Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Allow me to explain today\'s series of events…"

The entire city was buzzing with excitement. Nearly every business that did not deal with food and drink had closed down for the day to watch the matches. This was the first time for most people in the capital, both citizens and visitors, to witness such an event. More often than not, tickets were either sold out or prohibitively expensive for the common man to purchase.

Aedrider\'s temporary donation of the projection towers was a massive success with the population and many tavern, restaurant, and food stall owners were nearly ready to start worshipping the elven nation because of all the business it generated. Every one of them was prepared to make money hand over foot.

Rena on the other hand was not as excited as them. She was sitting in a waiting area with a random group of fighters. The first round was a massive elimination brawl. She would have to make it to the final three to compete in the main competition.

They were told that there were nearly a hundred participants. In the room she was in, ten other people were sitting or standing and preparing themselves for the match. That meant there were at least ten other rooms with a similar amount of people waiting for their chance at becoming number one.

In the room with her were mostly humans, but there were two beast-men as well as an elf. No one did or said anything to one another out of fear of giving away any hints about their combat styles. Doing so would be giving your opponent an edge.

The most they could do was guess at fighting styles and potential tactics based on the weapons they were carrying or the armor they were wearing. Rena\'s ensemble was a tactic in and of itself. She carried a thin sword on her hip and wore light armor that suggested she was a Sword Arts specialist focused on speed.

The truth of the matter was she was a pure mage and the armor and sword were simply for buying time in between spells.

As she continued her deep breathing exercises, a small woman walked up and sat beside her. It was the elf. "Hi there. Nervous like me?"

"Mmm" was all Rena said.

"I get it." The elf said with a smile. "Like everyone else, trying to keep your cards close to your chest. I understand. Though, if I\'m being honest I don\'t have much to hide."

"Mmhm."

"I\'m not going to tell you what I have going on. It\'s just… when I get nervous, I need to talk and well. You looked like the most likely to at least acknowledge me." She continued.

"I see." Rena finally said. Though she did not continue to speak.

"I do appreciate you at least letting me babble… it\'s nice. I wish you good luck miss. That\'s all I\'m going to do since you at least let me air out my anxiety. Just know that if we meet in the ring, I\'m not holding back." The elven girl gave Rena a small smile and bowed before walking away.

"Good luck to you too," Rena said as she walked away.

Shortly after that, the announcer called the contestants to the stage. A group of officials entered the room and escorted the fighters in double file through the halls of the coliseum and out onto the main stage.

The arena was nearly a perfect circle that was nearly fifteen hundred feet in diameter. It was simply a massive arena, but considering the number of fighters that used Magic and Arts, the space could be taken up quickly as fights progressed. Rena looked above her and noticed a faint shimmer of golden light.

It was a barrier powered by a team of mages that was designed to keep stray attacks from hitting the crowd by accident.

"Welcome to our dear contestants!" The announcer shouted out; his voice amplified by a similar technology to the projection posts around the capital. "We have our first event of the day, a battle royale between a hundred competitors!

"For our contenders and our amazing audience, let me break down the rules. This fight is a free-for-all battle where almost anything goes. Arts, Magic, and enchanted items are all permitted! There are only two hard no\'s: First, no marks! Second, no killing blows may strike your opponent!

"Finally, there is a barrier protecting the crowd, so do not worry about the trajectory of your projectiles, spells, or maybe even people! The barrier is designed to take the hit from a King Rank warrior. As all of our participants are Intermediate or Advanced, there should be no problem, as any damage you deal will be restored before you can break through."

Everyone in the arena had walked to different starting zones. Along the ground were designated circles to stand on. Each circle was equidistant from the circles around them to ensure the fairest starting positions. Granted those that were lucky enough to be given spots around the outside edge had a slight advantage over others.

Rena felt sweat dripping down her back. She was nervous and when looking around her, she saw that competition was fierce. These hundred people were all vying for three single spots. It was the first step in getting to have one request granted by the king of a nation. It was a very lucrative deal.

Rena had doubts about winning. She would have to be both skillful and lucky in her matchups, but she had to try. At one time, when she announced her entry, she was so confident in her ability to win, but after watching Thomas train as well as seeing that that person named Titan would be here, doubt spread in her mind.

As she started to think about that, she glanced into the crowd. Up in the stands, there were many private boxes. In one of them, she saw Lyrah and Natali next to a beautiful woman with long, blonde hair. In the box next to them there was a strong-looking man with black, cat ears. In other nearby boxes, she saw the leaders of various nations, all intently watching the match.

As her eyes traveled down from the stands and back to the arena, they stopped on a familiar figure. Though she could not be certain, it felt like the person was staring directly at her. His face and eyes were hidden by a black, featureless mask. When he noticed that she was looking at him, he gave her a curt nod, then turned and left the stands.

"Warriors! At the ready!" the announcer called out. "Let the show… Begin!"