There were few times in Luke's life that had the audacity to get this close to the Central Palace after what had happened in his childhood, and it certainly brought back memories.
The area was way different from what it used to be. The buildings seemed larger, and everything seemed even more dystopian than the reality in the Lower City. At one point, the stone roads changed to something more sophisticated, of a material similar to light basalt, where the horses' footsteps were even louder.
Besides being the largest building in the entire city, the Central Palace was also the tallest building and the one located at the highest altitude as well. At its entrance was a colossal staircase with hundreds of steps.
In front of the staircase was a broad plaza, and in it, Luke saw a sea of people. Many of the people were wearing imposing armor and carrying their weapons. At the foot of the staircase, there were more than fifty knights in steel armor, forming a chain of protection so that no one dared to climb the steps.
That day, the half-wolf experienced first-hand the privileges he earned by working for the Strogueher. The carriage he was in made a turn and turned onto a side road. The car stopped, and Luke saw through the window that the coachman handed a document to a guard and a bag with money.
Then the passage of the three carriages, which made up the Strogueher protection train, was cleared for overtaking. Then the carriage drove up a side road to the top of the Central Palace so that they would not have to stand in the middle of the crowd.
When they finally arrived at the Palace, Luke admired the massive building from a distance he had never imagined. The Central Palace was not only a beautiful building in Oukiwa; this was also the place where everything happened.
'Ow... that thing is even bigger up close.' He concluded as he looked up.
The Central Palace sits on top of a small mountain, plus it is the only building that can be seen even from outside the city. Its characteristic pointed towers, reminiscent of the Gothic Era, are one of the most beautiful features of its architecture, in addition to the dozens of glass panes with designs that pay homage to The Four Heroes of Calamity.
"That's pretty high up here!" Livia exclaimed, leaning on the ledge that separated her from a cliff.
When Jilly saw her sister, she inhaled and shouted, "Get out of there, you crazy girl!"
"Oh~? Why~? The view is so cool from here!" Livia said joking. She was really excited.
Luke didn't blame the girl; after all, since they had started training together, he had always seen her trying very hard, as well as showing good progress.
"If the goal was to get attention...with them it won't be hard." Luke joked with Nathalia, who laughed at the situation.
Shiro saw that and compared it to his past. If he had been told a year ago that he would be competing in the Tournament of Legends alongside his great childhood friend Luke and three other members of the Strogueher Family, he would have found it hard to believe.
"Then why did we come up here?" Livia asked, walking away.
Since the escort had already left, Nathalia had to deduce. "I believe my mother must have asked us to have a better view of the Presentation of the Sensory Magician who will be running the rounds, and also so we wouldn't be in the middle of all that." She spoke and pointed to the thousands of people in the square below, who were now the same size as insects.
"We were lucky that this year the city chosen to host the competition was Oukiwa... If it was in Broteforge, we would have had to travel for at least a week." Spoke Jilly as she held her sister by the arm, so she wouldn't go to the ledge again.
Everyone nodded; after all, it would be a terrible thing to travel in such a hurry for an event that requires so much preparation.
The quintet was not the only group of competition participants that were in the Central Palace, and they were slowly beginning to attract attention. This was the only group of Stroguehers that was participating in the Tournament of Legends this year, and this was reason enough for many to respect and hate them.
However, this year there was something different that intensified this difference of feelings, the half-wolf. This outfit didn't let Luke hide his tail and ears, so his group drew even more attention. Since there were rumors that a half-wolf, who surpassed the strength of the previous edition's Champion, was hired by the Strogueher's, Luke's mere presence in the Central Palace was enough to boil up some competitors' fighting spirit.
As the sun reached precisely the top of the sky, marking noon, something began to appear over the Central Square, which was what the thousands of people were called.
The crowd shouted with excitement when they saw a large sphere over their heads, which expanded as the seconds passed.
"Look! It's going to start!" A green-haired woman, who came out of the lobby of the Central Palace to smoke, warned all the inattentive people.
The sphere was at the same height as the Central Palace, so the half-wolf group and the other members of noble families and powerful clans could see it easily.
Suddenly, the object pulsed and doubled in size, but this pulse didn't just serve to make it grow. If the participants looked to the horizon, they could see that six other spheres hovered over the sky from other vital places in the city.
Just below the sphere, Luke was looking at, a white flame appeared. Immediately, a serene voice reverberated throughout all directions of Oukiwa.
"Long ago... the native peoples of this continent deified fire as if it were indeed a mythical being, an entity, a God... And that to this day makes me wonder: what if it actually was?"
Following the narration of the voice, the fire began to metamorphose, finally taking on a shape that resembled a human silhouette.
"It is a fact that... there are many things we do not understand about our history... The Dungeons, the monsters, life, fate, love... But if there is one thing we do know it is... we are strong. Although we have every reason to give up, we all keep moving forward... trying and trying."
Just like that, weapons appeared in the silhouette's hand, both made of flames. A shield in his right arm and a spear in his left hand.
"And it's to prove the strength that you signed up for the Tournament of Legends, isn't it?"
At no time in history have warriors so different from each other agreed on the same sentence as they did in that instant. Without exception, all were there to show how strong they were or could become.
"I am Mikaela ?kerman, and I am here to help you achieve your goals... or hinder you." said the woman who took the place of the burning figure under the colossal cubes.
Everyone could see her very clearly. Her hair was blonde and curly, but it was tied back. In addition, she wore black tiaras on her head that resembled the shape of two horns and accessories on her ears that resembled the shape of pointed ears, like those of an Elf.
"The first phase of the Tournament of Legends will be simple... There are just over six thousand people signed up, and all of you will be teleported to a distant, secret forest. In that forest, there will be 500 birds, and only those who kill at least one bird will move on to the second phase... Good luck."
The seven spheres pulsed and disappeared at the same time as the thousands of people began to tense up at the announcement. In the end, Luke only had time to look at Nathalia and say:
"Look for me before you go after any of the birds."
The Elf nodded, and then golden magic circles appeared beneath the feet of all the participants. In the blink of an eye, they were all teleported away.
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