The W2RLD

Chapter 21 - Proxy War

The W1RLD

Written by: The Masked Eidolon

Edited by: Leon the Man

Enjoy 🙂

Chapter 21 - Proxy War

The next morning, King Virgil's royal arena was packed to the teeth, olympic fanfare roaring through the instruments of Virgilian bards. The stadium was used exclusively for the Lieutenant Promotion Tourney, which only occurs once a year. So naturally, the Empire's peasants took the rare opportunity to escape their mundane lives and watch the battles that would ensue there.

Chandler, Lucas, and Derek sat atop the bleachers, viewing the crowd slowly file into the enclosure.

"Man, why couldn't the deduction test be scheduled at 10:00?" Chandler quipped.

Derek spoke up, "Because Major Jones realized it would be harder for us to use our brains if we lacked sleep. I guess he wanted to troll us or something."

"Well, his trolling was probably the reason I only got a 33% score."

"You could've just gone to sleep earlier, you know."

"Not really." Chandler grumbled, "I got woken up at midnight by... some birds."

Lucas looked up at Chandler with a conspiratorial nod, "Yeah, those annoying pigeons woke me up as well. I had to sleep with a pillow over my head."

"Imagine getting woken up by a pigeon, of all things." Derek chided.

"Whatever." Chandler scoffed, "That test is only worth like 10% of the full tournament's score, so it doesn't matter."

"True, true. Besides, I got the same trash grade as you, so what does that say about my own intellect?"

"Trash grade?" Lucas griped.

"Our scores may have been better than yours, but everyone failed the exam. Even Ethan." Derek explained.

Chandler returned his attention to the arena, "Big deal. We just have to do better in the round robin, then."

"Easier said than done." Derek commented, facing the stage as well.

As the clock struck 10, Norman Jones walked out into the center of the stadium, holding an odd contraption that looked like a mini wine barrel. He set it down on the floor and grabbed a microphone from a stand.

"Welcome, citizens of the Virgilian Empire, to the third annual Lieutenant Promotion Tournament!"

The spectators gave a short cheer, then let Norman carry on with his speech.

"Today, we begin the round robin portion of this year's competition. Each participant will face off against every other contestant in a one on one swordsmanship duel. The fighters for each round will be randomly selected from this lottery ball machine." Norman stated as he picked up the apparatus from the floor.

"To win the match, you must either knock your opponent out of bounds, or make it to where they are unable to fight back. Giving your opponent a serious bodily injury will result in immediate disqualification, even if you did not intend to harm your opponent."

Norman placed his microphone back on the stand, "Now, we shall see who will fight in the first round."

As the crowd grew silent, Major Jones spun the handle on his lottery machine until a green-colored ball rolled out. Norman inspected the ball, "Contender number 27, Derek Byrd, please come down to the field!"

"I'm fighting already?" Derek queried, bewildered at the results of the draw.

"Seems like it," Chandler alluded as he slapped his friend on the back, "Get down there, Derek."