Chapter 12. Tournament Part 1

"Ken! Time to go get breakfast. The tournament is starting today!" Genesis shouted as she waited outside his dorm room alone for Ken to get up.

"Morning Genesis, where is Lovetta?" Ken wondered out loud after greeting the lone girl waiting by his dorm door.

"You really are super out of it first thing in the morning, aren't you Ken? Today is the start of the tournament, remember? The other three had to get up early and go to the stadium so they could be ready. We should hurry and get some breakfast and head over soon, so we don't miss the start." Genesis replied and as Ken started to walk down to the common room, she suddenly grabbed onto his hand and held onto him tightly.

"And here I thought with Alice gone today, I don't have to carry the weight of two people." Ken said jokingly.

"You know, there are so many men out there that's so desperate for love, they are willing to pay large sum of money just for a few hours of intimacy. And then we have someone like you who's always surrender by not just average girls but nobles and princesses that won't even leave you alone long enough for me to even try and be intimate. Alice is so lucky that she got the soulmate excuse." Genesis said jealously.

Two days have passed since the midterm and when Ken woke naturally around noon yesterday, he finds Lovetta fast asleep against the wall outside of his dorm room. Not knowing whether he should be happy or upset with her dedication, he pinched the silly girl's cheeks to wake her up.

Startled awake by Ken, the two headed to the common area where Ken went straight to the scoreboard to see the updated ranking.

Unsurprisingly, with her additional points from the expert and master written parts, Clare's overall score got that much higher than the rest of the class but even with her improved physical scores, Lovetta's advantage over her remained steady.

"Ouch, I bet Clare was upset when she saw those scores. But congrats on keeping up your amazing performance! You will be expert level in no time!" Ken commented.

"Yea, she wasn't happy this morning at breakfast." Lovetta answered trying to sound neutral, but obviously happy that Ken complimented her.

Looking at the other top rankings, not too far down, Ken was shocked to see that Alice is 5th overall when all she has done was slacking off and hanging around him. Both her elemental and physical scores from the entry exam held up nicely even after a whole semester of doing nothing. But then again, it's mostly due to how few people took the midterm and like her, most of the students slacked off just as hard as she did. Her scores still impressed Ken greatly and he is more grateful than ever that she spends so much time and energy tutoring him.

Genesis ranked in the middle of the pack where she passed none of the advanced selection but is above intermediate level in all subjects. As Ken scanned from the bottom up to look for himself, to see that he is no longer the lowest ranker and that it is now someone named Indra Atlan brought a tear to his eyes.

"Sorry Indra whoever you are, but someone has to be last place and it sure as hell isn't going to be me ever again!" Ken shouted in happiness drawing dirty looks from those that are in the common room.

To his surprise when he would have been happy simply to be in the top 1000, he actually came in much higher than expected. For the practical portions, with the help and guidance from the top two in their whole year and his own high interest and talent. Ken was able to pass the beginner level on all of the elemental and physical parts in only one semester of training and studying.

For the written parts, to his disappointment Ken did not pass a single subject but when he checked his bracelet for the breakdown on his scores. It turned out that on all 4 sections of the written exam, he scored over 20 and was only 2 points from passing on the history part.

With his passing grades in practical portion and getting close to pass the beginner selections of the written parts while also earning some points from the intermediate and advanced portion of the written exam, he ended the first semester climbing all the way up to rank 888 from dead last.

Lovetta congratulated him on such a big improvement while Ken gave her a hard time about her terrible written scores and the two met up with the rest of the group and the day went by in a blink of an eye with the three girls who are participating in the tournament doing some last day training.

When Ken and Genesis arrived at the dining hall on tournament day, they both got a free breakfast and grabbed a small table to eat their food. Since opening up to Ken, Genesis stopped spending the small amount of money her late mother left her recklessly just to fit in and started to be much more conservative with her spending.

After the two finished their meal, they walked leisurely toward the stadium with plenty of time before the events started while Genesis held Ken's arm tightly.

As the pair arrived at the stadium ground, for a country boy like Ken, it was like a child at a candy store. The sight, the smell, the amount of people just walking, talking, laughing. Everything was so fascinating for Ken that he was too stunned to move.

Looking at all the stalls that sold all sorts of food products and enchanted items that Ken didn't know what they were or would be used for, and stalls with games where kids could play to win prizes. So much was going on that Ken forgot all about the tournament which was starting soon.

"Ken! We can come back out during the lunch intermission." Genesis said loudly to Ken to snap him out of the daze.

Before the two got through the gates, Genesis went and bought them a huge container of something called popcorn and after they got to their seats which were reserved days before in the student selection of the stadium, Genesis ran off and came back with 2 giant mugs of juice.

"What happened to you spending your money more wisely?" Ken asked.

"You got to live a little Ken! You have to spend money sometimes to enjoy life you know! Have you never just spent a little money recklessly? Besides, I am super happy today, so I don't mind." Genesis replied happily while holding onto Ken tightly.

Thinking back on his entire life, Ken remembered the only time he actually had money was the day during the selection and that he was so happy and elated he blew a huge chunk of that with Emma.

"I guess you are right, we are here live for the tournament after all. Never imagined the day would come when I could see it in person instead of watching it at home on that cheap low-quality image and sound artifacts old man John give us where everything was so blurring and sound quality so terrible." Ken said fondly while remembering his family at home and how he would be able to see them again soon and share all of his stories.

At 9 sharp, a cheerful voice started to boom over the stadium filled to the brim with students, family members and the wealthiest of tourists. While he never noticed on his blurry mirror at home, he could clearly see that other than the student section, all the different races are divided into sections separated by the stairs where none have to interact with another race.

The voice that's booming over the crowd noise from the highest of quality sound enhancer artifact belonged to a young woman from the 1994 class, 6 years Ken's senior.

Lucia Conall is a human born of a high-class family from Darrumburgh who is studying language at the academy. With a sweet and soothing voice and vocabulary beyond anything Ken could comprehend, she is able to perfectly articulate the event both in a fancy and high-class manner while including key words that even the commoners with no education could understand what's happening.

For the 6 days of the tournament that happens twice a year, the whole world comes to a stop and tunes in to enjoy the biggest and most popular entertainment the world has to offer. For the first three days of the event, it's up to the students to shine and show the entire world what they are capable of doing.

Day one consists of the students showing off their abilities just like the exams Ken just took two days ago but with big scoreboards floating all around to show exactly who is ranked where and just how high of a score they get.

Of course, Ken now knows all of that is quite pointless and is just for show, but just sitting here with Lucia hyping the crowd up while introducing all of the students who are participating, he couldn't help but also get excited.

When he saw the first group blasting fireballs at those slabs and their names and scores updating magically on the leaderboard, Ken vividly remembered when he was just a young boy growing up, he was always watching the tournament in awe and wishing that one day, he would be able to learn how to use magic and be standing in front of the world and showing everyone that he isn't just some poor worthless orphan boy but someone that could become a hero to keep the world at peace.

Ken and Genesis cheered and laughed with everyone else under the guidance from Lucia while enjoying this popcorn thing Genesis bought. Even when Ken had corn plenty of times and it's a stable in the diets of the poor, he never knew those little kernels could be turned into something this fluffy and addictive with a little salt and butter.

As group after group of students got introduced and performed their spells, it was clear to Ken who Lucia favored and who barely got any attention. And from what Alice told him, there is quite a bit of bribery going on where some will pay large amounts of money to have the spotlight on them for the whole world to see.

When Clare's group got called up, Alice was also part of that group. When Alice is introduced, you can hear a small number of cheers from the general crowd and only Ken and Genesis cheered from the student section, and for a noble, she got a simple quick generic introduction.

Things were different for Clare, however. When she got introduced, Lucia went on and on about the kingdom of Yelwraek and who Clare is and of course, her incredible overall scores and how she is the top ranked student for the first year.

When the introduction was finished, the crowd from the elf section exploded into cheers while the rest stayed mostly silent. Of course, Ken cheered loudly from the student section while Genesis also shouted some words of encouragement.

During their performance, Clare is no doubt extremely strong and great at magic and her scores shot up to the top for the first year's leaderboard. However, with students up to master level also in the group, her actual performance on stage wasn't anything special comparatively. But Lucia focused the majority of the time they were on stage on Clare, similar to the floating mirrors all around the stadium as well as what most could see at home.

"They sure are trying to make Clare the center of attention aren't they." Ken commented offhandedly.

"As rigged as the system is where it's mostly nobles and royals who get selected. To have the actual direct offspring from one of the two superpower attending is definitely a big deal. None of Clare's older siblings or any of the Darrumburgh princes or princesses are currently enrolled. Besides, who doesn't want to be on the good side with the Yelwraek, except Alice of course." Genesis answered with a giggle.

"Seriously. That Alice is always picking a fight and trying to start things. Drains so much of my energy to have to always be peacekeeping. Clare might look all royal and dignified right now. But she gets agitated and angry super easily." Ken said with a sigh.

"You can ditch them you know. Just the two of us can live happily ever after." Genesis said softly while laying her head against his shoulder. Ken gave her a small smile but decided to remain silent and focus back on the events.

Even though Lovetta didn't sign up for the elemental showcase, to have as many paying seats as possible, she had to join the rest of the participants backstage instead of watching from the stands with Ken and Genesis. The only saving grace was that they offered plenty of free food backstage for the participants and Lovetta was kept busy.

After 4 hours of non-stop showcase, the first part ended at 1pm where Lucia informed the crowd and everyone at home that there will be a two-hour intermission so they can grab some food, get some rest and be back at 3 to enjoy the events in the afternoon where the students will be showing off their physical abilities.

Naturally, Clare ended up with the top score for each of the 4 elements and overall for the first year, and to the surprise of many but not Ken, she did even better than the top scores from the 2nd and 3rd year students and was the main focal point for the entire morning ever since her performance.

Before the event fully finished up, Ken saw students that had already performed slowly leaving the backstage area and coming up to the stands to either meet up with friends or headed towards their family in the general area.

Minutes before Lucia announced the intermission, Lovetta, Clare and Alice showed up and caught Genesis snuggling up against Ken.

"Ken, you cannot just let girls do whatever they want to you." Clare said angrily and pulled the reluctant Genesis away.

"Hey! Not fair. I never see you pulling Alice away." Genesis protested.

"It's because she is too freaking strong, and I don't want to get into it with her and hurt Ken." Clare answered heatedly.

Suddenly, without any warning, Ken hugged Clare closely into his chest, which startled her greatly.

"Great job Clare! Look at you, beating out even the top 2nd and 3rd year students! Let's go grab some food and you can try and beat Lovetta in the physical parts in the afternoon." Ken said enthusiastically while hugging Clare.

"Get off me stupid." Clare complained but made no attempt at wanting Ken to actually let her go.

"Sorry, but I won't be eating with you. Some of my family members including my father is here and I will be spending the week with them before going home so I will probably only get to see you for a little while daily until next semester." Clare continued sadly while still been hugged by Ken.

"Same with me. My sis and parents are here so I will be with them until the tournament ends. I will probably only be coming to see you once a day to get my meal." With that said, Alice purposefully nudged Clare out of the embrace and started biting Ken's neck.

"I will miss you all; I hope you both have a great time with your family and show them around and have fun." Ken said quickly while Alice was finishing her meal just so Clare wouldn't get fixated on Alice.

As Clare and Alice said their goodbyes, Ken walked out with Genesis and Lovetta so they could have some fun and grab some food at the stalls. With Clare and Alice gone again, Genesis grabbed Ken's arm once again and held on tightly pressing herself against him.

"Before you try to pull me off, Lovetta. The other side is open." Genesis suggested knowing what Lovetta was thinking. With that, Ken is suddenly sandwiched between two girls both tightly pressed up against him.

"Even you are doing this now Lovetta?" Ken asked in surprise.

"I felt left out when everyone else is getting so close to you." Lovetta answered sadly.

As the three left the stadium, Ken noticed something else that he didn't due to his excitement when they first arrived.

Just like inside where the different races stayed divided, the stalls are actually spread out in a manner that depending on which exit you take, you would be at a different section where all the stalls would be run by people from the same race.

Not surprisingly, now that Ken had noticed the setup, he also noticed that other than a few students, everyone else stayed within the section of their own race and unlike this morning when no one paid any attention to him and Genesis. The fact that there is a beastman girl clinging tightly onto him is drawing in disdained gazes from both the humans and the beastman.

Ignoring the stares as he had done all of his life, the three checked out different stalls, and for the first time since he arrived at the academy, Ken freely spent his points buying all types of food that intrigued him while sharing with the two girls.

Of course, the girls weren't going to let Ken spend too much of his points especially since they knew he was saving it up to provide for his family. As the three walked around, picking up food from different stalls and enjoying different games while trying to win small prizes, they each pitched in at different points and split the cost pretty well and Ken ended up only spending 20 points.

In no time at all, it was time for the group to head back and get ready for the events in the afternoon. And Lovetta reluctantly let go of Ken and headed backstage while Ken and Genesis returned to their seats.

At 3 sharp, Lucia is back with the commentary and hyping up the crowd for what's to take place in the afternoon.

Just like in the morning, group after group got called up and mostly reintroduced as they performed the physical part and Ken got to see firsthand the difference between the high-level students verse the level they are currently at.

Once again, when Clare's group got called up, she was the center of attention and after her impressive performance, she was once again at the top of the leaderboard for the first years and her score was on par with the 2nd and 3rd years as well.

However, since Alice is in the same group, while Clare's score was impressive, for Ken who is actually comparing the two in performance, Alice is noticeably more powerful, stronger and faster but those at home who only gets to see a small portion of the event displayed. They were provided with a false narrative based mostly on the scores and Lucia's commentary.

A few groups after Clare, it was finally Lovetta's turn. As she was given a generic introduction, Ken cheered loudly along with some cheering from the beastman's section of the crowd. Even in her group as she performed her events, she received no attention as Lucia was focusing the commentary on the nobles and royals from the higher classes as no one expected anyone to outperform Clare.

Of course, to the first years, they knew as amazing as Clare is, if Lucia had done a bit more research and looked into the individual sections, she would have seen how incredible someone else is.

When the group finished, has Lucia hyped up the scores and the placements for those in the spotlight for this group, she was at a loss for words when the beastman section of the crowd suddenly cheered loudly as Lovetta's name surpassed every other first year in all of the categories and beating out even the first place finishers in the 2nd and 3rd year like Clare did for the elemental part of the events.

Lucia recovered quickly and the spotlight was suddenly focused on Lovetta as Lucia improvised and got down from her announcer box onto the stage to have a quick live interview. With how quickly she seemed to have glided down onto the arena, Ken was sure she was not only good with language but also very skilled in magic.

Obviously, Lovetta was petrified of the sudden attention and froze in shock as Lucia asked her a series of questions.

"GO LOVETTA!!!! GREAT JOB!" Ken shouted from the stands with every ounce of breath.

With the crowd mostly quiet waiting for her to respond for the interview, Ken's cheer could be heard all the way down on the arena and it snapped her out of her trance and Lovetta ended up giving a few short lackluster responses to Lucia's questions before the group headed backstage to allow for the next group.

By 7pm, the first day of the tournament came to an end with Clare taking the main spotlight for her overall performance but the main focus, was the fact that she is a Yelwraek. As Lucia made the closing statements, she informed everyone that for the next two days, they would get to see the students in action in actual combat and for them to get excited and get ready to root for their favorites.

Similar to when the lunch break happened, students were slowly let go from backstage before the events fully ended. And once again, the three that were competing showed up and before Ken even knew they were there, Genesis was getting forcibly pulled off by Clare once more as she took the seat and sat down next to Ken.

"Good job everyone! Way to show up and show off to the world! Good luck tomorrow on the tournament." Ken said happily.

Knowing Clare would be upset that she isn't the top in every category even though she knew Lovetta is obviously better from the midterm results 2 days earlier, Ken tried his best to cheer her up.

"Lucky you Clare."

"What do you mean lucky? I couldn't even get 1st in every category as a first year and she isn't even here! How am I supposed to be the top hero one day." Clare said frustratedly.

"Who is she? And aren't you good at history Clare? Don't you know the current top 2 heroes? Julius Gaeleath and Zishell Yelvaris were said to be rivals since their school days and they got as strong as they did because they kept pushing each other to greater heights.

You are lucky that you aren't just head and shoulders above everyone already. If you were, you do get bored of all the studying and would have stopped pushing yourself so hard." Ken said in a confident voice hoping that he had cheered up Clare.

"You don't need to know who she is but trust me, I have more than enough reasons to keep on pushing myself. And if you are so good at history Ken. Shouldn't you know that the Yelvaris is a noble family that Zishell's mother, a Yelwraek married into, and he and my father are cousins? I have been getting tutored by the greatest hero since I was a young kid and yet I'm still not even the top of my class, how do you think it makes me feel." Clare answered, still frustrated.

"You know Clare, just because you trained with the best does not means you should be the best. No one is perfect you know, not even you. Maybe you are just more suited to focus the majority of your time and talent on elemental magic." Ken answered logically.

"I never said I am already the best! I know I am not there yet! And I hate it when you get all serious and try to speak with logic." Clare complained while grabbing onto his arm and holding him tightly.

Shortly after, Clare stopped her pouting and got back up and left with Alice as the two of them went back to stay with their families and said their farewell to Ken and the rest.

"Great job Lovetta! Could have done better on that interview though. The whole world was watching when you barely said any comprehensible words." Ken said while laughing.

As Lucia finished giving her closing speech and told everyone to get excited for day two, the three left with Genesis and Lovetta each grabbing one side of Ken. When they got outside of the stadium, the sky was already pitch black, but the different colored enchanted lights hanging around all of the stalls lit the stadium grounds brightly.

"Let me buy us dinner Ken, they give me a thousand points for getting first overall for the physical portion." Lovetta offered as the three wondered around the stalls looking to see what to get for dinner.

"One thousand points?"

"Top 3 overall in each event gets some points as a reward. Clare got 1500 for finishing first in the morning and second for the physical part. For the tournament over the next two days, the top 5 finishers will all get points as rewards too. They told me first place will get 5000 points." Lovetta answered.

"Ok. I think I need to focus on getting stronger as soon as I can. 5000 points? The exchange rate is 1 ounce of gold for 500 points, right? 10 ounces of gold???? My whole family lives on much less for an entire year!" Ken said in bewilderment.

As the three checked out more stalls that they didn't have time for during lunch, Lovetta paid for all the games they ended up playing and food they ate along the way. By the time the 3 got back to the dorm, it was almost midnight when they said their farewell.

"Good luck tomorrow, Lovetta! Thanks for taking care of the tab today, I will be cheering for you!" Ken said as he closed his dorm door so he could take a quick shower and turn in for the night.