Blaine Glayder POV:
Still a few minutes before the first match starts. Time for me to try messing with King Eralith's head a little.
"So, King Eralith, I've heard some amazing rumors...about your daughter awakening?"
There's no way this could be true. This is probably some propaganda the Elves are making up, to seem tough. After all, they lost plenty of mages from the war.
"Ah yes. It's true, my daughter just awakened, at the young age of 8."
"That's amazing!" Priscilla chimes in. "You must be very proud of her! She must be the youngest mage to ever awaken!"
I nod along with her, putting on a fake smile. Damn it, what rotten luck. I thought I was getting ahead with that Bladeheart kid awakening at 9 years of age and reaching light yellow so quickly...
The Eraliths will definitely buy many beast cores for their daughter to absorb mana from. Maybe I should start sending more beast cores to the Bladehearts...
I can't afford to lose any more ground in terms of young talented mages!
3rd Person POV:
Just as the stands of the arena are completely filled, an announcer steps out into the field holding a sound-amplifying artifact.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the Tri-Tournament at the Glayder Arena! Today is a special day as we come together to celebrate the long-awaited unity of the humans, elves, and dwarves!"
The crowd erupts in applause and cheers.
"Before we get started, I would like to take a moment to recognize the three royal families that have graced us with their presence today. Please join me in welcoming:"
"From the esteemed elven realm, King Alduin and Queen Merial!"
The elven royals wave gracefully to the crowd.
"From the great human kingdom, King Blaine and Queen Priscilla!"
The human royals acknowledge the cheers with a regal nod.
"And from the sturdy dwarven stronghold, King Dawsid and Queen Glaudera!"
The dwarven royals receive a thunderous ovation from the crowd.
"Now, let's move on to the exciting part of today's event, the matchups! There are 8 representatives from each of the 3 kingdoms that will face off in a single elimination bracket."
"Without further ado, let's introduce the first two contestants!"
"Hailing from the Human Kingdom, Bairon Wykes!"
Bairon walks onto the field. He is clad in polished metal armor that covers his entire body, except for his head. As he takes his position on one side of the field, he summons a fancy-looking spear from his dimension ring that is crafted from expensive parts of multiple mana beasts. Bairon slams the rear end of the spear on the ground, and the impressed human citizens in the crowd cheer.
"And hailing from the Elven Kingdom, Kal-El!"
There are loud cheers from the elves in the crowd, that somewhat lessen in intensity as Arthur walks out. Arthur draws many curious stares, many wondering why he is hidden behind his mask and hood.
Various speculations float throughout the crowd as Arthur walks into position.
"That guy looks kinda small, is that a kid?"
"Nah, it can't be. Probably some short elf."
"Do we know that guy's an elf?"
"I heard the royal families picked the contestants, so he has to be, right?"
In the royal viewing box, Alduin and Merial glance briefly at each, smirking at the use of the ancient "El" name added.
King Dawsid leans over to ask about Kal-El.
"Hey, Alduin, did you send that guy? Is he really an elf?"
"Ah...yes Dawsid, Kal is one of ours. He's just... of small stature."
"Why does he need to hide his face behind a mask and hood?" King Blaine questions.
"Kal is... doing this for personal reasons for now. I promise you, everyone will learn of his identity eventually."
"Well, I hope he puts on a show today! Haha!" King Dawsid laughs.
King Blaine quietly sighs, dismissing a crazy thought that the Eraliths found another talented young mage.
Arthur Leywin POV:
"I know from meeting you earlier, that your core level is lower than mine. I'm not sure how you're hiding your core level, but it won't save you from losing to me!"
"Okay." I respond, as my distorted voice echoes from the mask. "Can I ask, what stage is your core at?"
Bairon smirks at me. "I just achieved white core recently. Don't worry, I won't fly too high, where you can't reach me."
"Uhh, ok." What a taunt. He's about to be shocked real soon.
"Aren't you going to take out a weapon, Kal-El?"
"It's okay, I'm used to fighting bare-handed."
"Tch, don't regret it later, elf!" Oh great, now he's mad.
I notice the announcer beckoning the audience to quiet down.
"Bairon, Kal, are you two ready?"
We nod. The announcer unveils a large bell, slightly taller than himself.
"Then, when I ring this bell, the match shall begin!"
"3...2...1..."
*DING!*
Bairon immediately floats up into the air, drawing many shocked gasps from the crowd.
"Let's see how you handle this, Kal!!"
Bairon gathers deviant lightning mana with his left hand, and conjures several bolts and launches them at me.
--Static Void--
I quickly activate my first phase, and run across the field to the other side of Bairon.
Hmm, I should pretend to be an elf, right? I'll just bind him up with vines then.
I start channeling plant mana into the ground, and concentrate a large amount of it directly underneath Bairon. As time resumes, I have several vines sticking out of the ground, ready to launch at Bairon.
"What? He disappeared?!" Bairon looks around, confused, before seeing me behind him. "There you are-"
The vines reach up and wrap all around Bairon's body, and start pulling him down. I send vines to pull his spear away, but he's got a solid grip on it.
Bairon lands on his back, but he's already got lightning mana charged up.
--Discharge--
(A/n: yes, like in Pokemon games)
The vines covering him burn up, but I already have my next move ready.
--Fissure--
I cause the earth under Bairon to crack, and use wind mana to create a vacuum inside the crack. I also generate a downwards wind to help trap Bairon's legs inside the crack.
"Don't underestimate my power!" Bairon yells.
Bairon heavily augments his spear, filling it with lightning mana as well, and simply swings downwards, smashing the ground around the fissure. Chunks of earth fly upwards, ready for me to use.
Bairon quickly aims for me and throws his mana-infused spear. With my left hand, I summon several earth walls to block it and change its trajectory, and it embeds itself into the wall of the arena. With my right hand, I reach out to the chunks of earth around Bairon, and make them latch onto him, weighing him down.
--Aero Boost--
My body is covered by an aura of wind magic, and I speed towards Bairon, who is discharging lightning again to break free from the earth chunks.
"I've got you now!" Bairon yells as he breaks free and swings a lightning-infused fist at me.
I block him with my left arm, and he grins, thinking that the lightning will paralyze me. His eyes turn to disbelief as I punch him squarely in the face with my wind-powered right fist.
Bairon gets sent flying into the wall of the arena, causing a cloud of dust to rise around him, blocking the audience's view of him.
As I prepare an earth spell, I use my Ranged Vision to see him through the cloud of dust.
...
Wait...he's knocked out? Just like that? Uhh...ok, I guess I don't need to cast this earth spell.
I look around, and see the audience in shock. The elves slowly start clapping and cheering, while everyone else just looks on in disbelief. I turn to the royal viewing box, and see King and Queen Eralith awkwardly chuckling, and the other monarchs in shock. King Blaine storms out of the box, with Queen Priscilla quickly following him. King Dawsid looks on worriedly.
"The...the winner of the first match is...Kal-El." The announcer states, in shock.
3rd Person POV:
After a short while, with emitters retrieving Bairon, some earth mages fixing the field, etc, the announcer prepares to start the second match. King Blaine finally returns to the royal viewing box, after calming down in the hallway with his wife. A dwarven guard returns to King Dawsid, telling him that a message was successfully delivered to Lance Olfred.
The announcer soon begins.
"Now, let's introduce the next two contestants!"
"From the Dwarven Kingdom, Olfred Warend!"
The dwarves in the audience enthusiastically cheer for the first Dwarf contestant to appear. Olfred walks onto the field, clad in dark brown Dwarven-style armor, with some red accents that subtly indicate his affinity for lava.
"And from the Human Kingdom...please welcome..."
As the announcer speaks, a 14-year old teenager emerges from a tunnel leading to the field. Immediately, everyone's attention is on this person, most people amazed by how young the contestant looks. The teenager walks with lighthearted steps, clad in typical adventurer-style armor, with a rapier equipped.
The sun glints off the teenager's glasses, as the wind rustles through scarlet red hair, causing it to sway and dance in the breeze.
"...Kaspian Bladeheart!"
Kaspian draws his rapier, and brandishes it. The humans in the crowd cheer at the unexpected arrival. After all, Kaspian has been secretly training with his aunt, who is a former Lance, and with the support of the Glayders (beast cores, elixirs, etc). Kaspian has been attending classes at Xyrus Academy, while hiding his core level.
Now, as a light yellow core mage, Kaspian finally reveals himself to the world.
"Please train me well, Mr. Olfred. Thanks for having this match with me!"
"Oho, aren't you a young one? Don't lose too quickly, okay?"
Olfred discreetly glances at King Dawsid, who nods at him.
"Olfred, Kaspian, are you two ready?"
They nod.
"Then Ready, Set,..."
*DING*
===============
Surprise revealed! It's Kaspian! Now he's younger, and with red hair! Hmm, why the red hair...? And who is this aunt he's been training with?
This might sound random but... should Kaspian have a harem?
Bairon losing immediately lol, now his brother is feeling very NOT inspired
That reminds me... should I include Lucastration and Clivestration like in other fics? lol
Stay tuned for the exciting developments in the Tri-Tournament!
see ya