So many people. Thousands of the greatest fighters have gathered at the royal district to prove themselves under the watching gaze of my friend, the saint herself. And I, the one a few recognised as the resurrected, was at the centre of all. My friends did shield me from the majority of them, but they were hard pressed when there was a larger group trying to get in touch with me which happened far more near the end of our journey into the massive coliseum. That the earth mages of this kingdom managed to construct it over the past two weeks alone was a miracle, especially because this was the first time it was build.
Before the contestants were allowed entry though, we were guided into a tent city where a few butlers and servants divided us into four groups which separated me from my friends. We were around a thousand people in my group, all dressed in light clothing with some carrying around staffs or other magical items. Distinctively different from the other groups was that most of us didn’t carry any heavy weapons with us as we were the supporters. People who couldn’t fight well, but excelled in healing and helping others with their tasks.
And I was the most famous of the bunch. Not only because the goddess of life resurrected me, but also because I saved countless others with my healing which did earn me a lot of respect amongst my peers.
“Hi! Everyone, please be silent for a minute!” Someone in a very familiar voice shouted and stepped into a chair to allow everyone us us to catch a glimpse of her. The person standing there wasn’t the saint as most of us expected, but rather Luna who took a deep breath right away. “We actually haven’t planned for more than a hundred supporters to be allowed in and as such … you are to many.” She said and lowered her head in embarrassment. “We have to preselect you right now and therefore, the half with the lowest level is automatically out of the race. I’m sorry.” Even though Luna said it like this I had my doubts this wasn’t planned all along. Lucy must have known there were far too many contestants and decided to select the most appropriate ones this way. And the others apparently thought the same way. Even though there was a bit of grumbling here and there, most didn’t mind the process at all.
One by one, our statuses were scanned and everyone below level fifty was disqualified and had to watch the event from the sidelines. Some accepted the result, others started to weep and a some even started to complain. But I had none of these issues. I was far from level fifty already.
“Hey Luna!” I shouted out a bit tired and waved at her as the space cleared up considerably.
“Sofie! It’s nice to see you.” She said, stepping down from her chair and walking over to me leisurely.
“Can you give me any tips?” I asked a bit embarrassed about myself. But I did want to win at all cost, which was why I even considered asking Luna.
“Tips? Just be yourself and it’s going to be fine.” She said smiling brightly. “I wish you good luck.” She said and turned around right away, hurrying back towards her chair and stepping in it once more. “Around five hundred contestants are left. Therefore, we have analysed the skills and magics everyone possesses and compared them to the list of relevant know-how. Those that passed are Alphosto, Aoa, … Sofie Wolle, Sofie Keineahnung, …” Luna shouted out the names of exactly a hundred people out and I was amongst these. I was indeed a bit happy to have my progress validated by Lucy’s way of selecting the contestants. “Puh …” Luna said a bit exhausted and breathed in once more. “Those who have been selected, please follow the captain of the guard into the coliseum.” She said and jumped off the chair only to dash over to another group of tents where the next batch of contestants waited to be processed.
One by one, we were let inside the massive coliseum and were ordered to stand in a single line. We had to wait several minutes while I looked around in curiosity under the watchful gaze of tens of thousand onlookers.
At least, until a girl dressed in white stepped into a lodge at the lowest level and lifted up her palm to silence everyone. Everyone held their breath from the hundred participants to the visitors and watched how she gracefully sat down on a luxurious chair.
“My friends and colleagues, strangers I haven’t met yet but love as well; from the nobles usually busy with managing this country, to the farmers who worry about their harvest, I thank you for coming on this beautiful day. For most of you, it is the first time seeing me, but do not be afraid.” Somehow, her voice was far louder than it should have been, resounding through the whole coliseum crystal clear. “I am just like you. I have normal hairs, “ She lifted up her straw hat and showed us her beautifully made hair. “I have feelings, I have illnesses.” She said and pointed at her sunglasses while smiling brightly. “I am just like you, even if it does seem like I am living in a different world sometimes. But I am not. I am a citizen of this world as well and I try to change it for the better. Thanks to my work, the king was able to allocate more money to fund social welfare programs and orphanages. But even that is not enough. It’s not enough to save the world from the evil that has befallen it. To do this, I need you. Every single one of you. You hundred are all welcome to join me on my expedition into the demon territory. But be aware. Death might lurk around every corner there and some of you won’t be able to make it back. Therefore, it is necessary that the tip of our spear is sharp and sturdy. We are here today to select the best supporter, the best swordsman, the best mage and the best protector. And you hundred have a chance of being one of them.” Lucy said and stopped a little for the crowd to applaud loudly. Only as they calmed down somewhat did Hannah walk into the coliseum from another entrance and stopped in front of Lucy who then nodded towards her. “This is Hannah. I have known her since a long time ago and trust her more than anyone else. And I trust her to ascertain your value without issue.”
“The first part of this test will be a short written exam. If you cannot read and write, please do not be shy to ask for support.” She said and looked back into the tunnel to look at the servants who carried ink, a feather and a few documents towards each and everyone. “You have twenty minutes to fill these out.” Hannah said dryly and distances herself from us along with the other servants. For a few seconds, I stared down at the pieces of paper in front of me and the writing utensils. Looking around, I could see that the others were as troubled as I was.
There were no tables around, no chairs, nothing to write on. Grabbing all the things in front of me, I strolled over to the wall of the coliseum and pressed the documents against it, the others following me suit right away.
“If you have the chance to end the demon menace for good, or save the life of your comrade, what would you do…” That was the first question. And honestly, it was a tricky one. But I did have a passable answer right away. The right solution would be to save my comrades, that was for sure. We couldn’t allow ourselves to become demons while fighting them after all.
The next questions were related to morals as well and the answers were surprisingly easy until I read the first paragraph on the next page.
“You may not use the wall or the ground to fill out the second page … how evil.” Looming around, I could see that a few others were on the second page as well and approached the next person. “Hey, can we write on each other’s back? It won’t look nice, but it will be readable.”
“Sure.” The man said after thinking over my proposal for a few seconds. Turning my back to him, I noticed how he began to scribble on the document while I looked at my own pieces of paper and began to read through the second page. It was mostly filled with how we would support the group, what our strength and weaknesses were and so on.
Four minutes later, the man provided me with a way to write down my stuff and quickly read through the third page.
“They got to be kidding me.” He said and went away towards Hannah after I had finished as well.
“Use magic to write your answers down.” Yeah … that was hard. As far as I was aware, there was no such magic which seemed to stupefy the others as well. Frowning slightly, I picked out the last piece of paper and read the sole question on that one.
“Would you follow every order, no matter what you think about it?” I whispered and looked at Lucy who looked exactly towards me with interest. Grumbling quietly, I walked back towards the wall and wrote down my answers for the third page and a simple ‘No’ on the last one. Satisfied, I walked over towards Hannah and gave her my documents.
“You would chose chaos over order?” She asked and read through my answers quickly before giving them to a servant.
“Order isn’t necessarily good.” I said, knowing there were far too many instances in which dictators kept things in order, but the people weren’t happy.
“I see.” She said and took the next documents from another person who did similar than me. A few minutes later, Hannah announced the end of the trial and collected everyone’s documents.
“And now, grade the work of you are given.” They weren’t even interested in our answers, were they? She merely observed how we acted. Well, I had absolutely no problem with this and quickly went through the documents which were handed over to me.
“I have only one last question for this part of the exam. What would you advise the person who wrote this down?” Based on the completely blank third page, that person was either following orders strictly or hadn’t looked at the last page. Going through the other answers, I found it hard to find an answer right away and struggled until Hannah was in front of me to get my answer.
“Nothing. Even when that person wrote down things I wouldn’t he or she could justify everything.” I explained which was a bit contrary to the others who tried finding faults in the morals of whoever filled out their documents.
“Very well.” Hannah said and walked on towards the next one. Looking over to my left, I finally realised that he had the same documents I did with exactly the same answers to each and every question.
“Onto the next part while your written exams will be graded … run around the edge of the coliseum. Those who are in the last fifty percentile are disqualified.” Okay? That was harsh … I mean, we were supporters and typically didn’t move around that much. My guess was that they tried to gauge our stamina which could be important during an incursion in demon territory.
And so, I ran. I ran while keeping in mind that this could take a long, long time to wrap up. And just as I thought, they didn’t lest us stop until most of us collapsed, including me. I wasn’t that good with running, but at least I didn’t sprint right away and exhausted myself after a single round.
Breathing roughly, I quickly found out that I had run more than sixty two others and thus passed the test right away.
In the end, after our written exams were graded by others, Hannah selected ten of us to pass into the next round, including me.
“Each one of you will be responsible of taking care of ten others during each of the three next rounds. Take care of their wounds, but do not support them through other means. That’s all.”
No support during combat at all, just healing was test. And honestly, I couldn’t help but think that Lucy favoured me horrendously with that decision.
So many people. Thousands of the greatest fighters have gathered at the royal district to prove themselves under the watching gaze of my friend, the saint herself. And I, the one a few recognised as the resurrected, was at the centre of all. My friends did shield me from the majority of them, but they were hard pressed when there was a larger group trying to get in touch with me which happened far more near the end of our journey into the massive coliseum. That the earth mages of this kingdom managed to construct it over the past two weeks alone was a miracle, especially because this was the first time it was build.
Before the contestants were allowed entry though, we were guided into a tent city where a few butlers and servants divided us into four groups which separated me from my friends. We were around a thousand people in my group, all dressed in light clothing with some carrying around staffs or other magical items. Distinctively different from the other groups was that most of us didn’t carry any heavy weapons with us as we were the supporters. People who couldn’t fight well, but excelled in healing and helping others with their tasks.
And I was the most famous of the bunch. Not only because the goddess of life resurrected me, but also because I saved countless others with my healing which did earn me a lot of respect amongst my peers.
“Hi! Everyone, please be silent for a minute!” Someone in a very familiar voice shouted and stepped into a chair to allow everyone us us to catch a glimpse of her. The person standing there wasn’t the saint as most of us expected, but rather Luna who took a deep breath right away. “We actually haven’t planned for more than a hundred supporters to be allowed in and as such … you are to many.” She said and lowered her head in embarrassment. “We have to preselect you right now and therefore, the half with the lowest level is automatically out of the race. I’m sorry.” Even though Luna said it like this I had my doubts this wasn’t planned all along. Lucy must have known there were far too many contestants and decided to select the most appropriate ones this way. And the others apparently thought the same way. Even though there was a bit of grumbling here and there, most didn’t mind the process at all.
One by one, our statuses were scanned and everyone below level fifty was disqualified and had to watch the event from the sidelines. Some accepted the result, others started to weep and a some even started to complain. But I had none of these issues. I was far from level fifty already.
“Hey Luna!” I shouted out a bit tired and waved at her as the space cleared up considerably.
“Sofie! It’s nice to see you.” She said, stepping down from her chair and walking over to me leisurely.
“Can you give me any tips?” I asked a bit embarrassed about myself. But I did want to win at all cost, which was why I even considered asking Luna.
“Tips? Just be yourself and it’s going to be fine.” She said smiling brightly. “I wish you good luck.” She said and turned around right away, hurrying back towards her chair and stepping in it once more. “Around five hundred contestants are left. Therefore, we have analysed the skills and magics everyone possesses and compared them to the list of relevant know-how. Those that passed are Alphosto, Aoa, … Sofie Wolle, Sofie Keineahnung, …” Luna shouted out the names of exactly a hundred people out and I was amongst these. I was indeed a bit happy to have my progress validated by Lucy’s way of selecting the contestants. “Puh …” Luna said a bit exhausted and breathed in once more. “Those who have been selected, please follow the captain of the guard into the coliseum.” She said and jumped off the chair only to dash over to another group of tents where the next batch of contestants waited to be processed.
One by one, we were let inside the massive coliseum and were ordered to stand in a single line. We had to wait several minutes while I looked around in curiosity under the watchful gaze of tens of thousand onlookers.
At least, until a girl dressed in white stepped into a lodge at the lowest level and lifted up her palm to silence everyone. Everyone held their breath from the hundred participants to the visitors and watched how she gracefully sat down on a luxurious chair.
“My friends and colleagues, strangers I haven’t met yet but love as well; from the nobles usually busy with managing this country, to the farmers who worry about their harvest, I thank you for coming on this beautiful day. For most of you, it is the first time seeing me, but do not be afraid.” Somehow, her voice was far louder than it should have been, resounding through the whole coliseum crystal clear. “I am just like you. I have normal hairs, “ She lifted up her straw hat and showed us her beautifully made hair. “I have feelings, I have illnesses.” She said and pointed at her sunglasses while smiling brightly. “I am just like you, even if it does seem like I am living in a different world sometimes. But I am not. I am a citizen of this world as well and I try to change it for the better. Thanks to my work, the king was able to allocate more money to fund social welfare programs and orphanages. But even that is not enough. It’s not enough to save the world from the evil that has befallen it. To do this, I need you. Every single one of you. You hundred are all welcome to join me on my expedition into the demon territory. But be aware. Death might lurk around every corner there and some of you won’t be able to make it back. Therefore, it is necessary that the tip of our spear is sharp and sturdy. We are here today to select the best supporter, the best swordsman, the best mage and the best protector. And you hundred have a chance of being one of them.” Lucy said and stopped a little for the crowd to applaud loudly. Only as they calmed down somewhat did Hannah walk into the coliseum from another entrance and stopped in front of Lucy who then nodded towards her. “This is Hannah. I have known her since a long time ago and trust her more than anyone else. And I trust her to ascertain your value without issue.”
“The first part of this test will be a short written exam. If you cannot read and write, please do not be shy to ask for support.” She said and looked back into the tunnel to look at the servants who carried ink, a feather and a few documents towards each and everyone. “You have twenty minutes to fill these out.” Hannah said dryly and distances herself from us along with the other servants. For a few seconds, I stared down at the pieces of paper in front of me and the writing utensils. Looking around, I could see that the others were as troubled as I was.
There were no tables around, no chairs, nothing to write on. Grabbing all the things in front of me, I strolled over to the wall of the coliseum and pressed the documents against it, the others following me suit right away.
“If you have the chance to end the demon menace for good, or save the life of your comrade, what would you do…” That was the first question. And honestly, it was a tricky one. But I did have a passable answer right away. The right solution would be to save my comrades, that was for sure. We couldn’t allow ourselves to become demons while fighting them after all.
The next questions were related to morals as well and the answers were surprisingly easy until I read the first paragraph on the next page.
“You may not use the wall or the ground to fill out the second page … how evil.” Looming around, I could see that a few others were on the second page as well and approached the next person. “Hey, can we write on each other’s back? It won’t look nice, but it will be readable.”
“Sure.” The man said after thinking over my proposal for a few seconds. Turning my back to him, I noticed how he began to scribble on the document while I looked at my own pieces of paper and began to read through the second page. It was mostly filled with how we would support the group, what our strength and weaknesses were and so on.
Four minutes later, the man provided me with a way to write down my stuff and quickly read through the third page.
“They got to be kidding me.” He said and went away towards Hannah after I had finished as well.
“Use magic to write your answers down.” Yeah … that was hard. As far as I was aware, there was no such magic which seemed to stupefy the others as well. Frowning slightly, I picked out the last piece of paper and read the sole question on that one.
“Would you follow every order, no matter what you think about it?” I whispered and looked at Lucy who looked exactly towards me with interest. Grumbling quietly, I walked back towards the wall and wrote down my answers for the third page and a simple ‘No’ on the last one. Satisfied, I walked over towards Hannah and gave her my documents.
“You would chose chaos over order?” She asked and read through my answers quickly before giving them to a servant.
“Order isn’t necessarily good.” I said, knowing there were far too many instances in which dictators kept things in order, but the people weren’t happy.
“I see.” She said and took the next documents from another person who did similar than me. A few minutes later, Hannah announced the end of the trial and collected everyone’s documents.
“And now, grade the work of you are given.” They weren’t even interested in our answers, were they? She merely observed how we acted. Well, I had absolutely no problem with this and quickly went through the documents which were handed over to me.
“I have only one last question for this part of the exam. What would you advise the person who wrote this down?” Based on the completely blank third page, that person was either following orders strictly or hadn’t looked at the last page. Going through the other answers, I found it hard to find an answer right away and struggled until Hannah was in front of me to get my answer.
“Nothing. Even when that person wrote down things I wouldn’t he or she could justify everything.” I explained which was a bit contrary to the others who tried finding faults in the morals of whoever filled out their documents.
“Very well.” Hannah said and walked on towards the next one. Looking over to my left, I finally realised that he had the same documents I did with exactly the same answers to each and every question.
“Onto the next part while your written exams will be graded … run around the edge of the coliseum. Those who are in the last fifty percentile are disqualified.” Okay? That was harsh … I mean, we were supporters and typically didn’t move around that much. My guess was that they tried to gauge our stamina which could be important during an incursion in demon territory.
And so, I ran. I ran while keeping in mind that this could take a long, long time to wrap up. And just as I thought, they didn’t lest us stop until most of us collapsed, including me. I wasn’t that good with running, but at least I didn’t sprint right away and exhausted myself after a single round.
Breathing roughly, I quickly found out that I had run more than sixty two others and thus passed the test right away.
In the end, after our written exams were graded by others, Hannah selected ten of us to pass into the next round, including me.
“Each one of you will be responsible of taking care of ten others during each of the three next rounds. Take care of their wounds, but do not support them through other means. That’s all.”
No support during combat at all, just healing was test. And honestly, I couldn’t help but think that Lucy favoured me horrendously with that decision.
