Chapter 6 - Tournament

The day of tournament has come, many adventurers and spectator are now gathering in the coliseum in the Trading Capital, Lafoes City.

Adventurer ranking gold and above are participating the tournament and many famous Diamond Spectrum ranker are seen entering the coliseum.

"Ahh~~ what a wonderful day it is" Brice said with a smile while greating the people

The famous Swashbuckler, Brice Alderman, Green rank adventurer, they say he once take down a demon that the royal army can't handle by himself.

"Move it pretty boy!" Reeve said with a deep voice

The Axe wielding Giant, Reeve Garner, Blue rank adventurer, taller than average human and with a huge muscle, one swing from his axe and the ground is split in half, he is sometime be mistaken as an ogre in battle field with his height and menacing face

"hhmm… you lot are blocking the way" Yeoman said with a monotone voice

Shadow ninja of the East, Yeoman Adam, Green rank adventurer, the man who took out an entire evil organization in a single night, they say he can kill a person even if the place is crowded and no one will took notice

"Move it you lot or I'll burn you to crisp" Dame said while holding her pipe

Crimson witch, Dame Roisia, Yellow Adventurer, Famous for being elegant and beautiful, but don't let it fool you, she once burn an entire forest full of monster in a single day, and was said that the fire spirit, Phoenix, is under her command.

"Brice-Oniisama you are also participating, that increases the chance of an Alderman winning" Raoulin said with a smile

Steel Lancer, Raoulin Alderman, Yellow rank adventurer, he hold his spear as high as his pride, he can pierce through any armour and upon throwing his spear anyone who stand in the way of the spear will be obliterated the strongest Spearman in existant.

People who saw them are awed to see them enter the coliseum, some ask why the Orange rank Adventurer are not entering

The answer to it is because they are only one step away from being Red Diamond rank and decided to just watch the tournament, they are also not interested in the price of the tournament.

Hiroko, Crocus, and Murakami later on arrive in the coliseum, upon entering, Murakami notice that the medical team assigned to take care of the injured were a bunch of low-class healer

"Didn't the king provide funding for the tournament? Why they didn't hire some high-class healer?" Murakami asked with worried face

"Because the one who organize this tournament are the two corrupt official, Pope Sixtus and Duke Averio" Crocus replied with seriousness

"It is not only the healer, given that the King and the second princess are going to watch, there far too less guards around the coliseum, if it comes down to it, forget the tournament I'll protect the King and the princess myself" Hiroko said confidently

"why is the princess coming to watch again? isn't the King more than enough?" Crocus ask

"It is the talk of the town, they say the princess is here to see if there is someone who are worthy enough to be his Husband, the princess is in the age where she can marry" Murakami replied

"So that is why Hiroko has that creepy smile and over-confidence" Crocus said while looking at Hiroko

"THIS IS NOT A CREEPY SMILE!" Hiroko shouted then added calmly, "This is what you call smug face, because I am going to be the victor of this tournament and I will take the princess hand and marry her"

As Hiroko got lost to his fantasies Murakami added, "Some are here for the money, and some are for the title of Hero, and there is also some only here for the princess" while looking at Hiroko with a disappointed face

Inside the coliseum, in the center an announcer is standing and shout, "Ladies and gentlemen from all over the kingdom, the moment to choose our hero has now finally come, I am your announcer for today Yoeman Batcock, Today on this place blood will spill, the mighty will fight, and with the blessing of the God of War, Haeyar, a hero will be chosen, this will be witness by the Pope of bastille Church, Pope Sixtus Marcellus, the Duke of the Lafoes City, Duke Averio Lafoes, and King of the Megiddo kingdom, King Herald III Megiddo along with our beloved second princess, princess Azalea Megiddo"

Everyone are in uproar after hearing the princess and the king are watching, Captain Richard Ishin and few of his men are also there on guard to protect the King and princess.

The announcer continue and allow all the contestant to enter the arena and upon all of the entering the announcer said, "This tournament will be held within three days, and there will be three events, one for each day, the first event will be a battle royal, there are only 20 slot for the next event meaning the last 20 people standing will move on to next event, the second event will be elimination rounds, only 2 out of 20 will enter the next and final event, the Champion vs Champion, The Rules for every event are simple,

1. No Killing, death within this tournament are prohibited and if you kill your opponent you are going to be cease and thrown to jail. We don't want our beloved princess to witness death don't we?

2. No teaming, we are well aware that some of the contestant is part of the same party, rigging the game where it will be advantageous for some are prohibited. With my skill ˹Telepathy˼ I will know who among the competitors break this rule and will be disqualified

3. Unleash your best move or Skill, we have Healers on standby, so fight to your heart's content, there is also a protective barrier around the arena to keep our audience safe

4. If your opponent give up, it is your win, anymore fighting after it will result into disqualification.

Now Then! All the rules and event are stated, let the first event, The Battle Royal, Begin!"

The announcer who are standing in the center launch up signalling the start of the battle royal, the crowd has their pick and the King and princess are watching the fight unfold.

In this battle friends are foes and only the strong will remain, this is true including to Hiroko, Crocus, and Murakami

While the battle royal are ongoing, in an entrance cave in the Forsaken Forest, Five demons are waiting for someone

"When is the boss going to show up? The tournament are already going" One of the demon said

"Don't rush the boss, he will crush you to death, it's probably part of his plan" One of the demon replied

"So? How long are we going to wait?" one of the demon asked

Before one of them replied to the question a flash of lightning came out from the cave and went pass them

They were surprise and pulled out their swords, pointing it towards where the flash stop

The flash of lightning was Shino but the demons don't know it and said, "Did somebody figure out our plan?"

Then they hear Shino shout excitedly, "YES!! FINALLY THE OUTSIDE!! I AM FREE!!"

Shino then look behind him and said, "oopps~~ there are people here, sorry about that"

When Shino got a closer look at the five demon he notices that they are not Humans but demons, the five demons are shivering from fear because without knowing it Shino is releasing such a powerful aura that overwhelming them

"You guys, you are not human are you?" Shino Asked

"A tail and does fangs and horns, you guys are clearly not beast-people, am I on Demon country?" Shino asked with a confusion

But for the demons, it look like that Shino is threatening them, so one of the demon shouted, "I-I-I-I have never seen a human with that tremendous Aura, men! Kill him!"

The five demons attack Shino and stab him all around, all the demon pierced Shino from every side

"HAH! I guess human are still human" one of the said proudly

Shino then grab the demon's head and said, "An aura you say? I should hide it next time so I don't attract any more trouble" and smile brightly

The smile Shino gave out so brightly was so menacing for the demon and was scared

"This human with five sword stuck to his body are still alive, How?!" one of the demon asked

Shino then pull the sword one by one and said, "Well… it look like you guys are not up to something good, but could you answer my question first, Where am I?"

The demons are so scared that they fall to their knees and answered Shino, "I-I-I-Ifff yo-yo-youu walk south from here you will reach La-la-lafoes city, a human country"

With a smile in his face Shino thank the demons and started walking towards south to Lafoes City, the demons then muster their courage and fired a High-tier magic at Shino leaving a gaping holes to his body

"We don't know how you are still alive after 5 swords was stab on you but with that hole on your body you… are" the demon stop and was faced in despair

The demons saw the gaping hole closing up and was left in shock, Shino then turn around and said, "I was going to let you live but I guess that is not an option huh?"

Shino cast ˹Blizzards Trail˼, A trail of Ice has form from Shino to the demons and upon hit the demon's was frozen solid and fall, shattering their frozen body.

Upon leaving the scene the leader of the group arrive and only saw their shattered frozen body and was furious and said, "Who did this? I just over slept and this happen, those puny humans"

˹Blizzards Trail˼: A trail of Ice is form from the caster to the target, anything that is in between are frozen solid to its very core and became fragile as glass; High mana consumption and also abruptly drops the casters body temperature