"The winner of the first phase, round one is Leonard." Karl looks around and waves at the crowd. Then, Karl's eyes fall onto the three judges. The Chief's twisted expression was very obvious and the facial expression from the other two judges wasn't so positive either. Karl ignores the judges, judgemental stares and walks away from the platform.
He goes straight to the corridor where he first came from. Surprisingly, he sees Ian waiting for him in the corridor. He runs to Karl and jumps around like a toddler. "YOU WON! YOU WON!"
"Yes, I did. Now, calm down for a second." Karl has a serious look on his face. "What's with those judges? They were looking at me as if I killed someone's child."
"Oh! Don't mind them. Madam Treypin is just shocked by the way you handled Garjo Twins. She hates unnecessary violence. As for Sir Ratan and the chief, they just seem to be surprised by your element I guess?"
'Chief knows my element. I can bet that he was surprised my power.' Karl feels his chest feeling up with proudness.
"Don't get too overconfident. The tournament has just started, there will be many fights later." Ian shatters Karl's confidence.
"If you say so. When am I going to fight next?"
Ian thinks for a second. "Hmm. Looking at the number of participations. Probably tomorrow."
"What?"
"Yeah. After all, 2 million people registered this year. That is why the first phase is always the longest of all."
Karl makes a disappointed face and walks to the elevator followed by Ian. They both step into the elevator. "What are you going to do now?" Ian asks.
"Go back to dorm. Take a long cold shower. Maybe pay a visit to the Sabre guild."
"You know that participating warrior cannot leave the dome after the tournament starts right?"
"They can't?"
"Yes, they can't. This is to ensure that warriors are not taking any outside supplements or any type of new illegal equipment." Karl sighs loudly and asks.
"Then, what are we doing?"
"Not we. You. I am going back home, father called me." Karl looks at Ian with the eyes of betrayal.
"Now, don't give me that look." Suddenly the referee calls out a list of numbers, indicating that another round has started.
"Why don't you go and watch the other fights?"
"Can I?"
"Of course. Watch the fights, eat in the buffet and sleep in a pre-assigned room. Best routine, right?" Ian says it in an overly enthusiastic tone.
"S-Sure."
TING! The lift door opens, it's the ground floor. "Behave, okay? Don't start unnecessary fights. I see you tomorrow!" With this Ian sprints away, leaving Karl alone.
'What's with him?' Karl thinks as the door closes. 'I guess, I should watch the other fights. The floor should be….' With the help of a bit common sense, Karl presses the 25th button.
Ian sits in his private rover. "Where to sir?" The driver asks.
"To the academy." Ian answers as he taps on his watch. A window opens which reveals his recent conversation with Andressa. The last message is [The chief came to see me yesterday. I need to tell you something. Please come urgently.]
[On my way.] Ian replies.
The elevator starts moving and stops after few seconds, the door opens. Revealing, the giant dome and large platform with thousands of people everywhere, yelling and cheering. Karl walks towards the front row. To his left side, he sees a floating chair in the air. It is quite close to the beam which keeps the audience from falling down.
'Ugh. It's the officer.' Karl spots the Chief sitting on the chair.
"Leonard!" Someone calls Karl's name. Karl quickly spots instructor Ken waving his hand at Karl. He is sitting just behind the Chief's floating chair. Karl smiles and walks to instructor Ken.
"HOHO! It has been a while, isn't it?" Ken shakes Karl's hand quite aggressively.
Suddenly, Karl feels an itch on his left hand, he scratches it. "Yes, it has been a while. Did you watch my fight?"
"Yes. Erm…. It was an interesting fight." Again, Karl feels something crawling on his hand. He takes a look at it. The ring which was given by Ian is glowing.
'It will signal you if any species other than human comes in your 10-meter radius.' Ian's words flash back in Karl's mind. He instantly turns to the floating chair. 'It can't be! The Chief is a vampire?'
Karl's heartrate quickly increases as he sees remembers Yelm's monster form. His pupils quickly condense.
"Leonard. Leonard!" Ken yells.
"Huh? Yes. Yes." "Are you okay?"
"Wha- Yes. Yes. I am fine." Ken's voice startled Karl.
"Then, what's that?" Ken points at Karl's glowing ring.
"It's- It's for decoration." Karl fumbles and continues.
"Did you know? I reached the second stage of the technique you taught me." Ken's expression quickly changes.
"Oh? That's quite fast. It hasn't been a month yet and you reached this far. I am impressed. Then, when are you going to start the training for the next stage?"
Karl quickly looks down. "To be frank with you, the fact I reached the second stage is already too much for my mana capacity. Reaching the third stage is simply not possible."
Ken notices Karl's sad expression. "Uh. It's already enough. You are still quite strong for your age. Yes, you are strong. Haha."
"Hey! Kid! Sit down or go away! We can't see the platform form here." A man yells from the crowd.
Ken quickly shifts to the left. "Here, Leonard. Watch this fight with me."
"Y-Yes." Karl sits down next to Ken and quietly watches the kids going inside the cage. But Karl's mind is everything but quiet. 'Shit. That was close. This teacher is quite sharp and dumb. But the main problem is now him.'
Karl stares the Chief. 'The remaining phases are going to be hectic. Who knew that he could be a vampire?.... Actually, it does make sense because he seems very hostile towards me for an unknown reason... Oh! I found a potential story villain this early, lucky me. I bet that vampire bitch ordered Chief to eliminate me. So, he can steal my sword.' Karl reaches one conclusion after another.
The big screen appears once more and he sees a rather familiar face walking around in the cage. 'Serena? She participated too?'
Slowly, 10 other fighters also gather around to enter the cage. Few minutes later, they all go in. At first Serena seemed clueless as she only ran around the forest. In the entire round she only went around, setting up various traps using her strings and the novice warriors just walked into those traps.
By using such method, she alone eliminated 6 out of 10 people.
"Quite a boring match to watch." Ken expresses his thoughts.
"Why? Isn't it time for the climax? She will be forced to fight the last remaining people in hand-to-hand combat, right?"
"Just wait and see."
Serena avoids taking any direct fights and navigates through the forest as if she knows every corner of it.
20 minutes later. There is only person remaining besides Serena. He has been searching for her like a mad dog. But Serena easily slips through his hands like a smart cat. The screen focuses on the guy, he is wearing plain full plated armour and a basic sword in his hand. His frustrated expression can be seen through his helmet.
"That guy will lose." Karl makes an assumption.
"Of course he would. Not only he is getting toyed by his opponent but also in front so many people. Clearly his mind cannot handle the pressure."
Just like Karl and Ken expected, Serena suddenly closed in on her opponent and dealt the first and last blow. The poor kid couldn't even react due to his exhausted mental and physique.
"The winner of the first phase, second round is Serena Hema Ratan." The referee announces. But the crowd's response was quite lackluster.
"At last, this round ended." A man said in the crowd.
"I almost fell sleep." Another man said with a laugh.
The forest dissipates in the ground and everyone open their eyes wide open. There is a web of metal strings all over the platform, those wires are connected to various traps. The wires shine brightly as they reflect sunlight, blinding the men who spoke ill of Serena's performance. "Well, she is talented in her own field." Ken says with a smile.
Among the judges, Sir Ratan has an expression full of pride. While, Treypin and the Chief are genuinely impressed by Serena's abilities. 'This kid has some potential.' says the Overseer.
The moon shines brightly in the sky as the last round of the first phase comes to an end. People quickly get up from their seat and heads towards the exit.
Meanwhile, Karl and Ken are still sitting on their seats. "It was a good phase, right?" Ken asks.
"Y-Yeah." Karl answers, his eyes fixed on the specific floating chair. Ken gets up from the seat.
"Now, I expect a good performance from you for the second and third phase as well."
Karl nods.
"Best of luck." Ken also leaves to the exit leaving Karl alone.
Karl also gets up from his seat and goes to the suite through the elevator.
TING! The door opens and he sees a knight standing alone in the room. It's the same knight who delivered Karl's armour. "Why are you here?"
"Young master Ian, ordered me to look after you."
Karl stares at the knight for few seconds before going to the buffet.