It is just as he remembered.
The crowd, the cheers, the excitement. The colosseum that cries for action, not blood.
How boring. He thought as he notices the large scale of competition. This year will be different though.
A girl looked a bit reluctant as she watched the crowd beside him. "This is insane." she said, "Out of all the things you pull off, this one might be the scariest. I have no idea what's gonna happen next."
"What can I say? I could be quite terrifying. Besides, Winning isn't important anymore." He then stared at her from the shadows before leaving.
*
Every participating student is grouped together in the grand hall and immediately see that it feels different. There is an arch in the middle of the podium and two professors are guarding it. The arch looks nothing special and is big enough to fit one person at a time but the energy that everyone can feel from this is immaculate. They cannot see it but feel that it is powerful.
"The first event is going to be an obstacle tower." One of the professors says, "It will be big enough to carry all of you as you climb but with each floor, it would become smaller and more difficult to maneuver, and you will have to fight each other as you make your way to the top. And this time, it is not a team-based competition nor is there a time limit. Since this is a preliminary round where we fill in the brackets for the next event, the numbers are limited. The first 64 people who reach the top will compete in the next round. You can use any weapon or spell at your disposal however any use of lethal spells would mean automatic disqualification. Anyone who falls off the tower and lands on the bottom is also disqualified. You do not need to worry about falling to your death or injury as there is a spell that would capture you before you fall to the bottom."
"Also, this entire event will broadcast to the audience at the colosseum." Another professor noted, "Your every move would be seen by everyone including us teachers. Cheating is also not tolerated. If anyone is caught cheating, you are automatically brought back here. The spatial area you will be teleported to will notice and capture anyone who uses banned magical items or potions. So, you should put away anything of the sorts to these tables." Her hand motioned to tables on her left side.
It turns out that a whole lot of them have these sorts of items. The desperation to win isn't necessarily because of competition but glory. Each non-matchup rounds are different every year. Last tournament was a team-based competition where they take down monsters for points and a certain amount of points would get them to the next round. There was a lot of scheming behind the scenes. Rather than actually taking down monsters, they attack each other so that they could collect points without any competition so the professors must want to try something else, one person for themselves mindset.
"Now, if you are ready, please line up one by one and enter the gate."
Rufus looked around and saw Nathaniel. He seems uncharacteristically fine. Actually, he looks quite excited. This kind of set up is most advantageous for him. He could see and predict what might happen next. He wanted to talk to him but the crowd between them is making it hard to reach him especially in this great hall.
*
Alabaster is sitting at the VIP box as he watched the broadcast, hoping to catch the assassin while he is here. He sponsored this year's tournament, donated and lend items to the academy so that everyone could see the preliminary rounds. Another reason he is here is because Boris and Amaryllis are unable to so they can see from his point of view.
*
Rufus is unsure what to make of this. When they were second years, he teamed up with his friends and obviously they won first place in the preliminary, but Leon just got too handsy and beat up the competition pretty badly and got disqualified for it. Now Nate is participating even though he is an obvious target. Come to think about it, he hasn't seen Leon since this morning, so he's been rather nervous with whatever he's planning more than any attempt on his life.
The tower is huge. He is already several feet away from his competitors. There is even a screen showing the number of open slots for the 64 people. It will go down the more people reach the top.
After stretching as a warmup, he could hear an announcement out of nowhere. He has no idea where it came from, nor can he source it.
"READY???!!!!
SET!!!!
GO!!!!"
Rufus spent no time as he climbed the obstacle tower. Already, he can see that he is faster than some and impatient, he decides to just fly instead of climb which he could hear many people complaining about. But the fact that he is still here means this is allowed. Then he looked up seeing descending bats. Grabbing a sword, he sliced his way up. He looked at the screen after hearing a buzzer.
"It looks like we have our first winner! Fourth year Prince Leon Rex of Solin is the first to make it at the top!"
Leon made it to the top first?! That is insanely fast! Rufus marveled. No one, including him, is that close to the top yet. Grinning, he stared at the bats. They keep coming and obstruct his vision.
"Infiammare"
The bats all burst into flame and Rufus flew through them effortlessly as he reached to the top.
"We have our second winner! Fourth year Rufus Valerian!"
He approached Leon who is ignoring him and stretching.
"What are you planning?"
Leon looked behind him with a smirk, "Winning of course." he answered, "You know that I look forward to the tournament since we couldn't go last year."
Rufus knew that there is more to it than just winning but he is unsure what to expect from him.
"You never tell me anything even if I ask so how about you leave my business to me this time? It's gonna be a blast." Leon says in his usual excitement.
He senses nothing malicious from his tone. He's not mad? Rufus sighs in resignation. I don't even know anymore.
*
Alabaster watched it unfold. Leon is certainly a fast climber. He couldn't tell what he did to get to the top, but he passes through every obstacle easily that he even outdid Rufus when all he did was fly. Other students attempt to use wind magic or earth magic to reach far up as possible but there is a limit to its use, not to mention the bats keep obstructing them.
He looked around outside his box and the cheers are wild.
"Are you watching this, Amaryllis?"