Chapter 135 - beginning of the tournament
I made some distance from Rosalia and returned to Luna’s side.
Just as another person was about to approach me, the rules of the tournament were announced.
More participants began entering the room.
Unlike us, many of them weren’t royalty or people with enough status to stay in the main area.
A dwarf stepped forward and began explaining the rules.
"This tournament will be divided into two age groups."
"The first group will consist of participants aged eleven and twelve, while the second group will consist of those aged thirteen and fourteen."
My eyes dimmed slightly.
I had been hoping I could fight alongside Amy.
But this was fine too.
The dwarf continued.
"Ten participants will be selected from each group."
"The last ten participants of each group will be given the opportunity to obtain an additional spot for the Secret Realm."
I listened carefully.
Then came the part that caught my attention.
"You will be placed inside an arena prepared specifically for this tournament."
"You may fight however you wish."
"Even killing is permitted."
The dwarf paused for a moment.
"However, do not worry about dying."
"If you receive a fatal injury, you will be transported back here immediately. Your participation in the tournament will end at that point."
"You will still feel the pain of the injury, however."
My eyes slowly widened.
Then a grin appeared on my face.
I liked the sound of this.
There was no need to hold back.
I could simply treat it like a game.
And if killing was allowed...
Well...
I might as well enjoy myself.
An excited, almost evil smile slowly appeared on my face.
Luna noticed it immediately.
She sighed.
"Here we go again..."
I ignored her.
The dwarf continued explaining the remaining rules.
"Weapons and personal items are allowed."
"However, artifacts cannot exceed the rank appropriate for your level."
"You may bring weapons of higher ranks, such as an SSS-ranked sword, but artifacts themselves cannot exceed your permitted level."
"Lower-ranked artifacts are allowed."
I nodded.
That was reasonable.
Then the dwarf took out a small token and handed one to each participant.
"This token is extremely important."
"If you lose this token, you will be eliminated."
"It will also activate automatically if you receive a fatal blow, transporting you back to the starting area."
I looked down at the token in my hand.
Interesting.
So this was basically our safety mechanism.
The moment the explanation ended, I felt something strange.
Space around my body suddenly shifted.
"Huh?"
Before I could even react—
Whoosh!
My surroundings blurred.
The next moment, I was standing somewhere completely different.
I immediately looked around.
Sand stretched in every direction.
A massive desert.
There were no buildings.
No trees.
And more importantly...
No Luna.
My smile disappeared.
"Luna..."
I looked around again.
The other participants were nowhere to be seen either.
It seemed we’d all been separated when the tournament began.
I wasn’t going to waste any time.
I needed to find Luna first.
I immediately circulated mana through my body.
Void Step.
Space distorted beneath my feet.
And my figure vanished from the desert.
I began moving through the arena at incredible speed.
I had no idea where Luna had been sent.
But I was going to find her.
And if anyone happened to get in my way along the way...
Well.
The tournament had already given me permission to deal with them however I wanted.
So I moved through the area, using my perception to search for Luna.
I expanded my senses as far as I could, carefully scanning my surroundings.
After a while, I detected several presences.
Humans.
I immediately headed toward them.
When I arrived, the group noticed me.
They looked at me for a moment.
I could tell what they were thinking.
I was a human, and judging by my appearance, I seemed to be a year younger than them.
They probably hadn’t seen me during their training either.
One of them eventually stepped forward.
He seemed to be the leader of the group.
"Hello. I’m the leader of this group."
"You seem to be a year younger than us, so how about you join us?"
"We can work together and try to win this tournament."
I looked at him for a moment.
My lips twitched.
Does he think I’m an idiot?
If I joined this group, what would make me any different from a cannon fodder?
I politely shook my head.
"Thank you for the offer, but I have to refuse."
"I’m looking for my teammate."
I paused before asking,
"Have you seen a white-haired girl with blue eyes?"
They all blinked.
The leader seemed confused by my refusal.
"No, we haven’t seen anyone like that."
He then tried to continue.
"But about my prop—"
The moment I heard his answer, I activated Void Step.
Space warped around me.
And I disappeared.
I had no interest in listening to the rest of his proposal.
The leader stared at the empty spot where I had been standing.
His face twitched.
"Damn brat..."
"Who does he think he is?"
One of the members of his group looked at him strangely.
"You don’t know who he is?"
The leader blinked.
"Huh?"
"Am I supposed to know him?"
"Is he someone from a big family or something?"
The member nodded.
"Yeah."
The leader stared at him.
He had only said that sarcastically.
Yet somehow, it had turned out to be true.
"Ah..."
"Who is that kid?"
The member answered casually.
"He’s Gray Starlight."
"Seraphina Starlight’s son."
"And we’re searching for Princess Luna."
The leader froze.
His brain seemed to completely reject the information.
Gray Starlight?
Seraphina Starlight’s son?
Princess Luna?
A few seconds passed before the information finally registered.
His eyes widened.
He immediately turned toward the member.
"YOU BASTARD!"
Smack!
He hit him on the head.
"Why didn’t you tell me that before?!"
"If I’d known, I would’ve never approached him like that!"
The member rubbed his head.
"I thought you knew..."
The leader sighed heavily.
"Damn it..."
He felt a strange sense of relief.
At least he hadn’t done anything worse.
Meanwhile, I had already left them far behind.
I continued searching for Luna.
I moved from one area to another, constantly scanning my surroundings with my perception.
Then—
I noticed something unusual.
An ice trail.
It stretched across the ground and continued toward a distant area.
I narrowed my eyes.
That looks like Luna’s magic.
I immediately followed it.
As I got closer, I sensed two powerful presences clashing.
I finally reached the area.
And there she was.
Luna.
She was fighting an elf.
Ice covered parts of the battlefield as the two exchanged attacks.
I stopped.
I had found her.
So there was no need to rush anymore.
I looked around and found a nice spot nearby.
Then I casually took a seat.
I reached into my Space Storage.
Pop.
A bucket of popcorn appeared in my hands.
I grabbed a handful.
Crunch.
And began watching.
Outside the arena
The massive screens displayed everything happening inside the tournament.
Empress Auralia and my mother were watching closely.
When Auralia saw me suddenly rushing across the arena after realizing Luna was missing, she smiled.
"He finally found her."
She expected Gray to immediately rush in and help Luna.
Instead—
She saw me sit down.
Then she saw the popcorn.
Auralia’s expression froze.
"...What?"
She stared at the screen.
Gray was sitting comfortably nearby, eating popcorn while Luna fought the elf.
Auralia slowly turned toward my mother.
Then she burst out laughing.
"Gray never fails to surprise me!"
"When my daughter finds out that he was sitting there eating popcorn while she was fighting..."
She struggled to contain her laughter.
"I can’t even imagine what she’s going to do to him."
My mother looked at the screen.
Then at Gray.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"It will certainly be interesting."
Meanwhile, inside the arena...
I grabbed another handful of popcorn.
Crunch.
"This is pretty entertaining."
I continued watching Luna’s fight.
I had complete confidence in her.
And besides...
If she really needed my help, I would obviously step in.
But for now?
This was much more fun to watch.
Luna’s sword was already coated in ice.
Just like me, she concentrated the ice around the tip of her blade, creating a sharp layer that extended slightly beyond the sword itself.
At the same time, faint light surrounded her body.
Her movements suddenly became much faster.
She stepped forward and rushed toward the elf.
Whoosh!
Her sword flashed toward him.
But the elf wasn’t going to make things that easy.
The moment Luna got close, vines suddenly erupted from the ground.
They spread across the battlefield, twisting around trees and rising between them.
Luna’s vision became limited.
She could no longer clearly see where the elf was.
She immediately stopped her charge and looked around.
Where did he go?
Then—
Whoosh!
An arrow flew through the vines.
Luna tilted her head.
The arrow passed beside her face.
BOOM!
Lightning exploded against the ground behind her.
Luna’s eyes narrowed.
Another arrow came.
Then another.
The elf had already moved into the trees.
His body was covered in lightning, allowing him to move rapidly from tree to tree.
He fired arrows from different directions, each one infused with lightning.
The arrows were incredibly fast.
But Luna managed to keep up.
She dodged one.
Deflected another with her sword.
Then stepped sideways as a third arrow grazed past her shoulder.
He’s using the forest to restrict my vision while constantly changing positions.
Luna remained calm.
She didn’t waste mana recklessly.
She could have covered the entire area with ice and forced the elf out.
But doing that would consume far too much mana.
And she still had no idea how many battles she would have to fight during the tournament.
She needed to preserve her strength.
I need to find a way to defeat him without wasting too much mana.
Another arrow came from her left.
Luna raised her sword.
Clang!
The arrow was knocked away.
Lightning spread across the blade.
She took a small step back.
Her eyes slowly scanned the battlefield.
Vines.
Trees.
Lightning.
Limited visibility.
The elf was deliberately forcing her to react instead of allowing her to control the pace of the battle.
Luna’s eyes narrowed.
If I keep reacting to him, I’ll eventually run out of mana.
She took a deep breath.
Then her gaze shifted toward the surrounding vines.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
Then I need to make him react to me instead.
From my seat nearby, I watched the battle while casually eating popcorn.
I couldn’t help but smile.
She’s thinking.
This was exactly what I wanted to see.
Luna wasn’t trying to overpower her opponent.
She was trying to solve him.
And that was far more valuable than simply winning.
————
A/N:-
Winter_Metor, thank you so much for the Golden Tickets!
DreyEA, thank you so much for the Golden Tickets!
I really appreciate the support!
For today this is it i have accounting 2nd paper and tomorrow is ICT 2nd paper so i have to study for tomorrow when i came home after today’s paper 😭😭😭