What happened next was a half an hour-long dressing down about my mistakes. I had to calm elder Rashid down by exaggerating the critique Andross had given me. After a while, his tangent ended. We both drank some lemon tea to calm down.

“You’re lucky the skill you got from the merging crystal suits you perfectly. Andross begged me for a week to give it to you.”

I smiled.

“Did he? I’m not surprised. He’s a good guy.”

“Hah! Of course you would say that. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. You’re participating in the tier 2 bracket of the tournament starting next week, right? You’ll be representing our guild at the tournament, so give a good showing, otherwise, I’ll feed you to my eyeballs.”

I sighed. It seemed that now that he was done chastising me, his sanity had disappeared again.

“Of course, I will. Can I ask you something, sir?”

He waved his hand at me, gesturing for me to go ahead.

“I learned a few months ago that my uncle is the captain of the Royal Guard. I was wondering if the guild only accepted me as a member because of my background?”, I asked, twirling my fingers out of nervousness.

Elder Rashid defused the tension by laughing out loud.

“Of course not, idiot! Do you think we do background checks for every fop that tries to enter the guild? We only do those on the people that have otherwise been cleared to enter in the first place. We would have accepted you, despite your class, even if you had actually just been a baker’s son. I can’t promise you another country’s branch would’ve done the same, but at least our Roa branch is open-minded!”

“What do you mean?”, I asked him.

The old man sighed.

“I’m a [Bestial Empyrean]. I can turn parts of my body into those of beasts I’ve killed. Those goat legs from before, for example, used to belong to a tier 4 [Infernal Devil].”

“And that purple eye you used to stop our momentum last time?”

The elder just smiled slyly in response.

“I first joined the guild as a tier 3 [Beastmancer]. At the time, the Roa kingdom was at war with a now destroyed kingdom called the Yvolt triarchy. Yvolt had many more class holders that involved beasts and monsters because of their climate, which caused many Roa natives to hate people like me. In the beginning, people in the guild were distrustful of me, but they needed my help to counter our enemies and create counter-strategies. Eventually, though, they learned to trust me based on my character and merits. Since I’ve taken over as Roa’s witch hunter elder, I’ve tried to instil more open-mindedness in our members. It’s been slow going, but we’re getting there.”

“That’s impressive.”, I praised.

He just smiled slightly in response.

“Elder, earlier you mentioned that I would be representing the guild at the tournament. How does that work? I didn’t think that many people would pay attention to the lowest tier bracket?”

He chuckled.

“Quite the opposite, Arthur. More attention is placed on the tier 2 bracket than the other two brackets combined. Tier 3 and 4 tournaments are usually dominated by elders like me that have been stuck at a limit for a long time because of tier trials. As a result, they’re predictable and don’t mean much to the respective factions. The tier 2 bracket, on the other hand, is dominated by young talents like you, who all have a chance of reaching tier 5 and 6, becoming the backbone of your organizations in the process. As a result, competition is the heaviest there, and the betting ring is the largest because of its unpredictable nature, even among uninterested parties. Hold on, let me show you something.”

He stood up and walked over to a chest, rummaging inside until he pulled out a scroll.

“Here it is! This is an analysis of seeded participants for the tournament, made by the best independent information agency around. We have our own information gathering teams, of course, so we have more detailed reports, but this will do well enough to paint a picture to you of the opponents that you’ll have to watch out for.”

He handed the scroll to me.

“Hold on, seeded? What does that mean?”

“Oh, that’s not important. Seeded participants don’t have to bother with the qualifying rounds. Each major organization can seed a talented youngster or two, though most only bother sending one person, since the singles tournament is what really matters. Anyway, read the scroll!”

With a sigh, I rolled it open.

Written below are Omega-team’s list of observations and estimates of seeded contenders for the tier 2 bracket of the Royal tournament, held in the year 3456, by the standards of the Roa calendar.

These estimates and observations are based upon reliable witness testimony, investigative skills and professional analysis of all available evidence.

…

Name: Emeri Helios

Age: 18, (nine months since awakening)

Background: Emeri was an orphan living in the slums of Roa, no mother or father are known. She was adopted into the church of Helios when she received the title [Helios’ blessed] at 8 years of age. She received top-notch training, even from the bishop in charge of the Roa contingent of the church himself. She is seen as the unofficial champion of the church in this tournament.

Battle strength: Estimated tier 2, level 50. Emeri wields a spear as her weapon, which she uses in combination with her light affinity to create powerful attacks which can pierce through most defenses. We have observed a lack of AOE-rated skills, which leads us to believe she places focus on combat with single opponents.

Possible ranking: Victory in the singles tournament.

Character observations: Emeri has been described as distant, even arrogant by her peers in the church. She does not interact with people outside of those directly involved in her training and upbringing, or those superior to her within the church.

…

Name: Peter Arcellus

Age: 20

Background: Peter Arcellus is the second son of count Arcellus, a member of the aristocratic faction. His less talented brother is set to inherit the county, while Peter has been raised to maximize his future potential and strength as a backbone of his faction. Peter Arcellus represents the aristocratic faction in the tournament.

Battle strength: Estimated tier 2, level 50. Peter expertly wields a broad sword, which he uses in combination with his sun affinity, a sub-element closely related to the light and fire affinities. He wields his affinity to devastating effect, though his skill set focuses on offense and lacks versatility.

Possible ranking: Victory in the singles tournament.

Character observations: Peter is well known as a lazy wastrel among his peers in the aristocratic faction. He hardly ever bothers to interact with others, and when he does, it is usually to make a snide remark or to brag about his strength. He had been described as an unpleasant, lazy person. This laziness does not seem to affect his training and leveling speed however. Furthermore, while he acts rashly in public, our investigation of his battles does not give us the impression he fights rashly as well. Whether or not his reputation is the result of internal struggles within his faction is unknown.

…

Name: Gaius

Age: 20-25

Background: Gaius is a wandering monk from the east that came to Roa a year ago. Since then, he has made a name for himself among the common folk as a gentle giant, always willing to help out others. The prayer beads and shaved head lead us to believe he values his religious beliefs, though we have not been able to figure out from which sect or organization Gaius originates. He gained his seeded status based on a command by the king, who appreciates his efforts to help the people of Roa and his strength.

Battle strength: Estimated tier 2, level 50. Gaius fights barehanded, relying on high physical stats and his earth affinity. He controls the earth around him through ritualistic movements that resemble eastern martial arts. Gaius walks around barefoot, and keeps his feet on the ground while battling, leading us to believe he has a skill that requires skin contact with the earth. He mostly attacks by pulling chunks of earth and boulders out of the ground, before launching them at his opponents.

Possible ranking: semi-finals in the singles tournament.

Character observations: Our investigation and witness testimonies affirmed the rumors about his gentle character, which borders on selflessness. He has saved a number of villages on the border of the kingdom from being accosted by bandits and monsters, as well as sharing food with those living in the slums of major cities. We do not believe this to be a facade, though his intentions remain unknown to us at this time.

…

Name: Cerion Rass

Age: 18 (eight months since awakening)

Background: Only son of Duke Rass, Cerion Rass grew up in the Coldwater palace, hardly ever showing his face to the wider world. It is rumored that he received the same class as his father did at tier 1, and that he has learned many of his father’s prized skills at an early tier. Cerion represents the Royal faction in the tournament.

Battle strength: Estimated tier 2, level 50. Cerion wields a sword in combination with his water affinity, which he wields by sending massive cyclones of water at his opponents. His skills seem to focus on single targets.

Possible ranking: Finals in the singles tournament. Victory in the doubles tournament.

Character observations: Cerion Rass has hardly ever interacted with his peers, though he has been described as jovial and kind by those that claim to have met him. A thing of note is his friendship with Arthur, a combatant mentioned further on this list.

…

Name: Karon

Age: 23

Background: Karon joined the mercenary guild as a child. He was sponsored to join the Royal Academy, where he stood out as a powerful and tricky caster. He represents the mercenary guild together with his partner.

Battle strength: Estimated tier 2, level 45. Karon is a caster with the oil affinity, a sub-element closely related to the earth affinity and the plant affinity. He traps his opponents in oil, before combusting it. He has used the rarity of his element to his advantage, surprising many opponents with his unique skill-set. That being said, he seems to rely on his affinity too much, to his detriment.

Possible ranking: Victory in the doubles tournament. Quarter finals in the singles tournament.

Character observations: Karon has been described as arrogant to people of lower status than him, while he’s very humble in front of his betters. This adaptive nature of his has served him well when it came to getting support from his guild.

…

Name: ? (tentatively X)

Age: ?

Background: Unknown, beyond the fact that X joined the mercenary guild of Roa one year ago.

He represents the mercenary guild alongside his partner, Karon.

Battle strength: Estimated tier 2, level 40. X uses dual daggers and an array of stealth skills to outsmart his opponents. His strongest points are his movement skills, which give him versatile positioning, though he lacks firepower in comparison to the other seeded candidates.

Possible ranking: Victory in the doubles tournament. Semi-finals in the singles tournament.

Character observations: X remains silent at all times, only communicating in hand gestures.

…

Name: Reana

Age: 20

Background: A commoner born on a small farm, Reana joined the adventurers’ guild after awakening. She rose through the ranks quickly with her party, and made a name for herself as the guild’s top talent. SHe represents her guild in the tournament.

Battle strength: Estimated tier 2, level 50. Reana uses a wooden axe in combination with a wooden shield. She has the wood affinity, a sub-element related to the plant affinity, which gives her a surprising amount of versatility and offensive power. She seems to lack movement capabilities, however.

Hypothesized ranking: Semi-finals in the singles tournament. Finals in the doubles tournament. Victory in the team tournament.

Character observations: Reana is described as a heroic young lady, that is quick to help those in need and encourage those around her.

…

Name: Arthur

Age: 18 (awakened three months ago)

Background: The nephew of the captain of the Royal Guard, Arthur instead decided to join the witch hunter’s guild, which he represents in the tournament. Arthur is said to have grown up outside of the politics of the kingdom. He legally wields a dark affinity thanks to a technicality in the law, that places focus on skills that guarantee insanity, which he avoided thanks to a system error during his awakening, which his uncle is said to have interfered in.

Battle strength: Estimated tier 2, level 50. Arthur wields a bastard sword in combination with the aforementioned dark affinity. He almost exclusively uses skills that use a high amount of mana. This is no issue for him, because he never seems to lack mana. The nature of his fighting style makes him a difficult opponent to overwhelm. With versatile, powerful skills, his only weakness is his lack of battle experience.

Possible ranking: Victory in the singles tournament. Victory in the doubles tournament.

Character observations: Arthur has not interacted much with anyone outside of his friend Cerion, though those that have met him describe him as good-natured, but a bit naïve, while ruthless in battle.

…

They knew about me? Already? Shit...