“For our first participants. We have, from the notorious Mylik Clan the beautiful Sophie Mylik’s who is known for her exquisite handle on fire magic. She hails from one of the most famous fire clans and is known for her intricate spellcasting.’’

The announcer pointed towards the entrance, Left of the arena from where a beautiful woman with red hair and skin-tight armor that embraced her voluptuous body come out. She waved at the euphoric crowd and smiled beautifully as she ascended the stairs towards the announcer as he continues with the introductions.

“And from the Nörm Clan, we have last years semi-finalist Auber Nörm known to us for his superb sword-handling skills. He is proficient in reinforcement magic and is able to stand his ground with any pure magic user.”

He points to a tall man full of scars in his face that was making his way towards the center of the arena with a stern look and a heavy armor, he had a broadsword in his back and doesn’t seem bothered by the weight at all.

This takes me aback. ‘He is able to wear such heavy armor and sword like it’s nothing, só he must have trained his body to the extream or there is a technic that allows people to surpass the normal physical limitations.’ As I was deep in thought the announcer was making the rules clear for everyone once again.

“All killing is forbidden and if any of you try to kill the other, that person will be disqualified and will have to face severe punishment by an elder of their respective clan. Having said that please take pointers from this fight and above all else, enjoy yourself’s!”

The crowd entered a frenzied state as the people above us were watching the big Mirage screen. I am hit by dejavu’s of my fights in prison, my body starts to tremble and thin layers of sweat form on my forehead and back as I look at the people down below. I have nightmares of the past sometimes and I wake up startled as my mother rushes out of bed to comfort me through lovely songs.

I use a breathing technique that I learned with the psychologist in prison when I had an anxiety attack due to life threats that people made before I joined a gang, I somewhat calm down but still feeling nervous.

“Begin!”

The announcer backs down from the arena as the two contenders size each other, the man takes the sword from his back and the woman starts to emanate a red aura that spells trouble. The man charges at speeds that are beyond normal as he swipes a fast diagonal sweep towards the woman’s shoulder, seeing this the woman tilts her body to make it as thin as possible and sends an uppercut covered in flames at the enemy’s head and fails because the other party tilted himself on time. As they hastily retract from each other, thunderous cheers could be heard from the crowd.

I watch this fearfully, not of the fight itself but from the almost hypnotic induced memories that lock me in place, then my grandfather speaks.

“These two younglings are good, they will accomplish good things in the future and they hopefully join the army.” Then he sneers “Unlike my stupid son.”

I direct my gaze towards him and if looks could kill, this old radish masked as a fresh one would slump dead right here in this spot. But there is no such justice, and the bastard continues to spew insults towards my caring father.

“I am certain that Offire, his cousin would win this tournament, as he slaughters those monsters every day in the forefront and was commended two months ago for valiant behavior.” At this words, my ears perk up as I didn’t know of any war’s that are happening. Even after spending so long watching the Glass Mirage no news on the matter was exhibited.

The fight rages on as Sophie ignites her feet on fire and gains an impressive boost of speed, circling arround the man know as Auber she runs towards him with a flaming fist taking advantage of the surprise attack, but the other party spins his massive body and lands a round-house punch that lands on her temple, she staggers and falls to the ground, Auber seeing this he launches forward to place his sword on Sophie’s throat but the other party ignites herself forming a ball of flames in her hands and strikes her opponent in the face.

‘As I thought magicians do have the upper hand on fights, though he struck her with a fierce punch the other party still had the energy to continue.’

But as I was thinking this, the flames disappeared showing the man's face looking sternly towards Sophie. He pointed the sword at her, this time emanating killing intent and as he was about to strike a deadly blow.

Suddenly the announcer blinked from outside of the arena to the middle, made his way towards the man stopping his sword with one hand, sighting and shaking his head as at Auber's face that was even sterner. But he dared not make a move because of the number of experts gathered in the place, and so he unwillingly sheathed his sword.

Seeing this the announcer said. “Ladies and gentleman, I am sorry to say but our candidate Auber Nörm is disqualified for intentionally trying to deal a killing blow to the other contender.” He shakes his head again as lifts the woman’s arm signaling her victory. “As so our first contender to go forth is Sophie Mylik, please a big round of applause for her”

She smiled sweetly, as the crowd yet again cheered for her, the announcer speaks a few words to the first winner as two men dressed in black cloths preventing from seeing their face escorts the other man towards the exit. ‘If what the announcer said is true, he is in for a world of pain.’

And like this, the fights went on, until a familiar name was spoken.