-School of Towers-

[The number one institute for the study, teaching, and researching

Of magic. It consists of seventeen towers, all of varying heights.

Each tower has a number which dictates the level of magic being

Studied and taught within. The higher the number, the taller the tower,

And the more advanced the magic.]

The tournament was being held in a stadium within the School of Towers, which was perched on top of the large hill at the center of the city, acting as the centerpiece. When Nadred suggested we take an Aeth'mobile up to the stadium, Oroske insisted it would be faster and easier to just walk there. The walking path next to the road turned to stairs at the base of the hill.

While it was considered a hill, up close it was almost more like a small butte. The sides were so steep they were almost a cliff. So instead of climbing directly up the side, we had to take the same path vehicles did, which wound around the hill in a quarter-spiral. There were four of these quarter-spirals, one in each of the intercardinal directions. Climbing the steps took a while, but by my estimate, Oroske was right about it being faster than taking an Aeth'mobile up, as we passed several of them on our way up. They would be stopped for a couple minutes, then move up a couple spaces. Usually a few seconds after they moved up, we'd see another one go down the hill. At the top, we'd find the reason why, though I suppose in hindsight it was obvious; the vehicles would stop at the top to drop people off, then head back down.

Here, at the Southwest entry point, there was a tower pretty close by. It was the shortest of the 7 or so in sight, by a fair margin too. Despite that, it was still taller than the vast majority of buildings at the base of the hill. The towers pierced the sky, lights on the outside illuminating the structures from bottom to top, and lights in windows gave insight to how many floors there were.

“Wow,” Nadred breathed as he looked the tower up and down in amazement, “I never thought I’d get this close to the Towers… what I wouldn’t give to explore the insides freely…” he said practically drooling, while making grabby hands towards the towers. Kared nudged him with her elbow, “I know, I know, but that’s not what we’re here for today.” He looked sad and dejected, and followed her with an overdramatic reluctance. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and offered him comfort in the form of saying to him, “Well look at it like this, you’re about to witness one of the most important yearly events at the school. Imagine how much you can learn just from watching tonight.”

“Yeah… you’re right.” He said, looking like his usual self again.

What Kared said got me curious, “What’s so important about this tournament anyway?” I had gathered there would be very strong people fighting in it tonight, but that was about it.

“Oh, right, you and Jarou wouldn’t know,” Nadred said, looking back towards us, explaining without dropping his pace. “The School of Towers operates in a rather unorthodox method. When you join the school, you take a placement test, and they assign you to a tower based on your performance. Each tower has a number, and as the numbers get higher, so does your skill and knowledge level. From towers one through ten, you can advance simply by doing well in class and learning everything they have to teach you. From towers eleven through seventeen, they begin to focus more on researching and self-learning advanced topics, and in order to progress you must perform well on a yearly test. That test being the Tournament of Towers. And even in the lower towers, performing well during the Tournament is a good way to slingshot yourself up the ranks.”

“So people fight in the Tournament for more than just glory?” Jarou asked.

“Correct! Between testing to move up to higher towers, and testing their own limits, people can also fight to see what kinds of techniques their peers have developed.”

“Of course, that does mean that the champions are always residing in really high tower numbers,” Oroske but in, “And the Tournament was originally just about seeing who’s the strongest. To give some room to celebrate the lower level students, several winners are announced in different tiers.

“If memory serves, the first three are one tier, then four through six are another tier, seven and eight are one tier, and nine and ten are one tier, and since the number of students above that is so low, the last seven are considered one tier. In the top tier, the last standing in the bracket is the champion, and the rest are ranked by a panel of judges, and all of their ranks are made public.”

“I wonder where I’d rank…” I thought outloud.

“In terms of towers,” Kared started, “I can’t say for certain, but I’d guess you’d probably be around tower two or three right now. One of the Twilight’s contacts said they estimated I’d be in tower thirteen, but could wipe the floor with everyone but the top five students.” As she finished, we approached the central tower, where the Tournament was being held.

“There are people stronger than you?” Jarou asked, a hint of worry in his voice, as we came to a stop behind the crowd that was waiting to enter, inching forward every minute or so. “Not many, but yes,” Kared said with a defeated sigh, head facing towards the distant top of the skyscraping tower. She smiled and looked back down after a moment, “I just see it as having room to improve. And I’m sure I’ll keep improving for years and years.”

It was a touch worrying that while Kared was considered by many to be the Tsumi Clan’s strongest Hunter, there were still people that were stronger than her.

I had zeroed in on the conversation so much that I hadn’t paid much attention to our surroundings as we walked. At some point we entered what looked like a small city, with a handful of shops and other small buildings lining the street around us. It felt as though my vision was funneled upwards to the tower looming above us. It was easily the tallest tower I had seen, and Nadred told me it was indeed the seventeenth, and tallest tower. It was also much wider than the tower I had inspected earlier. Nadred explained that as there are very few people who have been admitted as a student to the seventeenth tower, it instead is used for more general purposes. Such as the general studies and libraries, faculty offices, some students reside within the dorms, and the Tournament’s stadium is also housed within the upper floors. The street opened up closer to the building, with a large plaza circling the tower. There were many stalls and small shops set up for the tournament, selling various kinds of food and trinkets. There were a lot more people lined up for those stalls than I expected.

As we got close to the door, a sign came into view. It was a detailed list of the winners from the various tiers. The first two had different names, but the last two were taken up by a single name. Someone by the name Sarii Rel apparently won in two separate tiers. “Oh, that Rel girl performed well again,” a man, who looked around Oroske’s age, commented nearby, “Here’s hoping they don’t cheat her out of her promotions again.” He finished before walking towards the stalls.

A little further along was another sign, with a bold red headline saying “Tier Five - The best of the best!” It had a listing of the first matchups, with the brackets each contestant was in, consisting of a total of ten fighters. In the first match, apparently Sarii Rel would be going up against someone named Arel Anur. The name must have caught Kared’s attention, since I heard her whisper “Anur, huh?”

“Do you know them, Kared?” I asked.

“Huh?” I caught her off guard, and she broke out of her thoughts, “Oh, probably not. Anur is a pretty common last name. Just thinking about some people from my past.” She dismissed it with a small laugh.

After that, it was only a short moment before we were finally let inside the massive wooden door. Oroske handed the attendant our tickets, and they looked at them carefully. “Take the elevator or stairs on the right going down to the third sublevel. After exiting, your section will be directly ahead, on the D row, on the left side. Enjoy the show!” They explained cheerfully.

The inside of the tower was lavishly decorated, and had a very regal design to it. Dark wood accented the gray and brown walls, creating elegant arches across the open hallway. Across the dark marble tiled floor was another circular wall with a single large door, creating a donut shaped hallway. I could see people coming in from two of the other entrances as well. We walked along the outer wall, which had several doors, and a set of elevators near the stairs. We entered the first elevator we came to, all of which were in large, glass tubes that you could watch through. Even the floor was glass. Oroske hit the button for the third basement floor, and it began moving downward. After a short distance, it stopped for a moment, before continuing along a diagonal path. Light poured in through the bottom of the elevator as the floor opened up, revealing a massive underground stadium. I feared we were going to be pushed out of the elevator and fall, but thankfully nothing like that happened. Once I managed to swallow my nerves and open my eyes, I inspected the stadium more intently. The circular sitting area was packed full of people, and had no major support beams in the middle, instead all of the ornate stone pillars were backed up against the far walls. In the middle of the ring of seats there was a large pit with a large cylinder in the middle, forming the platform for contestants to fight on.

After a while, the elevator dipped behind the far wall, and began descending normally once again. We passed right by the top two floors, stopping at the third. According to the buttons in the elevator, there were two more sublevels, the last of which is inaccessible without a key.

Stepping outside the elevator was like stepping into a small underground city. It was complete with small buildings that resembled houses and several small shops, selling similar items to the stalls outside the tower. The ‘street’ was packed with people, and chatter echoed throughout the stone hallway. Oroske forged a path for us, shouldering his way through the crowd. Some people saw us and hurriedly moved out of the way.

Once we finally made it out into the arena, the people chatting near us suddenly stopped, and it felt as though they were staring at us as we walked down to our seats. After a moment of their silence, they began talking again in hushed tones.

We finally reached our row, four rows away from the edge of the pit. Though, there was still another section beneath us as well, that got a little closer to the center platform.

“Oh? The Tsumi Clan is here too?” A young woman with dark black hair and piercing red eyes leaned forward and looked at us. She wore a deep blue trench coat, and was matched by another young woman and young man sitting next to her.

“So it would seem,” A gruff older man grunted. He had light brown hair and gray eyes, and wore a deep green jacket that looked like a uniform.

“The Incol and the Ishen, eh?” Oroske commented as he sat next to the gruff man, “They must really want the Half-Demons to see something if we’ve all been invited. Wonder what it is?”

“Nothing good, I’m sure.” The older man responded, before extending a hand to Oroske and introducing himself, “I’m Sel’un, third rank officer in the Ishen Clan’s task force. And if I may be so presumptuous, I would guess you are Oroske of the Tsumi.”

Oroske shook his hand, “You’re correct, it seems my reputation precedes me. White Cloak Hunter, Oroske, at your service. Who are our Incol friends?”

The black haired girl pulled herself out of her conversation with her comrades, “I’m Wex, this is my older brother Uri, and younger sister Myr. Myr and I were recently promoted to be officiates, and Uri’s been one for a few years. Still have a lot to learn though.” She then promptly continued her conversation with her siblings.

“Primary colors, huh?” Nadred chuckled, “Admittedly, I don’t know much about the other Clan’s method of ranking, no less what kinds of duties you all undertake to boot.”

“I can say the same,” Sel’un conceded, taking a sip from a mug he kept on his armrest, “What say we exchange info? I can’t imagine I’ll get a better opportunity to learn about and understand my Half-Demon compatriots.”

“Right you are,” Oroske nodded, “Very well, we’ll go first. Some stuff will be omitted as a matter of Clan secrecy, but most stuff is harmless to our operations if you know about it.”

Oroske spent the next several minutes explaining the Tsumi Clan’s duties, and the way we identify our ranks through our cloak colors. Though, while he explained that the Red Cloaks are the highest rank, he left out how one attains such a rank.

“Oh, I see. I had always been curious about the colors,” Sel’un commented, before clearing his throat. “Well, as I said I would, allow me to explain Ishen's methods. First is our ranking system. We have three primary levels, called classes, each with three ranks. You have our initiates, where everyone starts out as a rank one initiate. Then you have our standard class, called the soldiers, which makes up the bulk of our forces. Then at the top you have officers like myself. There is a fourth class, but it is reserved for our leader to promote hand picked individuals to it, and it’s quite rare that he does.

“As for our duties, they start out quite similar to yours. Escorting clients from one realm into the other, and hunting down any Sigils we encounter. Beyond that however, our primary service is as bodyguards for various clients, and some cities hire us to assist with law enforcement. Which is actually what I was here to do originally, security detail for the Tournament. We handle a few other mercenary type jobs, much like you, but those have been few and far between the past couple years.”

“I see, I see,” Nadred said, soaking in every word, “How about you, Incols?”

Wex’s ears twitched and she paused her conversation, leaning forward and facing us again, “I’ve been listening, so I may as well indulge you.” She took a moment to think. “Our ranking system isn’t quite as robust as the Ishen’s, and has a pretty different structure. Our novice rank is like your Navy Cloaks, folks who are still just starting out, but know enough to go do field work. From there it splits into operatives and officiates. Officiates are technically higher ranked, and it takes a lot longer to become one compared to operatives, but you can go straight to being one from a novice if you have the right teacher. Above that we have executives, which are our highest ranking personnel.

“As for our duties, much like both of you we handle escort and sigil missions, but we almost exclusively do mercenary type work, I suppose you could say. Like with the Tsumi’s Necromancer missions, we do thorough investigations on our various clients and targets, which is the job of the officiates. Unlike the Tsumi however, killing is an absolute last resort for us, which means we’re the go to for bringing criminals to justice over-the-counter. Not to say you Tsumis don’t have a place, of course. Some people deserve the crueler end you lot give.”

She explained it all with an innocent seeming smile, even the slight jab at my Clan.

Nadred simply nodded, “I see, fascinating. I knew the Incol’s work had an intensive investigation phase to it, but I had no idea about any of the rest. Thank you for the information.” He then turned to face the arena, as a loud, dull ring sounded overhead, like someone ringing a bell.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the Tier Five bracket is about to begin! Please take your seats, and enjoy the show,” A voice rang out loudly, reverberating against the stone, “Our first match will see Sarii Rel, our young prodigy, snuffed from tower promotions two years in a row, face off against one of our reigning best, Arel Anur! Bad luck for her, let’s see how long she can hold her own for!”

As the names were announced, small bridges extended from the center platform. The contestants then walked out and took up their battle stances near the edges of the platform.

Sarii Rel was a young girl, looked only slightly older than Jarou and I, with blonde hair tied into a ponytail, and blue eyes that sparkled in the light. Not that I could see them from where I was sitting.

Arel Anur on the other hand was a man, younger than Nadred for sure, with flowing blue hair and matching eyes. He held himself confidently, and came off as almost cocky.

A buzzer rang, and the match started.