It was getting dark. The sun went below the horizon. The first stars appeared in the sky and were s.h.i.+ning brightly. The clock struck eight.The tension was rising at the training ground.
Kara went to the only bench from where all the four arenas were clearly seen. She was holding Juno by the hand.
The young men kept a respectful distance away from that couple. No one dared to approach the princess closer than three meters, and even more so to block her view. Those who dared to invade the zone of her comfort even a little bit would be mercilessly attacked by the pressure of her soul.
«If I didn"t show up on time, would you really give the dance to the wretched sc.u.m who won the battles, my dear?» - Kara inquired quietly.
Juno tried to free her hand from her friend"s tenacious grip but it was useless. The girl signed and looked into her beautiful eyes. «Of course not. The winner would be from my family. I don"t want to give the wrong impression in the eyes of society...»
Kara was pleased with her answer and kissed her friend on the cheek.
«Cut it out! It"s not cool. The people are watching.» - Juno blushed.
The beautiful demoness ignored her outrage and glanced over the guests. She caught a glimpse of Lee. He turned red and hastily averted his eyes.
«And that"s your number one? He is such a softy.» - The princess said in a disappointed voice.
Juno rolled her eyes. «Compared to you, there are only weaklings in the Iron Throne. Not everyone was endowed with your great talent, or ... Elsa"s.»
She said the last word quietly as if she was unwilling to mention her.
«That"s what you think. I hope you don"t envy me?» - Kara asked and slid her hand around Juno"s thin waist. – «Let"s do some training together.»
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«I"m good, thank you.»
«You"re so grumpy, just like El…» - She stopped short when she heard a soft growl. Then she laughed and hugged the angry kitten.
The princess"s wondrous laughter caressed the ears of her admirers. When they saw the two charming stars hugging, they completely lost their heads.
Meanwhile, Xiao Bai stepped into the center of the hall and said out loud:
«Ladies and Gentlemen! The time we have been waiting for has come! We have 257 partic.i.p.ants, the battles are divided into eight rounds. The first five qualifying rounds will take place on four arenas at the same time. The quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals are performed on the same arena!» - He pointed to the four wide circles.
The audience applauded loudly. The long-awaited fights began. Moreover, Princess Kara herself was present today. Everyone wanted to see the best talent in the kingdom fight.
«There"s a judge at each arena. He will announce the names of opponents, winners, and losers. If he hears someone says they surrender or if he discovers the use of prohibited formations, weapons, poisons, as well as unlawful excess of development, he will issue an appropriate verdict. In case of disobedience, the guards will intervene in the battle. Don"t worry about the audience: a protective barrier has been installed under the arenas, preventing attacks beyond its borders. Enjoy the battles! And now attention to the tournament grid!» - XiaoBai finished the announcement, placed the nephrite on a low column in the center of the ground and infused it with pure energy.
Light poured from the stone upward in a continuous stream, forming a huge screen with a tournament grid 50 meters (165ft) above the ground. Even visually impaired people could discern information about each partic.i.p.ant.
«Oh! Wow! Look, her Highness is at the end of the left side! The nephrite failed to determine her stage of development so strong and powerful she is! Haha! It was to be expected!» - Someone shouted with admiration.
«Where?! Ohhh! Her first opponent is Eric Stone! It seems the second strongest Stone will leave the tournament after the first round! What a pity!» The young man of the Browns chuckled with glee.
Eric"s face became darker than clouds gathered over the underworld.
Tsayan Brown"s eyes flashed happily. Fate favored him! He would complete the task his father the elder had given to him and get the medicine that the patriarch had acquired! The boy laughed out loud, attracting everyone"s attention. «Hhha! Lee, the king of battles, we"ll meet in the 6th round! If you lose before that I won"t respect you!»
The leader of the Stones laughed in response. «Tsayan, your energy and enthusiasm should be applauded. We are sure to meet. I am not going to lose before that.»
«I am glad to hear it, Mr. Lee. How about spicing up our battle?»
The guests listened intently to their conversation.
«Well, I"m always up for a nice deal. Do you want a bet? How much?»
«Oh no. I offer to put our honor at stake! The one who loses will publicly call himself a mediocrity, loudly and three times. How do you like my offer, king of battles? Or are you afraid?» - Tsayan asked confidently as if he didn"t doubt his victory.
The excited audience buzzed. «Did you hear that?! Tsayan puts his honor at stake!» … « Oh my G.o.d, how is it possible?! Why is he so self-confident?! If the descendant of pure blood disgraces the Browns, he will get severe punishment!» … «Does he really expect to defeat Lee? I can"t believe my ears!» … «Lee the king of battles is the strongest at his stage!»
Lee frowned, annoyed with the difficult choice. The audience was counting on him to agree with the terms of the deal. Otherwise, they might think he was a coward.
Stephanie came up to her friend. «You don"t have to agree, Lee. Your defeat will be more devastating than his. The jerk makes everyone believe you are equal but you are number 1 in our family while he is just a representative at the party. If you lose, it will a serious offense to our dignity…»
The boy clenched his fists, thinking only of victory. «Do you think I will lose?» - He asked.
«Of course not. Your strength is beyond reproach, it"s just…»
«Trust me. I promise I will win.» - Lee smiled. He wondered how could the little s.h.i.+t of the Brown family be so confident. However, he couldn"t refuse him. It would only humiliate the family.
Lee replied:
«You are overconfident, Tsayan! I accept the challenge. But hear me out, when you, the best Brown fighter, will call yourself a mediocrity, then who will be the rest of your family members compared to you?»
«He has agreed!» … «Lord, am I dreaming?» … «Number one in the Stone family has accepted the challenge! Have you heard?!» … «The king of battles won"t lose! Tsayan wants to disgrace his family!» … «f.u.c.k you! What did you say?!» … «Tsayan is a Brown! He is stronger!» … «Lee will tear him to pieces!»
The tension was rising. It seemed a fight was inevitable. The honor of the Stones was at stake against the Browns. The stakes were not equal but Lee had agreed. He must be completely sure of his victory, and Tsayan was a crazy unbalanced teenager if he went for this madness.
The guests" opinions diverged. Someone shouted:
«Look at the grid! The strongest Stone pract.i.tioners are located at the end! They all will fight with Princess Kara!»
«It can"t be!» … «I do not believe it! No...» … «Indeed! Take a look!»
Kara snorted. «Odds don"t seem to be in favor of your family.»
Juno was surprised. How could it be that the strongest Stones were concentrated on one side of the grid next to her invincible friend? It was illogical!
The young men were studying the screen and sighing. It seemed that the best Stones wouldn"t reach the quarter-finals. They would never beat the invincible princess. Now all the families had approximately equal chances to get to the top of the grid.
Eric, Stephanie and other Stones looked at the grid with gla.s.sy eyes. The only one who was beyond it was the strongest member of their family and he staked his reputation in the battle with Tsayan. He was their only hope to make it to the final.
«Mr. XiaoBai, we demand an explanation for this!» … «Change the grid immediately! It looks like a kind of trick» … «XiaoBai, if it goes on like this, the prestige of our family will be shattered!» - shouted the Stones.
The fat guy frowned thoughtfully. Suddenly, Cornelia came up to him, took his hand as a sign of support and looked him deep in the eyes.
Xiao Bai was about to agree when d.a.m.ned Tsayan continued his speech:
«Xiao Bai! Like everyone present here, I don"t have access to the nephrite with the tournament grid. Your decision to shuffle the positions will be unfair to the other guests. How could you hold the proud t.i.tle of family number one after that?! Accept it as a given and fight. I have already agreed to face Lee in the battle!»
«Tsayan is right! You can"t change anything!» … «If you mix up the positions, I won"t take part in the battle» … «That"s right! Have some respect! It"s you who have brought in the nephrite. Don"t you dare to give up the grid!» - n.o.body in their right mind would ever agree to give up the grid with high chances to take a higher position.
XiaoBai felt uneasy. On the one hand, he didn"t want to fail the Stones, on the other hand, 9 families would never forgive him taking liberties with their honor. He was so indignant he wanted to roar but he quickly calmed down and raised his hand. «I won"t change anything! The Stones never give up an honest fight! The patriarch himself has given me this nephrite. Therefore, the results of the grid are fair.» - He said confidently. If Lee, who is at the end of the grid, defeats Tsayan and another opponent after that, the Stones will take 2nd place after the Grands. It"s an honor to lose to the princess.
«Thank you! It"s fair enough!» - Tsayan answered with a smile. The odds were in his favor. When he defeats that poseur Lee, the Stones will fall flat on their faces and lose their morale for the next family tournament. He will be rewarded when he comes back home and surely catch up with his brother in development and become the number 2 in the Brown family.
Kara giggled softly covering her mouth with her hand. «It"s the hottest party of the year! I am on fire! My little Juno, only your sweet kiss can appease me…»
«Leave me alone.» - The girl grumbled, moving away from her full lips. She had a lot on her mind. Something unexpected, unprecedented was going to happen. She wished she knew the servant"s plans, Tsayan"s scheme and what was behind Kara"s arrival... Did she come to have a talk? Very unlikely. It was the first time she had come to her and not to Elsa.