"What? What conspiracy?", asked Tepo in confusion.
The tall man looked back at him. Excitement was in his eyes:
"Oh, you don't know about it? Let me tell you…"
For the next ten minutes the man wove a miraculous tale for Tepo. He explained how the ruw had always been resenting humans. They saw themselves as the rightful rulers of the Carrying Winds World. Humans had always been suppressed but rose up through the help of other worlds.
Only after multiple wars the current 'friendship' and 'cooperation' had been formed.
Tep blinked his eyes. He was overwhelmed. Was there really such a thing? But why would this man know? And why wouldn't other humans act if they knew about the danger?
Towards the end Tepo could only nod politely. He was skeptical, not believing the man's fairy tales.
Luckily a loud sound saved Tepo from listening to the other man. As a group of musicians performed, today's fighters were introduced bombastically.
Since it was a weakly tournament, there were only eight fighters. They would compete in a simple knock-out style.
Slowly, Tepo was able to calm his mind and body. The short fight earlier had wasted a lot of energy. But after a few minutes of recovery, he gradually normalized his emotions. Eventually even the young warrior was infected by the boisterous atmosphere.
Tepo barely minded the gangsters who were still scanning the crowd in vain. He also grew curious about the varying fighting styles those warriors would present.
Fortunately, he had his personal analyst right with him.
"Ahh, a pity. A newcomer against the Gentle Gentleman. That's a three-circled against a six-circled. This won't be exciting.", lamented the young man.
"You think there won't be any upsets, ehm…?"
"Oh. My name is Tenro.", introduced the fanboy himself happily.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Tepo."
"Haha wow. Both out names start with a T!"
"Ehm… yeah. Back to my question?"
"Right, right. Upsets are rare in these tournaments. There are no real elites here who could win with their higher-ranked cores or rich fighting experience.
Furthermore, the Gentle Gentleman is not bad. He has won the tournament seventeen times already. He has many fans."
Tepo nodded. He watched Tenro's enthusiastic face and couldn't help but grin as well.
Down in the arena the fight has already begun. And Tenro's analysis seemed to be spot on.
The newcomer attacked with his spear, using a similar spell to Tepo's [Rapid Pierce]. But the Gentle Gentleman only smiled calmly. He waved his hand and the spear appeared as if it had struck mud, slowing down greatly.
The crowd cheered. Behaving graciously, the gentle warrior allowed the newcomer to display his skills for a while.
Suddenly he stepped forward elegantly. With a few swift movements his sword was already on his opponent's neck.
Even Tepo watched the fight with relish. In his mind simulations played. He thought about how he would face the Gentle Gentleman. But without using his core's [Projection] ability, his chances were pretty low.
Without much surprise the experienced warrior advanced. The next fight started quickly. Again, Tenro's analysis was incredibly insightful and like he predicted, a young woman won after a close back and furth.
Like this the tournament continued until the semifinals. Tenro cheered loudly as Purple Magician won against a newcomer as well.
There was a short break, and the semifinals began immediately after. Purple Magician met Gentle Gentleman.
Under the fervent shouts of the audience the two warriors walked into the arena next to each other. Each of them fought wearing robes, one purple and one white.
Tepo sighed in relief as he noticed the gangsters leaving in anger. He could fully focus on the fights now and search for a place to sleep after.
Night was gradually setting in, and big illuminating stones attached to the wooden wall lit up the arena. The play of light and darkness only added to the atmosphere as Tenro confidently explained:
"Although the Gentle Gentleman and Purple Magician have the same strength on paper, the latter should be able to win. He relies more on long ranged spells while the Gentle Gentleman counters physical warriors."
Tepo nodded his head as he watched the two fighters readying themselves.
The host hyped up the audience before giving the go.
Immediately the Purple Magician raised his hand. A strange, purple flame appeared in the air. It scattered into smaller pieces, enclosing the warrior within a net of purple.
"Ha, Purple Magician used his famous [Net of Purple Flames]. Let's see how the Gentleman can deal with this!", exclaimed Tenro excitedly.
Tepo also watched in appreciation.
A good spell which has a certain defense against spells and physical attacks. Since the Purple Magician is a six-circled warrior this should be a six-runed spell. Maybe even a fusion of spells.
But still, it should have its drawbacks. The expenditure is probably not low, and those flames won't be able to block much impact.
After holing himself up in the library for a few days, Tepo also had some insights. He learned to analyze and judge some of the beginner spells, which would be important during battles.
This purple flame is somewhat special, however. It should have its own attributes.
With the Purple Magician making the first move, the Gentle Gentleman reacted quickly. With a brilliant smile he drew his sword.
Ripples seemingly spread in the air. The flames swayed like a boat in water. Gradually they were pushed to the side, a hole opening in the net.
Gentleman stepped forward. He shot towards the Purple Magician. His body passed the fiery net.
Abruptly the Magician's eyes lit up.
Tenro had a shocked look on his face: "No! Something's wrong! Don't use explosion!"
Tepo looked at the fight with a frown. After hearing Tenro's words his instincts also agreed.
But the Magician already saw victory before his eyes. He quickly activated his core's ability. All the small flames suddenly billowed and erupted in a fierce explosion. Dust filled the air as the sand melted.
As a seasoned fighter the Magician still steeped backwards, but he was already assured of victory.
The audience watched with bated breaths. No one knew what happened to the Gentle Gentleman.
Suddenly there was movement in the dust. A figure shot out. Surprised screams sounded out. The Purple Magician looked incredulous. Blood splattered. A sword pierced into the unsuspecting warrior's head.
Tepo's shocked eyes focused on the eerie red. He followed the sword, watching the Gentleman's body, which still exuded elegance. But with his sword in his opponent's head his figure suddenly looked frightening.
Around the warrior, a hard to detect swirl protected his body. The dust was slowly redirected, like two magnets repelling each other.
Next to Tepo, Tenro had jumped up, yelling in disbelief:
"No. This can't be! How can the Gentlemen's defense protect him so cleanly against the explosion! Only if… only if his core had a higher rank could his spell overpower the Purple Magician!"
Hearing this, Tepo looked at Tenro strangely. This seemingly simple-minded man had a lot of insights. He knew about the difference between cores, about spells and abilities. His analysis was also spot on most of the time.
Tenro was too distracted to notice Tepo right now. He mumbled to himself:
"How could this be? If the Gentleman had a squire-ranked core, why would he be interested in this tournament? Why did he never show off his core before? And why… did he kill Purple Magician. Could… it couldn't be such a coincidence, right?!"
Suddenly sweat poured from Tenro's skin. His eyes shot wide open. He pressed his hands on his mouth, sitting down abruptly. He looked towards the left and right.
This was a planned assassination, wasn't it? Was it the ruw?! Could I be next?
Tepo was startled. He looked at the young man, not quite understanding Tenro's behavior. He tried to talk to his new acquaintance, but the man refused to open his mouth again.
After the death of one fighter a weird mood settled in. Although the rules didn't prohibit killings in the arena, it was by far no everyday occurrence.
The host did her best to cheer up the audience again, but the corpse, which was dragged out in front of everyone's eyes, diminished her efforts.
With much less enthusiasm the tournament continued. The second semifinal and final were held shortly after each other. In the end the Gentle Gentleman won. His opponent went into full defense and left the arena quickly, afraid of being the next victim.
The audience left with mixed feelings. It was certain that the Gentle Gentleman's name would spread in the community from this day on.
The most uncaring person was probably Tepo. His thoughts were still on the fights and the lessons he could learn from it.
For example, the simultaneous usage of spells and abilities.
But suddenly Tepo's thoughts were rudely interrupted. Something pulled on his arm. Looking up, it was Tenro, who had grabbed Tepo's arms. The man was signaling something with his eyes before turning around and dragging Tepo with him.