Asher, along with the other participants who had already been avoiding him, went with the staff member towards the stadium where the tournament was to start. Asher was already known for being cold and ruthless, but the previous incident with Elena Rothschild was still fresh in their minds.
The internet was still talking about Asher and Elena, but James had carefully manipulated the story into a normal duel rather than what had actually happened. James was able to fool the general public, but the guests who were present there knew the truth, and because of this, many rumours were flying around.
Inside the Rothschild VIP Room, Filia sighed and said, "Louis wanted to see the tournament as well."
"He needs to learn how to behave first before going out," James replied.
"You could have allowed him today. Even Father is attending today," Filia said.
"I don't want to risk anything, Filia. It is better for him to stay at Desmar," James said, looking at Filia.
"Okay, but you should try to talk to him more. He is your brother, James, and you should at least believe in him," Filia said as she held James's hand.
"Let's talk about this later," James changed the topic.
Meanwhile, there was another VIP Room occupied by another Elite family. "Father, who do you think will win?" a girl with black hair and golden eyes spoke.
"Hmm, the Whiteheart boy or the Allister boy is known for their talent, but the heir of the Greville family is rumoured to be even more talented," the man with deep golden eyes and black hair spoke.
This man had an attractive face despite being in his 40s. He looked like a man in his 30s. He was none other than the King of Halcyon, one of the five countries in this world, King Rewilh Halcyon. Despite being a King, the Royal family of Halcyon was viewed as an Elite family.
It was only due to the long history and culture of Halcyon that they still followed a Monarch Regime. The rest of the world only viewed them as another Elite family. Halcyon had a total of three Elite families. One being the Royal family and the other two spots were taken by the Duke and the Duchess of Halcyon.
"It is a shame that Duke Allister is not here for his son's match," Lishia replied.
Rewilh did not reply to the question and kept quiet.
"Who do you think will win the Female representative match?" Lishia asked her father.
"Probably Elena Rothschild or Amelia Greville, maybe Eva Williams. But if my daughter were participating, we could have gotten a clear answer," Rewilh looked at Lishia and smiled.
"Well, I have my plans for the World Academy," Lishia spoke with confidence beaming in her eyes.
"You should leave such problems to us adults, Lishia," Rewilh had a strange look on his face, but he did not speak anymore nor did Lishia.
Many other Elite families were discussing the outcome because many big names were participating in this tournament. Even those who did not participate came here to see the performance of their future rivals. World Academy was not a peaceful academy that only focused on developing talents.
Over the course of years, this academy had become the place where many talents came from and many diminished. Only those who had studied here for years knew that this place was meant to train those young privileged children out of their protective shells. This was the decision that was decided by the High Council itself, and the reason behind it was never revealed.
*Bang* *Bang*
"Welcome to the Representative Tournament!" A young man's voice diverted the audience's attention as they looked around the stadium, amazed by the various celebrations happening.
"This is the 52nd year of World Academy, and we are here at the opening ceremony to witness the future talents compete against each other!"
Cheers could be heard across the huge stadium as the young man in a black suit stood on a flying platform above the stage covered in an opaque barrier.
"I am Gazil, your host for today," the young man spoke.
"Every year, the male and female representatives of that year are selected by this tournament," Gazil said cheerfully.
"But it seems many interesting names are participating this year," Gazil said with a big smile.
"So we have changed the format of this year's tournament quite a bit," many people were surprised at the change of events as it had never happened before.
"The race format of this tournament has been changed into an entirely different format!" Gazil's voice was amplified across the stadium.
"What? Wait, why is there a change?"
"My son was preparing for the race for the last month; it is not fair!!"
Many people started talking with each other, and before the audience was confused even further, Gazil spoke, "Now, now, relax a bit."
"Looking at the same tournament with only a little change every year got boring," Gazil continued.
"So our dear Principal thought that we needed a change," Gazil carefully mentioned the principal as many voices died down hearing his mention.
"So this year, both our girl and boy participants will be teleported to one location chosen by us,"
"In those two locations, we have scattered some tokens all across the fields," Gazil continued.
"Now our lovely participants will fight for these tokens and also arrive at the final location."
"Every participant will be given a token, and this means that they can also steal from others to increase their numbers,"
"But, but, but there is a slight twist: at the final location, there is a special zone of two meters, and the one who stands there will get +2 tokens every 10 seconds," Gazil continued as he explained the format.
"The time limit is two hours, and when the time limit is over, a special barrier will activate in the custom suits, which will stop any fighting that is going on." Gazil said.
"There is only one rule: no artifacts are allowed!" Gazil stopped, but the audience was still silent.
"Yeah, everything else is allowed. Either you win by trickery or win by your wisdom and strength." Gazil started talking as the smile on his face widened.
"Oh! And don't worry, our instructors will activate the barrier around the students if the wound will be fatal, and once the barrier is activated, poof! you are out," Gazil spoke as he opened his arms wide.
"This means that we don't care if your injury is not fatal, so be careful!" Gazil shrugged his shoulders while making a concerned face.
Professor Arman facepalmed himself because Gazil was explaining the rules a bit too rashly, and his weird nature was coming out. But the audience was entertained and excited to see the tournament.
"So are you guys READY?!" Gazil's expression changed almost immediately into a bright face.
"YES!!!" A scream of many people could be heard cheering.
"So let's take a look at our participants," Gazil gestured towards the barrier below him, and the barrier slowly disappeared.
*******************************
Around 10 minutes ago,
"Elena, I didn't know we would be in the same room."A girl with light blond hair cheerfully said to Elena,
"Same for me. I didn't know you were participating as well, Ria," Elena replied with a smile on her face.
"Well, I am just participating for fun. I know that you will win, so go easy on me, Sis," Ria spoke, making Elena chuckle.
"Well, Uncle James would be happy to see you win this," Ria added.
"I am not sure about winning with Eva also participating," Elena said lightly.
"Well, I know my cousin will win for sure, and even Grandfather is attending today, so you have to win," Ria raised her fist for a fist bump.
"I know, I have trained hard in the last few months, so I am pretty confident in myself," Elena fist-bumped Ria.
The door opened, and a staff member came in, making Elena and Ria turn their heads.
"The tournament is starting soon, so I need you guys to follow me to the portal, which will take you to the main stage," the staff member spoke.
"Wear this suit before stepping into the portal," he showed a bracelet.
"Wait, why do we need a suit for this tournament?" a girl questioned.
"Well, there is a slight change in the format. You will know more about it soon," he replied.
Many participants started discussing with each other at this news, as all of them thought that the format would remain the same as previous years.
"Silence, please," the staff member spoke, and after he saw that the room was silent, "Now, follow me," he said as he left the room, with the participants following him to the place where the teleportation gate were present.
Elena and Ria also took their bracelets and stepped into the portal, arrived at the stage, but they could only see the silhouettes of other participants apart from the group they were in due to several barriers that separated them. But they saw another teleportation gate which was bit different from the one they used just now.
"Another teleportation gate? Is it related to the tournament?" Ria turned and asked Elena.
"Maybe, let's wait for the explanation," Elena replied.
"Welcome to the Representative Tournament!" all the participants heard a voice, and they listened to Gazil slowly explain everything about the tournament.
"So let's take a look at our participants," Gazil gestured towards the barrier below him, and the barrier slowly disappeared.