CHAPTER 108: THE TOURNAMENT BEGINS

"Welcome young mages and wizards!"

The announcer started speaking in the mana stone sound amplifier, standing at the center of the huge stage arranged in the central plaza.

Below the stage some space was left and rows of soldiers stood on guard in a horizontal line, creating a distance between the stage and the hundreds of participants that stood, filling the entire plaza.

On the stage, at the back were placed many cushioned sofas in a row, where many nobles sat, along with prime minister Vorthane, and in the middle of the row, was the biggest sofa with an arched backrest, which was left empty for the king.

"Congratulations on being selected from your regions to participate in this grand tournament arranged with the grace of our great king, his highness Edgar Regelak!"

"One of you among these hundred teams will be the fortunate one to receive the grand reward of fifty thousand gold coins, a disaster class beast mana stone, and a drop of ’Life boon’."

"The race to the top will be tough, as the competition is intense. Hundred teams, but only one winner, who will be this lucky one, we’ll find out in time." The announcer said with a grin.

Just then the rattling sound of wheels and the clip clop sound of the horses galloping fell in the ears of the people present there. Everyone turned their eyes towards the road connecting the palace to the central plaza.

The King had arrived in his royal carriage pulled by the beautiful white horses, with the cavalry of soldiers marching beside him.

The carriage stopped in the space between the stage and the participants. General Cahill came down from his horse and moved to the carriage.

The doors opened and the king walked out, wearing a royal white robe adorned with ornaments and jewels, a crown on his head and his thick and heavy red mantle trailing along the ground as he climbed up the stairs with Cahill beside him.

Everyone on the stage stood up and bowed towards him. Edgar moved to his seat with a smile. The announcer bowed and waiter for the signal from the king. When Edgar waved his hand, he bowed once again and then started speaking.

"His highness is turning Sixty tomorrow, we all congratulate him on this occasion and wish for his long reign. Long live his majesty, King Edgar Regelak!"

"LONG LIVE KING EDGAR!" The soldiers stomped their spears on the ground as they exclaimed and their voice reverberated in the air.

"Long live King Edgar!" the royals on the stage proclaimed together in a loud voice.

A wide smile spread on Edgar’s face as he grinned from ear to ear. His chest puffed up with pride.

"I now request your highness to speak a few encouraging words to our young participants." The announcer turned around as he bowed to Edgar asking him to come up to the amplifier.

Cahill moved forward and helped him get up from his seat. He then moved towards the mana stone amplifier and looked at the crowd in front of him with a wide smile.

"I t-thank everyone...for your w-warm wishes on my sixtieth birthday, and also...for coming all this way and accepting the i-invitation to participate...in this tournament." Edgar spoke in a strained voice. It was like he was very weak and having difficulty in even standing up.

"Is the king sick?" Ruby asked, hearing his strained voice.

"Maybe?" Luke answered questioningly.

"He’s sixty, age is bound to take its toll on him." said Shane with an all-knowing expression.

The three of them chuckled at his words.

After a few minutes, the king had almost reached the conclusion to his speech.

"T-Take care of yourself and h-have a fair fight...may the b-best...team win."

Thundering round of applause was heard as Edgar finished his speech. With Cahill’s help he then retreated back to his seat.

"Thank you, your highness for such encouraging words and a fiery speech!" the announcer said excitedly.

"Tch! Look at him buttering up, if that’s fiery then he’s spitting magma here." Shane said as he clicked his tongue. Luke and the others, along with a few participants nearby held their mouth controlling their laughs.

"I now invite, prime minister Vorthane to explain the rules of the tournament."

Voorthane stood up, slightly bowed towards the king and moved to the mana stone sound amplifier.

"First of all, congratulations everyone for being selected to represent your regions in this tournament." The crowd went silent from his rasp voice as they listened with rapt attention.

"Let me tell you that the tournament will be held in a newly discovered pocket realm in the mana stone dungeon. It has been explored by our young and brave soldiers already, and you all can be assured that there is no beast higher than the nightmare class inside."

"Now, let me introduce you to the rules and system of the tournament. It will be a points system competition. Whichever team has the highest points at the end, will be the winner."

"As for the points, you’ll will be awarded with them when you either hunt beasts and bring their mana stones, and also when you collect a special kind of flower." Vorthane kept on explaining.

"The special flower is a glowing blue ice lily, called the ’cryo lily’. It also has another variant which is the crimson cryo lily. Now as for the points to be awarded, a deadly class beast mana stone is 10 points, a killer class 20 and the nightmare class 50. For the blue cryo lily, you will be awarded 100 points each, and as for the crimson cryo lily, each flower will be 1000 points." Vorthane said with a grin.

The participants were surprised when they heard the points distribution. Murmurs started among them as the plaza became noisy.

"You’ll have the time period of one month inside!" They all went silent when Vorthane started speaking again.

"Each of you will be given a teleportation talisman. It is linked with a teleportation array that is being set up here in the plaza. If you are somehow in danger, or don’t want to continue further, rip the talisman and you’ll be teleported back here."

"After a period of one month, the talisman will rip itself and you’ll be back anyways. No killing is allowed, and I wish everyone has a fair competition. I hope the best team wins." Vorthane said.