Will spent the rest of that night and the next morning stressing out. He thought he’d have time to prepare. Time to train a little more, time to maybe even check out the competition.
Instead, he had a restless night. Around what he assumed was midnight, he realized he was maybe freaking out a little because of the last time he went barreling into a situation without knowing what was ahead of him, without knowing what he might face.
Maybe he owed Alea thanks for that though. After all, how many dangerous situations did someone have time to prepare for? How many opponents throughout someone’s life could you learn about before facing them?
Maybe that fight against that spider was, in a way, a good thing. It’s like Taleya said, it’s experience. It needs to be used to become better. Next time he found himself against an opponent he didn’t know anything about, hopefully he would learn to keep a cooler head and not freeze up, to calmly think things through and have a better game plan ready.
With that thought Will was able to calm down, and he finally felt himself drift off to sleep.
The next morning, Will found himself sitting down for breakfast with Alea, Taleya, and Amos, who had just arrived very early that morning.
“Ok you two, so I was able to find out a little about the tournament.” Taleya said as the rest of them shoveled food into their mouths. “There are one hundred and twenty-eight competitors in the Core and Spirit tier, sixty-four in the Mind, and finally only sixteen in the Earth tier. There aren’t any Sky Realm competitors at this tournament. Which isn’t surprising seeing as how you usually only see them at tournaments in bigger cities.”
Will’s mind was reeling. Were those the other Realms of advancement after the Mind Realm? Will had asked Amos a few times about it but he always yelled at him and told him to focus on the Realm he was in now and if he had time to think than he wasn’t training hard enough.
“So that means Will will have to win seven times, and I’ll only have to win six.” Alea said.
“That’s if you make it that far.” Amos said gruffly. “Remember, you’re fighting way above your weight class here. They’ll be faster, stronger, have more experience with their element, and they’ll also have advantages that come with being in the Mind Realm.”
“Which are?” Will asked. Amos seemed to be in a talkative mood. Maybe Will could get more out of him.
Amos seemed to think to himself for a second. “Not that this information will help you much in the fight, but you both have been progressing well, and I don’t see either one of you staying in the Spirit Realm for as long as others might. So I guess now is as good a time as any to give you an introductory lesson into the Mind Realm.” Amos said.
Taleya nodded along next to him. “I agree. Alea is already nearing the cusp of the Mind Realm, and she has learned all she can that the Spirit Realm can provide. While Will is progressing rapidly as well. You two may as well know what you’re going to be in for.”
“Each Realm of power unlocks or drastically increases a facet of strength.” Said Amos. “The Core Realm allows you to properly harness and use Qi, which strengthens the body as a whole. The Spirit Realm unlocks the ability to use your element, and to a lesser degree, the chance of being able to use your aura. The Mind Realm, as the name suggests, increases the capacity and processing speed of the mind.”
“And how does that help?” Asks Will.
“Memory, for one, is drastically changed.” Taleya says. “Imagine being able to remember, in almost perfect detail, specific training guides, a set of instructions? Your child’s toddler years? Your deceased parents? Your deceased wife? Not just memory is affected, but also…” Taleya stops briefly, trying to find a way to phrase her thoughts. “It’s hard to describe actually. You’re able to absorb and process way more information, both sensory and informational, and act on that increased information. Also, and just as important for a fighter, the processing speed of the mind increases.”
At the slightly confused looks of the two children, Amos picks up where Taleya left off. “As you can imagine, cultivators speed becomes incredibly fast as they get stronger. That’s a problem for two reasons. The first, there is such a thing as being so fast that your mind can’t keep up with your own movement. Meaning you have speed with zero coordination, making that speed almost useless. The second, being unable to keep up with an opponents speed. I don’t have to tell you why that would be a problem. The Mind Realm helps relieve this issue by drastically increasing a persons ability to process what’s around them.”
“Wait.” Will said. “Does that mean that if I hung out with a bunch of really strong cultivators that they would be constantly moving and speaking at such a fast speed that it would all seem like a blur to me?”
Taleya laughed out loud at the question. “Exactly. During and after the Mind Realm, the mind continues to advance, it’s just the biggest jump that happens during the ascension to the Mind Realm. Naturally those who live in the upper tiers of strength just operate at a faster pace. They can choose to slow themselves down when they’re around those weaker though.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“That sounds exhausting.” Will said with a skeptical look on his face.
“One last thing.” Said Amos. “This tournament, and most others you’ll ever compete in, are seeded. It’s a way to save the interesting fights to the end. Sells more tickets that way.” Amos sneered as he said the last line, and Will could hear the obvious disgust in his master’s voice. “I doubt either of you will face the top seed right away, but you’re unknowns in this city, so you’ll be seeded low and faced off against stronger opponents right from the start.”
Will and Alea nodded soberly, taking the warning to heart. “Rely on your training and trust your instincts.” Amos said. “And remember, this is only another training exercise. Treat it as such.”
It wasn’t much of a pep-talk, but it did actually calm Will down some. Just another day of training. Will could work with that.
An hour later Amos and Taleya dropped them off at the same entrance to the coliseum that they signed up at the day before. The two masters went to the stands as Will and Alea walked to the same table they had signed up at.
There were two new people at the desk this day. Both men, and both seemingly warriors.
“Hello.” Will said. “My name is Will Asher, I signed up for the Spirit Realm division.”
“And I’m Alea Hansley. Mind Realm.”
“Welcome kids.” Said the man on the left. “Those fighting in the Mind Realm division won’t be fighting until tomorrow, but you’re more than welcome to stand alongside your friend if you wish. As for you kid, follow the hallway until you enter the arena proper. There are booths lining the inside of the arena below the stands that you can wait for your turn in. When they call your name, walk into your designated fighting ring. The referee will do a quick breakdown of the rules and then you’ll be all set. Have fun and give it your all kids.”
The oddly encouraging man gave them an awkward thumbs up and sent them on their way.
Will nodded his head in thanks and turned with Alea to start walking. A little bit of walking down a long hallway later and they walked out into the sunlight and finally got their first look at where they’d be fighting.
The inside of the arena was an oval shape, but taking up most of the space was a square platform made of massive squared white stone.
It was a full two feet high, and the stage seemed to be about a hundred feet wide and long. Which seemed excessive by earth standards. But by cultivator standards, perhaps it makes sense.
To either side of the massive platform, in the curved areas of the oval where the square platform doesn’t reach, was five circles made out of bricks. They were about forty feet across and just dirt. Will assumed this is where the first few rounds would happen all at once to save on time.
Will felt Alea pulling on his jacket’s sleeve.
“Come on country bumpkin, let’s find an empty booth.”
Will smiled and stopped gawking at the arena.
He turned to his right and saw the booths lining the side of the arena, directly under the patron stands.
In his mind he imagined something close to a hockey penalty box. What he found was slightly more impressive. The ‘booths’ seemed to be ten by ten little enclosed spaces. They were made entirely out of glass though. They found an empty booth by looking for translucent walls to show it was empty. The occupied ones had black opaque glass walls instead of clear ones. According to Alea, they changed color when someone went inside.
They went inside the closest translucent booth and closed the glass door behind them. To enter it they simply had to tap a hand to the side of the door and it would swing open on its own. Tapping the door jam after entering closed it again.
Two comfortable looking chairs sat inside the booth with a small table in between with what appeared to be chilled water, fresh fruit, and bread to munch on.
“Odd that they provide this despite not paying anything for participating in the tournament.” Will said.
Alea lounged comfortably in the far chair from the door and arched an eyebrow at him. “What are you talking about? Our master’s paid our entry.”
“They did?”
Alea rolled her eyes at him. “This country bumpkin look is starting to look worse and worse on you.”
“How much did it cost them?”
“Five silver a piece I think?”
Which meant absolutely nothing to him. He really had to get a handle on the value of money in this world. He made a point to remember how much he owed his masters however so he could pay them back one day.
He sat down and looked back out towards the fighting platform, grabbing a piece of bread to munch on. Man I miss butter on my bread.
The platform looked completely normal in color. “How do we know if the glass went dark or not?”
“I guess technically we don’t. But these things are designed to remain opaque when people are in them. You can always go out and check if you want.” So Will did. He thinks Alea may have been being sarcastic when she said that but he decided to do it anyway. Mostly for his curiosity, and a little bit to lean into the country bumpkin act and frustrate her a little. Will laughed internally; she was cute when she was angry like that.
After he was done he settled in and kept snacking.
After about twenty minutes went by a man and a woman appeared in the middle of the big platform. Will didn’t think it was teleportation, he thinks they are just incredibly fast, and he recognized them. It was the couple who had signed Will and Alea up yesterday.
“Hello boys and girls!” The man yelled boisterously with his hands on his hips. “Welcome to the Dunham Lower Realm Tournament!” His voice boomed through the arena. All the attendants and the competitors would have no trouble hearing him. “This is how this is going to work. Core Realm participants will compete in that batch of fighting rings.” He pointed to his left. “And all Spirit Realm competitors will compete in that batch.” He pointed to the rings to his right.
“These first rounds will have a time limit of 15 minutes!” The woman said loudly, her voice carrying just as easily as her companion’s. “A winner is declared when someone is knocked out of the ring, knocked unconscious, or if a wound is delivered that the referee for each fight determines would have been lethal. Or, in the event none of that happens, whoever the judges deems took more damage by the end of the fight.”
“So don’t be worried about holding back kiddies! Each and every ref is in the Royal Realm so no one will be in any danger.” The man said.
Royal Realm? What the heck is that?
“When a ref determines you have either been injured to a sufficient degree, or are about to be killed, you will be pulled out of the ring and taken to a healer immediately.” The woman said.
“That’s right!” Said the man enthusiastically. “So don’t hold back, have fun, and good luck!”
It is by far the best way to support me and help me to support my growing family. Thank you for all the support and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
