A Dance with Darkness and Light: Re-Origination

44: The Tournament In Full Force

Bazuul chuckled and took a smug glance at the Quintana siblings.

After the crowd had settled down, there was supposed to be a short pause. Since the first match ended so fast though, it was decided that the second match would start immediately.

Kuzan and his opponent Derek Engel, stood on the platform eyeing each other, waiting for the announcer to start the fight. Kuzan wore his usual armor and his sword already in hand. His opponent also wore armor with a silver tint and held a golden lance. Almost as if in accordance with his sculptured face, flowing blonde hair, and blue eyes.

Derek was the third son of an influential family that focused on trading and acquiring ores. The Engel Group was financially the strongest privately-owned business in Eras, and therefore also in the Seven Kingdoms. The Engel's third son was the oddball of the family. Proof of it was not hard to find. Obviously, he was part of the hidden dragon trials and had also made it to the royal tournament. Growing up in a family that valued education and trade skills overall, he chose to go down another road. While his brothers and sister decided to follow in their parent's path, he sought a different kind of strength.

Supported by his family's wealth and his desire for the safety of his strength, he had sweat bullets and sparred arduously against many in Eras. So much so, that the fifteen-year-old had already reached the sixth stage of the true qi realm. Which, in turn, proved to his family that he had the talent to pursue this path. After all, if one were to make comparisons, one only had to take a look at his current opponent. Kuzan was the first prince of Ralun, most likely candidate for the title of crown prince. He was seventeen-years-old, had fought against bandits and beasts in the campaign in the north for almost a year. Yet, he had only reached the sixth stage of the true qi realm.

"FIGHT!" Tyr called out the long-awaited start of the match.

Derek immediately dashed toward Kuzan, lashing out with his lance. Seeing this, Kuzan tilted to the side, successfully dodging the attack and swung his sword toward his opponent. Though his opponent managed to parry the sword, both took a couple of steps back. Once they gained some distance from each other, they once again lunged at each other. This kind of fight went on for almost thirty minutes. Even people outside the arena, through the waves of awe and exclamation from the spectators, could make out the shifting tides of the battle. Eventually, though, Kuzan made it out as the winner. Even if they were evenly matched, Bazuul's oldest brother had been at home on the battlefield for almost a year. This sort of experience and sharpening of instincts could not be simply written off by talent.

The third match was between Elanar's little brother, Hylion, and Hugo's eldest brother, Massimo. If one said that this round was long, then it was long, but if one said it was short, it also could have been short. Hylion's displayed prowess was nothing to scoff at, but the problem was his opponent. Massimo was one stage higher than him in the true qi realm and also had a bear-like frame. It was this burly body that made it difficult for Hylion to inflict damage on him. Eventually, Hylion was thrown off the platform by Massimo.

After the third match, the announcer finally called for a break, and the many seats in the stand were rapidly left vacant. Some of them had to take some time off in the toilets, while others went and got themselves more snacks and drinks.

"Will your brother be alright?" Bazuul asked Elanar which sat next to him.

"En." Elanar answered with a nod before adding, "I suppose he will be disappointed. Not because of his defeat but because he's disqualified in the first round. Then again, my brother is not the type to mull over such things for a long time." as she looked into the distance.

Bazuul observed her all the while until a light smile filled with warmth appeared on his face.

Many of the now twenty-two competitors left on the balcony, not all males but mostly, wanted to approach Elanar and strike up a conversation. Yet, every time they managed to build up the courage, that youngsters gaze beside her always cut their ambition short. Elanar herself felt slightly embarrassed by it at the start, but once she considered how it usually went, she actually felt relieved. After all, people would always crowd up around her, trying to talk to her or bombarded her with questions. In their eyes, shone intentions, she herself had no interest in. While she really wanted to be left alone to her thoughts, within her own world. Bazuul also talked to her or asked her questions, but most of the time he also kept quiet, thinking about something. She assumed they were the same when it came to this quirk in their personality and shortly looked at him. Only to find him looking at her with a slight smile and genuine warmth in his eyes. She blushed slightly and also smiled. She felt a cozy rush of warmth flow all over her body.

Many on the balcony, were confused or annoyed by this scene. Even Kuzan felt a bit estranged at this scene, even though there wasn't much of a scene at all. It was just that there was a kind of domain around them, one all the others didn't belong to. Also, the atmosphere of their auras was nothing alike people that were candidates in this type of event.

Tyr suddenly called up the competitors of the match for, Alessandro Quintana and Tarek Rashad.

Tarek's abilities were a bit limited in this type of setting since he had been trained in the techniques of an assassin since early childhood. There weren't any shadows to merge with, no real opportunity for surprise attacks. Either way, though Alessandro was pretty strong and held off considerably against Tarek's intense rain of attacks toward his vitals, he eventually lost due to the pressure. He may be the regent-lord of Ibera, but he was still but a teenager without nerves of steel, that were tempered by the passage of time.

This result was also rather shocking to the audience. After all, Tarek was but a commoner fighting against the previous crown-prince now regent-lord of a kingdom. The number of resources committed to both of them by their families was vastly different. Most of all, two out of three Iberan competitors were already out of the tournament. While two out of four Ralunian attendees had made it at least to the second round.

This in itself was a stark contrast between two neighboring kingdoms which had recently developed some slight animosities.

"The next round will be the first princess of Shasta, Sawako Fujimoto, against the third prince of Eras, Corwin Bender."

Both walked down the stairs and onto the platform. Many spectators highly favored Sawako to win this matchup. Although Sawako was a year younger than Corwin, she was rumored to be highly talented. Proven by the fact that she had already surpassed Corwin by three stages in the true qi realm. Others on the stands though, argued that one should never look down on the offspring from Eras. It was not the most powerful nation in the Seven Kingdoms for the heck of it.

In the end, though, Sawako made a quick example out of him and blasted him off the platform, leaving burn marks on his face. The viewers in the stands and the fellow competitors on the balcony sucked in cold air. Even though she was only fourteen years old, she fought domineeringly and was ruthless to her opponents.

Markus Bender, his oldest brother worriedly ran down and helped his little brother up, taking him away after giving Sawako a look. Meanwhile, the crowd was in an emotional mix between shock and applause.

A while later, Tyr called the participants of the sixth match to the platform and his voice rose once again. "Ladies and gentlemen, the fights between the younger generation have been spectacular thus far, but please calm yourself, the sixth match between Valentina Quintana and Bazuul Ylvazad is about to start."