Jonathan walks out to the cheering crowd. The sun high above blinds him, and he raises his hand to shield his eyes until they can adjust to the light.

Why do they have to have the waiting room so dark? Jonathan complains to himself.

“Ladies and Gentleman! The first match of the Oathbound tournament trial is about to start!” the announcer calls out.

Jonathan can feel his heart racing, pounding in his chest. There's no turning back now; he has to win this! Growing up as a street urchin, this is the only way for him to move up in the world. He has dodged the guard his entire life; he has hidden from the law, criminal organizations, and gangs, he can hide and stealth his way around his next opponent.

“Now, let's greet our next contestant!”

The gates on the other end of the arena raises, and a decrepit old man walks out, barely able to stand on his cane. The old man is but a skeleton dressed in skin. The old man protects his eyes from the light, looking all too frail.

Is this a joke?!

Anger rises as Jonathan watches the old man stumble out onto the sands.

No, this isn't a joke; the man is already dead. He'd rather die trying to achieve greatness while he is in his Vitality Days, the days when one has grown so old their body has died of old age but is still animated by their vitality.

The old man is trying to grasp at life, for if he wins this tournament can gain immortality and age backwards to his prime, a final gambit.

“As this is the first match for these new contestants, I will explain the rules,” the announcer says.. “All matches will be to the death. Contestants can choose to back out of the tournament at any time, or forfeit now before a match starts. However, upon doing so, they will be forever be barred from becoming an Oathbound! Do either of the contestants wish to withdraw at this time?”

“No!” Jonathan shouts and raises his daggers. The old man simply shakes his head.

“Excellent! Then on my mark!”

Jonathan [Analyze's] the old man.

Life Binder Human (Exalted), Level 452 Prism Caster, Level 346 Radiant Star

He is actually low-level for someone so old, which means he reset his class to better fit being an Oathbound.

Light Mage, likely specializing in laser attacks, but I should consider illusions.

As a fellow Human, Jonathan will be able to see the mana of illusions, so he isn't worried; he just needs to hide.

“Three!” the announcer counts down.

Once I’ve won this, any previous crime I had committed will be pardoned, no matter how heinous.

He dreams of winning the final fight and taking the oath before the Emperor. He will no longer have to live in the shadows, no longer will he have to fight every day to survive.

“Two!”

Jonathan looks up at the VIP booth. There he sees Oathbound Jordan, the Emperor's right hand, overseeing the tournament.

“One!”

Jonathan slows his breathing and closes his eyes, ready to react faster than ever before, and focuses on the old man's soul; he doesn't need to fear retaliation here, not against the old man. Light versus shadow, which one will be faster?

“Start!”

Jonathan dived into the soul layer right as a beam of light burns the air around him.

This will only take a moment. Neither darkness nor light reigns supreme here. Wisps of ectoplasm drift around, floating on the whims of fate.

Jonathan likes it here. It is solitary and quiet as if there's nothing else in the world, and despite how close something looks, it takes a long time to traverse, in appearance, anyway. In real-time, thanks to his class abilities, only a few seconds will have passed.

He walks toward the floating soul in front of him, which he knows belongs to the old man, and maneuvers himself to find the right position to transition back. He does not even consider attacking while he is on the soul layer. Jonathan had tried attacking the soul directly once. While it was successful, the backlash was the worst thing he had ever felt. Ever since, Jonathan only used the soul layer to effectively teleport around or to buy time for himself.

Eventually, Jonathan gets close enough to the old man and jumps back into the normal world. The one downside to this is that he can't actually see the normal world, but at the same time, it avoids all clairvoyance except [Soul Sight] and [Sense Soul], a trade-off that has saved him numerous times by hiding and even allowing him to pass through solid objects.

He has practiced striking from the soul layer to perfection. Shift back to the real world, at the exact moment his blade would strike his foe. This requires him to memorize the environment to make sure he isn’t shift back in a perilous place.

With his shadow Bond, Jonathan unleashes a black fog the instant he reappears in the normal world but instantly dives back into the soul layer. On more than one occasion, he has been hit by reflex when he does that. He walks to the side of the old man and jumps back into the normal again, and this time, delivers a strike to the old man's neck, decapitating him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jordan quirks an eyebrow at the soul assassin, or would it be shadow assassin? He's got classes for both, but his shadow is higher level.

Unseen Human (Exalted), level 392 Shadow Thief, level 302 Soul Assassin

Clearly someone who's lived a life of crime, and it shows how good he is since he's never been caught. No matter who he was, though, he either dies in this tournament or is reborn as an Oathbound, loyal to the Emperor and the Empire.

It is very common for these types of people to try the tournaments. They've got nothing to lose, after all. They’ve grown up in poverty and crime and see this as their only way out. It is a sad fact but many gangs will harm and kill those that leave their circle for fear that they might inform the guards about their activities. This is just one way to become far outside of their reach.

Several Oathbound came from a criminal background and their advice have led to reform in how laws and guard activities are handled. The Emperor welcomes the experience of these people for it allows him to better govern with fairness. Unfortunently, it is impossible to have a society with zero poverty and homeless.

However, Jordan would rather have one of the lesser races win the tournament. It's rare for a lesser race to join, hoping to be the first Non-Human Oathbound, but due to them being lesser, none has ever won before.

It will do wonders for the empire if a lesser race were to rise up and join ranks in the greater races. They can help bring civilization to many other savage and primitive tribes. They can act as a symbol of hope that they too can, with hard work and dedication, become a greater race or even a legendary being.

The body of the old man is carried away. Jordan has nothing but respect for him; he lived a long life and chose his own way to die. The old man knew he was going to die in the tournament. Only one can win, after all and there are many more with stronger bodies and more experienced in combat.

However, even if someone wins this tournament, that doesn't mean that they wont die in the before becomming a full fledged Oathbound Knight. Winning the tournament only allows one to become an Oathbound Squire, it's fighting the cursed being after, A Pained One, that makes one become an Oathbound Knight. The Pained One is a weak cursed being only barely equivalent to a legendary being.

The shadow assassin won't win; not against a soulless being. But then, almost no one does. Only the one-in-a-million, like all the Oathbound before, can succeed. The Emperor only wants the best of the best.

Jordan watches the next series of matches, not finding even one talent among them. There had been two more people with interesting classes or combinations of classes, like the shadow assassin, but none have what it takes to survive. They do not have the talent or the experience needed to win.

The most heart-crushing match is a child who had just made it to level two hundred. Probably felt the power boost of a class evolution, the new Grand tier class, and thought he was strong enough. It's a common tale, but one that almost always ends tragically. Only once was a child able to become an Oathbound. Children are always encouraged to withdraw, and they are even spared the normal consequences of being forbidden to join the Oathbound later in life.

Only two lesser races joined the tournaments, a Fylox, and a Klar. Naturally, neither stood a chance, both of them being born in the Minor tier. A shame, since the Fylox had even managed to climb her way to the Grand tier as an adventurer. The Klar, on the other hand... well, they aren't the smartest people around, and this one had only managed to reach the adept tier.

Jordan sighs. Much like children, the lesser races are given many chances to withdraw. It's such a shame to lose lesser races with high potential to climb their way to the greater tiers like Heroic and Exalted.

Jordan only spots one person who managed to smuggle in a magic item; a small, thin, almost imperceptible glass ring. There's always at least one cheater. If they are up against anyone with potential, he will intervene to make sure a good Oathbound candidate won’t be unfairly eliminated. However, for this battle he will not interfere, since the cheater’s opponent has no potential or capability to win. The cheater will soon die to someone better anyway as anyone with the potential of an Oathbound should be able to win a disadvantaged battle. If the cheater does somehow make it all the way to the top twelve… then he will find out just how strong an Oathbound really is.

Soon the day ends, and the contestants return to their quarters. The half that are still alive, that is.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jonathan has survived the first round, but he needs to live through the rest and reach the top of one hundred contestants. It is a bracket style tournament since the dead can’t fight another round, so realistically he only needs to wins six rounds but each fight will become progressively harder.

In the cafeteria, no one talks to each other. Why bother making friends when everyone here will die? He could go into one of the other blocks where a different group fights; one of them will survive, but pretty much the same logic applies; you have an extremely low chance of making friends with the person who will ultimately survive. Instead, everyone is eyeing each other, trying to gauge how well they will go up against them. Jonathan, too, is [Analyzing] everyone he can and formulating plans for each one in case he is matched up with them.

The huge mountainous man over there looks tough; hard to reach certain vital areas like the neck. While Vitality will keep an arm moving, bleeding out is a good way to lose a lot of vitality. The hardest foes are the regenerators, like that huge man. Jonathan will have to kill them in one or two hits, pierce the brain and leave the dagger in to prevent their brain from healing, then try to chop the head off.

Jonathan retires to his cot after maintaining his weapons and armor, quickly falling asleep. In the morning, he is woken up by trumpets blaring in the room.

“Get ready! The tournaments will be starting in an hour!” a servant shouts.

Jonathan hears the man above his cot grumbling about being woken up, but pays it no mind. He keeps quiet and simply prepares for his second day in the tournament. He's going to win this. there's no doubt in his mind. He can't afford to doubt himself.