Chapter 1082. First Round

“Finally, what all of you have been waiting for! The first round of the Pythian games’ Martial Tournament! 42 high-level players have slaughtered their way through the preliminaries to arrive at this point. They have come from all around the Pathworks, all of them aiming for the top, the glory, and the final prize of a legendary item! Welcome back, everyone!” Umi Kaldrops greeted the crowd, winking into one of the golem's eyes.

Heavy rain was drumming on the roof above the stands, but the rain magically evaded the prominent announcer, floating in the air. It wasn’t the best weather for an event. The weather couldn’t diminish the amount of poltern the audience was engaging in, before anyone even entered the oval.

Raindrops splashed on the fresh stage, mirroring the lights of the crowd.. Once again, the center of the stadium had changed overnight. The preliminaries had left irreparable scars on the arena, so much so, that they had to completely exchange it. The new square was covered in expensive <Impact Marble>, ready for the abuse of the intense fights of the tournament. It was also shielded by a freshly strengthened barrier to ensure the safety of the audience.

“Please greet our participants!” she called out and 41 people lined up on the stage, being drenched by the heavy rain. Of course, they could have blocked the rain, with the fancy new barrier, but Minas Mar made the executive decision, that battling in the heavy rains was a much more dramatic and interesting setting.

“Before I explain the tournament and we begin with the pairing of the participants, I have an announcement for our esteemed audience. Bart, the winner of the 38th Preliminary round will unfortunately not be joining the tournament. Which means we will have a bye in the first round's drawing,” she revealed and continued without losing any momentum.

“The tournament will be random single elimination, “ she started and a simple tournament tree appeared on the big screens. It had six levels of rounds, however it lacked the usual progression path up to the final.

“Unlike a traditional tournament where the opponents a participant could face in the following round would be fixed, there will be a new drawing at the start of every new round, meaning the participant will never know who their enemy in the next round will be, exciting, right?” she explained the tree graphic to the audience.

The tournament structure was acknowledged with mixed feelings, mostly by people who were into gambling. This structure made traditional betting harder as there was no clear path of possible progression to bet at. As if holding back the structure of the tournament up to the first day wasn't bad enough, choosing this structure one could think Minas Mar was against gambling.

On the contrary, there were many bookies instructed by Jane, that offered various different opportunities to bet on and specialized in the tournament. Minas Mar wasn't against gambling, they were trying to monopolize it.

“As you can see, our numbers are a little unfitting, so there is a little specialty. There will also be a bye in the drawing for the second, and third rounds, but on top of that two of the losers will get another chance to return in the fourth round!” she revealed to the crowd.

the rule of random drawing for every route already seemed whimsical, but the whimsy was about to continue.

“How will these lucky ones be chosen you may ask,” Umi leaned into the camera questioning. “Of course, by popularity vote from the live audience! You, the viewers, will be able to vote on who you want to see return for the quarter-finals!” she called out with a big smile.

“Two participants exchanging opponents is not valid,” he started, a big “oh” of disappointment and some boos came from the audience. “However, since this is a bye, it does not matter. If both of you agree, it can be done,” the bard ended his sentence, causing the audience to heave a sigh of relief.

“What about my opinion on this?” the buff martial artist came over and asked in a bad mood. It seemed that he didn’t expect the rules to be bent so easily. Again, Rayki put his hand on his ear, to get instructions.

“I will relay the Tower Master’s words. “Nobody gives a fuck about your opinion. Now shut up, or there will be a second bye in the first round.” Is what I was asked to tell you,” the bard relayed the message word for word.

“Who do you think you are? Do you know who I am?!” the cultivator exclaimed offended.

“Yes we know, do you wish to continue like this and forfeit the tournament?” the bard asked wittily, but his eyes were cold. There was nothing he wanted more than to get the chance to kick this guy out right now.

However, the muscle brain had more wit than one would expect, and he begrudgingly reigned in his rampant ego trip. Self-control was apparently a virtue among cultivators, but for some reason, very few of them actually held that virtue. Seeing the man back off was a wonder in and of itself.

“Good, then it is decided. Participant Polter Onyxheart exchanged his bye with the barbarian Simplicity and will fight the cultivator Dumm Ting in the third fight of the third round!” Rayi announced and the pairing on the screens switched to reflect the change.

“Okay! With everything in place- Do you want to finally kick this party off?” Umi roused the audience. They were all stoked for the first fight, poltering away in the stands. All participants except the first pair left the arena.

Left in the arena were two men. On the left stood a tall, muscular man, his only special feature being the bald head and third eye on his forehead. On the right stood a warrior covered in full leather armor, wielding a Halberd. His face was hidden by the spectacle helmet and chain veil.

“You all know them! On the right, we have Tien Shen, who has shown terrifying martial prowess in the preliminaries! On the right is Byron, a rising star of the Boulder Guild, a local guild of Urth! Are you two ready?”

She waited for the two combatants to give their okay before continuing.

“Then let’s start our first fight! “