It turned out that the door led to the outside of the building, where there was a field with several tents set up. There were signs next to the tents that read ‘G-Rank’ and ‘F-Rank’ etcetera.
“Are stones and obsidian treated as the same?”
“Well, obsidian ranges from Level 6 to 20. Those closer to E-Rank would have an advantage, but sometimes ore has abilities that exceed them. It is an interesting group.”
Your honed skills and strength were important as you got stronger. As did your experience. However, lower-ranking Adventurers had little of that. And so their wisdom, speed, and imagination played a larger part in their victory. There had been a time when I made vine ropes and used knives to fashion wooden spears…
“That is us over there.”
Daniela pointed with her chin. There was a tent and a sign that read ‘A-Rank.’ Uhuh. Ruby.
And so we took our entry sheets to the tent.
It was an ordinary tent inside. A single long table. Two chairs. And an old man who sat on the other side of the table.
“Are you A-Rank?”
“Yes.”
“I am.”
“Good. Unfortunately, you have to come in one at a time. You can be after her. I feel like talking to a pretty lady.”
“Well, there you go. Out, Asagi.”
“…”
That’s not very nice. I might have to express my displeasure.
Instead, I left the tent and waited for five minutes. Daniela came out and then I went in. The fact that she looked a little smug annoyed me.
“Well, there was no problem with Miss Daniela. …Bah, it’s just a little confirmation of your rank and skill. Official stuff. You can put your sword away.”
“…Oh, sorry.”
I let go of the ice sword and it evaporated into the air. Then I took a seat.
“Alright. Put your status card and entry sheet down here.”
“Okay.”
I put them both on the table. The old man ran the card through the reader and then looked at the entry sheet while he waited.
“Hmm…everything seems to be in order. You really are an A-Ranker. Hmm, oh…you have three Unique Skills. The gods must really love you.”
“It’s a coincidence.”
“We’ll say it is then. Now, I’ve confirmed your rank and the entry sheet. Now, I must explain to you the rules of the tournament. Listen carefully.”
He pulled out a sheet of paper and pointed while he talked.
“First, there are preliminaries. We separate you all before the real battle. This is determined by rank and the number of contestants. But you and Miss Daniela can skip this part. You have it, don’t you?”
“You mean this.”
I put the recommendation on the table.
“Yes, a recommendation from a Guild Master. If you have one of these, you can skip the preliminaries and go straight to the main games. You are quite lucky. These things are rarely issued. In fact, only three have gotten them this time. And that’s including you two.”
“Three?”
“Aye. But then again, it’s really just a matter of being a strong Adventurer who is also good friends with a Guild Master.”
“That sounds a little dodgy.”
“What? Use what you can. And what you can’t. Isn’t that what the strong do?”
He was probably right.
“Well, never mind about that. You’ll be split into groups again for the main fight. However, unlike the battle royale of the preliminaries, it’s one-on-one. Ultimately, the tops of each group will fight. In this tournament…yes. You will probably be split into four groups.”
“Is that a lot?”
“We’re expected to have about two hundred people. So they will be divided into groups of fifty. There are exceptions, but it’s usually depending on rank. And two people are chosen from each group to go to the finals. So that’s eight in all.”
“That’s a lot of people…”
“A lot of people showed up this year. However, there’s been up to eight hundred in the past.”
“Woah…”
And if they were split into groups of fifty…that’s sixteen groups. That really was a lot…
“The preliminaries will begin in the Radelia Shvein Arena in two weeks. One group per day, so it will take four days. And then there is one day of rest before the real game.”
“In other words, I won’t fight until twenty days from now?”
“Exactly.”
I see. We had come in a hurry, but being exempt from the preliminaries had given us quite a lot of free time. Well, I was not going to complain about that.
“You can go on quests or just rest while you wait. Though, if I were you, I would watch the games and observe my rivals.”
“I intend to do just that.”
“You’re a careful one. Brilliant.”
As a jack of all trades and master of none, I had to do my research if I wanted to do well. Thankfully, ‘Jack of all Trades, Master of None’ was a reliable partner.
“That’s about it then. Any questions?”
“Hmmm… Not really.”
“Well, you can always come back if you think of anything. Have a good day and good luck in the tournament.”
He stood up and offered his hand. I stretched out my hand to accept. However, he quickly pulled his back.
“Sorry-sorry. I just realized. I’d rather not shake your hand after Daniela. It’ll overwrite it.”
“I’ll do my best in the games. Thank you.”
“Ahhh…!”
I used my high AGI to grab his hand and overwrote whatever it was he thought was there. This was just the thing to do to these old men. Asshole.
In any case, I was able to enter the tournament. And the recommendation from Kiralika had allowed us to skip the preliminaries. All in all, things were going very well.
□ □ □ □
Daniela and I left the arena and we walked to a nearby diner. We would have a late breakfast. Or lunch. I was starving, as Daniela’s waking habits had forced us to skip breakfast. I didn’t even care what was on the menu. And so we rushed into the first building that we saw.
“Sorry, but do you have anything that’s really filling?”
“I would recommend our ‘Meat of Love and Hate’ lunch set.’”
“…Alright.”
“I as well.”
I was starting to regret our rash decision to come here. On closer inspection, it had a fancy, almost gothic look to it. A little chaotic. Even a maid cafe would have a tighter concept. The waitresses were…gothic lolita…? I didn’t know much about that, but it seemed like something Daniela would be interested in. Yeah, she was looking.
“You seem to like this place.”
“I-I-I do not!”
“Huh? Don’t you like meat?”
“What? Oh, yes. I cannot live without it.”
Her face had gone red and she was clearly uncomfortable. Still, she was looking at the waitresses. Perhaps we could find some nice clothes stores here.
“By the way, Daniela. Will you ever wear that dress again?”
“Oh, umm. It…”
“Hmm?”
Daniela mumbled incomprehensibly.
“That…yes. It…is for when we go out together… So next time, perhaps?”
She said as she looked up, shyly at me. How dare she look so cute…!
“Alright. We can go out once I’ve bought all my equipment. We can go sightseeing.”
“Yes…”
She fidgeted and nodded. I was so weak.
“Here you go. Enjoy.”
And then, bam! Two sets of ‘Meat of Love and Hate’ were set out in front of us. Woah, there was a lot… I wasn’t sure I would be able to eat it all. Well, I was quite hungry.
“Let’s eat.”
“Yes-mggmm-mm…”
As always, she didn’t wait for a second. I chuckled and bit into my own oversized steak.
It turned out that the door led to the outside of the building, where there was a field with several tents set up. There were signs next to the tents that read ‘G-Rank’ and ‘F-Rank’ etcetera.
“Are stones and obsidian treated as the same?”
“Well, obsidian ranges from Level 6 to 20. Those closer to E-Rank would have an advantage, but sometimes ore has abilities that exceed them. It is an interesting group.”
Your honed skills and strength were important as you got stronger. As did your experience. However, lower-ranking Adventurers had little of that. And so their wisdom, speed, and imagination played a larger part in their victory. There had been a time when I made vine ropes and used knives to fashion wooden spears…
“That is us over there.”
Daniela pointed with her chin. There was a tent and a sign that read ‘A-Rank.’ Uhuh. Ruby.
And so we took our entry sheets to the tent.
It was an ordinary tent inside. A single long table. Two chairs. And an old man who sat on the other side of the table.
“Are you A-Rank?”
“Yes.”
“I am.”
“Good. Unfortunately, you have to come in one at a time. You can be after her. I feel like talking to a pretty lady.”
“Well, there you go. Out, Asagi.”
“…”
That’s not very nice. I might have to express my displeasure.
Instead, I left the tent and waited for five minutes. Daniela came out and then I went in. The fact that she looked a little smug annoyed me.
“Well, there was no problem with Miss Daniela. …Bah, it’s just a little confirmation of your rank and skill. Official stuff. You can put your sword away.”
“…Oh, sorry.”
I let go of the ice sword and it evaporated into the air. Then I took a seat.
“Alright. Put your status card and entry sheet down here.”
“Okay.”
I put them both on the table. The old man ran the card through the reader and then looked at the entry sheet while he waited.
“Hmm…everything seems to be in order. You really are an A-Ranker. Hmm, oh…you have three Unique Skills. The gods must really love you.”
“It’s a coincidence.”
“We’ll say it is then. Now, I’ve confirmed your rank and the entry sheet. Now, I must explain to you the rules of the tournament. Listen carefully.”
He pulled out a sheet of paper and pointed while he talked.
“First, there are preliminaries. We separate you all before the real battle. This is determined by rank and the number of contestants. But you and Miss Daniela can skip this part. You have it, don’t you?”
“You mean this.”
I put the recommendation on the table.
“Yes, a recommendation from a Guild Master. If you have one of these, you can skip the preliminaries and go straight to the main games. You are quite lucky. These things are rarely issued. In fact, only three have gotten them this time. And that’s including you two.”
“Three?”
“Aye. But then again, it’s really just a matter of being a strong Adventurer who is also good friends with a Guild Master.”
“That sounds a little dodgy.”
“What? Use what you can. And what you can’t. Isn’t that what the strong do?”
He was probably right.
“Well, never mind about that. You’ll be split into groups again for the main fight. However, unlike the battle royale of the preliminaries, it’s one-on-one. Ultimately, the tops of each group will fight. In this tournament…yes. You will probably be split into four groups.”
“Is that a lot?”
“We’re expected to have about two hundred people. So they will be divided into groups of fifty. There are exceptions, but it’s usually depending on rank. And two people are chosen from each group to go to the finals. So that’s eight in all.”
“That’s a lot of people…”
“A lot of people showed up this year. However, there’s been up to eight hundred in the past.”
“Woah…”
And if they were split into groups of fifty…that’s sixteen groups. That really was a lot…
“The preliminaries will begin in the Radelia Shvein Arena in two weeks. One group per day, so it will take four days. And then there is one day of rest before the real game.”
“In other words, I won’t fight until twenty days from now?”
“Exactly.”
I see. We had come in a hurry, but being exempt from the preliminaries had given us quite a lot of free time. Well, I was not going to complain about that.
“You can go on quests or just rest while you wait. Though, if I were you, I would watch the games and observe my rivals.”
“I intend to do just that.”
“You’re a careful one. Brilliant.”
As a jack of all trades and master of none, I had to do my research if I wanted to do well. Thankfully, ‘Jack of all Trades, Master of None’ was a reliable partner.
“That’s about it then. Any questions?”
“Hmmm… Not really.”
“Well, you can always come back if you think of anything. Have a good day and good luck in the tournament.”
He stood up and offered his hand. I stretched out my hand to accept. However, he quickly pulled his back.
“Sorry-sorry. I just realized. I’d rather not shake your hand after Daniela. It’ll overwrite it.”
“I’ll do my best in the games. Thank you.”
“Ahhh…!”
I used my high AGI to grab his hand and overwrote whatever it was he thought was there. This was just the thing to do to these old men. Asshole.
In any case, I was able to enter the tournament. And the recommendation from Kiralika had allowed us to skip the preliminaries. All in all, things were going very well.
□ □ □ □
Daniela and I left the arena and we walked to a nearby diner. We would have a late breakfast. Or lunch. I was starving, as Daniela’s waking habits had forced us to skip breakfast. I didn’t even care what was on the menu. And so we rushed into the first building that we saw.
“Sorry, but do you have anything that’s really filling?”
“I would recommend our ‘Meat of Love and Hate’ lunch set.’”
“…Alright.”
“I as well.”
I was starting to regret our rash decision to come here. On closer inspection, it had a fancy, almost gothic look to it. A little chaotic. Even a maid cafe would have a tighter concept. The waitresses were…gothic lolita…? I didn’t know much about that, but it seemed like something Daniela would be interested in. Yeah, she was looking.
“You seem to like this place.”
“I-I-I do not!”
“Huh? Don’t you like meat?”
“What? Oh, yes. I cannot live without it.”
Her face had gone red and she was clearly uncomfortable. Still, she was looking at the waitresses. Perhaps we could find some nice clothes stores here.
“By the way, Daniela. Will you ever wear that dress again?”
“Oh, umm. It…”
“Hmm?”
Daniela mumbled incomprehensibly.
“That…yes. It…is for when we go out together… So next time, perhaps?”
She said as she looked up, shyly at me. How dare she look so cute…!
“Alright. We can go out once I’ve bought all my equipment. We can go sightseeing.”
“Yes…”
She fidgeted and nodded. I was so weak.
“Here you go. Enjoy.”
And then, bam! Two sets of ‘Meat of Love and Hate’ were set out in front of us. Woah, there was a lot… I wasn’t sure I would be able to eat it all. Well, I was quite hungry.
“Let’s eat.”
“Yes-mggmm-mm…”
As always, she didn’t wait for a second. I chuckled and bit into my own oversized steak.
