There were multiple competitors from all over the capitol county on the arena grounds. The hustle and bustle was massive. Asking around in the crowd, there were no outsiders that were going to be fighting. Doing some more research, this was an entry tournament for a larger event a month later for local fighters. This was a big opportunity for us. Even if we did not get anything here, being on the circuit would eventually get us in the eyes of influential people. It was good that all 5 of us were going to be fighting. On the opening day, we all had easy opponents in the morning. It was clear that we were viewed as country hicks and the people that we drew were cocky and overconfident. That was their downfall. We destroyed them, but the rules forbade killing. They all would live to see another day. The next fight was in the evening. We got through them as well. It seemed that we were still being underestimated. Kicking their asses proved otherwise. We had to wait 5 days before the first round. There were a lot of competitors here and people wanted to see and bet on the fights.
Not only that, but there were too many scrawny upstarts looking to make a name for themselves. Maybe some of them even had a dream of being the champion fighter of the kingdom. To be fair, that was exactly what Fabien and Anthony were here to do. The way to get in the tournament was to win 2 separate rounds before the tournament began and before all the slots filled. We did not know that, but we got there on the first day of qualifiers. Now that all the weakling punks were eliminated, it was time for the real tournament to begin. It was a standard draw of 128 competitors in single elimination combat. Once again, killing was not allowed. Any murderer would give up his position in the tournament. I made sure that sank in the heads of Petras and Jeran. They seemed to get it. The first round was a cinch. We were lucky to get guys that did not see us on the day we qualified by fighting. They also thought that we humans were nothing to think about. The crowd was on their side already. It did not matter now. We beat them. The second round was the same as the first 2 days later.
We were already in the round of 32. This was where the real fighters were. I could not keep up with the big dogs. I fought dirty to barely get into the round of 16, but I got my ass kicked by a real knight. Fabien and Anthony got put against each other. As we had discussed, Anthony would forfeit the match in favor of his elder brother. Petras and Jeran met in the round of 16. Neither was willing to back down. Therefore, they had to fight it out in the arena in front of everyone. It was a stirring contest and Petras ultimately prevailed. Luckily for us, Petras and Fabien met in the quarterfinals. That meant that Fabien was able to freely pass into the semifinal match. The crowd hated it. However, there was nothing to be done about it. Too bad for us, the knight that destroyed me also beat the shit out of Fabien. He went on to win the tournament in the finals. His name was Sir Herman Killroy. He would be one to look out for going forward. The money for the tournament was fine, but you had to get to the semifinals to get the purse. Fabien made a pretty penny on the fights. We got invited to the next tournament.
