Jamal looked out the window, as the trees to his side passed behind him. The carriage was small, but quite plush inside. He felt Ula's head on his shoulder, still napping as the ride to the place of the tournament pressed onward. They were lucky it was being held in Saputa this year, as based on what she told him, they had to travel for a whole week in order to reach last year's site. Lucky him. He gently brushed her hair off her face, causing her to wake up.
"Are we there yet?" she yawned.
"Not yet, I don't even know what the site looks like," he replied, kissing her briefly.
"Mmm, it should be a large space, like an arena of some sort I believe."
He looked outside again, through both windows. They were still in the woods, and he could see the two carriages in front, carrying Brat and the others, as well as Boom and Erythema. He couldn't see any building of any sorts or hear anything, but the wind whistling in his ears.
"Yeah, not a building in sight as far as I can see. It can't be that much farther. Probably just a few miles away." Jamal told her calmly.
"But we've been traveling for like, 5 hours now," she replied, beginning to dose off again.
"You just get some more rest, won't be much longer before we're there."
But by then, she was already out, sleeping again. Jamal continued to watch her for a bit, before continuing to look outside again. He looked down at his new watch, as it read 3:00 p.m. Weren't they suppose to be there by 3:30 p.m.? They had left at around 10:30 a.m., grabbing a light breakfast for the go. He was already starving, as the breakfast he ate along the way didn't last him long. He almost groaned out loud until he remembered Ula was still sleeping, her light skin illuminating the room. Jamal looked around for anything until he remembered that the carriage had a pocket to the side. He began feeling around, until he felt a small latch, and unlocked it. He felt what appeared to be a small wrapper and grabbed it. He looked down only to see it was some random note from several years ago. He sighed and stuffed it back in the latch and closed it. Jamal was about to continue searching again until the carriage began to slow down. He shook Ula to wake her up.
"What's up?" she yawned again.
"We're slowing down. What's up with that?" he asked.
"I don't know, check outside."
Jamal looked out the window and his eyes expanded in surprise. They were out of the woods, as there were hundreds of carriages and people walking around, and not far from the spot, was a large stadium in the distance.
"I think we're here!" he yelled in joy.
"Oh finally. I had a good nap." as she straightened herself up.
"I'm going to head out there. Don't we have to register by today?" as he opened the carriage door.
"Were you not paying attention? Yes, we do. Now let's get it over with." she followed behind him, grabbing their belongings.
Jamal squinted his eyes once he got out, adjusting to the bright sun. He could see Brat and Fonda walking towards him, through the crowd, but not Hops.
"So are you impressed?" Fonda implored.
"Yeah, it's crazy. I didn't think it would be so many people. It's breathtaking in a way." he answered.
"We got to register though," Brat said.
They nodded and walked into the crowd, looking for a line. As they got deeper into the mist of it, Ula pointed towards something. Jamal looked and noticed people lined up leading up to several tables.
"That must be the register tables over there. Let's go ahead, as I'm getting hungry." Jamal announced.
As they got into line, he still noticed that Hops hadn't been seen yet.
"Yo, where is Hops at?" he inquired.
"I'm not sure. He said he was going to get some fresh air or something like that. I'm sure he'll show up." Fonda returned.
He kept a straight expression. After the altercation, they avoided each other as much as possible. Jamal didn't want to make the situation worse between them as it already was. His thoughts broke when he heard shouting. He looked behind him, to see a large crowd flock a largely built man, one woman trying to set up her camera to take a picture.
"Who's he?" he asked Ula.
"That's the guy that wins the tournament every year." she grumbled, "His name is Leon. He has the power to exponentially increase his strength. No one has ever beaten him, the strongest I've seen him increase his strength, was by two."
Jamal grinned. I might finally meet my match, he knew.
"So competition, huh."
"You can't be serious! That man is only 18 like you, and he sent people to the hospital for days."
"Save my spot, will you," he told her as he walked his way into the crowd.
"Yo, Leon, if that's your name. The name's Jamal. And I can't wait to win." he confidently said to him once he was close enough.
Suddenly, the crowd was silent as they cleared the way for him to pass through. Leon towered over Jamal by at least a foot and stared down at him. In an instant, a large shockwave appeared out of nowhere, creating a large swath of dust ahead. When it cleared, Jamal was standing, his hand grabbing Leon's fist, preventing him from punching him. And while he was struggling and shaking, he still managed to prevent him from hitting him. Leon pulled his arm back with a sense of pride.
"I'm impressed. I can't wait to crush you too, like everyone else," he grumbled to him, in a deep voice, as his shoulders connected with Jamal's almost forcing him to the ground, but still stood in place. The crowd instantly surrounded Jamal, wanting to know more about him and such, if Ula didn't pull him back.
"What is wrong with you! Do you know what you've just done!" she yelled at him.
"It's all good. Nothing to fear." he calmly nodded.
"It's all good? You've made everyone here a target! You don't have to impress me or anything."
"Oh, I'm not. I'm just making sure he knows he isn't impossible to take out. I love you too much to play stupid."
He heard a grunt behind him, to see Brat pointing at a table.
"While you guys were out here doing who knows what, it's time to register."
It was quite a simple process. All they did was ask for your name, where you were from, who was training you, your power, and a few personal questions and identification measures. Once done, they handed you a ticket and Jamal walked back towards them, who had now, found Boom and the other trainers.
"Were you trying to fight already? Who let him fight Leon yet! And where's Hops!" Tilden yelled at Jamal. He yelled at everyone, all the time, but his loud voice was basically his power, so there was nothing he could do about it.
"Look, I see him in line." Brat cried out.
And there he was, his hands in his pocket, looking ahead, waiting to sign up. Did he go in line late to avoid Jamal? That was probably the answer, but for the moment Jamal didn't mind.
"Okay, that's good and all, but Jamal is out here fighting already!" Tilden yowled.
"Don't worry, let him have that fighting spirit, I hope he can deliver. Now, you guys need to head into your rooms. The schedule begins tomorrow with twelve and under began their preliminary round, then it's thirteen through nineteen the day after, and then following with twenty and older. If we make it past that, then we reach the final rounds for the same age groups. The tournament shouldn't last any longer than a few days. I'll let you guys go to your rooms. They have several carriages to take you there. I believe you are put on a floor based on the age group. as well as it being based on the ticket you've been given. Good luck to you, Brat and Fonda, tomorrow and may your powers work in your favor." Boom shared with them.
They all went to several carriages waiting to take them to the area where they would stay. A gentleman approached Jamal and Ula, asking for which one they would be at. They both checked and discovered they would be in the same area. The gentleman nodded and opened the carriage door for them. Jamal let Ula go first. It wasn't as nice as the one they came to reach here, but they wouldn't be inside for long. Jamal closed the door behind him, and watched as they went around the crowd, and galloped down the large path. The ride was mostly silent, as it didn't last long enough to strike up a conversation, because before they knew it, they were in front of the building that would be staying at.
"You guys can go ahead and choose any key from inside. Good luck in your battles." the man said.
They thanked him and walked out inside. They decided to choose two rooms that would be next to each other. They went back outside, and climbed the several stairs up to their chosen room. Jamal decided that he wanted the room closest to the stairs.
"Well, we're finally here." he smiled at her, brushing her hair to the side.
"I hope you're ready for what's to come. If anything happens, it's on you." she smiled back.
"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm aware with what I'm doing." he kissed her for several seconds.
"Excuse me." someone their age said, passing through, looking at them funny.
"I think I'm going to get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow or later tonight." Ula told him, opening her door and handing back his belongings.
"Yeah, just one room away." Jamal doing the same.
It was a small and basic room, a bed with several drawers on the side, a table with some chairs, and a small bathroom to clean oneself. It was basically a large motel, but Jamal set the belongings on the table. The days were finally here, and it wouldn't be long before it was his turn.