Aegon was dumbfounded, he wasn't aware that he would have to fight, his brother never told him that, he only wished him good luck with a sly smile.

“Now for the rules of the tournament. If you win your first battle you will go to the winners bracket and if you lose you will go to the losers bracket. Once everyone is in their respective brackets another round of fighting will begin, if you win in the winners bracket you will have your ranking placed somewhere between first and thirteenth place based on my analysis of your fights, in case you lose you have to fight one last time against the winners of the losers bracket to decide if you keep your place in the top 26 or if you are demoted to the top 39. Those that are defeated twice in a row will occupy the last thirteen places.”

Mentor 1 started calling two names at a time and those called would then fight each other. Every time a name was called cheers could be heard from certain parts of the arena, it was mostly family and friends of the youths. That was until…

“Haris Lawrence Vs Aegon Silver “

This time the whole crowd erupted. The young master of the Lawrence family was going to climb on stage.

Aegon broke inside when he heard his name. [ Fuck, I must have inherited my ancestors bad luck].

Both youths stepped on stage with expressions that couldn't be more different. Haris had a confident smile and the bearing of a young hero while Aegon showed a face of self-pity.

“You are the gentleman from the market, I must thank you for letting me have Victoria, she has been an amazing partner”. The Green-Scout Eagle perched on his shoulder chirped in agreement.

“Don't mention it, I was still lucky enough to find Kuro.”

“That's good. I owe you for this so if you ever need help you can come to me. Now, shall we begin?”

Haris slightly moved his shoulder and Victoria immediately took off and dashed straight in Aegon's direction.

Aegon quickly reacted by throwing his knife in the eagle's direction forcing it to turn. Kuro who was at Aegon's side at the beginning of the fight had quietly inched forward and was now right under Victoria.

He jumped, catching the eagle and smashing it on the ground.

Boom!

It was instantly knocked out and Aegon and Kuro found themselves in a two versus one situation.

But before they could take advantage of their numbers, Aegon, who was focused on Kuro´s fight, was hit in the back of the head and fell face first to the ground. [What happened?! I was watching him from the corner of my eye. He never moved…]

He slightly raised his head to look at the place where Haris was in the beginning of the fight and was shocked to see him still standing there but a few seconds later he started to fade .It was all an illusion.

“Haris Lawrence wins.”

“Strong, this Lawrence kid seems to already know how to use some of his family's illusion techniques.”

Haris walked off stage and waited for the next fight with his usual confident smile.

“Ah, my bad luck runs deep”. Aegon slowly got up and apologetically looked at Kuro. He knew it was mostly his fault.

Youth and wolf walked off stage side by side, Aegon seemed broken, defeated, however if the people watching paid close attention they would notice Aegon constantly muttering something…

“My current potential does not take into account my future encounters”

“My current potential does not take into account my future dedication”

“My current potential is only based on my present self”

In a way these 3 “laws” were Aegon’s motto, he found them while taking a stroll through a patch of forest near his home. They were carved on the side of a large cliff. He was fascinated by the way they were written; it seemed like some extraordinary power was used that transmitted the writer's feelings to the reader. He felt insufficient but at the same time that it was possible to be great. Those words and feelings left a deep mark in a young and impressionable Aegon and he immediately adopted them as his own.