Chapter 604: Preliminary Round
I went up to the counter where they had me tear off a part of my ticket that had the number sixty attached to it and dropped it in a box.
The same number was printed on the other corner of my ticket so I would know what the original number was without relying on memory.
They then started drawing out numbers to be placed on a giant board they had brought in to place us in our own match ups.
Since there were no names on the board and only numbers of the teams, we don’t know who we were matched up against but we were one of the first matches to be held in one of the multiple arenas.
The team we would be facing against was number nine and we were directed to one of the arenas at the very corner of the hall.
A bespectacled male Mahun was there to receive us when we went over to him.
“Good day, I shall be your facilitator for your match. If you would pass me your entry ticket please?”
I handed it over to him as he had requested.
He checked it before going over to another board behind him to put a giant number six and zero on one side of it.
The team we would be facing against showed up a while later consisting of an entire team of male Mahuns who looked like veteran Mercenaries. The one leading them was a short man wearing white robes that seemed to be one size too big for him and carrying a staff a good thirty centimetres longer than he was tall.
I’m going to guess that’s the healer of their party and they’re leaving him outside to act as their support while the others would fight inside.
He handed over his own ticket to the bespectacled man and he placed the number nine on the board beside our number.
Right after that, the audience in the stands closest to us started mumbling amongst themselves before heading towards another same guy who had set up a counter at the side to start passing him money.
Fuck, I should have expected this but seems like there’s a betting ring down here huh?
You know what?
I went over to the spectacled guy who was still setting up the arena and asked, “Can we bet on the matches too?”
He glanced at me, “You can only bet on yourselves for your own match up to a maximum of one thousand Creas per match per person. Our odds are standardised at one point five across all contests, would that be fine with you?”
“Yeah, that’s perfect.”
I mean, that’s an easy five hundred Creas isn’t it? I would be stupid to say no to that!
I went over to the counter as well and surprisingly, everyone else followed me as well.
“Ast… I mean, Mistress? Could we all borrow a thousand Creas each?” Lisa asked.
I grinned, “Of course you can~ Here you go~”
I dug out six large silver coins and deposited each one in each of my party member’s hands. Yes, I’m making Eins bet on this as well.
We went ahead to place a bet on ourselves for a thousand Creas each while the other party only had three guys who placed a bet at less than five hundred Creas each.
I wonder if the others weren’t that confident of winning or they just don’t like to gamble completely.
Once we got our betting slips, we returned to the arena where our facilitator was waiting for us patiently.
He nodded at us, “I will now explain the rules. I will first flip a coin to determine who will decide how many slaves will participate in the first round. Then the other person will draw the number of ‘support units’ the leader can use to aid their team during the fight from a box. Any kind of support is allowed as long as you only target the slaves within the arena and not outside of it.
Calling additional members to fight in an ongoing round would cost three support units while bringing back a defeated slave will cost two. Summons will also be treated as additional members but must be unsummoned as soon as the round ends. The match concludes once one side is unable to send in any more slaves to participate in additional rounds. Any questions?”
Seems like it was pretty much the same as what we had guessed or heard during the exhibition match upstairs, except the part about using summons which I was surprised to learn about.
That means… I could potentially even call up more of my Shadow Guards to participate in the fight, couldn’t I?
Actually, that wouldn’t be a good idea considering the fact that it was a spell that I shouldn’t be showing off in the first place. Having Eins out here is enough.
The healer for the other party raised his hand slightly, “Erm… Just to check… The people participating in the fight are allowed to use magic and ranged weapons, right?”
Our facilitator nodded, “That is allowed, yes. But please make sure that whatever magic you use is restricted inside the arena. Casting any spell that lands outside the arena would be instant disqualification.”
“I see… I understand.”
Seeing that both of us had no more questions, all the members that would be participating in the fight left the arena, leaving just myself and the white robed guy standing on the stage.
The spectacled guy fished out a coin that was black on one side and white on the other.
“If it lands on black facing up, you start first,” He nodded at me before flipping it into the air.
All three of us watched the coin spin into the air before landing on the guy’s palm with the black side facing up.
The facilitator turned to me, “You’ll be choosing how many slaves will be entering in the first round.”
I nodded to show that I understood before he turned to the other guy and presented a box with a hole at the top.
“Now please pick a paper here that will decide the number of supports will be allowed in this match.”
The other guy stuck his hand into the hole and pulled out a piece of paper which the facilitator took from him and unfolded.
“That would be two support units granted to both sides for the match. Are both sides ready?”
The other guy seemed unsatisfied with the number of support units he drew out but nodded which prompted me to nod as well.
“Very well, both trainers, head outside the arena, team number sixty will start by sending your slaves out first.”
I already had a plan in mind so I walked out the arena and returned to my party’s side, giving them all a smile before turning back to face the arena.
“I send out everyone.”
All the girls immediately jumped on to the stage, adopting the formation that they would usually take during our Dungeon runs.
To the facilitator’s credit, he merely blinked once at me before turning to my opponent, “Team sixty has chosen to send out five members. How many will you be sending?”
All members of the other party were giving me a weird look like I had just done something they could not understand.
Then again, I suppose I did by sending everyone out in the very first round.
These guys must have been watching the exhibition earlier and none of the slave trainers had sent out their entire team in the very first round.
But come on, you guys are Mercenaries too, you’re used to group fights right? This shouldn’t even be that weird!
In fact, you could even say that I was doing you a favour because now you can just send out your entire party too!
All of the members of that party including the healer turned to look at the one that had a bow on his back, who I presume was the real leader of the party.
He shrugged, “I guess… Send everyone?”
The healer then nodded at the facilitator, “I send everyone as well.”
The five members of the party also arranged themselves in a formation in the arena.
Their party consisted of a tank wearing full plate armour and holding a tower shield, two swordsmen with one using a shield and the other without a shield, a mage and the archer who was the real leader.
Odeta was at the front of our party while flanking her sides were Katsuki and Delmare with Lisa and Eins taking the very back of the formation.
The facilitator made sure everyone was ready before giving the command to start the fight.
Alright! Time to get this show on the–
Odeta barreled into their tank, immediately ramming him off the stage.
Katsuki had disappeared from where she had been standing and ‘decapitated’ the archer before he could even nock an arrow.
Lisa had thrown a dagger that embedded itself into the head of one of the swordsmen while Eins blasted the mage with a [Spark Strike]
The last swordsman was just trying to comprehend what had happened before Delmare also stabbed her sword through his chest, effectively wiping out the entire party in less than five seconds.
…
Holy shit you guys… At least give them a chance or something…
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