Chapter 15. Tournament part 4

"Morning Ken! Let's go get breakfast! Lovetta is paying again!" Genesis shouted as the pair chatted while waiting for Ken to get ready.

"Nice to see that Lovetta is back after missing in action for two days." Kens said sleepily while greeting the pair of girls.

Even though the events for most students are over, Clare and Alice are staying with their families in town until the end and won't be joining the group while Ken and the two girls made their way to the stadium for some breakfast and got ready for the open tournament.

Since most of the students now done with the tournament, the student section grew much bigger compared to the first three days but since everyone signed up for seats weeks ago, Ken and the two girls got the three seats at the end of the aisle mid-way up the stands where they had seated for the whole tournament.

With Ken sitting in the middle, a girl on each side holding onto one of his arms, the three got pretty cozy as they waited for the start of day 4.

Instead of Lucia, when a voice spoke up at 9, it was a voice Ken was familiar with and had heard many times before. From day 4 onward, for the main tournament, instead of letting a student with aspirations practice on the biggest stage, it's hosted by the one and only Ryder Ethelred.

For as long as Ken can remember, Ryder was the one who commentated on the main event for every tournament. Once a top 10 hero who got as high as rank 5 during his prime hundreds of years ago. After he retired from been an active militant, he persuaded a career as a diplomat who tried to bring equality between the races and advocated strongly for peaceful coexistence.

With a gentle face, slicked back white hair from age with a small mixture of black and gray. While his skin shows his age with the deep wrinkles, his posture and the way he carried himself showed class and charisma.

A pair of giant white wings that covered his entire back, a thick and long scaly tail, pointy elf ears and gills around his neck, Ryder was given the nickname, The Chimera during the days when he was active. Since his retirement, Ryder became active in global politics in regard to race and is very open about the way he got treated due to the way he looked and is the voice for the mixed races around the world.

For Ken and his siblings, Ryder had always been their hero growing up. But between his disappointing start to the school year, desperation to catch up and just day to day struggles, he completely forgot who always hosted the tournament.

Couldn't hold in his excitement, Ken cheered loudly as his hero began the opening speech.

"I can't believe I totally forgot that Ryder had hosted the open tournament for who knows how long now. Do you think I can go ask him for an autograph?" Ken asked, squeezing the two girls tightly due to his excitement at possibly meeting his hero face to face.

While Ken was busy fanboying, Ryder with his deep calm voice explained the open tournament to those that had been living under a rock and never tuned in to the biannual event. Anyone could sign up for the open tournament if they have reached divine level in any area and paid the entrance fee.

Out of the current top 10, 8 were graduates from Dragonspire but the current 7th and 9th ranked heroes never got selected and it was through the open tournament that they made a name for themselves and are now heroes of hope for children all over the world especially those that did not get selected by the academy.

As Ryder went on with the opening speech reminding everyone that just because your max potential might not be as high, it does not mean you won't achieve greatness.

Of course, Ken agreed wholeheartedly with that statement. He has now seen firsthand just how much potential is wasted by those privileged nobles and royals and one of the biggest flaws in who gets selected to the academy.

If max potential is a hypothetical 100 and it takes an arbitrary 90 plus to get selected by the academy, Ken can see many who's max potential might be an 85 and not been selected to the academy but achieve much more than the partying nobles and royals that only cares about their social standings and connections rather than reach the maximum of what they could.

Unlike for the students where each year has a single sided bracket, the open tournament is divided into 8 different brackets with one top 8 hero per bracket to prevent the clashing of the best before the final day.

The 9th rank and 10th rank get placed into the same bracket as the 7th and 8th ranked but, on the bottom section, so the two top 10 heroes would only face each other as the final battle to determine who wins the bracket and gets to make it to the top 8.

With a new tournament happening every 6 months, one would think that the top 10 would get challenged all the time, but in actuality the gap in strength between the top 10 and the rest is so big that other than changing positions between the 10 due to their individual match-ups against one other, the current top 10 had not changed for over 20 years.

And with the final 8 getting matched up based on ranking where the highest rank faces the lowest. Zishell and Julius have met in the finals of every tournament for the past 15 years without anyone else able to contest their supremacy.

While most people know they don't have a chance of beating the top 10, the open tournament is a good place for academy students above divine level and those that didn't get selected but reached divine level to prove themselves and showcase their skills to potential kingdoms that are looking for new talent and also a place for neighboring kingdoms to display their power without actually going into war.

With a large amount of people trying to prove they are worthy and many neighboring kingdoms looking to prove to their citizens that they are safe from danger in case of war, the open tournament draws in a lot of participants for various different reasons.

Even with 8 brackets, each bracket got about a thousand competitors but top 10 gets automatically placed into the top 32 and they would need to win 5 rounds to claim the bracket and 8 total wins would net them the rank 1 title for at least 6 months.

To guarantee that neighboring kingdoms who wanted to showcase their fighters against each other don't get knocked out in early rounds, as long as both kingdoms agreed and paid an additional fee, their first-round match can be guaranteed to be against each other.

For such a small island city nation with no natural resources, less total population than a midsized city. The amount of wealth and power the academy holds are truly incredible and something Ken couldn't even fathom with his current knowledge about the inner workings of the greater world.

With such a large number of participants, the field was divided into small rectangles like the first day of the student's matches.

The rules are quite similar for the open tournament compared to when the students fought on previous days. But instead of 10 minutes, each group gets 20 minutes before matches are called and just like for the students, the match is over when someone's protection gets destroyed to prevent any accidental or purposeful injuries.

The only major difference between the students and the open tournament is that there are no restrictions on weapons or artifacts so those that have wealth will have the obvious advantages both in the power and uniqueness of their weapons and protection from their armor.

The protection magic cast is of low tier holy level while the judges are all professors who have obtained holy level abilities and have turned down many lucrative offers from different kingdoms to stay with the school instead. Of course, with so many matches taking place at once, it is at an extra cost, kingdoms can purchase artifacts that will focus on the matches of their kingdom for their citizens to see.

Unlike Lucia, who was more about hyping up the participants partly due to her lack of technical analysis ability and partly due to the skill level of the students. Ryder is way more technical with his commentary from experience and understanding of fighting in general.

Compared to the students only tournament, the level of combat is much faster and way more varied. People used all types of weapons, some are using special martial arts techniques, and the type of spells used are way more customized to what the individual is trying to accomplish compared to the randomness from most of the students.

"Geez, I never knew just how much better the fights are during the open tournament compared to the students. I got so much to explain to my brothers about fighting, it will blow their minds." Ken said happily, couldn't wait to finally go back home to his family in just a few days.

"Hey Ken. Where do you live? I need to know which kingdom, the location and its geography." Genesis said when Ken brought up his family.

"Why you need that for?"

"I mean, I don't have any family or anything to go back to. I don't have any friends I want to see, so I think it's best for me to go back with you instead."

"Make sense, come wake me up earlier and I will go with you tomorrow morning, I need to talk to the staff as well." Ken answered casually.

After a few hours of exciting matches, Clare and Alice showed up a bit before lunch intermission, and sure enough, Clare was not happy with the sitting arrangement. But before she could even complain.

"Ken is letting Genesis go home with him for break." Lovetta blurred out.

"He is what? Ken! Aren't you trying your hardest to climb the school rankings and prove to those that are looked down on you wrong? Why are you out here taking some random girl home to do whatever instead!" Clare said heatedly.

"Hey! I am not just some random girl you know. Don't have to be so mean Clare."

"You need to apologize Clare; you went too far. Besides, I don't have any ulterior motives. Genesis don't have any family left; I don't think it's wrong to let her come over and hang out with me and my family instead of spending a whole month alone." Ken said firmly wait for an apology.

"Sorry, that was very rude, I didn't mean anything malicious, just got heated in the moment." Clare replied sincerely.

"We all know Clare can act like a spoiled little princess when she gets mad." Alice added.

"Stop it, Alice! Clare! We all know you are not spoiled and for someone in your position to so readily admit when you are wrong and apologize is why I like you so much." Ken cut in to save the day like he always had to do with Alice around to taunt Clare.

"Jokes aside, I do at least agree with Clare that I don't like that Genesis gets to go home with you and spend all day and night with you for a whole month without supervision." Alice added.

"Yep, knowing Ken. He is too curious and will do anything to try it out, and he is too dumb to say no to anything." Clare added.

"Hey! Apologize!"

"Never!" Clare snapped back while sticking her tongue out at Ken.

Before the group could come to a conclusive agreement, the morning matches ended. Alice and Clare left quickly to get back to their families while Ken and the 2 girls went and grabbed some tasty lunch before they got ready for the afternoon show.

The afternoon matches progressed smoothly as the field got smaller and the competition got more heated and finally as the sky turned dark, with only 32 contestants left in each bracket, it's finally time for the stars to take the field.

As Ryder introduced the top 10 to the cheering crowd and promised them a great show for day 2, Clare and Alice popped up to join the three for the final bits of day 4.

"I have been thinking all afternoon. I don't think it's fair that Genesis gets to spend a whole month with you alone. I would feel much better if she would get a protection place on her, right Clare? Sure, you guys can still make out and do some things but at least it will give me a piece of mind." Alice said logically.

"If I can't stop Ken from inviting her to stay with him than that's the least I would need, or else I don't think I can sleep for the entire month." Clare added.

"I can't believe the two of you aren't fighting for once." Ken joked.

Genesis agreed to let Clare and Alice tag along in the morning to have a protection spell cast on her so at the very least they know the two won't be able to make love while they are left alone for a whole month.

After coming to an agreement, Clare and Alice left the three to join back with their own families while Ken and the girls did what they had done for the past few days. Grabbing some great food from different stalls, they enjoyed their meal on Lovetta's dime and headed back to the dorm for a good night of sleep.