After my meeting with the lords I read until my anger subsided and went to sleep. I was very groggy when at 5:00am someone knocked at my recently repaired door. Oh God it’s him: The cursed buff one. I know I can’t stop him with force. It’s time for a new tactic.

“Armstrong!” I yell as I wipe the sleep out of my eye.

“Great, you're awake! Open the door and let’s get going” Armstrong responds.

“No, listen to me. I want to bargain with you.”

“Hah! About what?”

“About my training. I can give you whatever you want in exchange for me to not train. Do you want money? I can get it. I know a thief. Do you want power? I’ll help you create your own sovereign nation. Is it women? I can get you a prostitute. I know a hoe who might have connections. Do you want men? You can have Adam.”

“Haha you’re funny! You know what I want?”

“What?”

My door busted down (come on man he broke my door two days in a row) revealing a smiling Armstrong which scared me more than anything I’ve ever seen in my life.

“I want you to train!” he exclaims.

“AHHHHHHHH!” I scream like a teenage girl.

He walks over and grabs me by the leg dragging me into the hallway. I struggle, free myself, and reluctantly accept my fate by walking with him. We’re now in the streets of Colonus and like before it’s eerie given how quiet and desolate the streets are. There’s no blood moon this time but it’s still a bit unnerving. As we walked I realized that we weren’t going to our normal training area which was North Point.

“Hey, where’re we going?” I ask him.

“To Dragon’s Descent. The new stadium at North Point is still under construction so we’ll just use the guild’s training area. Remember it?”

“Oh yeah that’s where I fought Nerva. Well kind of fought it was more like a scuffle.”

“I’m glad you remember. That was really funny to watch. She’s a fun little fireball.”

“I haven’t seen her in weeks. How’s she been doing?”

“She left with some of her friends to go on a quest. Something about a plant, I didn’t ask for details.”

“Huh? Did Adam go with her?”

“His mother told me he’s been shut in like you the past few weeks. Also like you, that'll change very soon. He’s participating in the tournament.”

“Willingly?”

“Let’s say he’s been...highly encouraged by family and tradition.”

“Sounds ominous but ok. What about Warren? I doubt he’s entering the tournament.”

Bringing up Warren changes Armstrong’s expression. He looks more serious all of a sudden.

“He’s around. I checked in on him last week. He’s going through what all of us adventurers go through when we lose people. I’ve been told what happened. It is a shame, they were good kids. I don’t expect him to be anywhere near the tournament.”

I wonder how much Armstrong knows, does he know one of Warren’s friends became a traitorous a-hole? I don’t ask, it just doesn’t feel appropriate.

We enter Dragon’s Descent and bypass all the sleeping drunks to descend the stairs to enter the training area. Seeing it makes me feel a strange sense of nostalgia . In my head I can see Nerva burning a bunch of practice dummies cursing up a storm. I’ve been through a lot of BS since that time. I look at Armstrong and he goes to the middle of the area. There’s no one else present so I get scared imagining what he’s about to do.

“Remember how things worked? I was supposed to only help you with aura control, correct?” he questions me.

“Yeah and that involved you making me exercise way too much” I answer.

“Well change of plans. Marianne, who was supposed to teach you fighting in general can’t anymore. She’s simply too busy so she asked me to teach in her stead. I gladly accepted, especially since you’re participating in the tournament. You need to do as well as possible for the guild.” Armstrong explains as he starts stretching.

“How well? You don’t expect me to win the entire thing do you?”

“Of course not. But you also can’t lose in the first round. I know you thought about throwing the first fight in order to get yourself eliminated as soon as possible.”

I pause in shock. How did he know? Armstrong is two steps ahead of me and I hate that.

“You need to at least get to the finals” he states.

“Huh?”

“That’s right. I believe you can do it.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I’m telling the lords that you didn’t fulfill your end of the deal.”

“Wait wait hold on, what if I try my hardest but still don’t get to the finals? You’re worried that I’ll slack off right? What if I just go against a really tough opponent and lose legitimately?”

“You’re strong enough that won’t happen. You shouldn’t lose to anyone until the finals. Failure is not an option ok? Think positive.”

Armstrong finishes his stretching and gets himself into a fighting stance. OH GOD.

“Wait, what are we doing?” I ask, hoping that it's not what I think it is.

“Don’t worry it’s not what you think. We’re not about to fight, I can’t train you if you’re too beat up. I do however need to see how much stronger you’ve gotten. Marianne told me you’ve unlocked your specialization. I want to see it.”

“Can’t I just hit a punching bag or something?”

“Nope. Can’t gauge your strength that way. I need to feel it myself. I want you to come at me and unleash everything you got. I won’t fight back, I swear. In my mind I’m not counting this as a bout. Now come at me!”

I hesitate. I’m scared he’s lying and will counter my attacks. I bet he’ll give some bs justification too like ‘oh sorry it was reflex’. He motions for me to come to him. I sigh. Looks like I’m doing this whether I want to or not. I raise my arms and clench my fists. I’m in my boxing stance now. This is the first time I’m going to fight since unlocking my specialization. Let’s see how much my fighting skill has changed since the last time Armstrong beat me up. There’s about 15 feet between us so I dash in to close the distance. I did it so quickly that I even surprised myself when my entire view suddenly became Armstrong’s chest. I start throwing left jabs. Each attack is blocked by Armstrong’s arm but each punch feels effective. I expected my fist to hurt because Armstrong is real tough but that’s not what happens. It feels like I’m hitting a tough sandbag instead of a wall which is an improvement. I switch up my attacks. I throw a right straight which is strong enough to make Armstrong take a step back. My eyes widened in surprise. I really did get stronger. I’m happy that I can now deal some damage against Armstrong. I begin a barrage of strikes. I alternate each hand with my punches and it’s making Armstrong step back with each attack. He decides he’s done being a punching bag and starts to dodge. He sidesteps a straight and as soon as he repositioned himself I turned my body around and hit him with my left elbow. I don’t know why I did it, it was a reflex. Armstrong didn’t expect it either as it was the first attack to his stomach. He bolts back away to create distance but I don’t let up. As soon as he moved I followed so that he didn't get the breathing room he wanted. I continue my assault. As I punch I start to notice that his arms are beginning to bruise. I decided to attack somewhere else, not out of pity for Armstrong but because I wanted to try something.

I throw what looks like a normal jab. Armstrong’s arm was ready to block it but right before I made contact I opened my hand and grabbed his wrist. I pull it leaving his body exposed. With my right arm I drive a hard punch into his stomach. Armstrong stops moving. I let go of his wrist. Did I actually hurt him? His body looks limp now as he stands.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I LOVE IT!” he exclaims out of nowhere.

“AH!” I scream in surprise at the outburst.

“You did get stronger! Amazing! So you truly are an in-fighter! You love to stay on top of your target, constantly staying on the offensive. Those dashes of yours are something only an in-fighter can do, no other monk specialization moves like that! Not to mention that attack you did at the end! You’re starting to get better with your tactics, getting good at thinking on the fly! We better stop, otherwise my body is going to take over and start fighting back!” he compliments.

“...Thanks?” I respond mostly focusing on that last part.

Good thing I didn’t keep going once Armstrong went limp, otherwise he would’ve started fighting back.

“So ugh what now?” I inquire.

“Hmm well given that I’ve verified what your specialization is, you should start learning some special moves. Tell me, have you created any on your adventure?”

“Ugh I don’t think so? Can’t I just keep punching things until they don’t move anymore?”

“Basic attacks can only get you so far. They’re meant to whittle down your opponent, not finish them off. If you use a special move correctly you can end a fight in an instant. I haven’t encountered many in-figher monks in my time so I’m not familiar with their special techniques. Looks like I’m gonna have to do some research on what to teach you. For now let’s just do some basic aura training. Run 45 miles around this area.” he orders.

“.....Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You can’t forget the basics of aura usage which includes having a fit body. After that we’ll call it a day.”

“...Please no.”

“Well you don’t have to. Just know that if you don’t I’ll have to talk with the lords about some things.”

“Ok fine! Man, I hate you.” I curse as I begin running.

As I run, I hear Armstrong chuckle. I hate him so much. The next 4 hours were painful running. I was surprised by my stamina though. I was going distances that I never would have been able to go back home no matter how much I trained. Don’t get me wrong, by the end I still wanted to die a thousand deaths but I could tell that something had changed. Right when I was about to collapse Armstrong told me to stop which meant I had permission to fall to the ground.

“Hah! Not bad Quincy! Looks like you need to put down peasant rebellions more often.” Armstrong jokes.

“No, don't even..hah...hah..joke about that. That whole thing traumatized me. We all vowed never to go back to Ayana.” I state out of breath.

“Is that so? That's a shame, Ayana is a nice place when it’s not dealing with rebellions.”

“Sure whatever you say. Can I go now?”

“Yes yes. Go enjoy your books.”

I get back on my feet and head up the stairs. I enter the main part of Dragon’s Descent and see that the place apparently got taken over by gangs. There are groups of people who have segregated themselves at clusters of tables and are wearing unique outfits. It's like each group took over a part of Dragon’s Descent. One group looks like they just finished crossing the Sahara desert, sporting apparel consisting of rags that cover their faces with extremely baggy clothing reminding me of desert nomads. Another looks like a group of businessmen? They’re wearing suits so I assume they’re businessmen. That or Mormons. A third looks like a gathering of guys who go to the gym daily. They’re all extremely buff and many of them are not wearing shirts. The ones that are clothed are wearing martial art gi’s but the sleeves are removed so you can see their biceps. A fourth looks bizarre, really standing out. They have this futuristic sci-fi look to them as they’re wearing blue visors and I swear to God exoskeletons. They’re not the bulky kind either, they are thin so their movement doesn’t seem to be hindered at all. Out of all the groups they appear the most introverted. None of them are talking and it seems they’re playing with something in their hands. From the looks of it it appears they’re playing handheld consoles and are really invested. A fifth group looks the most normal to what I’ve usually seen. They’re wearing normal brown leather armor but what makes them stick out is that they appear to have tribal tattoos. I can’t see their entire bodies but on their necks appear to be black tattoos of animals. The ones I could make out were a jaguar and I think a bear.

“Oh I totally forgot. Today’s early registration for the tournament. I guess a lot of people from other guilds wanted to beat the rush.” Armstrong realizes as he joins me.

“These people are from other guilds?”

“Yeah they are. People from other guilds are quite..strange looking aren’t they? Those guys are from Atrad’s guild: Griffin’s Nest. As you can see, they’re quite the nomadic looking bunch. Atrad is mostly desert after all. Don’t mention elves around them, they’re not very tolerant. Those business looking guys are part of Astus’s guild: Basilisk’s Gaze. They’re quite dull. They treat adventuring as a business always fretting about finances. The tattooed group is from Zefren. Their guild is called Angel’s Folly. They’re fun, full of real tough fighters. Very spiritual. The muscular guys are from Ayana’s guild: Kraken’s Deep. Now don’t let the name fool you, they don’t all specialize in water magic. A good friend of mine is their guildmaster. Finally those high end technology ones are from Albium’s group: Leviathan’s Throne. Their land doesn’t have any magic so they make up for it by using technology that is way more advanced than any other state’s.”

“That’s interesting. What about Oclana’s guild?”

“Ugh them. They’re guild is called Unicorn’s Wonderland. They’re not here yet thank goodness. They’re our rival guild and let’s just say they’re a bit weird when it comes to well...everything.”

“Weirder than the people here?”

“Much much weirder” Arstrong affirms.

“Great then I better get out of here before they show up huh?”

“Good idea. I wish I could do the same”

I begin to make my way out of Dragon’s Descent when I pass by a table and overhear a conversation people from Griffin’s Nest are having.

“My brothers, soon it will be time” one of them says.

“Yes, yes it will be” another concurs.

“A full year of planning has been leading up to this. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep for the next month. I want the tournament to start today” a third adds.

Ok this is sounding shady af. I backtrack and take a seat at a nearby table so I can listen in more.

“I’m ready. I’m ready man. No longer will we suffer. Suffer this humiliating existence” one voices excitedly.

“Just one more month my friend. Then as soon as the tournament starts, we’ll spring our plan into action!”

Ok that’s it I gotta step in. I get up and slam my hand on their table.

“What are you guys planning!” I yell.

I look and see that seated at the table are three guys. The first has a pointy nose, brown eyes, freckles, and a brown jew fro. The second is a bid pudgy, has thick round glasses, and a black bowl cut hairstyle. The third is a scrawny looking dude with pointy grey hair. These guys look like losers.

“It seems we have ourselves an eavesdropper” the one with the jew fro states.

“It appears we do.” the pudgy one agrees.

“Is he going to ruin our plans?” the grey haired one asks.

“I’m not sure. Let’s find out. Tell me, have you been suffering?” the jew fro guy asks me.

“Ugh what?” I respond.

“Has life dealt you a bad hand? Do you feel that the world is against you?”

“...Sometimes?”

“I see, I see. Now answer me this. Are you lonely?”

I don’t know what he’s getting at so I should just give him the answer he wants so he’ll get to the point.

“Yes.”

“Hmmm brothers, I think he is worthy of joining us.”

“I agree” the pudgy guy concurs.

“I still don’t trust him.” the third guy protests.

“We must be kind to our fellow man, my friend. I like the look of him, he seems earnest. I can tell he will not interfere with our plans. I’ve decided! He shall join us in our quest to get girlfriends! Here here!”

“Here here!” the other two chant.

“Wait what?” I question in disbelief.

“It’s ok my friend there’s no need to feign ignorance. You are now a member of our group. Together we shall succeed in our love quest.”

“What the hell are you talking about? You guys weren’t planning a terrorist attack or something?”

“What? N-no! That’s awful, we would never do such a thing! Is that what you thought we were doing? Sorry but if you want to be a terrorist you’ll have to do that on your own.”

“No I don’t want to be a terrorist you freaking idiots. What the heck is a love quest?”

“You do not know? I shall explain. Have you heard of the infinitely high boyfriend factor?”

“The what?”

The guys exchange worried glances.

“He is so innocent.” the pudgy one remarks.

“The infinitely high boyfriend factor is the fact that 99.9% of all attractive females already have boyfriends. We all know this from personal experience. Every time each of us confessed to a girl they all said the same thing: ‘Sorry I have a boyfriend’.” the jew fro guy explains

I think the reality is that the girls felt uncomfortable rejecting them outright so that’s what they said as an excuse.

“Ok...right” I say pretending I understand.

“That’s when we decided that we needed to change our tactics if any of us were ever going to get girlfriends. Instead of going to the girls, the girls shall come to us. We will use this tournament to advertise ourselves! Girls will flock to us once they see our strength and we will all get boyfriend-free girls to become our girlfriends. Here here!”

“Here here!” The other two cheer again.

“....What?” is all I could say.

“I know the plan is perfect! We even have posters made for when the time comes!”

The pointy haired one pulls out a poster from underneath the table.

“Looking for a boyfriend-free girl. Must be between the ages of 18-22. Must be attractive” I read aloud.

Jesus Christ these guys are retarded.

“So my friend, now that you understand our plans will you join us? Our bios are on the other side of the poster. Do you want us to add yours?”

“..Nah man I’m good. Good luck with your...love quest”

“Shame. Let me know if you change your mind. But before you go we should know each other's names given that we are now friends. I’m Felix, the big boned one is Rick A.K.A. Tubbs and the last one is Ricardo.”

I very reluctantly shake all of their hands.

“I’m ..Quincy.”

“The second hero? Oh my no wonder you denied joining us, you must already have a girlfriend. Heroes surely are popular with the ladies” Felix concludes.

“...Sure that’s it. I’m leaving”

As I leave the table I glance at another group of blue leather armor wearers seated at a nearby table. They look at me and mouth the word ‘sorry’. They must’ve seen that awful social interaction and felt bad for me. I should be the one saying ‘sorry’, those poor souls have to deal with those guys on a daily basis.

I pass by a few more tables, trying my hardest to forget what just happened. As I walk by I hear a snippet of a conversation another guild is having.

“Sir, we got a problem.” I hear a voice say.

“What is it?” another responds.

“I just did our calculations….and”

“What is it? Spit it out!”

“We are five gold over budget for our drinks.”

“...Gods and Goddesses we’re never gonna financially recover from this.”

“Sir what are we gonna do!? If the boss finds out he’s gonna kill us.”

“It’s ok Frankie calm down. We can get through this. We can reallocate funds from our hotel budget to make up for it. We just have to sleep in the streets for a few days.”

“Ah of course boss. You’re a financial genius.”

What? Ok I have to know who’s having this conversation. I look to my right and see they're from the guild that looks like a bunch of businessmen, Basilisk I think. Specifically I’m looking at two men sitting by themselves. One seems to be a man in his early forties with slick black hair that has a tinge of gray. His eyes are light grey and he’s wearing a white collared shirt with black slacks. The other man sitting with him is wearing an identical outfit but appears much younger, I’d say early twenties. He has bright blonde hair and golden colored eyes. He is writing in a notebook with a black pen. From what I could see it appears to be math calculations.

“Frankie, who was responsible for us going over budget? The fool must pay for what they’ve done.” the older man threatens.

The young man does some calculations in his notebook.

“Sir...it was you.”

“What?”

“It was you sir. I’ve done the calculations 12 times now. You ordered that margarita which cost 6 gold, 4 silver.”

“That’s impossible. I read the menu, the drink was worth 4 gold, 6 silver.”

“No sir, that was the drink below it.”

“I-I see”

The older man slowly nods as he picks up a knife from the table. He raises it and looks like he’s about to impale himself with it.

“Frankie, you know what I must do,” he says.

“Yes sir. You’re so noble!” the young man screams in awe yet has tears rolling down his face.

He begins the motion to drive the knife into his neck when I grab his arm, preventing his death. The knife is about an inch away from piercing his skin.

“What are you doing!” I yell.

“I have shamed the Basilisk guild by being financially irresponsible! Death is my only option to atone!” he shouts.

“What the hell? I heard your conversation, five gold is nothing!” I argue.

“Over budget is over budget! I cannot live with this shame!”

“Boss I’m gonna miss you!” the young man cries.

“I’m gonna miss you too Frankie. Remember all that I taught you. Don’t end up like me.”

This is getting too stupid I have to end this. With my free hand I reach into my pocket and take out five gold. I slam it on the table.

“There's five gold! Now you’re no longer over budget! The crime has been undone!” I exclaim.

The two men look at the five gold. The older man puts the knife down.

“Boss, can it work? This means we don’t have to reallocate our funds.” the young guy asks.

“Hmmm I’ll never forget the shame I have inflicted upon the guild but this young man is right, it undoes my crime. I’ll keep living for now.”

“Oh thank goodness Boss.”

They both turn to me and get out of their chairs. They bow at me.

“Thank you so much, kind stranger!” they yell in unison.

“Ugh...no problem. Just don’t kill yourselves. I’m leaving now, you guys are weird.” I state as I begin walking away.

Jesus this place is full of weirdos. I need to start minding my own business otherwise I’m never getting out of this place. I make a beeline for the door hoping not to get distracted anymore when I accidentally bump into something. Dang I was going so fast I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings. I look up and see a massive man before me. He’s about 6’6 and has long curly black hair that goes down to his shoulders. He has brown eyes and a massive curly black beard. He’s wearing normal brown leather armor and on his neck I see a black tattoo of a lion. This guy reminds me of a professional wrestler.

“Sorry about that. Ugh mind moving out of the way?” I question.

He’s right in my path to the door and I’m too lazy to go around another table.

“The Tower moves for no one” he tells me in this deep voice.

“Ugh what?”

“The Tower is immovable.”

“Ok?”

I sidestep so he’ll pass me instead since he didn’t want to get out of my way. However he remains in place.

“Dude come on you going or not?” I say slightly annoyed.

“The Tower will remain here. The Tower is on guard.”

“On guard against what?”

“Enemies of The Tower”.

“...What the fu? Ok bro you starting to anger me get out the way.”

“The Tower refuses.”

“Don’t think I’m afraid to kick your ass. I’m not in a good mood today.”

“You wish to fight The Tower?”

He spreads his feet apart and the ground starts to shake. A grey aura begins to exude from his body. He flexes his muscles. I can see the veins in his arms bulge out.

“Jesus!” I say as I try to keep my footing.

“The Tower will defeat all enemies. The Tower will not fall”

“Hey hey hey Tower what’s wrong buddy?” I hear a voice call out from behind.

I turn around and see a guy with a red undercut hairstyle, red eyes, and must be from Angel’s Folly because he is wearing brown leather armor with a black tattoo of a crow on his neck.

“He wishes to fight The Tower.” the big man says.

“No I don't, I just want him to get out the way.” I counter.

“Tower buddy, I told you to not stand in people’s way.” the redhead reminds his friend.

“The Tower must be vigilant. All must know of The Tower’s presence.”

“Yes buddy you can be vigilant by standing somewhere else. Go stand in that corner over there. That way you can keep an eye on everything ok?”

“Hmmmmm. The Tower accepts your proposal. The Tower will go to the corner, but not because The Tower was commanded to do so.”

“Sure sure get going.”

The shaking stops and the big man powers down. He stomps his way past me to go stand in a nearby corner.

“What’s up with that guy?” I question.

“Don’t mind him. The Tower is just a very devoted...member of our guild. You ok?”

“I’m good. Just..a bit confused on why I almost got into a fight with a giant man.”

“That’s just the way he is, always going overboard. It’s my job to keep him in check. I swear he’s usually a nice guy. I’m Damian by the way.”

“I’m Quincy.”

“Huh that name sounds familiar. Are you famous for something?”

“Nah” I lie.

I’m not in the mood to talk to people anymore. I want to get out of here.

“Huh. Well once again sorry about that. Guess I’ll see you in the tournament? You are participating right?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Then I’ll see you when the fun starts.”

“Yeah.”

I nod and after what felt like an eternity leave Dragon’s Descent. I swear that was the worst time I had there. Other guilds are chalk full of strange people. I’m really glad I got transported to Dreden out of all the states. If I was transported to a different state I might’ve been forced to join one of those other guilds instead and that would’ve been torture. I begin to walk to a nearby portal but stop. Is Will still messing up the portals? I’m sure Will’s gotten strong enough that the portal malfunctions have subsided but I’m not going to risk it. I turn away and begin the standard long walk back to the castle. During my walk I notice the Grand Skirmish advertisements that are everywhere. Giant posters and signs are visible everywhere I look. Guess the tournament truly is the biggest event of the year. I’m about halfway to the castle now and see that a crowd has started to form. From the looks of it it seems like people are waiting for a parade. Wait, is the parade the lords talked about happening right now? I thought that was scheduled right before the tournament started. I move my way to the front and see a massive float coming down the street. It is designed to look like a big poofy white cloud. There’s a rainbow arch over it and standing on the cloud are people wearing extravagant colorful pink clothing. What in the world is this? One of the people standing on the cloud float takes out a megaphone. It’s a woman wearing a big pink dress.

“Citizens of Colonus! The strongest guild is here! Put your hands together for Unicorn’s Wonderland!” she yells.

People start to cheer. I awkwardly and perfunctorily clap my hands. I don’t wanna be that one a-hole who doesn’t cheer. The float passes by allowing me to see that a bunch of people are following the float. They’re all wearing pink clothing that’s way too freaking bright. The women are wearing extravagant dresses and the men are wearing bright colorful suits. Actually scratch that some of the men are also wearing dresses. They are also sprinkling glitter everywhere as they walk. One of the followers of the float is a young girl on a giant white horse. She’s wearing a bright pink outfit which really reminds me of Madoka’s outfit from Madoka Magica. To go along with the comparison to magical girls she’s got that Sailor Moon hairstyle but her hair’s pink not blonde. She’s small too, probably around Nerva’s height. She takes out a wand that has a giant yellow star on it and starts to swing it around. A rainbow trail follows the wand. The whole scene is so bizarre my eyes can’t look away. The girl and I briefly locked eyes. Her eyes are a dark pink and after looking at me for a brief moment I swear I heard her say “Hmph!” like she was annoyed it happened and quickly looks away.

Well ok weirdo I don’t wanna look at your bright girly glitter looking ass anyway.

I continue my way back to the castle away from the parade of the weirdest looking adventurers I’ve ever seen. I’m now in front of the castle and see a dude standing right in front of it all by himself. He has a giant green headband whose backend goes to his waist. He has black hair that is in the style of a flattop and has really dark brown eyes. For his main clothing he has brown cargo pants and brown boots. For his top he only has on a brown vest allowing me to see his abs and biceps. Finally he has fingerless brown gloves that have a lot of scratches on the knuckle areas.

“COME OUT EMPEROR! I WANT TO FIGHT YOU!” he screams at the castle.

Ugh what is he doing?

“Yo bro you good?” I ask standing next to him.

“HAAAA! I’M NOT GOOD! I WANT TO FIGHT THE EMPEROR! BUT HE WON’T COME OUT!” he yells right in my face.

“Jesus stop yelling you’re about to burst my eardrums! Why do you want to fight the emperor?”

“BECAUSE HE’S STRONG! I WANT TO SEE HOW STRONG I AM IN COMPARISON! IT’LL HELP ME TRAIN!” the loud weirdo responds.

“STOP YELLING! The Emperor isn’t going to fight a random person who yells outside his castle!” I exclaim back.

His demeanor slightly changes. He calms down a bit. However I can tell he’s still full of energy, having this large smile on his face.

“Sorry. I’m just...so hyped. Soon I get to fight all the strongest fighters in Westphalia! Fighting tough guys wiles me up like nothing else! Yeeeeaaaahhhh!.” he tells me as he fist pumps the air.

Oh I see. This guy’s on crack.

“So you’re participating in the upcoming tournament and hoped you could fight the Emperor to train?” I surmise.

“Yep!”

“So you already registered?”

“No I have not! I got lost!” he says without shame.

“Ugh well I just came back from Dragon’s Descent so I’ll tell you where to go. Just go up that road there for about 8 blocks and take a left at the fountain. You know you’re going the right way when you see a giant float full of weirdos.”

“Wait a minute! Are you participating in the tournament too!”

“Unfortunately yes.”

“That means I get to fight you! Hey, you wanna go for a round right now!?”

“No, no I don’t and you don’t know for sure if we’re gonna fight in the tournament. We don’t know the match ups. Do you casually ask people to fight you all the time?”

“YEAH!”

“Don’t do that.”

“Ok! Then I better get going. I hope you don't plan on winning the tournament because I’m winning the whole thing! Bet on it!”

“Whatever. Go away now, you’re extremely loud and annoying.”

“On it! But wait! What’s your name, friend!?”

I don’t want to tell this guy my name. I can tell he’s going to annoy me to no end but against my better judgment I do so.

“Quincy.”

“Hi Quincy! I’m Sora!”

“..Ok.”

“AHHHHH I’M REALLY HYPED! I’M GONNA BEAT EVERYONE! BET ON IT!” he shouts.

He throws a punch into the air in excitement which causes a huge gust of wind to blow in every direction. It was so strong I was knocked off my feet.

“OOOOOOOOHHHH” he yells running off in the direction I came from.

I look up and see that there’s a giant hole in the cloud that was above us. Jesus christ did he just do that with a single punch? Ok I’m second guessing this whole tournament thing now. Am I going to be able to get to the finals? If I face anyone as strong as that yelling weirdo I might not make it. Oh no I’m going to have to start training hard aren’t I? I get back on my feet and head into the castle, tired thinking about today and depressed thinking about the future.