— BANG! BANG! BANG!

Large trumpets blare as three explosions of confetti fire from the air. The arena chants and yells with enthusiasm as we appear out of the gate and stand on a red platform.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" I heard Calina's voice on an intercom.

"These are your champions!"

The crowd applauses and cheers even louder with Calina's announcement, my head ringing from the noise they bear.

Yuumi takes her hand from around me and waves around to the crowd.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"

Mimi transforms back into her regular size while touching her fingertips together while looking at the ground.

Banners with colors of the different nations frail from the coliseum's walls. A large band is blared, playing music in the stands in front of us while the rest are full of people cheering and clapping their hands together.

I look to the platform we're standing on as we're currently placed on the left side of the podium. The right side consists of several people with rather illustrious cloaks, expensive-looking armor, and military wear with multiple medals and ribbons. They all clap while looking towards us with smiles on their faces, except for Captain Stroyer, still wearing a mundane expression.

I turn to my left and see Saori and her team, and four other competitors looking at the crowd in awe. Saori catches my gaze and smiles.

"Now then!" Captain Calina puts her hands on her hips. "Onto the final stage—The Tournament!"

The crowd cheered with enthusiasm, ready for whatever came forth.

A screen blue materialized above us and showed all of our names in brackets. Some of the brackets are empty as a few of us get passes due to the irregular number of participants.

"Round 1's fighters will be…." She pauses for dramatic effect while the band's drums make it even more intense. The crowd grew silent.

The brackets above, named "Round 1," flip over and show the fighters.

"Saori Kojo versus Ryo Hirayama and Usui Maita versus Yuumi Yato!" Calina finishes while raising her hand.

The crowd roars upon hearing the news and jumps to their feet in excitement.

"YES! YES! YES!" Yuumi pumps her fist in the air. "I GET FIRST DIBS!"

The entire board flips showcasing Round 2's contestants.

"Round's 1 winners will take a crack at Minori Sugai and Momoko Miwa. Natsumi Nakamura and Mimi Morishige, as well as Dai Kajuto and Tatsuo Saka, will fight for a spot in the semifinals against the Round 2 victors!"

"So who's ready to get this party started?!" A large parade of trumpets blares as another bomb of confetti raids the air.

I throw a fist into my right palm and look at the tournament listings.

"I know I am! Let's bring it!"

. . .

The Round 1 fighters walk down the stairs of the platform. Once the four contestants are on the ground, the platform rises in the air, moves above the crowd, and turns around, facing the coliseum. The rest of the contestants were given front row seats in the crowd, with our chairs side-by-side. I stopped walking and took a seat next to a black-haired male, and Mimi sits on the other side of me.

"Momoko Miwa." The male spoke without looking towards me. "I saw your fight with the enemy, and I'm quite impressed."

I turn towards him. "Wait, what? How did you see?"

He points towards the screen, showcasing the names in the sky. "You were the last to enter, so your fight was shown to us all."

Well crap! There goes our advantage—Now the other contestants know what we use to fight!

"My name is Tatsuo Saka. I come from the Udai Tribe located in the south."

His tribal clothes consisted of a leather tunic wrapped around his chest but exposing his muscular and veiny arms. His pants, covered by a brown animal's hide, were a soft leathery material.

"Quite brave of you to go the "Very Hard" route; everyone else went the other way." Tatsuo crossed his arms.

"All we had to do was jump across a large clearing. It was quite easy, in fact."

"… Eh?" I hold a blank expression.

I KNEW IT! YUUMI IS TOTALLY USELESS!

A girl with short-white hair wraps her arms around the broad man's shoulders, leaning on him from the upper area.

"I see you are getting all buddy-buddy with the enemy Tatsy, not goood~" She taunts, whispering in his ear.

Her white extended to her back, covering her left eye. She wore a long black leather coat that stretched down to her back that was open in the front. The top was covered in spikes as well as the padded shoulders. A bra exposed her cleavage with a few straps centered around her stomach, also revealed. She had a short skirt wearing long belted boots with heels that gave her an extra inch.

"Not necessarily. Since we all made it to the tournament, we're guaranteed a mentor as well as knighthood. No need to act so cold since we'll be working as comrades quite soon." Tatsu, unwavering to the girl's taunts, turns his attention to the two females walking away from each other.

"I think it's starting!" Mimi's ears perk up, and her tail wagged, unable to hide her excitement.

The two contestants take their places a few feet between each other. After walking, they turn to face each other. The arena calms and hushes to silence.

Saori takes a deep breath and rests her hand on her katana's scabbard.

Ryo stands firm while staring down at her opponent. Her light blue hair was drawn in a ponytail with a gold ring, keeping it together. Her right shoulder is shrouded in armor, the upper shoulder being layered in gold while the bottom layer is darker with spikes coming out of each layer. Her left hand consisted of a black metal glove that went up to her upper arm. The rest of her body was presented in a paladin's outfit.

The sword on her back was long and sharp, reaching her ankles, but the handle was over her head. The handle was bronze with emeralds lined on both sides of the hilt. The sword itself radiated a soft purple glow.

"Apparently, she came from the Yulian Empire to the east." The white-haired girl informed still curled upon Tatsu. "They're known for their brutality and dangerously sharp weaponry."

Tatsu points to Ryo's weapon. "The legendary weapon she wields seems to have been blessed with a special magic."

… Legendary?

"What's considered to be a legendary weapon?" I ask, still gazing at Ryo's blade.

"Oh, I know!" Mimi raised her hand while tilting her head forward. "They're usually swords, axes, or daggers that are either cursed, blessed or forged with magical properties. Some can be given magic through different ores, but it's easier just to enchant it. However, enchanted weapons are only able to use the magic once."

I see… So that Natsumi girl's weapon was made with some magic-rock along with Saori's…

A shadowed figure jumps from the floating platform situated above us and lands in the arena. His armor was dark-red, with his black hair being laid-back.

He walked in the middle of the fighters.

"My name is Kali. I'll be the referee for this tournament." The man raised his hand in the air with three fingers raised.

"There are three simple rules you must follow. One, only Level-3 magic and below is allowed. Anything above will be an automatic disqualification." Kali put one of his fingers down.

"…Two, the fight has no time limit. However, if a participant decides to forfeit, signaled by dropping their weapon in front of them, their opponent must stop fighting. If they continue, then they're disqualified." Kali followed with his index finger retrieving into his palm.

"And three, killing your opponent isn't allowed unless blood is drawn." He jumps back and raises an arm in the hand.

Wait? Say that again?

"Three..." Kali counts while looking toward the pink-haired blades-woman.

Saori's katana gleams in the sunlight as it's detached from her scabbard. Her stance shifts as she spreads her leg apart.

"…Two…"

Ryo puts her hand behind her shoulders and takes the long sword from her back. Its purple glow intensely radiates as she holds it with both her hands on the handle.

"…One…" Kali throws his hand down and signals the fight's commencement.

"Begin!"

. . .