Two busy days later.

..

From the inside, the arena looked even more impressive than from the outside. To Severin it didn’t appear any inferior to the stadiums of his homeworld. Even the big screens floating in the air were the same. These screens, though they still remained dark at the moment, promised a clear view of the action - even from the higher ranks, where Severin was currently sitting next to a half-giant figure while regretting his decision not to accompany the youths.

After their unexpected meeting with Richard and Sib, the latter, more socially aware than the former, invited everyone to spectate Richard’s opening fight of the Games, right from the sidelines. Apart from the first responders and the security forces that were always on standby, only the teammates and the supporting staff of a combatant taking part in the current event could usually get this close.

For the hardcore fans, it was an irresistible offer.

As for Severin... All of a sudden, the idea of getting splattered with blood and gore didn’t sound all that bad anymore.

Not if that was the alternative.

That, being the inquisitive looks.

The whispering he couldn’t hear but had to assume was there.

His, as so often lately, inappropriate clothing.

And, of course, the sheer proximity not just the country’s political elite, but to the Imperial Box itself, which was located just a few meters behind him.

Severin had never felt this much out of place.

Despite this, an amused smile appeared on his face when he thought about the three youths.

The third being Felix, the previously large-headed [Berserker] who had stumbled through the inn’s suspenseful atmosphere that evening. Not truly understanding what was going on and with all eyes on him.

Or rather, almost all eyes on him.

At that time, he still hadn’t realized just who the two men were whose backs were turned to him. When he did, he thought he might lose his consciousness for the second time this day, with his heart racing harder than ever before, shaking like a leaf and pale as a ghost.

But in the end, the whole situation turned out less awkward and more cheerful than it could have been.

On one hand, the affable [Mindbender] calmed his nerves, while, on the other, Miriam whose original plan had been to make this fellow [Berserker] apologize to her mentor for his rash comments in return for his badge, had enough sense to consider the circumstances and to refrain from doing so.

And Felix, too, to his credit, had enough sense to offer an apology on his own accord, anyhow.

What followed after, was the most fun night Severin had in a long time; and also the reason why he had been so busy afterwards.

But the current circumstances didn’t lend themselves for Severin to keep dwelling on his thoughts and memories for too long.

At least this time, it wasn’t one of Samuel’s surprisingly many sycophants that came disturbing the peace.

Instead, it was an elderly man appearing in the middle of all the screens that suddenly had come to life.

Ringald’s full mop of hair had already faded, but Severin suspected that it had once been the same color as Markus', who seemed to be absent.

Were it not for the luxurious robes, at first sight, Severin would hardly have described the man as regal - in his eyes, the man's features were too soft- almost cordial- for someone of his status. The image simply did not match the one he had in his mind.

A closer look at the [King's] almost frighteningly sharp eyes, however, immediately dispelled any notions one might have had of being able to take advantage of the man.

Given the close proximity to him, instead of relying on the screen, Severin simply turned around.

Only to find that his vision was blocked by a figure dressed in a green robe. It wasn’t the Society’s emerald color, but a lighter, almost screaming green, which identified the figure as one of only tens of people in charge of the image transmission. According to Samuel, these people had the ability to transmit everything they saw directly towards nearby mediums they were currently attuned to.

‘Basically cameramen.’

Having to rely on one of the huge screens after all, Severin turned back around.

In the meantime, the whole stadium had turned quiet. Or at least as quiet as was realistically possible for a gathering of that many people.

In response, the man on the screen nodded, and his magically amplified voice filled the stadium.

“It is my great honor and privilege to host the one-hundred-and-ninety-ninth biennially held Games inside our beautiful Malcos, and to be able to welcome all of you who have come from near and far alike to witness this occasion.

In particular, I want to welcome our friends from Adria, Elheim, Irisburg, Rhenia and Urgisland,” each mention was followed by excited applause from the citizens of the respective countries, ”and their delegations without whom none of this would have been possible.

It pleases me greatly to see all of Galira coming together as one.”

Just a minute into the speech, and Severin was already bored.

…

“And of course, I have to say my thanks and wish the best of luck to all of this year’s participants who will be competing over these next couple of days.”

…

“And with this, I, Ringald, [King] and ruler of Malcos, declare this year’s Games officially open!”

‘Finally!’

Judging by the loud applause, Severin wasn’t the only one with this sentiment.

The applause hadn’t sounded completely off yet, when the view on the screens changed, and a new voice could be heard.

“And also a warm welcome from me! My name is Jake and I will be commentating for you on most of today’s events. Including the first and probably one of the most anticipated ones of this series.

The ten-man free-for-all!

As you can already see on the ground below and as is tradition with this event in particular, we won’t be seeing any of the fancy battleground layouts. Instead we…

Ah, excuse me, but it seems the gates are already opening! Please welcome the participants with me as they enter!

Through the first gate…!”

The big screen once again changed to the point of view of another one of the green-robed mages, showing the opening of the first of eleven gates leading into the oval shaped fighting arena, and a dwarven woman stepping inside.

She raised her arms, evoking another storm of applause, before coming to a halt inside the clearly demarcated area right in front of the now already closing entrance behind her.

This sight, as well as the accompanying shouts and chants, repeated itself for another eight times–skipping the considerable larger gate located between the fifth and the sixth which was only used for raid-boss-worthy monsters for the guild challenges and similar events.

And then, appeared the last of the gates. Drawing the attention of everyone inside the arena.

“And here he comes! The man of the hour! The man to beat! The reigning champion and record-holder! [Slaughter Kiiiiing Riiiich]!”

This time around, the noise was incomparable to anything Severin ever witnessed before, and it didn’t subside for another three or four minutes.

Only then did the voice return, knowing that trying to compete with the raging fans in terms of volume would be futile; even when his voice was magically augmented.

“Now, while we wait for the last preparations, let me give you a quick rundown of the rules.”

The voice paused for a second.

“And that’s it. Haha.” The commentator laughed at his own joke and enough of the audience joined in that they could clearly be heard even through all the shouting and the choruses of the fans singing their favorite fighter’s battle hymn.

“Jokes aside, but the rules are indeed few. Only really one. And that is not to kill if deemed unnecessary. What does that mean, you ask?

It means not to finish somebody off who is already out of commission.

That does not mean killing is otherwise encouraged, but in the heat of battle, it is just impossible to avoid completely -even for participants as experienced as today’s- and as such will not lead to disqualification.

Other than that, almost everything else goes. That explicitly includes all kinds of consumables, with the only exception being a select choice of outlawed poisons and the like. And of course, no outside help.

That means no buffs from your friendly support beforehand,” commentator Jake laughed again.

“And to prevent exactly such unsportsmanlike behavior, what we can see down there right now are the last-minute inspections.

Every item the participants might want to use has to be checked beforehand. As well as their current status screens.

That’s also the reason why, sadly, we can’t get any closer than this right now.

But… it seems… Is there a problem with the champion’s items? I can see some movement down there.

But no. No, it seems the green light has been given.

The assistants are leaving the field! The countdown has begun! One last minute of preparation for the athletes. Once this clock hits zero, they are allowed to leave their starting positions and use offensive skills.

Until then, they are restricted to only use buffs and to take whatever consumables they have just registered.

Some of you might already know this, but here’s a small fun fact. Did you know that wasn’t the case until the one-hundred-and-thirty-seventh games? There was no preparation time at all!

That meant certain classes, such as most summoners and others that are similarly dependent on pre-casting some of their skills, were virtually never seen in this event. Unimaginable nowadays, huh?

But speaking of which. Not really a summoner in the traditional sense, but our reigning champion after emptying this small bottle is currently…? He has already summoned his swords, which is very out of character for him. And… aren’t they more than last time? Way more, I mean. One, two… someone count them for me!

But what is he doing there? Only a few more seconds to go and he seems to be busy coating each and every one of them with the contents of those small flasks.

Just what is he planning to do? And what are these patches on his gear? Anyone else see them? S.E., is that what they say? Maybe some new kinds of enchants? I guess we will soon find out as…”

Bang

“That’s it! The Games have begun!”