- (Anna’s POV) –

It’s finally morning! Today is the first day of the tournament! Well, it’s only the qualifications…

The sun is rising right now so I’m walking toward the coliseum. I came alone because there are no spectators for the qualifications.

Once I arrive at the entrance of the coliseum, I greet the clerk.

“Hello, I came for the qualifications.” (Anna)

“Yes, what’s your name?” (clerk)

“Anna.” (Anna)

“Let me see… Ah, here it is, you are number 124. You can wait wherever you want in the stands.” (clerk)

The clerk gives me a small plate with the number ‘124’ written on it. It looks like the participants need to wait in the stands where the spectators will be once the tournament starts.

I walk inside the coliseum and a good view greets me. Wow! There are at least 50 thousand spots, it’s very huge! I look around with my enhanced eyes and I see Victoria waiting but separated from the others. I walk toward her and greet her:

“Hey, Victoria!” (Anna)

“Oh! Hello Anna! It’s nice to see you!” (Victoria)

I sit beside her and ask her:

“So, what’s your number?” (Anna)

“I’m number 31, what about you?” (Victoria)

“124. But what does it mean?” (Anna)

“The first who registered got number one, the second got number 2… You know that there are several groups for the qualifications, right?” (Victoria)

If I remember correctly what they told me when I registered, the qualification is a battle royal, but they don’t make everyone fight at the time, so they create several groups.

“Yes.” (Anna)

“Usually, they create 7 or 8 groups with about 50-100 peoples inside, it depends on the number of participants. So, the chance that we are in the same group are low.” (Victoria)

“Well, I think it’s a good thing. I prefer to have a 1 versus 1 against you without anyone else interrupting us!” (Anna)

“I agree! I hope we can meet each other for the finals or the semi-finals! Heck, it would be a shame if we are against each other right at the first match! It’s better if the best battle of the tournament is at the end!” (Victoria)

“Well, I’m not sure if we are the strongest here, I heard there is a chance that a S-rank adventurer come. There is also a dozen of A-rank participating and several people from the royal knights or royal mages!” (Anna)

“True, we don’t know yet what will happen. But I hope that some S-ranks will come!” (Victoria)

“By the way, I heard that the winner of the tournament last year was a S-rank adventurer from another country. Did you fight against him?” (Anna)

“No, I didn’t participate last year because I went to another country for a military mission. But I won the tournament 2 years ago, but there was no S-ranked adventurer…” (Victoria)

I wonder how strong Victoria is… I heard that she was an A-rank adventurer when she quit to join the knight order, but she apparently improved a lot since then… I think her strength should be similar to a S-rank. I can’t wait to fight her!~

We keep chatting for at least half an hour while the other participants enter the coliseum. Suddenly, a few people enter the fighting area while the participants are still on the spectator’s spots, they must be the organizers.

A middle-aged man goes ahead and look up at the participants. He mutters something but I can’t hear him, so I focus my attention on him with my enhanced sense. Perfect, I can hear him now!~

“……..to let everyone hear my voice, Voice Amplification!” (announcer)

Oh, it’s probably a spell to enhance your voice, like a loudspeaker. It looks like there is a spell for many things, I really need to check this Royal Library to find out more about magic. I can easily do the same with my mana though, but without chant and catalyst. I need more information about magic from this world because it’s important if I fight a strong mage.

The announcer speaks again after his spell:

“Your attention please!” (announcer)

All the participants look at him with excitement.

“Welcome to the 68th tournament! This year, we have the honor to welcome 576 participants!” (announcer)

The announcer takes a small break because some peoples start to whisper around, so I turn toward Victoria and say:

“576? That’s a lot!” (Anna)

“Oh, don’t worry! Most of them are trash who can be crushed with a single attack! There are many C or B-ranked adventurer or regular knight coming to get some experience. Most of them won’t stay after the qualification.” (Victoria)

“I see…” (Anna)

The announcer speaks again once everyone is silent:

“Thus, we decided to create 8 groups of 72 peoples. It means that 72 participants will be in the combat area and will fight each other. Those that will be qualified for the tournament will be the 4 winners of each group. You lose if you stay on the ground for more than 10 seconds, if you give up, or if you fall out of the combat area (in the water). You are free to use any weapon and even magic, but you will be eliminated if you kill someone.” (announcer)

The announcer takes a small break, then he continues:

“If you get qualified for the tournament, you can leave for the rest of the day, but the first matches of the tournament are in 2 days, the day after tomorrow!” (announcer)

What?! I have to wait for 2 days again?! Well, let’s win the qualification first… The announcer continues:

“The participants with a number between 1 and 72, please come to the fighting area, the first match will start in 20 minutes.” (announcer)

Beside me, Victoria stands up and says:

“It looks like it’s my turn!” (Victoria)

“Good luck!” (Anna)

“Well, it will probably be boring…” (Victoria)

After her words, she leaves me to enter the fighting area. This woman… But I can’t really blame her because it might be true…

The participants start to enter the fighting area. It’s a huge round platform made of stone floating on the water. Well, not really floating because it’s properly fixed, so it doesn’t move. It would actually be interesting if we had to jump from a small platform to another during the fight!~

I can see Victoria from afar waving her hand toward me, so I wave my hand back.

After a while, all the participants are ready with a weapon in their hands. The weapons are mainly swords, axes, spears, and staffs, but there are some unusual weapons aswell. The announcer shouts again:

“Everyone is ready? You can start in 3…2…1… GOOO !!!” (announcer)

The first group starts to fight each other in the arena. I can see that some of them are quite strong because they can easily knock out 2 peoples in a few seconds. I can also see mana magic spell flying around and touching the magic barrier surrounding the fighting area to protect the spectator. It’s still dangerous! Those spells might kill someone! Well, I guess everyone have a certain level and are able to dodge a slow fireball.

I look at Victoria and she is… standing at the middle of the arena but not fighting. She keeps walking but everyone tries to stay far away from her! What the hell?! I guess that’s the problem when you are too famous for being skilled… Oh! An idiot tries to attack her, probably because he doesn’t know who she is, but he easily gets kicked away toward the water. And now Victoria is even yawning!! I’m pretty sure that she would take a nap if there wasn’t the rule about staying on the ground for more than 10 seconds.

After at least half an hour, only 4 peoples are still standing. From what I saw, they are way stronger than average, but they didn’t really fight each other, so I don’t know their exact level. I believe that they try to eliminate the weaker participants first to prevent being eliminated by someone stronger. Of course, there is Victoria who is totally unharmed holding her sword.

The announcer speaks again:

“And here we go! We got our 4 winners!” (announcer)

The participants that are still able to walk leave the fighting area, and those that can’t walk are brought back by the medical team. I guess they got their own healer, I don’t know how effective they are though. I don’t mind if they buy some of my potions though, it’s more money for me! Hehe~

The announcer opens his mouth again:

“The participants with a number between 73 and 144, please come to the fighting area. The fight starts in around 20 minutes.” (announcer)

Ah, it’s my turn! I’m number 124. Well, I could directly jump in the area from where I am, but I prefer to take it slow. I go down the stairs and follow the other participants who are moving because I don’t really know how to go there without jumping… I reach a room where nearly a hundred people are waiting, there are some people from my group and some from the previous group.

I look around and see Victoria, so I greet her:

“Good job, Victoria!” (Anna)

“Thanks! Well, I didn’t really fight… Good luck, by the way!” (Victoria)

Haha, it’s true. She only knocked out a few people who were too idiot to attack her. She probably didn’t want to eliminate some potential good fighter during the qualifications.

I enter the fighting area and stay close to the water; it will be easier to eliminate someone like this! It’s not always easy to render someone unconscious if he is strong, so I might kill someone accidently. That’s why I stay at the limit of the area so I can push my opponent in the water. By the way, if I fall but I fly back before I reach the water, is it considered cheating? Because yes, I can fly but it’s not really good for long distance because it uses a lot of mana and it’s difficult to control. I have to create some wind under my body to make it float but I have to do it carefully to not injure myself or my clothes, so I need to concentrate a lot. If it’s only a few minutes, it’s fine though.

I wait a quart of an hour, and I can see that everyone from my group is ready, so the announcer speaks again:

“Second group, are you ready? The battle starts in 3…2…1… GOOO !!!” (announcer)

After his signal, everyone starts to attack each other’s. On my side, I observe calmly the situation but I’m quite isolated from the others because most are in the middle. Suddenly, one guy is coming to me.

“Hoho, what are you doing here alone, baby? Are you afraid?” (man)

“Of course not, come to me!” (Anna)

It looks like I found a playboy… Well whatever. He run toward me, so I dash and tackle his leg, and he falls in the water. Next time don’t try to flirt with me, you playboy!

It’s a bit boring to wait others to attack me so let’s enter the melee! I won’t eliminate too many people though; I feel a bit bad for them… I arrive at the middle and 3 guys instantly jump on me, so I dodge and knock on their head in a matter of a second.

I look around, and I see some explosion on the other side of the arena. Those explosions are quite big so it must be a strong mage! I run there and see the caster, it’s an old man with a long white beard holding a well decorated staff, he is very similar to Gandalf. I watch him as he sends a warrior with an axe flying toward the water with wind magic. Wow! This grandpa is strong!

I don’t have the time to watch because 2 peoples are coming toward me. They must be thinking that I’m a weak girl lost in the middle of a battle, so they want to eliminate me fast. Unfortunately for them, I move faster than them and send both of them flying toward the water with a kick and a punch.

Suddenly, I heard an old man’s voice coming from behind me.

“Hoho, you are quite good, little girl!” (old man)

He says so but, at the same time, he casts a big fireball about 1 meter in diameter toward me without chanting. Wow, I finally found someone who can use magic without chant! Well, he still uses a catalyst though. I use my sword to slice the fireball and cut it in half. He looks at me with wide opened eyes, but I don’t let him the time to breath and send him 2 ice spears at the same time. However, he manages to deflect them with a magic barrier casted in less than a second. Wow! This grandpa is very good! He still looks at me with a surprised face.

“Wow, multi cast and no chant! And with only a ring as a catalyst! Moreover, you are also skilled with your sword and fists! You are amazing! How old are you?” (old man)

Ah, he thinks that the ring I’m wearing is a catalyst, but I didn’t use it though. It’s good that I kept the ring with me because this grandpa is very sharp.

“I’m 16.” (Anna)

“Sublime! It’s the first time that I see someone so young being able to do that! Say, do you want to be my disciple?” (old man)

Hoho, I agree that he is strong, but he has to beat me first if he wants me to be his disciple! I wouldn’t mind learning from him if he is truly stronger though.

“You will have to beat me first; I don’t want a master who is weaker than me after all!” (Anna)

The old man smiles than he says:

“Hahaha! Great! I like you already! What about we fight during the tournament and not now? I don’t want to eliminate someone so promising during the qualification.” (old man)

I think it’s a good idea. I already showed him this much, even if it’s about 10% of my strength, but he still thinks that I’m inferior to him. He must have also only used a small percentage of his strength. If we fight here with our full power, the entire area might be destroyed, and we might kill the other participants.

“Alright, we will fight during the tournament! I can’t wait!” (Anna)

We both leave and attack the other participants. I wonder who this grandpa is, he has a small accent so he might be from another country. Well, whatever.

A dozen of minutes later, we are only 4 peoples remaining in the arena with me and the grandpa included. The announcer speaks again while the medical team take care of the injured.

“We finally have our 4 winners from the second group! Those with a number between 145 and 216, please come on the fighting area!” (announcer)

I quickly get out of the area. Once I’m outside, I can see Victoria waiting for me, but she is the one who open her mouth this time.

“Good job, wasn’t it too boring?” (Victoria)

“Haha, yes, except with the old man. Do you know who he is?” (Anna)

“No idea… He must be from another country and not a neighboring one, I would have heard of someone as strong as him otherwise.” (Victoria)

“I see… Anyway, I can’t wait to fight him!” (Anna)

“Hey! I also want to fight him!” (Victoria)

“Haha, it will be the work of the RNG!” (Anna)

“RN… what?” (Victoria)

“No, nothing.” (Anna)

Oops, I said a word that shouldn’t exist in this world. Fortunately, she doesn’t mind and changes the subject.

“So, what are you going to do for the rest of the day? Do you want to watch the other matches?” (Victoria)

It’s only noon, so I still have a lot of time today. Mhh, I think I will do something else, it’s useless to stay and watch the other participants. Maybe there is someone strong amongst them, but he won’t use all his power so it’s useless to scout him. I also don’t want to see my opponent’s abilities before a fight! It’s funnier to discover his strength as we fight!

“I think I will leave the coliseum for today. What about you?” (Anna)

“Mhh, I will watch the next match just in case, but if there is no one else really strong I will leave aswell.” (Victoria)

“Alright!” (Anna)

I leave the coliseum and walk in the street. I can’t wait to fight this old man and Victoria!