Age of Dragons Online

Chapter 28: The Day Before the Tournament

Chapter 28

The Day Before the Tournament

"Alright, you are signed up. Next!" a bored-looking teenager said after looking through Aledro's information. Above his head in slightly gaudy colors was a sign reading "Grand Martial Tournament Registration Booth," and a line of people was snaking away from the stall as players waited to register themselves. "The rewards really are too good to pass up, and there's almost no downside if you lose," Aledro commented as he looked back through the line they had just waited through. "This tournament is going to be quite large, with a lot of people attending and spectating."

Nadran nodded in agreement, then stepped up to the booth. The teen manning the booth looked at Nadran's stats for a second, his eyes slightly bulging as he read, before he burst out into heavy laughter, clutching his sides as he shouted "Bob! Hey, Bob, look at this!"

A dark-haired teen who was sitting about ten feet farther back looked up from polishing his pistol with a deadpan expression on his face, and sighed, saying "What is it this time? Also, don't call me Bob. My name is Boba. You know, like the bounty hunter from Star... ah, forget it."

"But I think Bob sounds better," the first youth replied, frowning.

"I don't want to hear that from someone who thought Skrivlathr was a good name for themselves. I swear you just wanted to make your name as difficult to pronounce as poss..." he trailed off as he stood up and walked over to see Nadran's stats, and he froze as his eyes scanned over its contents. He quickly covered his mouth to stifle a laugh and said "Is he for real? He's only level 11, and he wants to participate in the tournament?"

"I don't think you can be in the tournament," Skrivlathr said to Nadran. "You're too low level."

"Oh, there's a minimum level requirement for entering? What is it?" Nadran asked.

They both paused for a minute before Boba pulled out a heavy leather-bound book from below the desk. It was dark red, and the words "Grand Martial Tournament Rules of Admission" were written on the cover in a fancy golden font. Boba opened the book and looked at the first page, his expression changing somewhat, a sweat droplet suddenly dripping down his face. Nadran leaned over to see what it said, and he shook his head and blinked a few times to make sure he was reading it right.

"Rule 1: You must be a living player."

That was the only thing written on the first page. The rest of the page was empty, with nothing written on it.

What, is Volzan even trolling the people he hired to make the event? Nadran thought, trying to resist the urge to smile.

Boba laughed nervously before turning the page. The next page was completely blank, with absolutely nothing written on it.

So was the next.

And the next.

Boba began flipping quickly through the thick book, stopping on each page only long enough to confirm that it, too, was blank. He rapidly scrolled through the hundreds of pages, only stopping when he reached the last page. In the center of the final page of the book was written "That's the only rule."

Seeing this, Nadran couldn't help but laugh aloud and say "Sooooo.... Have you guys ever actually read this rulebook before?"

They both suddenly seemed to find something very interesting to look at on the ground.