Chapter 182: Coincidence

"This weapon is very balanced and has a very nice handle on the earth elemental mana it produces. Very high quality, I shall use it in my next battle against the generals." His toothy smile showed the sharpness of his teeth, they were like lions, able to tear flesh from bone at any moment. "My name is Rorick of the lion pride tribe. I am the current ruling king of Ordist. I am glad to see our allies are fostering proper warriors and sending them here to show off." a sneaky glint in his eyes said there would be more to this. "Since you have come all this way, how about joining one of the generals tournaments. Scylla appreciates the potential of the young and is currently having a tournament for those around your age. I would very much like to see your kingdom's future strength," There it was the all too perfect coincidence. The look in the king's eye said that this was far from normal, Walker suspected it was set up last minute to test how the Crystal kingdom was doing. Walker would need a harsh word with their king when they next met.

"Why of course we would be honored to participate in such a strong tradition in your kingdom. My fellow party member Su was very much intrigued by the carvings showcasing the history, ``You truly have excellent artists and warriors." Walker was not putting all the pieces together and wanted to butter the king up a bit to see if they could gain some more knowledge. Maybe even some form of reward for themselves at the end. 

Hearing this the king himself seemed to become more prideful while glancing to Su as Walker motioned to her. "Very good eyes for a strong looking young warrior, I hope to see just what you can do against our young ones. We should have three spots available so please choose who of you will join me watching from my personal balcony and who will enter in to the fun." This was a bit unexpected but was most likely intentional so that Walker could keep Midnight out of a fight. This would be a risk due to her being a monster, if great harm came to her there was no safeguard to pull her out. Knowing this was the king's intention Walker already knew who would go to fight.

"Su, Remey, and myself will join. Gil, Midnight, and Onyx will watch with you. However I must know if there are any regulations to adhere to?" His choice on who to put in to the small tournament was staying the same no matter what but Walker had a striking suspicion that attack magic would be banned, they were a race that preferred brute force battle after all. 

"Ah yes how silly of me, I almost forgot." The toothy grin was shown again as the youth had seen through his little trick. " magic is forbidden, you may enhance your body with it but cannot use ranged spells or status inducing spells. No poisons at all, if you are suspected of doing so you will be exiled from her forever. You must fight until your opponent is unable to continue. You may choose weapons from our general armory and use elemental magic to strengthen them but not give them magical properties. You may forfeit but if you do so you will be charged a major fine as well as leave the city for five years. Other than that things are fairly simple, try not to mortally wound someone and you shall do fine." The king was smiling all the while, he knew that Walker was adept in magic from the gossip he had heard and wanted to see what this young hero could do without it as an option. He did internally praise Walker for keeping his archer and monsters out of the battle, it was the correct decision as a leader. "Shall my attendants lead you to the proper coliseum? Your members can follow me to the balcony." Having Onyx go with Midnight, Walker watched as king Rorick headed up a staircase with Gil in tow, Midnight seemed unhappy to be left out but Onyx got her following Gil easily enough.

"Guests please allow us to guide you to lady general Scylla's coliseum." The same attendant that had taken the sword was the one guiding them. The left through the opposite door they entered, the walls were filled with similar carvings showing a variety of demi-humans with snake or reptilian themed traits. This must be the difference within the general's heritage as well. From what Walker knew, Scylla was the name of an ancient sea monster that had many snakes as it's limbs. It would not be a surprise if that bloodline surfaced in reptilian based demi-humans. The tales of the intense battles against the ancient monster fought before being trapped deep under the sea, eventually being lost to the centuries. The tale was both epic and sad, Walker wanted to believe it right to imprison an evil monster for life after they caused great damage but also found it sad to think of a being trapped forever. These were emotions a normal person should not feel for a monster, was he influenced too much by having monsters as companions? 

Sounds of cheering and yelling became louder and louder until the three had been brought to a waiting room. Weapons lined the walls and a few younger demi-humans stood idly stretching and talking. They eyed the three carefully knowing that these were the opponents that they had been warned about battling. They had not been told of their abilities due to their mentors wanting them to face a true battle, In war they would not have the luxury of knowing an opponent s every move. 

The attendant left them alone as soon as they had entered, all they three knew was at the opposite end of the room was a tunnel that led to the light of the open air coliseum. " I am going to look for some weapons to bring in with me, I want to be prepared." Walker was planning to bring a few with him in his storage since spatial magic was not an attack magic and therefore not banned. He was also thinking about how he might utilize earth elemental manipulation to strengthen a weapon without using it as a form of attack. He was mostly thinking of a strategy using cross slash and earth swords. It could take his opponent off guard in an instant. 

Seeing two thin swords he began to plan how he would use these two and earth swords to his advantage. If he had the time he wished he could try and learn a skill that made better quality impromptu weapons out of the earth but he knew he was limited. Taking and carrying the swords as openly as possible to show the competition that he would be using them would hopefully give them a false sense of security. He proceeded to wander the room, the opponents were now ignoring him having seen his weapon choice, exactly as Walker wanted. He sneakily stored away an ax, one long spear, and even a small throwing dagger. The three may not be used exactly as intended but he would make the best of them for sure. 

Remey and Su had seen every move he had made. " You really think you're so sneaky don't you?" Remey was giggling as she said this knowing that the poor opponents Walker was put up against were in for a rude awakening. 

Remey I think you should go grab that staff over there," lowering to a whisper, " Make them think you are a mid range fighter so they force you in to close combat, then boom a fist to the head." Hearing his suggestion Remey smiled evilly. She loved this plan to surprise and crush her enemy before they knew what happened. She ran and snagged the wood staff surprising some of the demi-humans there since they thought she was going to use her knuckles but now they assumed they were to protect the tops of her hands while blocking with the staff. 

Su most likely couldn't use these sorts of plans. Her armor and large shield gave her away, that being so she still walked over and grabbed a second shield. Walker wasn't sure what she was planning but didn't want to push her to tell him, he trusted her decisions. 

Checking through all their gear the three made sure that everything was in order. There were a total of thirty two of them in the room waiting for the start. Every single one was trying to size the other up, some had already fought each other before while others were completely unknown. The three had hope that they were going to be unknown enough to surprise each opponent. The sounds from the tunnel became very loud signalling the start, an attendant entered and started to usher them out into the coliseum.