The cultural show began with a flourish as confetti began to rain down as the parade below proceeded. Cheerful loud music filled the stadium, reminding me of a New Year’s day celebration mixed with Mardi Gras and the Fourth of July. The parade below consisted of colorful dancers dressed in bright colors as a large band played in the back. Halfway through the performance, giant paper mache representations of each guild’s mascots are pulled in on wheels. They circled around the edge of the stadium, allowing every section of the audience to see them in their full glory as the band and dancers performed in the center. It was a whole routine. The bright colors and sounds were both deafening and mesmerizing. If I’m inclined to put my book down, then they must be doing something right.

I take a glance to see if everyone else is as mesmerized as I am. They look engaged as expected but the one most into it seemed to be Sophie. The little girl was looking down in awe, her senses probably being overloaded with colors and sounds. She was covering her ears earlier, looking upset but seems to have slowly gotten used to it. I smile to myself and look back down. It appears that the finale is beginning as two giant cannons are wheeled into the stadium. They’re massive, each being pulled by 20 men each via long sturdy brown ropes. The dancers make way, allowing the cannons to take center stage.

“I need those. I never knew I needed something so bad in my life until this moment.” Ryder declares.

Azura looks at him with a concerned look, and says “Don’t get any funny ideas.”

“But they call out to me. They’re saying ‘please Ryder, we need you. We yearn for you. We-’”

“Shush! You better not do anything today.”

“So tomorrow’s ok?”

“No! Will, can you snap some sense into him? He’s about to drool all over himself.”

Will opens his pocket dimension and takes out a napkin.

“Here you go” Will offers, which Ryder takes.

“Why thank you Will.”

“Not what I had in mind but I’m not surprised in the slightest.” Azura sighs.

The cannons below are moved, being aimed upwards. The cannons are lit and discharged, letting out these ear shattering booms. The audience cheers, reaching a pitch that supersedes the cheers when the guilds were introduced. It hurts my ears, making me turn away. When I did so, I saw Sophie who had done a 180. Right when she had gotten used to the crowd and loud noises, this happened which she must not have been prepared for. The poor girl covers her ears, her eyes widen and she begins to breathe rapidly and heavily; the signs of a panic attack. Warren immediately notices, gets up, and puts the girl in his arms. Everyone else witnesses it, wondering what’s wrong.

“Is she ok?” Lilith asks, genuinely concerned.

“No, she can’t handle the noise. We’re getting out of here” Warren tells us.

Akane begins to unsheathe her sword.

“The audience will pay for these transgressions.”

“No.” Warren denied. “We just have to leave. Sorry everyone, have fun without us.”

“D-do you want us to come with?” Adam proposes.

“No, don't worry about it. She’ll be fine”

Warren makes his way past us with the girl in his arms. Despite being told to stay behind, Akane follows anyway, making my party short by two people. The cheering from the crowd continues but the rest of us feel slightly down. Everyone except Nerva who has somehow missed all of that due to cheering and shooting flames everywhere.

“Quincy, just who is that girl?” Will whispers to me.

“Long story short: Akane and Warren saved her from desert racists.”

“I might need a bit more detail.”

“I’ll tell you the full story later, right now it appears we have more important things to worry about.”

I point across him, drawing everyones’ attention to Armstrong, who has joined us in the midst of the bedlam.

“Isn’t this fun?!” he asks everyone.

“Fuck yeah!” Nerva yells.

“Whoop dee freaking doo” I add.

“That’s the spirit! But I’m afraid all of us need to get going.”

“For what?” Remi inquires.

“Dragon’s Descent meeting.”

Remi’s face becomes serious, nods her head.

“Ugh what’s happening?” Will asks, just as confused as me.

“When Armstrong says that. It means all of Dragon’s Descent needs to meet up in the guild ASAP.” she answers.

I look around, and notice that all of our guild members are suddenly overcome with serious expressions. Armstrong motions for all of us to get moving, and we do so. I have never seen the members of this guild so serious before, it’s quite the shock. We regroup in Dragon’s Descent which has a heavy atmosphere. The fact that no one’s fighting, drunk, or both means business is going down. Everyone is sitting quietly in their seats, fortunately not making a mess of a place that I have cleaned up dozens of times. Will, Remi, Adam, Nerva, and I are sitting at one table while everyone else is sitting at another next to us. Armstrong’s in the center of everyone, his arms crossed and brows furrowed as Willow pulls a chalkboard to him. Jack is in the back, leaning back with his legs crossed as his hat covers his face.

“Alright Dragon’s Descent. It’s official, this year’s tournament is an elimination tournament! We win by accumulating the most victories. Each fighter has to keep going until they are eliminated or we defeat all opposition. It’s not what I expected but the emperor must’ve felt like switching things up this year. We have to decide our representatives here and now.” Armstrong lays out.

The place immediately becomes rowdy as the guild members begin venting their frustrations, yelling stuff about how it’s not fair the number of representatives is limited this year or something. I don’t understand it all but apparently this is a new format for the Grand Skirmish.

The rabble is cut short by a loud bang which silences the guild. We all turned our attention to the source and it was Jack who had slammed his foot on the ground while still seated. He smirks, quietly leans back and resumes his original laid back position, putting his hat back over his face. Not to self, never, ever mess with Jack. I don’t know why, but I fear him more than I fear Armstrong. Must be because I think of sand every time I look at him.

“Now I know all of you signed up to participate but we have to focus on what’s important: winning. Now three of our representatives have already been chosen. We need to choose the rest.” Armstrong explains.

“Who’s the three?!” someone hollers.

“The heroes and Adam.”

I stand up, proclaim “Now wait a minute. In light of the recent turn of events, I say we reevaluate that.”

Will and Adam vigorously nod in agreement.

“Go ahead Quincy, I think you can make a very compelling argument” Will eggs on.

Armstrong chuckles, and replies “No.”

I exhale, begin saying “But what about-”

“No.”

“I’m just saying, if we want-”

“No.”

“Come o-”

“No.”

I sit down in defeat. Willow takes out a piece of chalk and writes our names down.

“At least you tried” Will consoles.

“It was a longshot,” I admit.

“Ok so who else wants to join?” Armstrong asks the room.

Everyone in the guild raises their hands.

“Well that makes things easier” Willow deadpans.

Suddenly Nerva jumps onto our table, waving her arms around.

“Armstrong! Pick me! Come on! Pick me! Armstrong!” she yells, becoming a ball of energy.

Armstrong smirks, and says jokingly “Hmmmm I wonder who I should pick. I was thinking of someone with a fiery spirit.”

“That’s me! Don’t fuck this up! That’s me Armstrong!”

“Should be a mage, loves to fight. Is quite small but makes up for it in terms of skill.”

Nerva gets down, runs up to Armstrong and starts to jump up and down as she waves her arms in front of him. She reminds me of an excited chihuahua in front of their owner. He pretends not to notice her.

“Oh well, no one matches that description.” Armstrong laments.

Nerva fumes and begins to make a fireball.

“Guess we have to go with Nerva” he adds.

The guild breaks into a fit of laughter as Willow writes her name on the board. It takes Nerva like 15 seconds to realize it was a joke.

“Man fuck you Armstrong” she insults as he continues to laugh.

She rejoins us, pouting as she sits down.

“Ok who’s next?” Armstrong inquires.

To our surprise, Lilith is the first to raise her hand.

“I’d like to participate,” she announces.

“I’m sorry Lilith but you can’t.” Armstrong denies.

We stare at him, completely befuddled. Did he just deny one of the strongest people here?

“Armstrong, are you sure? Lilith is the strongest person here besides yourself. I’m pretty sure she can bench press 4 tons and has enough muscles to make men question their masculinity. ” Will argues.

“Yeah” Remi concurs. “She is a walking pile of meat. She’s basically on steroids whose strength rivals that of an orc. She is a true warrior, not a lady in the slightest. In fact, every time I look at her I forget she’s female.”

“Am I being praised or insulted?” Lilith wonders, starting to feel self conscious about her body.

Ryder and Azura shrug, not really sure themselves.

“I would love to have you join Lilith but Lord Borin forbade it. He predicted this would happen. Willow read the letter” Armstrong motions.

Willow reaches into her pocket and takes out a piece of paper. She opens it, clears her throat and says “By the decree of Lord Borin: My granddaughter shall under no circumstances take part in this year’s Grand Skirmish. The image of her getting hurt is too great for me to bear. She is a delicate little flower that must be protected at all costs. Her participating is simply too dangerous a risk and shall be avoided at all costs. Any attempts by the members of Dragon’s Descent to enroll her in the Grand Skirmish shall result in immediate execution of those individuals that enrolled her. By the order of the office of Lord Borin, in the year of the gods and goddesses: 2660 AC”

Lilith puts her face in her palms, muttering “grandfather why?”

“It’s ok, I will participate!” Ryder pronounces. “I may not be as muscular as Lilith but I’m the best we got!”

“Wooo Ryder” Will cheers.

“This is the perfect chance for me to show my stuff. I’m going to blow the competition away!”

“Is that figurative? Wait, it's you, why would I even ask that? We already know the answer. You better not blow up the stadium this time.” Azura warns.

“You worry too much. It’ll be fine.” Ryder dismisses with a hand wave. “You act like I have no self-control.”

Azura gives him a look that basically says “ did you really just say that?”

“I like the enthusiasm! Willow, put down Ryder” Armstrong orders.

Willow does so, leaving one more spot left.

“One more spot huh? Who should it be?” Armstrong wonders.

People are raising their hands, asking for Armstrong to pick them. Armstrong scans the crowd, genuinely thinking about who’d be a good pick. It was at this moment I realized couldn’t Jack join us? The dude is so powerful it’s not even funny.

“Hey Adam, how come your dad doesn’t want to fight?” I ask, noting that he was one of the few people not vying for Armstrong’s attention.

“That’s because his rank isn’t allowed to participate. Otherwise the matches wouldn’t be fair.” he explains.

“What is your dad’s rank anyway?”

“God Slayer.”

“Jesus” I say in awe.

God Slayer is the highest rank in the adventurer’s guild. I shouldn’t be surprised but I am. Ok so whoever is picked needs to be nowhere near that.

Will leans over to Remi and asks “What about you Remi? Do you want to participate?”

She shrugs, replies “I don’t really feel like it. Like sure, winning the Grand Skirmish would be cool but I don’t personally get anything out of it you know?”

Azura leans over, asserverates “You not wanting to participate is the most interesting thing I’ve heard all day.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you of all people don’t want a share of the monetary prize?”

Remi straightens up in her seat.

“What are you talking about Azura?”

“Yeah you didn’t know? In addition to the trophy the winning guild receives about 4 million gold.”

“W-why has no one told me this?”

“It’s something everyone knows. It should go without saying but I forgot you’ve moved here recently so you probably haven’t heard.”

Remi stares at Azura with a blank expression, her mind processing something. She looks at Will, tells him “There’s been a change of plans”

She slams her hand on the table and stands up, shouting “Armstrong pick me!”

Armstrong notices her and smiles.

“You just found out about the money didn’t you?” he observes.

“Maybe. Put my name down. I’m the strongest and most talented one here, so I’ll help you out, Armstrong.”

The bragging makes all of Will’s party roll their eyes.

He laughs and motions for Willow to put her name down.

With that there are now six names on the board. There’s me, Will, Ryder, Adam, Nerva, and Remi. The six of us are officially going to represent the guild for the whole empire to see. I’m starting to feel the pressure. Everyone cheers as Willow takes the chalkboard away.

“I feel like we got ourselves a good team. This year is going to be fun.” Armstrong notes.

I disagree. Half of us are being forced to fight but it’s too late now to do anything about it.

“So this thing starts tomorrow right?” I ask everyone.

“Yup. The first fight is scheduled at 8 in the morning. The first match up is between our guild and Angel’s folly. We need to figure out who’s going first. The battle order is up to us” Armstrong tells us, taking a seat at our table.

“I got this shit!” Nerva yells, bouncing up and down in her seat.

“No. This fight is mine” Ryder cuts in, sounding surprisingly serious.

“Ryder, are you sure?” Azura asks, clearly knowing something we don’t.

“Yeah. We both know who they’re choosing to go first.”

Azura nods.

“Armstrong, let me go first. Please.”

Armstrong looks at him, also taken quite aback from Ryder’s change in demeanor.

“Let me guess, it’s personal?” he guesses.

“Very.”

“Very well. Ryder, you'll go first.”

“Ryder what happened?” Will inquires.

“Let’s just say there’s bad blood. The man in question, the fiend I refer to, did the unspeakable.”

We all lean in, eager to hear the answer.

“He said my explosions were trash!” he finishes, slamming a fist on the table.

We gasp in shock. That sounds like heresy. Insulting Ryder’s explosions is akin to insulting the man himself but worse. Insulting Ryder’s explosions is probably the only way to get under his skin.

“I never knew such evil existed” Will remarks.

“You better kick his butt man” I add.

“Ok now let’s get the rest of the battle order laid out so we’ll be set for tomorrow.” Armstrong informs us.

“Me!” Nerva screams.

“No.” Armstrong rejects.

“Why the fuck not!?”

“Our next scheduled fight is against Kraken’s deep. While their whole guild doesn’t consist of water mages, there’s a higher chance of you encountering one. Putting a fire user against a water user is unpredictable. I don’t want to risk it.”

I lean back in my chair, realizing that there’s a meta to this tournament. It’s like a massive chess game between the guild masters. They’re all choosing pieces and making moves, despite not knowing everything about their opponents. There’s strategy in choosing who goes first, second, third etc. From knowing the fight schedule in advance, they can choose their fighters accordingly by making educated guesses.

“William, you’re going second” Armstrong lays out.

“I am?”

“Yup. Your wind ability makes you versatile against any type of opponent and since I have no idea who Kraken’s Deep is choosing first, you’re a safe bet.”

“Can I argue against this?”

“No.”

Armstrong leans back in his chair, reveals “There’s only one more fight for us tomorrow. Actually for each day, each guild will have three fights. A day’s fight schedule is only released the day before. Our last opponent will be Basilisk's Gaze.”

“Pick me now Armstrong! I got this shit! I’ll shove their suits up their asses!” Nerva proclaims.

“Ha! I like it, you’ll go third. There we have it, Ryder, William, and Nerva will be fighting tomorrow.”

“That’s a shame. I wanted my son to show everyone his strength” Jack complains, taking a seat next to Armstrong.

“Don’t worry Jack, your son will go eventually. Right Adam?”

Adam looks at them dejectedly.

“I-I’m going to die” he whimpers.

“Die of excitement? Me too son. I’m so happy. I’m going to record it so that I can watch it when I’m old. I’m gonna put it right next to your baby videos.”

“P-please don’t dad.”

“Make sure to send me a copy” Armstrong requests.

“Oh of course” Jack affirms.

“Alright so we’re all set! Tomorrow, we’re going to show the world once again why we’re the strongest guild.”

He puts his arm out over the center of the table.

“Come on everyone. Let me hear a ‘go team’.”

We very reluctantly do so.

“Go team!” Armstrong yells.

We all say “go team” very unenthusiastically except for Nerva, who adds a “fuck yeah” at the top of her lungs. With that we’re set, tomorrow, the Grand Skirmish shall begin.