Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 90: Talent Competition

Taking a deep breath in order to calm her nerves, Koko waited behind the stage along with everyone else that was participating in the talent competition as the coordinator of the event climbed onto the stage to speak to the massive crowd beyond it. And while Koko had thought that only a few hundred people would attend, she hadn't expected the thousands of people that were now gathered in Goldgate's city center. Though no matter how many there were, Koko thought that she would be nervous regardless seeing as she'd only ever played behind some curtains to a small group of nobles before. But now she would be out in the open and playing in front of this many people...

Forcing herself to breathe calmly, Koko looked at everyone that was currently sitting next to her as they all waited for their turns to be on the stage. And as she inspected her competition, Koko thought that she'd been placed with a group of the most interesting people in the world seeing as there were several different races there, each with their own talents and strange senses of fashion. From what looked like biker gang clothing to clown outfits, everyone there seemed to wear the perfect clothing to stand out, making Koko wish that she'd chosen something other than the dress that she'd had on all day to participate in. Though there was no helping it now as the coordinator finished with his introductory speech and the crowd past the stage all clapped as they waited for the competition to begin.

Watching the first contestant take the stage, Koko began feeling even more out of place as a large man more than three times her height began to juggle fire-coated swords before ending his act with swallowing one of them. And while the first act was surprising, the second shocked Koko as a man in a ridiculous red onesie used the combination of a memory crystal and some strange kind of spell to project a short movie on the stage's background curtain for the audience to watch. Though even if Koko had watched him intently to see just what he was doing to create the movie, she never found out as his act ended and the next person took his place. And that was a shame, seeing as with the introduction of movies, Koko could have introduced anime into this uncultured world.

As each contestant moved to the stage and preformed their acts, night had fallen with storm clouds beginning to form overhead before the stage lit several lights above the contestants so that they could bee seen. However the streetlamps which would normally have illuminated the streets remained dark in the immediate area so that the contestants could be seen better, which was better for everyone as the next act was three elven girls dancing in cloths consisting of several different colors that had loose hanging fabric flowing from each of their movements.

"You're up next." The coordinator made his way over to Koko before making a strange face at her. "You sure that you want to do this kid? You're going up against adults, you know."

"I'm fine, thanks." Koko replied evenly with her irritation thankfully overcoming her nervousness.

"Alright then." The man sighed as he made a mark on the clipboard that he was carrying. "Do you need anything done to the stage for your act?"

"If you could turn out the lights, then that would be perfect." Koko answered with a smile.

"Alright then." The man continued with a disinterested tone before he moved on to the contestant that would preform after Koko and asked them about their act as well.

"Please give a hand for the Selevyn Sisters!" The coordinator suddenly jumped onto the stage as the girls exited while the crowd cheered for them. "Next up is Koko Cryner with the violin!"

When the announcer walked off the stage, Koko took one more deep breath before standing and walking onto the platform as the lights dimmed above her. And after placing each of the Acoustic Substitutes on the stage around her, she activated them all and turned to face the crowd which seemed like thousands of faceless people as the only thing that she could see in the darkness was their darkened outlines. Though despite her nervousness at facing all of them, Koko forced herself to start silently counting after she activated the substitutes. And after getting ready, she began playing by herself while hoping that the Acoustic Substitutes would activate when they were supposed to. Otherwise it'd be terribly embarrassing and her performance would be ruined.