=======================================

Chapter 16: Vytal Festival (Part 3) Tournament

=======================================

Morning was the same as usual. The only difference was that their home was inside of a huge parking lot instead of out in the wild. The Wolfhearts had breakfast and gathered outside with various friends. The group then headed towards the coliseum. Today was the first day of the Vytal Tournament for Hunters and Huntresses of the kingdoms.

“I wonder what kind of people professional Hunters are like?” Conner wondered.

“No no Conner. These aren't professional ones. They are trainees from the academies. This is supposed to serve as a way to represent the kingdoms and give practical experience.” Ophelia corrected.

“Ok, ok. Whatever. Point is, I'm really excited.”

The group all nodded. The only Hunters they knew were the people inside their village. How could they not be? Unlike the kids, the parents of Robin were worrying over a different matter.

“We couldn't find him at all yesterday.” Robin's dad had a sour look on his face.

“Oh hush hon.” Christina said. “It's only the first day. Not everyone comes the first day. The Vytal Festival lasts four days. Give it some time. We'll run into him eventually.”

When they came up to the entrance of the coliseum, they were refused entrance by the man at the front desk.

“What do you mean we're not allowed in? We paid in advance for these.”

“Well,” he began, “the number of VIPs increased substantially at the last minute. We need to use the regular seats, so there is nothing we can do.”

The man shrugged after giving the obvious lie. The coliseum was huge. It had over 100,000 seats and there were many VIP seats at the very front. Furthermore, they reserved front row seats right after the VIP ones so in no way should they would be the first to go anyway. That is, if this was a normal situation. Just when a fight was about to break out between Joseph and the man, a larger, muscular human stepped forward.

“Holy Remnant! I leave for a potty break and you're already rejecting people. Get out of here. I'll handle this from now on.”

“Thomas! I thought you're supposed to be at the Hunter's Guild. Why are you working the desk here?”

“Haha! Do you really think there will be any work during the Festival? No worries though. Some of us switch out every day, so we can enjoy ourselves while keeping an eye out for those who actually work. The tournament is also broadcasted, so it's not like we're missing much. Besides, I took this job because I knew someone was gonna do this.”

The man named Thomas winked at Joseph.

“Here you go! Enjoy!”

Their seats were at the very front, just like the man promised. In the middle was a giant field with metal covering the entire space. Stepping out into the spotlight was the announcer. At the same time, a huge holographic screen appeared before the audience showing the same man but in a close up view.

= How convenient. =

As the man began talking, the floor opened up and a stage rose from the ground. Standing on it were hundreds of Hunters and Huntresses.

“Ladies and gentleman. I, Carl Buckman, am your host for the famous Vytal Tournament. Behind me are Hunters and Huntresses of all kinds from all our various kingdoms. Today we will begin the tournament to see who is the most powerful upcoming Hunter in all of Remnant!”

Huge applause began. As everyone cheered, Robin scrutinized the people on stage.

Enhance

Sending aura to his eyes, he squinted to see their silhouettes.

= Wow there are so many people out there.. Where are their weapons? All I see is that they're carrying a bunch of masses of different colored metal on holsters. =

“Now as you all know, this is a bit too many for us to start off with. So!” He turned to the unsuspecting Hunters and Huntresses.

“Here and now eliminate each other. When your aura is too low, you're disqualified. If you fall off the stage, you're disqualified. If you deliberately attempt murder, you're disqualified. Last sixteen to survive moves on to the next round. BEGIN!”

And just like that, all of the Hunters took out their masses of metals and pressed a button. To Robin's surprise, they all started transforming into weapons. Some were swords, others lances. As the fight began, Robin became even more surprise when some weapons had multiple forms and even functioned as a gun.

= Holy Crap! That staff just became a bazooka! Unbelievable, do all of them function as guns? =

Not only Robin, the other kids were shocked speechless. They only used wooden replicas and saw their parents with their own weapons in one form. How could they know it all could transform?

“Hahaha. Surprised son?” Joseph asked. Robin turned to face him.

“Dad. Mom. Do all of your weapons do that?”

“Yep,” Christina responded. “One of the reasons why you are taught different weapons is that you never know what kind of weapon is more useful in a situation. Furthermore, you will eventually learn about how to make your own weapon that can transform into whatever form you desire. Of course, how many forms is limited to how well you design it. I bet you're gonna love Mechanics class now, won't you?”

She grinned at Robin. Robin grinned back, a look of excitement on his face.

= Transformers but for weapons! That is so badass! =

“Wait, but that will take forever to learn. How long will it be before I can make my own?”

Robin was not delusional and did not think he could learn college level mechanics soon, but obviously these Hunters and Huntresses were no more than 19 years old. He was obviously missing something.

“Come on now son,” Joseph began. “think outside the box. Can't you read many times faster thanks to aura?”

He slapped his head as he had an epiphany. When he spent time in the library, he didn't think to use his aura because he enjoyed reading at a slow pace and treasuring each line of the book. The obvious answer was right in front of him.

“Can I go to the front to see?”

“Sure son. Go ahead.”

Robin got into the aisle and walked to the edge of the spectator's seats. Standing there was also Blake and the group. Their faces were also in awe.

“Awesome, there are so many different weapons.” Conner said.

“Yeah I can't wait to see what ours will be like.” Ophelia commented.

Adam and Blake nodded.

“Whatever mine is, it has to be the coolest one out there. Simple, but awe-inspiring.” A gleam could be seen in Adam's eyes.

“Cool! You guys sound like you know what you want already. What's your favorite weapon?”

Calling out to them was a four year old blonde girl next to them with wavy hair. She had purple eyes and wore an orange infinity scarf around her neck. Wearing a light brown shirt, the beauty addressed them.

“Um who are you?” Robin asked.

“Oh sorry. I'm Yang Xiao Long. This is my baby sister, Ruby!”

She pointed to the girl next to her. This one looked to be two years old. Her black hair showed hints of red. She was completely ignoring the older sibling and was intently staring at all the people fighting in the tournament.

“Hello Yang. I'm Robin Wolfheart. I likes swords.” The human girl was kind and he sensed no animosity, so he introduced himself.

“Hello, my name's Blake Belladonna. I also like swords.”

“Adam Taurus. I'm a fan of katanas.”

“Hey, I'm Conner Dinkleberg. I use daggers.”

“And I'm Ophelia Zittori. I use a naginata.”

“Cool!” she exclaimed. “I prefer my fists. Nothing feels great like a good-old punch.”

= Definitely a problem child. =

The group began to talk and watched the tournament together. The preliminary round ended already and the tournament moved on to 1v1's. As the last 1v1 ended, the announcer signaled the end of the festivities.

“Alright and there you have it! The top eight upcoming Hunters in all of Remnant! Tomorrow we will move on to find out our top four in events style matches. On the last day, we shall find out who is the best Hunter in all of Remnant! See you guys soon!”

The blonde girl once again talked to them.

“Hey guys, are any of you signing up for the tournament?”

Robin raised an eyebrow.

“What tournament? This is for actual Hunters. We can't join.”

“No, silly. I meant the Junior Hunter Tournament that's happening later tomorrow. No weapons, just hand-to-hand combat! Registration ends today! I'll be there! See you guys!”

With that the blonde girl grabbed her sister and headed towards their parents.

= A tournament? Awesome! That Cardin kid was way too weak for me to use anything. Maybe I'll test myself there. =

As the kids left the coliseum, they passed a man in a trench coat that was talking on the phone. He spoke in a whisper so nobody could hear. A voice came from the phone.

*How long till the device is ready?

“Research is still in preliminary stages. It'll be at least ten years before we have a finished product.”

*I am lenient, but your audacity is testing my patience.

“I'm sorry, but this isn't something you can do on a whim. We'll have something for you by then.”

*Ten years. Remember that. I'll contact you then.

The man hung up the phone and threw it into the nearest trash can. Walking away, nobody could see his face that was covered by his collar and hat.

Cuz releasing one chapter is too boring for me, so you guys get more chapters. Tell me your thoughts as always. Rate, comment, etc. Thanks for reading!