Chapter 51: The Tournament Begins!
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Chapter 51: The Tournament Begins!
With the ringing of the ten massive bronze bells, the tournament officially began.
People erupted into cheers louder than even the ringing. The C-Grade lioness disappeared, and long energy walls split the arena.
These walls were transparent and shimmering blue. There were three of them; two split the arena into four equal parts, and the other was horizontal, stretching over the arenas lip and isolating the four mini-arenas that had been created.
A djinn jumped into the air. White wings spread from her back as she came to hover over the center of the arena, where the two criss-crossing walls met. She held a scroll in her hand.
Jack scanned her instantly.
Djinn, Level ??? (E-Grade)
Faction: Merchant Union (C-Grade)
It was almost the same screen he saw every time he scanned a djinn. However, his sharp eyes noticed there was an extra question mark on this one. ArTazul and ArKarvahul only had two question marks. The lioness had had three.
Does that mean her Level is three digits? he wondered. Interesting So the E-Grade extends to the hundreds.
He then realized there was a much easier way to find out.
Hey, Karvahul, he asked, up to what Level does E-Grade go?
125, replied the djinn, shooting him a weird look. Why are you asking this now?
Just curious.
He turned his attention back to the arena, where the flying, three-digited-level djinn was about to speak.
Attention, participants, she read from her scroll. The rules have already been announced to you by Her Nobility. I am AlMarazith, the head judge for this Integration Tournament, and I will handle the more mundane parts. As Her Nobility said, you will fight a series of rounds, each lasting exactly one Earth-387 day. For every round, each participant will only fight once, at a maximum time limit of ten Earth-387 minutes.
Before the beginning of each round, your fighting order and opponents will be randomized. Your identification tokens will buzz and glow an hour before your scheduled fight, but to avoid no-shows, we encourage you all to be here each dawn, when the names are randomized. After all, you might have to fight first.
Finally, the Animal Kingdom will graciously provide ten thousand credits to the winner of each fight. These will be transferred automatically to your identification token, from where you can draw it into your credit card.
Whispers erupted at the sound of such a large sum. A man with strong lungs, however, had another question. He stood up and shouted, What about ties?
Then, both opponents lose, she replied.
Jack found himself nodding. That made sense. When is my fight? he wondered, glancing at his token. It wasnt shining.
I will randomize your names now, the flying djinn said, still staring at her scroll. It shone bright for a moment, then dimmed down. Jacks token glowed silver. So did Edgars.
Dude! Jack said, raising his hand for a high-five. Nice! Were lucky.
Im scared, Edgar responded, matching Jacks high-five dispiritedly. What if I lose on the first round?
Youll have another shot. Come on, Edgar! Live it up a little!
I guess youre right
Here, have this. It will braven you up. Jack reached into his jacket pockets and retrieved a pack of salami, then opened it and handed a slice to Edgar. They were already pre-cut; how convenient.
Edgars eyes widened. Whats that!? he asked.
Salami.
No, I mean, where did you find it?
In my fridge. Theres lots of them.
No, I He seemed in disbelief for some reason. Why do you have salami? he finally stuttered out.
To eat it? Jack raised a brow. I have cheese too if you prefer.
Edgar groaned.
Is that salami? Karvahul asked, taking a look. Can I have some?
When he jumped into the stage, he seemed to fall faster than gravity would indicate. According to the announcer, he was Dorman Whistles, with the Dao of Speed. His opponent barely had time to draw her weapona metal pipebefore Dorman had his daggers at her throat.
I resign she said breathlessly. This time, the crowd didnt cheer as hard; most were still reeling from this guys speed, as was Jack.
He was pretty confident he could sweep the floor with any of the previous eight fighters. This Dorman, however Jack frowned, looking at his flip-flop. If I meet someone strong, this could be a struggle. Maybe I should have gone for the Dao of Spanking With My Fist.
Dorman quickly jumped back up, then flashed Jack a smile.
Nice fight, Jack said. Salami?
Sure, Dorman replied. He was an Asian-looking kid with a nonchalant attitude and two daggers at his waist. He didnt even flinch when Jack pulled the salami out of his pocketsmaybe hed seen the previous one. Nice monkey, he replied.
Thanks. His name is Brock.
Is he a good boy?
A strong one.
The other interesting pairing, however, didnt end as fast. It was a battle between a dark-skinned man with the Dao of Fire and an eastern European woman with the Dao of Ice. These two were already polar opposites, so Jack expected a good fight. What he didnt expect was the tension in the spectator stands across him, where two groups were facing off.
One was made up of dark-skinned people and led by a woman in fiery red athletic clothes. The other had pale-skinned, hard-faced slavs, led by a big guy with hands as big as shovelheads. The two groups were a few stands apart, but they were staring at each other while their leaders shouted something that Jack couldnt catch.
Thats the Flame River and the Ice Peak, Karvahul explained from the side. Theyre two of the three major factions of your planet, and theyre expected to be at odds due to their opposite powers.
Are factions supposed to be built around a power theme? Like fire or ice? Edgar asked, inspecting the people across them.
Usually, yes. Youll see; when people get used to the System, your planets factions will gravitate towards that model, too. Those ones are just ahead of the curve; they probably control fire-oriented and ice-oriented resources.
Hmm. Jack nodded. The Forest of the Strong had Physical-oriented resources. It was reasonable that his faction would focus on melee combat.
The people on the stands shouted at each other for a bit, then watched the battle below with heated eyes. Coming to blows was against the rules, but that didnt apply to the people in the arena.
The dark-skinned man with the power of fire and the slavic woman with the power of ice clashed fiercely. Both were over Level 30, unlike the vast majority of people, and their battle wasnt to be taken lightly. Incidentally, both of them also sported the Planetary Frontrunner (100) title, which probably meant they were one of the first hundred people on Earth to get a Dao Root.
They werent the first people Jack saw with that title, but there were fewer of them than he would expect.
In the arena, torrents of fire smashed into chunks of ice. Sharp ice peaks rose from the ground under the fire man, who somehow used fire to propulse himself through the air.
His limbs were clad in flames. The slavic woman held a thick shield of ice. Apparently, both of them were proficient in both ranged and melee combat because, when they clashed, it didnt end quickly. They kept striking and dancing around each other for a good minute before the slavic woman snuck a fist in, sending the dark-skinned man flying to the far wall.
He fell on the ground and spat blood but rose again.
Thats enough, Sadaka! Resign! the dark-skinned womanprobably the leader of their factionshouted from the stands. Her voice washed over the arena without need for magic amplification.
The dark-skinned manSadakaglared at the slavic woman, who made the come at me gesture with a smug smile. Sadaka almost charged before gritting his teeth so hard Jack was afraid theyd break.
I resign, he forced out, shivering from the humiliation. The audience cheered for himhe was plenty strongbut that didnt seem to make him feel better. At the same time, his opponent shook her head in disappointment.
Both fighters jumped back to their stands, where their factions were back to ignoring each other.
Oh, wow, Jack said. Those guys are really going at it.
I told you, theyre polar opposites. Karvahul shrugged. Theyre heavily inclined to clash, anyway.
The announcer announced the next pairings. Among them, one stood out: Edward Hole and the Dao of the Club versus John Brown and the Dao ofSpanking.
She hesitated for a split-second before announcing Jacks Dao, then looked at the arena curiously, waiting to see who showed up.
Finally! Jack said with a smile. Im up.
Good luck! Edgar and Karvahul said in one voice. Beside them, Dorman quipped, Careful, between bites. Jack knew what he meant: be careful not to ruin the salami in your pockets.
He jumped down, floating through the air to land on the sand. The feeling was completely different here. The damp smell, the eyes on him, the big-bodied opponent staring him down with a large club on his shoulder.
This felt like the time he boxed Harambe, but so much grander. Jack grinned. The battle fever rose in him. He clutched his flip-flop.
It was time for a thorough spanking.
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Chapter 51: The Tournament Begins!
With the ringing of the ten massive bronze bells, the tournament officially began.
People erupted into cheers louder than even the ringing. The C-Grade lioness disappeared, and long energy walls split the arena.
These walls were transparent and shimmering blue. There were three of them; two split the arena into four equal parts, and the other was horizontal, stretching over the arenas lip and isolating the four mini-arenas that had been created.
A djinn jumped into the air. White wings spread from her back as she came to hover over the center of the arena, where the two criss-crossing walls met. She held a scroll in her hand.
Jack scanned her instantly.
Djinn, Level ??? (E-Grade)
Faction: Merchant Union (C-Grade)
It was almost the same screen he saw every time he scanned a djinn. However, his sharp eyes noticed there was an extra question mark on this one. ArTazul and ArKarvahul only had two question marks. The lioness had had three.
Does that mean her Level is three digits? he wondered. Interesting So the E-Grade extends to the hundreds.
He then realized there was a much easier way to find out.
Hey, Karvahul, he asked, up to what Level does E-Grade go?
125, replied the djinn, shooting him a weird look. Why are you asking this now?
Just curious.
He turned his attention back to the arena, where the flying, three-digited-level djinn was about to speak.
Attention, participants, she read from her scroll. The rules have already been announced to you by Her Nobility. I am AlMarazith, the head judge for this Integration Tournament, and I will handle the more mundane parts. As Her Nobility said, you will fight a series of rounds, each lasting exactly one Earth-387 day. For every round, each participant will only fight once, at a maximum time limit of ten Earth-387 minutes.
Before the beginning of each round, your fighting order and opponents will be randomized. Your identification tokens will buzz and glow an hour before your scheduled fight, but to avoid no-shows, we encourage you all to be here each dawn, when the names are randomized. After all, you might have to fight first.
Finally, the Animal Kingdom will graciously provide ten thousand credits to the winner of each fight. These will be transferred automatically to your identification token, from where you can draw it into your credit card.
Whispers erupted at the sound of such a large sum. A man with strong lungs, however, had another question. He stood up and shouted, What about ties?
Then, both opponents lose, she replied.
Jack found himself nodding. That made sense. When is my fight? he wondered, glancing at his token. It wasnt shining.
I will randomize your names now, the flying djinn said, still staring at her scroll. It shone bright for a moment, then dimmed down. Jacks token glowed silver. So did Edgars.
Dude! Jack said, raising his hand for a high-five. Nice! Were lucky.
Im scared, Edgar responded, matching Jacks high-five dispiritedly. What if I lose on the first round?
Youll have another shot. Come on, Edgar! Live it up a little!
I guess youre right
Here, have this. It will braven you up. Jack reached into his jacket pockets and retrieved a pack of salami, then opened it and handed a slice to Edgar. They were already pre-cut; how convenient.
Edgars eyes widened. Whats that!? he asked.
Salami.
No, I mean, where did you find it?
In my fridge. Theres lots of them.
No, I He seemed in disbelief for some reason. Why do you have salami? he finally stuttered out.
To eat it? Jack raised a brow. I have cheese too if you prefer.
Edgar groaned.
Is that salami? Karvahul asked, taking a look. Can I have some?
When he jumped into the stage, he seemed to fall faster than gravity would indicate. According to the announcer, he was Dorman Whistles, with the Dao of Speed. His opponent barely had time to draw her weapona metal pipebefore Dorman had his daggers at her throat.
I resign she said breathlessly. This time, the crowd didnt cheer as hard; most were still reeling from this guys speed, as was Jack.
He was pretty confident he could sweep the floor with any of the previous eight fighters. This Dorman, however Jack frowned, looking at his flip-flop. If I meet someone strong, this could be a struggle. Maybe I should have gone for the Dao of Spanking With My Fist.
Dorman quickly jumped back up, then flashed Jack a smile.
Nice fight, Jack said. Salami?
Sure, Dorman replied. He was an Asian-looking kid with a nonchalant attitude and two daggers at his waist. He didnt even flinch when Jack pulled the salami out of his pocketsmaybe hed seen the previous one. Nice monkey, he replied.
Thanks. His name is Brock.
Is he a good boy?
A strong one.
The other interesting pairing, however, didnt end as fast. It was a battle between a dark-skinned man with the Dao of Fire and an eastern European woman with the Dao of Ice. These two were already polar opposites, so Jack expected a good fight. What he didnt expect was the tension in the spectator stands across him, where two groups were facing off.
One was made up of dark-skinned people and led by a woman in fiery red athletic clothes. The other had pale-skinned, hard-faced slavs, led by a big guy with hands as big as shovelheads. The two groups were a few stands apart, but they were staring at each other while their leaders shouted something that Jack couldnt catch.
Thats the Flame River and the Ice Peak, Karvahul explained from the side. Theyre two of the three major factions of your planet, and theyre expected to be at odds due to their opposite powers.
Are factions supposed to be built around a power theme? Like fire or ice? Edgar asked, inspecting the people across them.
Usually, yes. Youll see; when people get used to the System, your planets factions will gravitate towards that model, too. Those ones are just ahead of the curve; they probably control fire-oriented and ice-oriented resources.
Hmm. Jack nodded. The Forest of the Strong had Physical-oriented resources. It was reasonable that his faction would focus on melee combat.
The people on the stands shouted at each other for a bit, then watched the battle below with heated eyes. Coming to blows was against the rules, but that didnt apply to the people in the arena.
The dark-skinned man with the power of fire and the slavic woman with the power of ice clashed fiercely. Both were over Level 30, unlike the vast majority of people, and their battle wasnt to be taken lightly. Incidentally, both of them also sported the Planetary Frontrunner (100) title, which probably meant they were one of the first hundred people on Earth to get a Dao Root.
They werent the first people Jack saw with that title, but there were fewer of them than he would expect.
In the arena, torrents of fire smashed into chunks of ice. Sharp ice peaks rose from the ground under the fire man, who somehow used fire to propulse himself through the air.
His limbs were clad in flames. The slavic woman held a thick shield of ice. Apparently, both of them were proficient in both ranged and melee combat because, when they clashed, it didnt end quickly. They kept striking and dancing around each other for a good minute before the slavic woman snuck a fist in, sending the dark-skinned man flying to the far wall.
He fell on the ground and spat blood but rose again.
Thats enough, Sadaka! Resign! the dark-skinned womanprobably the leader of their factionshouted from the stands. Her voice washed over the arena without need for magic amplification.
The dark-skinned manSadakaglared at the slavic woman, who made the come at me gesture with a smug smile. Sadaka almost charged before gritting his teeth so hard Jack was afraid theyd break.
I resign, he forced out, shivering from the humiliation. The audience cheered for himhe was plenty strongbut that didnt seem to make him feel better. At the same time, his opponent shook her head in disappointment.
Both fighters jumped back to their stands, where their factions were back to ignoring each other.
Oh, wow, Jack said. Those guys are really going at it.
I told you, theyre polar opposites. Karvahul shrugged. Theyre heavily inclined to clash, anyway.
The announcer announced the next pairings. Among them, one stood out: Edward Hole and the Dao of the Club versus John Brown and the Dao ofSpanking.
She hesitated for a split-second before announcing Jacks Dao, then looked at the arena curiously, waiting to see who showed up.
Finally! Jack said with a smile. Im up.
Good luck! Edgar and Karvahul said in one voice. Beside them, Dorman quipped, Careful, between bites. Jack knew what he meant: be careful not to ruin the salami in your pockets.
He jumped down, floating through the air to land on the sand. The feeling was completely different here. The damp smell, the eyes on him, the big-bodied opponent staring him down with a large club on his shoulder.
This felt like the time he boxed Harambe, but so much grander. Jack grinned. The battle fever rose in him. He clutched his flip-flop.
It was time for a thorough spanking.
Chapter 51: The Tournament Begins!With the ringing of the ten massive bronze bells, the tournament officially began.People erupted into cheers louder than even the ringing. The C-Grade lioness disappeared, and long energy walls split the arena.These walls were transparent and shimmering blue. There were three of them; two split the arena into four equal parts, and the other was horizontal, stretching over the arenas lip and isolating the four mini-arenas that had been created.A djinn jumped into the air. White wings spread from her back as she came to hover over the center of the arena, where the two criss-crossing walls met. She held a scroll in her hand.Jack scanned her instantly.Djinn, Level ??? E-GradeFaction: Merchant Union C-GradeIt was almost the same screen he saw every time he scanned a djinn. However, his sharp eyes noticed there was an extra question mark on this one. ArTazul and ArKarvahul only had two question marks. The lioness had had three.Does that mean her Level is three digits? he wondered. Interesting So the E-Grade extends to the hundreds.He then realized there was a much easier way to find out.Hey, Karvahul, he asked, up to what Level does E-Grade go?125, replied the djinn, shooting him a weird look. Why are you asking this now?Just curious.He turned his attention back to the arena, where the flying, three-digited-level djinn was about to speak.Attention, participants, she read from her scroll. The rules have already been announced to you by Her Nobility. I am AlMarazith, the head judge for this Integration Tournament, and I will handle the more mundane parts. As Her Nobility said, you will fight a series of rounds, each lasting exactly one Earth-387 day. For every round, each participant will only fight once, at a maximum time limit of ten Earth-387 minutes.Before the beginning of each round, your fighting order and opponents will be randomized. Your identification tokens will buzz and glow an hour before your scheduled fight, but to avoid no-shows, we encourage you all to be here each dawn, when the names are randomized. After all, you might have to fight first.Finally, the Animal Kingdom will graciously provide ten thousand credits to the winner of each fight. These will be transferred automatically to your identification token, from where you can draw it into your credit card.Whispers erupted at the sound of such a large sum. A man with strong lungs, however, had another question. He stood up and shouted, What about ties?Then, both opponents lose, she replied.Jack found himself nodding. That made sense. When is my fight? he wondered, glancing at his token. It wasnt shining.I will randomize your names now, the flying djinn said, still staring at her scroll. It shone bright for a moment, then dimmed down. Jacks token glowed silver. So did Edgars.Dude! Jack said, raising his hand for a high-five. Nice! Were lucky. Im scared, Edgar responded, matching Jacks high-five dispiritedly. What if I lose on the first round?Youll have another shot. Come on, Edgar! Live it up a little!I guess youre rightHere, have this. It will braven you up. Jack reached into his jacket pockets and retrieved a pack of salami, then opened it and handed a slice to Edgar. They were already pre-cut; how convenient.Edgars eyes widened. Whats that!? he asked.Salami.No, I mean, where did you find it?In my fridge. Theres lots of them.No, I He seemed in disbelief for some reason. Why do you have salami? he finally stuttered out.To eat it? Jack raised a brow. I have cheese too if you prefer.Edgar groaned.Is that salami? Karvahul asked, taking a look. Can I have some?When he jumped into the stage, he seemed to fall faster than gravity would indicate. According to the announcer, he was Dorman Whistles, with the Dao of Speed. His opponent barely had time to draw her weapona metal pipebefore Dorman had his daggers at her throat.I resign she said breathlessly. This time, the crowd didnt cheer as hard; most were still reeling from this guys speed, as was Jack.He was pretty confident he could sweep the floor with any of the previous eight fighters. This Dorman, however Jack frowned, looking at his flip-flop. If I meet someone strong, this could be a struggle. Maybe I should have gone for the Dao of Spanking With My Fist.Dorman quickly jumped back up, then flashed Jack a smile.Nice fight, Jack said. Salami?Sure, Dorman replied. He was an Asian-looking kid with a nonchalant attitude and two daggers at his waist. He didnt even flinch when Jack pulled the salami out of his pocketsmaybe hed seen the previous one. Nice monkey, he replied.Thanks. His name is Brock.Is he a good boy?A strong one.The other interesting pairing, however, didnt end as fast. It was a battle between a dark-skinned man with the Dao of Fire and an eastern European woman with the Dao of Ice. These two were already polar opposites, so Jack expected a good fight. What he didnt expect was the tension in the spectator stands across him, where two groups were facing off.One was made up of dark-skinned people and led by a woman in fiery red athletic clothes. The other had pale-skinned, hard-faced slavs, led by a big guy with hands as big as shovelheads. The two groups were a few stands apart, but they were staring at each other while their leaders shouted something that Jack couldnt catch.Thats the Flame River and the Ice Peak, Karvahul explained from the side. Theyre two of the three major factions of your planet, and theyre expected to be at odds due to their opposite powers.Are factions supposed to be built around a power theme? Like fire or ice? Edgar asked, inspecting the people across them.Usually, yes. Youll see; when people get used to the System, your planets factions will gravitate towards that model, too. Those ones are just ahead of the curve; they probably control fire-oriented and ice-oriented resources.Hmm. Jack nodded. The Forest of the Strong had Physical-oriented resources. It was reasonable that his faction would focus on melee combat.The people on the stands shouted at each other for a bit, then watched the battle below with heated eyes. Coming to blows was against the rules, but that didnt apply to the people in the arena.The dark-skinned man with the power of fire and the slavic woman with the power of ice clashed fiercely. Both were over Level 30, unlike the vast majority of people, and their battle wasnt to be taken lightly. Incidentally, both of them also sported the Planetary Frontrunner 100 title, which probably meant they were one of the first hundred people on Earth to get a Dao Root.They werent the first people Jack saw with that title, but there were fewer of them than he would expect.In the arena, torrents of fire smashed into chunks of ice. Sharp ice peaks rose from the ground under the fire man, who somehow used fire to propulse himself through the air.His limbs were clad in flames. The slavic woman held a thick shield of ice. Apparently, both of them were proficient in both ranged and melee combat because, when they clashed, it didnt end quickly. They kept striking and dancing around each other for a good minute before the slavic woman snuck a fist in, sending the dark-skinned man flying to the far wall.He fell on the ground and spat blood but rose again.Thats enough, Sadaka! Resign! the dark-skinned womanprobably the leader of their factionshouted from the stands. Her voice washed over the arena without need for magic amplification.The dark-skinned manSadakaglared at the slavic woman, who made the come at me gesture with a smug smile. Sadaka almost charged before gritting his teeth so hard Jack was afraid theyd break.I resign, he forced out, shivering from the humiliation. The audience cheered for himhe was plenty strongbut that didnt seem to make him feel better. At the same time, his opponent shook her head in disappointment.Both fighters jumped back to their stands, where their factions were back to ignoring each other.Oh, wow, Jack said. Those guys are really going at it.I told you, theyre polar opposites. Karvahul shrugged. Theyre heavily inclined to clash, anyway.The announcer announced the next pairings. Among them, one stood out: Edward Hole and the Dao of the Club versus John Brown and the Dao ofSpanking.She hesitated for a split-second before announcing Jacks Dao, then looked at the arena curiously, waiting to see who showed up.Finally! Jack said with a smile. Im up.Good luck! Edgar and Karvahul said in one voice. Beside them, Dorman quipped, Careful, between bites. Jack knew what he meant: be careful not to ruin the salami in your pockets.He jumped down, floating through the air to land on the sand. The feeling was completely different here. The damp smell, the eyes on him, the big-bodied opponent staring him down with a large club on his shoulder.This felt like the time he boxed Harambe, but so much grander. Jack grinned. The battle fever rose in him. He clutched his flip-flop.It was time for a thorough spanking.
