"Alright, next!"

  The Mage and Jacob were at the front of the colosseum, registering all participants in the tournament.

  "Claire? What are you doing here? The winner is basically given an invitation to join our party."

  "Well that's exactly why I'm registering, to join your party."

  The Mage looked at Claire, confused.

  "As far as I can see, you're already in our party, you don't need to win anything, just ask."

  "No, I'd rather earn a position in the party."

  The Mage took a moment to respond,

  "OK then, suit yourself, however be warned, there is another hero participating."

  The second the Mage mentioned hero Claire flinched and wasted no time asking the million dollar question,

  "Who is the hero?"

  "I believe he is the Hero Of Warriors, he's holding a wooden shield and a spear."

  Hearing that, Claire's face turned dead serious.

  Claire was led to the maenianum primum within the colosseum by Anna, which made Claire assume Sarah and Henry were here as well.

  There, she was met with the sight of the Hero of Warriors,

  "Well long time no see, Hero of Swords."

  Claire gave him a Death-stared,

  "Hello, Takemin."

  Claire reluctantly sat next to him,

  "So, why are we here?"

  While staring at the massive crowd surrounding them from underneath, he responded to Claire,

  "For someone so close to that Mage, you seem pretty clueless. This tournament is split into three sections. Because of our titles, we've already proven ourselves as worthy enough for the second section. That's all I got though."

  The two of them sat in silence for a while as the entire colosseum filled up with crowds of people, including big shots known around the area, nobles and lords.

  Once everyone had taken their seats, a single click echoed, followed by the Mage's voice resounding throughout the colosseum. Claire automatically concluded it was the Mage's doing.

  "Hello, guests, nobles, and fighters, welcome to my tournament of fighters. This tournament is divided into three phases, no one will know what each phase is about until it starts.

  Now some fighters you see may be the complete opposite of fighters, for example healers, this tournament has been modified so each of their skills can be used the same way to make it all fair.

  The winner of this tournament will be my disciple and rewarded however they desire.

  With all that said, lets introduce our first phase, in this phase, we will be testing the fighters.

  To test these fighters, there will be large targets positioned in front of them, in order to pass, they cannot destroy the entire target nor must they leave the target as is, they will be required to use a certain amount of skill and strategy to blow a small hole through the target, this one you mustn't use too much power nor too little, just the right amount.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Now you all may have realised that when the fighters come out there aren't as many as there were that registered, that is because some fighters have titles that already prove their strength so therefore will automatically be sent to the second phase.

  For the other classes such as healers and tanks, this is a little different, healers must use their magic to perfectly position their spells to fly through the sky and drop off directly on top of a group of dummies, just before the spell reaches a single dummy they must spread the magic to cover all dummies.

  Finally for the tanks, this is more about switching between tactics instead of pure brute force, a large automaton dummy will be pushing you back, it won't stop unless you can stop it for long enough and push it back, you may not attempt to get out of its way you must go full force at it.

  With all of this being said, let the first phase begin!"

  A large explosion sound is heard before two groups of dummies and three targets appear from thin air. Along with them, three fighters and two healers.

  As the contestants walked out, the crowd became wild, screaming, celebrating and clapping as they walked toward their respective areas.

  "Start when you are ready!"

  Each contestant began roughly at the same time, of the three fighters, only two were able to create a small enough hole to pass while the other accidentally destroyed a section of the target.

  Both of the healers managed to position the end of their staffs into the air, allowing their spells to directly aim for the dummies and heal both of their groups allowing them both to pass.

  As Claire looked from afar, Takemin broke the silence between the two,

  "I would watch carefully, there's a good chance we will be fighting these people in the next phase or two, look for their weaknesses and make it an easy win for yourself."

  Claire looked at Takemin with an angry expression,

  "Why are you even participating Takemin?"

  Takemin continued looking at the contestants while growing a grin,

  "I was just bored and wanted to do something fun. If I win I'll be the legendary Mage's disciple, the reward I want is pretty simple, to refuse to be the Mage's disciple. Make this entire thing a waste of this loser's time",

  Claire looked away in disgust, thinking to herself, 'What a fucking loser'.

  As time goes by, both Takemin and Claire concentrate on the contestants' attempts. The Mage, Jacob, Sarah and her kids sit up in the podium, looked from above everyone - the contestants and the crowd. The cheers and celebrations began to die down as they began to run out of energy.

  Claire, who had been concentrating on every single contestant in phase one could clearly see who stood out more, some hesitated as they tried finding out the perfect amount of power they needed, some were finished in the blink of an eye.

  However there were two people that caught Claire's attention out of everyone, one was a woman who used whips at long range and two daggers at close range, she quickly and efficiently completed her task.

  Another was a skilled assassin. He was able to swiftly make his way to the target and complete the task.

  While he didn't sound much different from the rest who had completed their tasks, something about him made Claire see him as superior to most other contestants.

  Interested, Claire stood up and made her way to the podium where the Mage and the rest of his party were sitting.

  "Hey Mage, that girl with the whips and daggers and that assassin guy, what're their names?"

  The Mage gave a faint smile,

  "So you were also interested in what they could do, the girl's name is Sephra and the assassin's name is Brodie, I could tell by how they acted they are gonna be strong contenders."

  For a while Claire sat up next to the Mage as they went through the contestants, seeing if the Mage was interested in any other people, also so she could get away from Takemin.

  "I forgot to tell you, I'd like for you and that guy you call Takemin to just do a demonstration on what you can do, there will be five targets. No need to hold back; you can just destroy all five however you like. Takemin as well. So start getting ready."

  Claire then walked away, past Takemin and telling him to start getting ready without stopping.

  They made their way to the room just outside the centre of the colosseum awaiting the announcement of the Mage.

  "Ladies and Gentleman, that concludes all contestants for phase one. Of the five-hundred contestants that applied, only thirty-six managed to pass on to phase two. Before we go into phase two, if you have been looking around you may have seen the Hero of Swordsman and the Hero of Warriors, Claire and Takemin.

  They are also participating in this tournament but have already moved to phase two because their titles are proof enough they are capable, however just for fun, how would you like it if you saw these two in action?!"

  The crowd cheered even louder than they did when phase one of the tournament began, eager to see two heroes go all out.

  As they cheered, Claire and Takemin made their way out onto the grass, as they did, two sets of five targets appeared in thin air.

  "Without further ado, ladies and gentleman, the Hero of Swordsman and the Hero of Warriors!"