Chapter 53. NET {12}:- Coliseum.
The coliseum was a grand, circr arena and the structure was made up of white marble.
Meanwhile, the arena floor was covered with a thinyer of sand.
The viewers filled up the coliseum with everyone disying a strong eagerness to see how the tournament would end.
The nobles seated in the lower part of the Coliseum were closest to the action. Their seats were arranged in a semicircle around the arena, while the royal family was seated in a luxurious, elevated box overlooking the arena. The box was adorned with the royal crest and it had morefortable seats.
Another section belonged to the contestants, who were housed in a separate quarter with ess to training facilities, medical care, and private quarters.
Medical teams and healers were stationed around the arena, ready to assist the contestants.
A transparent magical barrier encircled the arena, protecting the onlookers from stray attacks or magical bacsh. The barrier was maintained by the coliseum''s resident mages and it could absorb or deflect even the most powerful attacks.
A magical scoreboard floated in the air and was disyed by a crystal ball for everyone to see the top ten contestants.
Currently, the top five contestants in the tournament are:-
[Tournament rankings and points.]
[1st:- Orion Galdur Elfrida {5,590 points}.]
[2nd- Luna Cyprus.{4,900 points}.]
[3rd:- William Ramsbottom. {4,650 points}.]
[4th:- Barry Manchester {4,450 points}.]
[5th:- Adrian Meir {4,345 points}.]
The audience held gs and banners with the royal crest on them as they continued to cheer loudly in anticipation of today''s tournament.
The royal crest was an emblem of the royal family that represented power, legacy, and value. The crest featured a golden, five-pointed star, symbolizing the five virtues of the royal family:- wisdom, courage, justice,passion, and honor.
A curved, silver sword pointing upwards, represented strength and protection. It also had a stylized, blue crescent moon, signifying the royal family''smitment to guidance. Also, a wreath ofurel leaves that encircled the star, sword, and moon represented victory and achievement.
While the crowd continued to roar within the coliseum, Orion made his way to the contestant''s quarters, where his gaze fell upon the other contestants, who immediately bowed towards him once they noticed his presence.
Orion acknowledged every one of them, then noticed Adrian walking towards him with a smile on his face.
Over thest decade, Adrian had changed a lot, for example, he had grown a lot taller than Orion, and he was also a bit taller and muscr than his peers.
In fact, Orion looked as though he was Adrian''s little brother, but this didn''t affect or hinder the respect Adrian had for Orion.
For the past ten years, Adrian had trained and sparred with Orion, so he knew more than anyone else how strong and quick-witted Orion was.
Moreover, as a dark elf and a Baron''s son, Adrian had be even more handsome over the years.
"Your Highness, I watched your fight against the ze Rats yesterday, and you were amazing. I also noticed how you hunted and caught ten horned rabbits at the same time. That was epic."
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Orion''s face and he thanked Adrian. "Thanks, and I''m d to see you made it to the second day of the tournament as well."
"Yeah, it wasn''t easy, but I''m d I made it. To be honest, hunting down horned rabbits and taking down a couple of Rank Two ze rats weren''t really a problem for me, but when we were asked to sustain a spell for a few minutes, it really gave me a headache."
Since Adrian could harness both mana and Aura just like Orion, Adrian was asked to undergo the magic endurance test, However, he would have preferred an aura endurance test.
There were also a few others who could only harness Aura but not mana, so these elves were asked to partake in an endurance test involving the use of aura.
Adrian would have loved to partake in an aura endurance test just like those other contestants because he would have definitely earned a higher point if he had joined them.
Instead, he had to take a magical endurance test based on his strongest magical affinity.
Orion giggled and replied. "I understand what you mean; magic has never been your strongest suit."
"I know, right? An elven warrior like myself would rather harness Aura and fight like a true elven knight, why do I need to improve myself in magic when I''m not really good at it? Although I can sense both mana and Aura, I really prefer strengthening myself with aura a lot more than casting spells."
Orion also knew about this because whenever they trained together, it was easy for anyone to see how enthusiastic Adrian felt whenever it was time to train using wooden swords instead of magic.
"But still, I heard some of the contestants were given the option of choosing a magical endurance test or an Aura endurance test. Weren''t you asked to choose as well?"
"Hehe... about that," Adrian scratched the back of his hair while trying tough it off.
He also avoided making eye contact with Orion.
"You made the choice yourself, didn''t you? Which means you chickened out of the aura endurance test because you were scared the endurance test would be a lot harder than that of the magical endurance test."
"Ugh," Seeing that Orion was right, an imaginary arrow pierced Adrian in his chest and he hung his head in defeat. "That''s right."
"Chicken," Orion teased. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Hey, I''m not a chicken, okay."
"Then don''t me the tournament officials for giving you what you wanted. You made it sound like you didn''t like the magical endurance test and you would have preferred to take the aura endurance test."
"I guess you''re right, but you can''t me me either. I heard the aura endurance test was a lot harder than that of the magical one, so I had to choose the one that would guarantee a higher point and help boost my rank on the scoreboard."
"Chicken," Orion teased again.
"Oh,e on. If you keep saying that, all the nobles will start calling me that as well," Adrian sped his hands in front of him, pleading with Orion to stop calling him a chicken before everyone else began to call him that as well.
However, all the other nobles and contestants in the room were already whispering to each other about their conversation.
"Hey, you heard that, right?" A young male elf said to his friend sitting beside him.
"Yeah, I did."
"What did you just call me?" Adrian asked with a scary and intimidating look on his face. The aura around him seemed like he was ready to murder the young noble.
"Eii!!!!" A shiver ran down the boy''s spine as he yelled out while trying to escape from Adrian''s grasp. "Ahh, help me, this bird is angry."
"Prince Galdur just called Adrian a chicken."
"Pfft, I''m definitely calling him a chicken from now on."
Right after the male elf said this, Adrian suddenly appeared behind the young noble and grabbed a hold of his shoulder.
"What did you just call me?" Adrian asked with a scary and intimidating look on his face. The aura around him seemed like he was ready to murder the young noble.
"Eii!!!!" A shiver ran down the boy''s spine as he yelled out while trying to escape from Adrian''s grasp. "Ahh, help me, this bird is angry."
"Oh, so now, I''m an angry bird, huh?"
"Uh?.... No, I mean…" He turned to his friend, hoping his friend would help him out, but his friend was nowhere to be found.
"Traitor!!!"
"Don''t worry, I''ll try not to break your pretty face," Adrian cracked his neck with a sinister look on his face.
"No, wait. Let me tell you something, let me tell you something. No, ahh!! Mama!!!"
Everyone else in the room who was watching all this unfold couldn''t help but giggle andugh as they watched the angry bird clobber the young noble.
Even Orion couldn''t help butugh at theical scene in front of him.
Once he was satisfied, Adrian returned to Orion after making sure no one else would call him a chicken ever again.
"You see, I told you not to call me a chicken."
"Yeah, sorry about that."
"Anyways, let''s have our seats. I reserved a really good ce for us; it''s the best seat in the house," Adrian showed Orion where he wanted them to sit, and the both of them walked over to the ce.
All the other nobles in the room were a bit jealous to see how close Adrian was to the prince.
Some of them wanted to talk to the prince as well, but no one dared to do so.
Seeing Adrian talk freely with the prince made them believe that even they could be close to the prince of the kingdom.
Many of them made up their minds to do well in the tournament, hoping it would be enough for the prince to notice them so that they could be closer to him as well.
Meanwhile, Orion and Adrian were busy looking at the scoreboard disyed for everyone to see.
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A/N:- Thank you so much for patience and support. You guys are simply the best.