-Ria POV-

The next day the surviving contestants gathered around the tournament person in a different room this time around. I don’t know how many rooms and entrances this colosseum has but suffice to say it had a lot more than I would bother to remember. I simply went with the group of contestants to reach the room we were to gather around. They explained the rules to us within this period of time.

“For the second round we are separating the 160 people here into ten different groups. Group A to J. The groups are by no means to decide how strong one as a matter of fact its random. Therefore there will be sixteen per group. Within each separate group each person must draw lots to determine who each person must fight, furthermore it will be held in similar fashion as the third round. The winner of each group will advance into the third round. The 10 runner up from each group must fight in a battle royale among themselves. Once four contestants faint the remaining six will also move on the third round. There will be only one group participating per day, from A to J group. The rest of the contestants will be provided a area to view the fight."

After he had given the explanation he proceeded to press a button. As soon as he pressed it the bracelet which we were given when we advanced yesterday lit up. The various bracelets lit up in a different colour.

“The colour in which your bracelet lit up will determine the group you are in.”

He proceeded to say the colours for each group one by one. The colour my bracelet lit up was red. Red was apparently in group J. That means my match will be in fifteen days from now. The people who were in the A group were gathered for further briefing whereas the rest of us were shown to another door leading to a section of the seats at the colosseum. It seemed to be a area reserved for us contestants as there wasn’t a single person to be seen in that area, despite the fact everywhere else was packed. I picked a seat and went ahead and sat myself down. The rest of the contestants sat down as well. The person who sat next to me wore a robe. He seemed quite old compared to the rest of the contestants.

Eventually the display that showed the numbers before displayed a chart with the participants names. It showed the order in which they would fight and who their opponents would be. In the middle of the area a huge platform raised up from beneath the ground. It was slightly elevated compared to the rest of the ground around it. It appeared to be the stage in which the fights will all take place.

With a huge cheer from the audience the fights started. The fights were rather dull as there wasn’t any magic being used at all. Instead they were simply fighting each other with their weapons. The fight was slightly more interesting than watching copper rank adventurer fight monster in groups but that was about it. There was no use of anything that looked cool at all. The third round it was a battle between a mage and another swordsman. I seem to have found a recurring pattern among adventurers. Its apparently popular to pick a simple weapon like a sword. I haven’t really seen any cool weapons from any adventurer other than Derek party. That mjolnir guy had a pretty cool weapon as well.

The fight between the mage and swordsman was pretty anticlimactic. The mage easily dealt with his adversary with a single spell. He merely blasted the swordsman with a single fireball. The crowd went wild at the mage display of magic. The other contestants around me were talking among each other rather than observe the fight. There were one or two among them who watched the fight but majority were busy talking. After all the matches had taken place the final winner was the mage who continuously took out his opponent with a single spell.

The second day the only participant who caught my eye was a guy who was using a scythe. Like the day before the scythe guy claimed a overwhelming victory as he easily finished all his fights in a single blow. The days passed as I went to the colosseum everyday to watch the group match for that day. Sometimes there was a overwhelming difference in strength sometimes it was a close fight.

Eventually it was group J turn to fight. Instead of heading towards the viewing area we were guided towards a different room. In that room we drew lots to determine who we would fight. I was in the first match against another generic swordsman. Out of ten contestants there was about seven swordsman. Why is using a sword so popular. It isn’t even all that good in a fight. Its too thin I could easily break one in a single hit. Why isn’t a huge sword like the one the knight monster used more popular. It was much more destructive compared to the tiny sword. At the very least use a special sword that could transform like some of the people I met have.

When the fight started as expected I easily broke his sword using nothing but brute strength. As soon as I broke it I used my hand and punched him hard enough to cause him to faint. The audience broke out into a loud cheer as it happened. Well from the past few days I have learned how easy it was to make them cheer so I didn’t felt too happy. I still had my cloak on of course to conceal my appearance. Well with my first win secure I left the platform and went into the waiting room for my next match.

-Clarisse POV-

It was somewhat a change of pace being given a bodyguard mission. To assure the safety of the principal who was invited to watch the annual tournament two A ranks were sent to guard him. Me Astra who was famed for my offensive ability and Svalinn who was well know as the ultimate A rank in terms of defensive ability. Svalinn was a petit girl who had fiery red hair. She was rather short despite being twenty. She was a mere 140 cm. Her hair curly hair reached all the way to her heels. That was all I knew about her since I wasn’t that well informed due to my lack of interest in others.

The first 10 days were rather boring as we simply stood behind him to protect him from harm. Nothing happened of course. We were merely a precaution. The principal of the academy actually held a rather high post within the military as well so with this many people around he would naturally need some guards. Svalinn tried introducing herself to me initially, but after I had harshly refused her advancements to be acquainted she hadn’t approach me.

The last day for the second round was held. As usual the name list of the contestants floated in the middle of the place. The first name from the left immediately caught my attention. It was a short name yet it was one of the two which I had kept buried deep in my heart ever so deeply for all these years. The word Ria simply floated there as I clenched my fist.

“That’s the first time I seen anything but a poker face on that boring face of yours. What happened?” Svalinn suddenly said as soon as I had reacted to the name.

“It’s none of your business.”

The conversation ended there. My shock didn’t end there however. When this so called Ria walked out the person whom I saw was the cloaked demibeast who look like sera. I recognized the cloak she wore its without a doubt her. A person with the same face as one of my deceased friend and the name of the other couldn’t be mere coincidence. I need to investigate this a little more.

-Svalinn POV-

Due to my ability I was always assigned a bodyguard duty for some high ranking people. I was capable of fighting but my offensive ability was around the level of a B rank. That’s why I always worked in a pair. This time I was paired with Astra that scary A rank from the rumor who brutally killed the people who attacked her.

I tried my best to act nice to her initially but she just said some rude things and left. After that I was forced to stand next to her day after day for the mission. This mission is bad for my heart. On the last day for the second round of the tournament I noticed she looked upset about something.

I wanted to try to ask what happened , but I ended up being sarcastic. I was sure she was going to attack me to the point I clutched my weapon ready to defend myself. Luckily she didn’t seem to offended. I hope this mission ends soon was what i thought to myself, as I stood there next to the scariest A rank of us all.

(Author Note) : Hello its me again. Well i'm not that good with writing a tournament style thingy since its my first attempt. Previous version not counted since i never did finish it. Any advice on how to make it intresting would be nice. Like what part of it should i write maybe write more of the battles in more detail or something.

Edit Note- I edited the contestants in round 2 from 100 to 160. Because when i was writing the next chapter i realised 10 per group its impossible to hold a tournament style match. 16 is possible so i switched the numbers to make it logical. I'm Sorry T^T I had to add in a new rule to make it logical. Cause if 160 10 groups winner 10 people 10 can't hold tournament >.>. Therefore runner up battle royale get 6 more to make a tournament possible. Gah i'm confusing myself ._.