Irregular - Chapter 30

Strem Pov

Strem walked behind the guide as they headed further into the Colosseum, he glanced around, sizing up the people surrounding him. They were likely to be his opponents, from what he had gathered the first round generally tended to be a free for all, the last twenty five people standing would move on to the next phase, meaning only one in four of people present would move on to the next round. The seven meter tall individual was among his group, standing out like a sore thumb. Strem felt the sudden urge to go and talk with the giant of a man, but never got the opportunity.

The guide suddenly stopped, he stood in front of a gate leading into a large open area behind him. He could hear muffled roars and shouts coming from past the gate. “In a few minutes the gates will open and you will be able to enter, walk through the gates onto the field, do not engage other combatants, the fight will start a minute or two after everyone has entered, those of you worried, just walk through the gate, it is enchanted it will ‘store’ your body and copy it moving your own consciousness into that copy, you won’t even notice the change.”

One of the combatants raised her hand, the guide nodded to her, “How does that work, who created the enchantments, I haven’t heard of magic like that.”

“The gate and its enchantments were created by the S rank adventurer Runic Royalty, not much is known of this S ranked adventurer that is the founder of the Inaho dynasty. He was the ancestor of the current royal family of Yalisia and he created this Colosseum hundreds of years ago, mages still have not figured out how the system works, making this an unique building, which is also the reason why so many warriors come here to test their martial skill.” The guide proudly told her.

The woman nodded, a lot of others having thoughtful expressions.

The sounds from the Colosseum started dying out, soon after they heard an echoing voice call out. “Congratulations to the twenty-five remaining Combatants, you may now stop fighting and proceed to the resting area!”

The guide explained to them that the current combatants would leave through a separate gate, regain their original bodies, and could use the resting area until the next phase.

“The next phase of Bronze combatants, please enter the arena!”

The gates opened and the guide rushed them through the gate, Strem ran through behind the other contestants, the sun glaring in his eyes. His eyes widening as he saw the area he just entered, the field itself was a simple dirt area, he had heard that it could change into different geographical locations . He looked around and saw the rows upon rows of people looking down into the arena. The Colosseum truly was massive, there were over a hundred thousand people enjoying the event at any given time. The city had thrived around the Colosseum, most of its businesses centered around it.

Strem shook his head as he focused on the task at hand. He took of in a random direction distancing himself from the many combatants, others quickly did the same, dividing themselves across the area. Some moved in groups others moved alone like him. The giant simply took a few steps forward and sat down, his dark eyes daring any to challenge him.

Strem smiled and stopped running, he then walked back and sat across from the giant. “Hi, I’m Strem, how’s ya day goin?”

The giant had an incredulous look on his face as he looked down at the small strange young-man sitting in front of him, “It has been going as well as can be expected I suppose.” The giant slowly answered, his deep voice sounding like an avalanche, or perhaps the rumble of a thousand bumblebees.

“Glad to hear it! So why did you enter this here tournament?”

The giant stared at him for a few seconds, “I have heard this is a good place to grow in strength, as I can find here warriors that are not intimidated by my size and can beat me regardless of it.” The giant moved a bit closer to Strem bringing his face about a meter away from Strem’s, looking him in the eyes, studying his expression, the giant sat back up. “I am Ritka, of the Broken Cliff tribe. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing.”

Strem tapped his chest, “I’m Strem! Fellow warrior, student of the rapier, lover of ladies, and altogether a pretty fantastic fellow if I do say so myself.”

The giant paused, then laughed. The very earth shaking from the sound, “At the very least you are an interesting guy indeed.”

“Well if you don’t mind Ritka my friend, I won’t be fighting you in this round. So make sure you survive so we can match our prowess in the next phase!”

Strem managed to say before the announcer’s voice drowned out any and all sound. From the corner of his eye he saw Ritka mouthing the word friend.

“Round Four of the open fielded bronze tournament is about to start! This one looks to be interesting folks, we have a half giant, twins of the Giants of the red sand, and many more!”

Everybody took a ready stance, “Three, Two, One, START” The announcer roared.

“EVERYONE!” A tall, handsome blond man shouted, everyone froze and stared at him.

“How about we team up to defeat that giant, I doubt any of us can defeat him in single combat, if we team up to beat him now we stand a better chance of proceeding later in the tournament!”

The blond young-man already had a sizeable group of others around him. Other groups started talking amongst themselves before one dark skinned man stepped forward, “We agree! My group will join.” Five similarly dark-skinned topless men behind him nodded their consent, soon others started agreeing and they circled around the giant and Strem.

Ritka stood up, glaring at the warriors around him, an eager smile splitting his face in half.

“Just so you know, I’m on the Giants side! Fighting against a hundred sounds much more interesting than fighting with a hundred against one!” Strem shouted unsheathing his rapier, and grinning at the warriors around him.

A roaring laughter was heard from the crowd, as a red skinned man stepped forward, atleast three meters tall, a woman looking nearly identical to him stood next to him. “You have the right of it, I think I’ll join that side!” He said walking over to them. Another figure stepped forward from the crowd, this one probably a girl with a blank mask tied in front of her face, she was wielding two of those katana things. She bowed to Strem, Ritka and the twins, and joined them in facing the rest.

“What an upheaval! IT SEEMS WE HAVE A GROUP BATTLE, To make things interesting, the Master of Blades has decided that the group that survives this round will proceed to the next phase! If you die but your group wins the fight then you will be allowed to proceed to the next phase!” The announcer took a deep breath, “This is why I love my job ladies and gents, things always get interesting!”

The audience roared in answer, excited to see the battle.

The men surrounding them roared in answer, excited at their increased chance to pass the first phase. The blond man unsheathed his sword and pointed at Strem’s group, “Chaaaaarge!” He roared.

The men surrounding them charged forward, Strem dashed towards the nearest one, using every ounce of his ability in a lightning quick lunge. His opponent tried to react but the rapier pierced through his eye, hitting the brain, the body exploded into a shower of lights, disappearing from the field. Another warrior slashed at him, he slipped past the blade and poked a hole in his throat. The warrior collapsed to the ground hands clutching at his thtoat but did not disappear. Another warrior attacked him, this one wielding a scimitar, he was rather skilled with the weapon as well, forcing Strem to take a few steps back. Out of nowhere a body slammed into his opponent both of them disappearing in an explosion of lights.

He gave Ritka a thumbs up, “Nice throw!” The giant laughed, grabbing the gigantic ax he had tied to his back and started mowing through the enemies, killing one or two with every swing. From the corner of his eyes he saw the twins both wielding a sword and shield, dancing between their enemies, fluidly moving in to cover each others openings without any sort of communication. Both of them had a huge grin on their faces, screams from the other side drew his attention, as the masked woman floated through her opponents, leaving nothing but floating lights in her wake. For a second he was stunned by the beautiful performance of her blades. This was not simple fighting, he had no other words to describe it, this was art, the battle field her canvas and the swords her brush.

Strem shook his head focusing back on the task at hand, there were plenty of opponents left to fight, and they were starting to work together.