The tournament was going to be conducted in an old cricket stadium which has now been resonated to hold mega events for the public, after the sport of Cricket lost all its popularity with the advent of awakened as well as world war three.
Though, this was the case for most of the sports. The interest in the majority of them dwindled as the old days of gladiatorial arenas began again.
With few exceptions that is. A modified version of football still remains, as does tennis. But badminton was gone and so were various Olympic sports.
Though none of that mattered much to the present day public. Now, the stadium which used to host India's most popular sport has turned into catering entertainment to a completely different kind of crowd.
A crowd that wished to see some blood.
"That bastard really found someone?"
"Yes, though, it's not anyone special. Instead, we should be happy, if that bastard didn't take part in this competition, our plan would have been a failure."
"Still, would that murderous family even care for their abandoned puppy?"
"They won't care for his life, but that young man still carries their name, and that will be enough to hurt their prestige."
"I still suggest canceling the plan, he is a nobody and the amount of resources we have to burn to kill him are immense. It would be completely stupid to burn so many bridges to just take out some nobody."
"Don't be a coward, sister. Some sacrifices are necessary to make others understand, that the Red hawks do not forget."
"And we will not stop, until that whole family line has ended."
"So say it with me sister…. Red hawks never forget."
"... Red Hawks never forget."
******
It's been awhile since Luvi walked so far from the academy and even then, he was not able to enjoy it..
Due to its nature and safety issues, the academies are usually situated far away from the city and it was only after the academy was built that people who wished to earn something from the bored students set up their shop and brought their family there, hence forming a pseudo town.
Filled with old people and the only place Luvi has known for the last few days.
And with curfew as well as other annoying rules. It was next to impossible for students to leave the academy unless they were given a leave pass.
But none of that mattered for this whole week. The tournament was on and buses filled with students were moving toward the big cities all over the country.
The city wide tournament is just the start, those that show their talent on the stage would have better prospects in future and their chance of being picked by a better superhero agency would become higher.
Luvi was here for the same thing, of course he didn't wish to join any superhero agency. All he wanted was the name as well as fame, along with the dungeon entry pass.
It took two hours for the bus to finally arrive in the city and the majority of students who were not participating, intended to leave in groups and enjoy their time here. It's still a day before the competition began and they didn't need to prepare anyway. So going out and enjoying themselves became their priority. As for their stay, it was a local hotel without much fanfare.
On the other hand students like Luvi and others who intended to participate in the tournament moved toward The Taj hotel, which was rented by the superhero association as a show of good faith toward the participants.
Which made it a perfect melting pot of tension, as the four academies of this district were coming together all at once. Along with many other small academies that wished to make a name for themselves.
"A total of 216 participants in the hunter arena." Luvi cursed his fate. It would seem, not only have the tournament organizers cheaped out in the hunting tournament, but for some reason, the amount of students taking part in the competition were higher than before.
But Luvi shut his mouth when he saw the amount of students participating in other tournaments.
"140 teams in gauntlet and 672 students in 1v1. Isn't this too much?"
It was only then, Luvi understood.
Yes, his academy was not the only one rushing to white star ranking through exercises. The rest of the world was the same and the youngsters that wanted to prove their hard work were more active this time around.
So a huge amount of them participated all at once.
Of course, there was the fact that some of the students might repeat their competitions to get as many opportunities as they can. But that was only for rare cases.
Those at the peak understood the value of time as well as focus.
"Everyone, get up when I call you. I will be giving you your room keys."
With those words, the Skyward academy students lined up.
On the other side of the lobby, at the entrance of the restaurant, two old men sat, looking around the jovial students as well as small fights that broke out in some rival institutions with curious faces.
"So many white stars, I remember last year, the white stars didn't make up more than 10% of the participants."
"Now you see it? It's why I was saying to increase the difficulty of gauntlets and hunts. This will not do, otherwise."
"Hah, who cares. The real place to show talent is still the combat tournament, it's where the true champions will be made."
Though, suddenly. The couple of old men suddenly stopped their talks and suddenly felt palpitations in their heart.
Which forced them to look at the entrance of the hotel.
"Who dares…" Though the moment they noticed the silhouette, the two old men went silent. For the person standing there was someone they can't mess with.
And Luvi was the same. Because the moment this man entered the lobby, everyone went silent out of instinct.
"Isn't it Violent Flash?"
Hunters rarely got a special name, unlike the superheroes. But when they do, they are already considered cream of the crop and someone who would eventually become a Gold star hunter.
And the man that was standing at the entrance was the same.
"Mister Pragati, you are here. We have been waiting for you." A concierge abandoned the student who was asking some questions and rushed to Pragati, greeting him with sweat on his forehead.
"Please, show me the room."
There was no need to get proof, no need to book, with the simple request of Pragati, the hotel staff rushed to do his bidding, abandoning some of their works in between.
But none complained, instead, some rushed toward Pragati, wishing for autograph, a selfie and the rest
And Pragati accepted their request and did his best to look good to them. But his deadpan expression remained the same till the end.
"Hmm."
Of course, some of the students didn't become mindless little lambs, some remained cool headed out of superiority complex, or some due to knowing that it would be impossible to meet him with all that crowd.
As for Luvi, he remained the same. Glaring at his older brother for a bit.
"Hey… yo… you ok?"
Idhant wished to rush toward Pragati as well, but he stayed and then looked toward Luvi. Knowing that the man that came here was none other than his partner's brother. "Don't you… ha..have to say ..hell to your bro..brother?"
Hearing the term brother, Luvi turned to look at Idhant, knowing the kind of thoughts that might go on in his partner's head at this time.
"No, even if I tried. He would not care. He would treat me like a stranger, just like the rest of you. He might even give me an autograph."
Luvi knew his brother more than anyone. Currently, his brother was on auto-pilot and barely registered the faces of any person that surrounded him at the moment. Like an absentee father, he would nod and say yes to most things. But his mind would never be there and the current Pragati was the same.
Though, this is the part of his older brother he saw the most anyways. So he knew how futile it was to even expect a response from this man.
And that would actually hurt him more. Being treated like the rest, while being brothers sharing the same blood.
"Man… and I thou…ght my older brother was bad." Idhant shook his head, while patting Luvi's back.
Which actually hurt Luvi a little.
'The fuck this bastard… showing pity to me?'
But he didn't voice out his emotions, he just looked toward the lobby and saw how others were dealing with the arrival of his brother.
"Hmm."
Someone was staring at him and it was none other than Rose.
She didn't move toward his brother for an autograph, it's not like she hasn't met him before, they used to be childhood friends at a time and she has come to his house often. So it was no wonder that she was not too interested in his brother.
But why the hell would she glare at him like this?
'What are you glaring at?'
Luvi made out words from his lips, but no sounds came out. Only the person looking at him would understand him. And Rose did.
But she just turned her head around instead of answering.
'Something is up.'
The arrival of his brother was odd enough.
From what he heard from the gossips of some students, as it turned out. His brother was going to act as a judge in the competition.
Which was as absurd as it sounded.
His brother cares for nothing beside carrying on his family's business. Even the amount of people his brother has killed exceeded that of his father, that was how much of an inhuman monster Pragati was.
So why would someone like him be here?
'For me?'
'We will see… '
On the other side of the room, a woman who had been eyeing the group of skyward academy students was left startled with the arrival of Pragati.
"Why would he be here?"
Though, it was at this moment, a message came to her phone.
"Abort plan A, Pragati would be living along with the students. Its suicidal to progress anymore."