shone in the dark cavern illuminated by jellyfish, and he took his place in front of the announcers.
"Next up... reigning from the second district... if you underestimate him you might be in for quite a shock! We have the electric eel, Eladur!!"
The eel looked more like an upright lizard with short legs, dragging his crackling tail behind him. He was a deep green shade with a yellow underbelly, and he seemed to be slyly scoping out the competition as his eyes darted back and forth.
"From the third district... he sure isn't worried about inking anything up in this game... we have Nobis, the squidman!!!"
An orange squid who seemed to be walking on an entire plethora of tentacles slithered forward cheerfully, while making what seemed to be a smile. Maybe.
"And from the fourth district... the final member of the first team of four for the first round of these games... underestimate his speed and you might get bitten... Reorgon, the snapping turtle!"
A snapping turtle with a sharp beak-like mouth and a muddy green skin color wearing a brown shell with black spots approached the lineup with haste. He had a completely serious look in his eyes, as if he was prepared to win- and nobody wanted to exchange a glance with this furious competitor.
"Now we move onto the second team of four for our matchup here... reigning from the 5th district, our chief and the one who has provided the fishmen village with a prosperous year.... give it up folks... the tiger shark, PLORITAN!!!!"
Ploritan walked up to his spot with a completely determined look on his face, not showing a single nerve or sign of fear. He was prepared for this battle mentally and physically, and in top condition.
Clapping could be heard even behind the glass windows that the spectators lurked behind.
"Ploritan!!!"
"So cool!!!"
"Cheers for the chief!!!"
He was very popular as a chief, as he had done such a good job in ruling over the fishmen, unlike the previous ruler.
"Thank you folks! And now, reigning from the sixth district... a member of the guard who has served directly under the chief, the hammerhead shark.... Yuriel!!!"
Another buff fishman- this one a hammerhead shark took the spotlight. He seemed to be smiling nervously under all the attention, and he quickly made his way up and took his spot next to Ploritan. The young yet experienced guard put his hand behind his head bashfully as the people cheered him on.
'Oh yeah.... I seem to recall him reeling in terror when he greeted me at the doorway', Claire thought.
"Hailing from the seventh district... unless you wanna get poked, you better not stand in his way... the sea urchin man, Urphar!!!"
A large black blob covered in purple spikes slithered forward. One couldn't see any eyes or facial features- just darkness underneath the porcupine like quills.
"And the final member of this second team here... he may have one ugly mug, but he is a whole lot sturdier than he looks... from the eighth district... the blobfish, Brot!!!!"
A hideous mass of fat with a nose the size of his face walked forward- however he was not a slow as one would think. Despite being enormously fat, and jiggling all over the place with every step he took, he was completely balanced and swiftly made his way up to the line of competitors.
"And now... for the first member of the third team... hailing from the ninth district... if you're in the water, good luck catching up to this speedster... the flying fish, Druka!!!"
A gleaming dark blue fishman with a white underbelly and two wings at his side sped through the air so quickly that one might have missed him running up to the line if they looked away. He had a youthful and excited look on his face, ready to face any challenge, and was pumping his fists back and forth.
"And from the 10th district... if you think he is nothing more than a shrimp... well, technically you would be right, but oh how wrong you would be!!! The jumbo shrimp, Prawk!!!"
A massively buff shrimp entered the field with a shell covering his back and crawling on over ten stubby legs- which did not fit the build at all- however he carried himself with pride even hunching over as he walked.
The announcer continued his overly dramatic introduction.
"And from the 11th district.... this one certainly isn't joking around.... we have Ferguran, the clownfish!!!"
Yet another enormously buff fishman stepped up- this one with an orange skin with black and white stripes. He seemed to be pointing to someone in the stands- perhaps a family member, declaring his victory.
"And for the last member of this team.... coming in from district 12.... a tangle up with this one would be quite painful.... Joruk the Jellyfish!!!"
The being that walked up looked.... somewhat like a jellyfish.
It had no facial features, but simply a blue mushroom like head, which connected to a gelatinous body that looked very similar to a slime person- aside from the extremely pronounced muscular build, however his stingers were handing around him like dreadlocks, swaying back and forth as he walked.
"And with that, all the members of team 3 have been announced!!!! Finally, we move onto the last team, lead by the previous chief of the fishmen himself, hailing from district number 13..... the barracuda who has a pride in his own strength and speed like no other.... the man who lost a lung yet still loses to nobody even on land... KOOOOTAAAA!!!!!!!"
A large number of people in the crowd- mostly warriors, and not the average laborers went absolutely wild with a war chant at that moment, and it was so loud that Claire could feel the building rumbling.
'Oi.... these people are going to make my drink spill if they don't shut the hell up...', Claire said with an annoyed look on her face, holding her glass.
A barracuda man so tall that he seemed to reach the sky strolled forward with a victorious look in his eyes, and a bloodlust like no other. Claire could sense almost as much bloodlust in this one as she did in the antiheroes at the time Helen was injured. Almost. Not quite.
"This next one who comes from district 14 served under Kota in the royal guard, similar to our hammerhead compatriot with the current chief.... his swordsmanship won't lose to anyone.... give it up for the swordfish.... Tiwaru!!!!!"
A fish with a nose almost an entire meter long and a slim yet muscular build walked up the stands with a look similar to Kota's, however with not quite as much bloodlust walked forward.
"This next one comes from the deep sea, and resides in district 15... don't let him drag you into the light.... the angler fish, Nerumat!!!!"
An angler fish with horrifying features, skin which looked like it was about to peel off and a body that looked to be almost completely made of bones dredged forward with a monstrous look while dangling the small light in front of his head. His red eyes darted over to his competition, and he licked his lips as he walked up.
"And finally.... last but not least, from district number 16.... if you look away too long this one may swallow you whole.... the gulper eel, Hugior!!!"
Slithering forward on two 'legs' that looked like a tail which had been split in two in the same way a snake would move, and with two tentacle like arms sprouting from his large yet flexible body- topped off with a massive head that could quite literally swallow a man whole, Hugior took his place among the participants.
"NOW!!! Finally, we have introduced all the participants among these games!!!! Let's get this show on the road!!!"
Authors note:
Ah, so we finally are arriving at a tournament arc.
This is the first time I have done one, so I am very excited, however you might notice something odd.
This is a tournament in which none of the main characters are present- and only a single character who was not introduced in this very arc is even present- Claire- and she is only a spectator. So this is without a doubt a very odd tournament arc. I hope you all enjoy it.