"Tournament!" shouted the Guild Master of Water, and the others groaned.
"Really? A tournament? That's going to take forever with over 200 people," groaned the Guild Master of Wind.
"Do you have a better idea?" Asked the Guild Master of Water back.
No one answered.
"Tournament, it is," sighed the Guild Master of Lightning. "This is going to be a pain in the ass." He looked around at the 50 participants who had gathered. The other 200 were not here right now. It was understandable since many people would prefer fleeing to getting closer to such an apocalyptic scene.
"Let's first call them back," said the Guild Master of Light as he created another ball of light. The other Guild Masters followed suit and also created a ball of their elements. Then, they all shot them into the sky, and the balls exploded one after another.
Everyone in the Basin of Nature should be able to see this and realize that they should gather. If someone was so stupid as not to realize that this was a gathering sign, they might as well not join the guilds.
The Guild Masters waited for several hours, as one participant after another gathered here. After around six hours, no more participants arrived. The Guild Masters did a quick count and saw that 217 People had gathered. The others were either already dead or too stupid to realize that they should gather.
"Alright, everyone!" shouted the Guild Master of Earth. "Follow us back to the arena!"
The participants groaned again, realizing that another hard marathon awaited them. Everyone ran after the Guild Masters with their full power. This time, it was even harder to keep up since not everyone was in their peak condition.
Gravis seemed to be only walking a little faster, yet every step shot him forward for multiple meters. With his new muscle strength, keeping up with the Guild Masters was even easier, even though he was still injured.
When they finally arrived back at the arena, all the participants fell on their knees in exhaustion. The same scene from back when they had arrived at the Basin of Nature repeated itself.
The Guild Masters gathered in the middle of the arena and discussed the details. They had to make this tournament as fair as possible. What if the second strongest fought against the third strongest in the first round? Would they throw away such a talent?
Even though the previous entrance exam also tested luck, it was held in the wilderness, with only a little bit of human element mixing into the results. The Guild Masters didn't want to risk it here. Who knew how luck would work in a tournament?
In the end, they decided to make five drawings of opponents and five rounds for everyone. Anyone who won three or more rounds would pass. Yet, they groaned again as they realized how long this would take.
"What about rewards?" asked the Guild Master of Darkness, and everyone shot him a look of anger. Everyone had that thought in the back of their minds, but they didn't want to voice it. Like that, it would take even longer. Yet, the Guild Master of Darkness had shamelessly exposed this fact. So, they couldn't ignore it anymore.
So it was decided that every participant that won five rounds would then fight in a traditional tournament. The top ten would receive rewards, while the others got nothing. The Guild Masters felt bitter about all the lost treasures in the Basin of Nature.
They could ignore the cheap rewards that ferocious beasts carried. The lost treasures that the low-grade demonic beasts carried had hurt them.
Yet, the biggest problem was the loss of the seven treasures that the middle-grade demonic beasts carried. Those treasures didn't originally belong to their guilds, but their parent guilds. Their parent guilds had granted them those treasures so they could be awarded to extraordinary new recruits.
Explaining the loss of all those treasures would be a pain in the ass. They couldn't even ask Gravis for any of his collected treasures, since most of them got lost in the battle in the ravine. How was he supposed to protect the treasures, when he wasn't even able to safely preserve his life?
The Guild Masters scratched together any remaining treasure they could find and would award them in the tournament. After everything had been planned out, they called the participants to gather, yet they grew angry when they saw something.
"What are you doing there? Do you want even more treasures? Get out!" shouted the Guild Master of Water as she spotted Gravis standing among the participants.
Gravis lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "Does that mean that I don't have to participate in the tournament?" he asked.
"No!" shouted the Guild Master of Water back. Testing that madman in a tournament? There was no logic in that. Gravis would just win and get another valuable treasure. He had already gotten his saber, so he should shut up and go to the side.
Gravis shrugged and walked to the corner of the arena and sat down. The reactions of the other participants were mixed. Those 50 who had seen what Gravis had done, sighed in relief while the others looked at him in anger. Why did they have to fight while he could just sit this one out? This wasn't fair!
Yet, they didn't show their annoyance openly. They still were not part of the Elemental Guilds, and if they stood out negatively, they might lose their qualification. Everyone remained silent and did not comment.
The tournament took multiple days. The participants always gathered at noon and scattered in the late evening. Since the arena was big enough, there were always seven fights happening simultaneously, with one Guild Master looking over one match.
After five days, they had finally finished the first part of the tournament. Only around 60 participants had gotten three or more wins. With several participants gathering four and five wins, the number of overall winners was reduced more than necessary.
Gravis had not appeared for those five days. The Guild Masters had just told him that he could come back on the sixth day. So, Gravis was spending his remaining days looking through some more Martial Arts and also continued training the compression of his Will-Aura.
Gravis had also sold some treasures he still had on his person. Most of his gathered treasures were lost in the ravine, but some remained. In the end, he made another 80 gold. He was sure that gold would also be useful in the Elemental Guilds. If it were useless to the guilds, the Guild Master of Lightning wouldn't have looked so heartbroken when he heard that he had to buy seven Bone-Pills for Gravis.
When Gravis came back on the sixth day, he saw that only around 60 participants remained. The contrast between 5,000 initial participants and 60 was massive. The arena had been nearly packed back then, and now, it looked desolate.
Gravis sat down in his usual corner and concentrated on his Will-Aura. He had no interest in the tournament since it was merely some sparring. Sparring was useless to him now. One could even say that it was actually damaging to him. Too much sparring would dull his killing-intent and his feeling of danger.
The participants looked at him and judged Gravis' dismissal of the tournament as arrogance. Only 12 of the 60 participants had seen what happened that day. The majority had no idea what had happened, and they also wouldn't believe the wild exaggeration of the participants who had told them.
In the evening, the tournament ended, and a stalwart young man had won the first place. He had silver hair and was fighting with a spear. He had used several Martial Arts, and he also had tempered bones and skin. His defense was solid, and together with the precise counter attacks of his spear, he had received the respect of every other participant.
"Congratulations on winning the tournament, Brother Sigur," complimented one of the other participants. Sigur had already collected a loyal following of participants. He was the strongest!
Sigur looked in ecstasy at his reward, an Organ-Pill. With this, he would be able to temper his organs. Organ-Pills were extremely pricy. Supply never met demand, and they were only sold in auctions. One pill would often go for over 500 gold!
"Alright. Everyone has received their reward, and we know the winners," said the Guild Master of Water.
"Excuse me for interrupting, Guild Master," said Sigur politely.
The Guild Master of Water narrowed her eyes in annoyance but nodded for him to say whatever he wanted to say.
"I think I represent every participant when I say that I do not accept the special treatment that he has received!" Sigur pointed at Gravis. "He should also be subject to the rules!"
Sigur was motivated by his new following and his public place as the strongest. He wanted to make a showing of his newfound strength and gain more respect form the others.
Many others also nodded but didn't step forward. The Guild Masters saw that and were not sure how they should proceed. They couldn't possibly give Gravis another treasure. He had already gotten the most valuable treasure, by far.
"Which guild do you intend to join?" asked the Guild Master of Water neutrally.
Sigur was not sure why she asked, but he straightened his back. "I intend to join the Fire Guild!" he announced in confidence.
"Wait-"
"Sure, then you can fight him, but if you lose, you need to trade your treasure with the second place!" Before the Guild Master of Fire could stop Sigur or the Guild Master of Water, she had already agreed to the fight.
The second-place winner was a gentle girl who used softness to overcome hardness. There was no doubt that she would join the Water Guild. So, by telling Sigur that he had to trade his reward with her, the Guild Master of Water had found a way to strengthen her guild.
The Guild Master of Fire wanted to object, but trading the treasure with the second place was really the fairest method. Gravis wouldn't get another treasure, and the first place would still receive a substantial reward. It might not be as good as the first place reward, but it was still solid.
"I agree!" said Sigur with power, and the Guild Master of Fire clenched his fist and teeth while the Guild Master of Water just smirked at him in arrogance and victory.