Chapter 13: The Regional Tournament

"You're looking a bit green there," Maria noted as she sat down at the table in front of me. "What, did the milk go bad?"

Blinking, I looked up from my cereal. "No, the milks still fine."

"Then what's got you down?"

That was a good question with a more or less simple answer. Today was the day of the Regional Tournament and in a few short hours, I was going to be competing to win the tournament and my bet with Jasmine.

"I guess I'm just a little nervous," I replied.

"Think you'll lose?" Maria pressed. "I've looked up a few of the past tournaments and I really don't think you've got anything to worry about."

"It's not that," I shook my head. "I think the only one that I've really got to worry about it Pyrrha and even then I'm sure that I'll win, but… There's going to be a lot of people there today."

Tens of thousands of people were going to be in the stadium and even more were going to be watching from home. The Mistral Regional Tournament was even streamed internationally, so that number likely spiked to a few million.

Besides the fact that a lot of people were going to be watching me, there was also the problem of gaining attention, specifically the wrong kind of attention. As of right now, there were very few people aware of my existence and none of them were important in the grand scheme of things. Once I stepped out into the arena, those eyes were going to be pointed my way.

"Ah, social anxiety," Maria nodded knowingly. "Well, it just so happens that I've got exactly what you need to fix that."

"You… do?" I asked.

"Yep, just wait here and I'll be right back," Maria said cheerily. "Also, finish your breakfast, these tournaments usually last for most of the day and you want to be at your best."

Maria got up from the table and quickly went into her room before coming back holding a bundle of ashy grey cloth with something white sitting on top.

"Here we go," Maria hummed as she placed the bundle on the table.

Picking up the white object sitting on top, I turned it over and found myself looking at the upper half of a skull mask complete with some red markings painted across it.

"You'd be surprised at how social anxieties just melt away when you wear a mask. It's freeing," Maria explained. "And seeing as we got mistaken as a couple of hobo's back when we first went to Sanctum, I thought it was about time that you got some proper Huntsman attire. … it was easier as well, what with you getting a free weapon out of this whole deal."

"Maria…" I began slowly. "Thank you."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Maria waved me off. "It's the least I could do. I didn't want to send you out in front of tens of thousands of people looking like a bum."

And just like that, the stress was suddenly back.

"Hey, don't worry about the people. All they'll be seeing today is your mask, not who you actually are."

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to wear that mask over my face today," I replied. "It's one of the rules for this tournament. No one is allowed to cover more than a quarter of their face. Apparently there was an issue a few years back where a fully fledged Huntress disguised herself, forged some documents and entered the tournament, winning it."

"Oh," Maria hummed. "Crap, well there goes all my advice for overcoming anxiety."

"Not really," I said. Picking up the mask, I fastened it to the side of my head, pushing the hair out of my face. "I'm still going to wear it."

"That's not really how a mask is supposed to work," Maria muttered. "It's supposed to work as a disguise."

"I know," I nodded. "But at least this way I get to keep it with me and that's the thing that matters to me the most."

We shared a moment of mutual silence, before Maria tugged me out of my seat. "Well what are you waiting for? You've got the mask on, but what about the cloak."

"Alright, alright," I chuckled as I stood up.

Grabbing the ash grey cloak, I pulled it on and attempted to begin fastening it, only for Maria to swat my hands away.

"You're doing it wrong, here, let me show you."

It barely took a minute for Maria to finish adjusting my clothing before she was done. The cloak fit pretty well and unlike my Academy uniform, it didn't feel restrictive. I felt that I could fight to the best of my ability without having to worry about accidentally ripping anything in these.

"I like it," I hummed.

"Of course you do, I picked it out and you've got style," Maria chuckled. "Now, how are you feeling about the tournament?"

"A lot better," I replied. "Thanks."

"Good," Maria nodded. "Now, I know what you're capable of, so I know that it shouldn't be too tough. Just keep your head in the fight and forget about everything else around you. Do that and before you know it, you'll have won."

"So treat it like a fight with a Grimm?"

"Ah…" Maria paused at that. "Maybe treat it like a training session. You can get a bit… caught up when fighting Grimm and I don't think Mistral will be very happy televising a decapitation."

"I'm not that bad," I argued. Maria was making it sound like I was some kind of battle junkie or blood knight. Sure I let loose on Grimm and I did find enjoyment in fighting, especially when I was pushed, but… where was I going with this again?

"I know, I know," Maria said. "It's just a bit of a warning. You've been training out in the real world where everything is harder while most of everyone that's in this tournament has been trained in a much safer environment. They might be a bit… squishy, that's all I'm saying."

I suppose that there was truth in that. I already knew that Pyrrha would be able to win this tournament on her own and I was able to fight her on fairly even grounds without having to use Sun Breathing Techniques. If I ended up using one seriously, there was a good chance that I might just cut straight through someone's Aura and end up severely wounding them.

Then again, Pyrrha and I had never actually sparred against each other in the past week, we only trained together and I showed her a few tricks on how to be more aware of the flow of battle. When we have our fight, she was going to be able to use her Semblance and that was going to make the fight all the harder, something that I was really looking forward to.

"I'll be sure to hold back," I replied.

"Just not by too much, you've still got to win this thing after all," Maria said.

I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah sure. I'll do that."

"Good, now hurry up and finish your breakfast… And be sure not to spill any on your clothes."

…Breathe…

Getting to the stadium, as it turned out ended up being much more difficult than I had originally thought. The streets were absolutely filled with traffic and people swarmed the sidewalks. I likely would have been standing outside for hours, slowly inching my way in if I'd had to enter through the regular entrance.

"Coal, Maria," Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief. "You're a bit late. I was beginning to think that you'd gotten lost."

"Yeah, well, we would have been here sooner if it hadn't been so crowded," Maria complained. "You'd swear that they'd never seen Huntsmen fight before with the way they're acting."

"For the most part, they haven't," Jasmine explained while leading us further into the stadium. "Argus is well protected and doesn't get to see what happens outside of the walls. For the majority of the residents here, this is a one time a year event to see how Huntsmen trainees fight."

Stepping into a new room, this one was larger and filled with different people ranging from competitors, sponsors and even a… camera crew that was busy interviewing Pyrrha. It felt like I'd just stepped into a whole new and weird world that I definitely didn't belong in.

"There sure is a lot going on here," I hummed as I glanced around the room, doing my best not to be overwhelmed. "I'm… not going to have to give an interview too, am I?"

"I don't believe so," Jasmine replied. "Pyrrha's a sort of… local celebrity and is currently being sponsored by a major cereal brand. You're new here and no one knows you, so it's unlikely that you would be interviewed."

I had already known that Pyrrha was famous, I both remembered it and Pyrrha told me herself, but seeing it like this in person really drove that point home. It was subtle, but she seemed uncomfortable and a little stressed giving her interview.

"That's a relief," I muttered to myself.

"Unless of course you beat Pyrrha and win the tournament," Jasmine mused. "She's gained a reputation for being invincible, so having someone beat her would really shake things up. I'm certain the person that does that will gain all manner of attention."

"Are… you trying to make me nervous?" I asked.

"No, just letting you know what to expect," Jasmine smiled.

"Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about it Coal," Maria butted in. "If those people start bothering you after you win, you can tell them exactly where to stick their cameras."

"I don't think…" Jasmine began, only to be interrupted by Maria.

"Up their asses, if you didn't catch my drift," Maria smirked proudly. "No Calavera is ever going to be pushed around by those that can't even put up a fight."

That was actually pretty comforting. In Maria's mind, there was no doubt that I was going to win, so instead, she focused on the part that came after winning, the part that I was stressing about. It was about time that I stopped worrying about all the people here and simply focus on the fights that were ahead of me. I'd simply deal with whatever comes afterwards and I could take comfort in knowing that I wouldn't be alone in that.

Feeling something moving behind me, my hand shot up automatically and grabbed onto something.

"Hmmm?" I hummed as I turned my head, finding myself holding onto Pyrrha's mom's hand. "Oh, sorry. I just reacted automatically," I apologized and released my hold on her.

"Oh, no worries," Thetis smiled. "I just came to say hi. That's certainly some reaction that you've got there, is it the same thing that you've been teaching Pyrrha?"

"Teaching?" Maria asked, shooting me a questioning look. "I know that you've been training alongside Pyrrha, but you've been teaching her too? You do know that you're going to have to fight her in this tournament, right?"

"Well, I…"

"Of course you do," Maria let out an exasperated sigh.

I… may have neglected to tell Maria that I was teaching Pyrrha a few tricks, but in my defense it didn't really seem like a big deal. It's not like I taught her something that was actually dangerous, like Total Concentration Breathing or how to enhance her abilities through the use of a breathing style.

"Um, yeah. That is what I've been teaching her," I replied. "It's nothing major, just being aware of your surroundings. With time, Pyrrha should be able to react like I just did."

"I see. Well, you have my thanks for helping her. You've certainly made an impression on Pyrrha," Thetis said, before glancing towards Maria. "You've raised a fine young man."

"Thanks," Maria grumbled, looking halfway between being happy and annoyed.

"Well, I believe that Pyrrha should be just about finished with her interview, so I will be taking my leave," Thetis began. "Why don't you sit with me when the tournament starts," She offered.

Maria let out a sigh. "I suppose that I could take you up on that offer."

"Then I'll come find you a little later," Thetis smiled before finally making her way back to Pyrrha.

"So," Maria began. "You've been training one of your opponents?"

"Nothing too serious," I replied. "I was just showing her a few things she wasn't really aware of, like reading the flow of a fight and being aware of her surroundings."

"Nothing else," Maria pressed.

I shook my head. "Everything else would have been too dangerous. Even if I did want to teach her those… other things, there wouldn't have been enough time for her to learn them properly."

Maria gave me a hard look before nodding, satisfied with my answer. "Good. I think that, after this tournament, we're going to have a long talk about girls."

"Ah, Maria, I really don't think that we need to…"

"Nope, I've made up my mind," Maria interrupted me. "Sure you might have stumbled across the one girl that wouldn't take advantage of you this time, but that won't always be the case."

"Yes, well, I believe that is a topic best suited for a later date," Jasmine announced, coughing awkwardly into her hand. "The tournament should be beginning soon and all the competitors need to get into their proper positions."

"Yeah, yeah. You two go get ready for this tournament," Maria said. "It'll give me time to figure out what to say later."

"…Okay," I replied.

"Oh, one last thing, Coal," Maria began. "Be sure to have some fun out there today… just not too much fun, alright."

I let out a sigh as a smile came to my face. "Sure, I'll have just the right amount of fun today."

"Good, then I'll see you later after you've won this tournament."

I waved my goodbye as I followed after Jasmine who led me to another room where the other competitors were being funnelled.

"Your grandmother seems to think that you're going to win this tournament quite easily," Jasmine noted.

"Well she does know what I'm capable of," I replied. "After all, she has been the one training me."

"Your conversation with Thetis and your grandmother seems to imply that you've still got a few tricks up your sleeve," Jasmine hummed. "I'll be interested to see just what those tricks are."

I let out a short chuckle. "That is if I choose to show them… after all, I did decide to only use them if I absolutely need to and I really don't think anyone here besides Pyrrha would be capable of forcing me to use them."

"Then I'll look forward to that fight."

Funnily enough, I was looking forward to that fight too. I just hoped that Pyrrha would give it her all and not hold back, if that happened I would be more than a little disappointed.

...Breathe...

I took a breath and calmed myself. The tournament had officially begun about an hour ago, various students had been called for their fights and now, finally, it was my turn. Stepping out into the arena, I felt a spike of nervousness as the roar of the crowd reached me.

The arena was a mix of concrete and nature, looking very much like one of the settlements that Maria and I had passed through on our journey to Argus.

Glancing up, I was greeted to the sight of... me? Several large holographic displays were recording me and my opponent, a dark skinned girl with yellow hair as we made our way to the field.

"Welcome one and all to the end of the first stage of the Mistral Regional Tournament. I'm your host Razz," A loud male voice announced. "This is the final fight for this stage of the tournament, but don't fret if you've just tuned in. This only counts as the first third of all the matches."

"Now let's see here. For this match we've got Arslan Altan, a top mark student from Kuchinashi Academy, hey, I used to go there!" The announcer noted excitedly. "And as for our other opponent, we have Coal Calavera... well, this is interesting, he's a temporary student at Sanctum."

Arslan shot me an odd look. I guess it wasn't normal to have a temporary student compete in these events.

"As you've all heard before, these matches are until one of our two competitors Aura drops below a certain threshold. Unlike the Vytal Tournament, there are no ring outs," Razz explained. "The match will be beginning soon, so how about we make some noise for our two fighters?"

The crowd erupted in cheers and I noticed Arslan wince slightly. It was comforting to know that I wasn't the only one out here that was getting stressed by all the people. The announcer continued on, but I began to drown him and the rest of the crowd out.

The match began and Arslan charged towards me. A dagger slipped into her hand and she took several fast swings at me.

Stepping back and to the side, I managed to avoid her initial attempts, but she soon smirked. Arslan's leg snaked in between mine, preventing me from sidestepping while she took another swing.

Grabbing my hilt, I unsheathed my blade and used its side to block the incoming dagger.

Bringing her other arm up, Arslan grabbed onto her dagger. There was a click as she connected a metal rope to the dagger and quickly wrapped it around my sword.

Arslan brought her fist towards my gut. I disentangled myself from her leg and retreated backwards, only to have Arslan pull on her rope, ripping my sword out of my grasp, throwing it to the other side of the arena.

"It looks like Arslan has Coal on the defensive. Is this the end of the fight or does our temporary student have anything further up his sleeve," Razz announced excitedly.

"You're pretty good," I complemented Arslan. From the brief exchange I'd had with her, I could see that she was pretty experienced, although, how she reacted when her opponent started fighting in a way that was unfamiliar to her remained to be seen.

Arslan's main weapon wasn't her dagger, it was her fighting style. She used her rope dart dagger to disarm me, putting me at a disadvantage. I wanted to see what more she had, but to do that I would have to start pushing back.

Arslan remained silent and focused. Slipping her dagger back into her sleeve, she rushed forward, only this time, instead of waiting passively, I met her half way.

Dodging her punches, I was quickly becoming familiar with her attack pattern and started lashing out with my own blows. My skill with unarmed combat wasn't exactly the best, especially when used against someone whose entire style of fighting revolved around that, but I made due.

I soon landed the first blow, my fist impacted against Arslan's face and she stumbled backwards. There was another metallic click and I moved just as her dagger darted towards me, only to have her tug it, wrapping it around one of my legs.

Arslan gave a heavy tug to the rope in an attempt to knock me off my feet, but it didn't work as I rushed off towards her. The rope needed tension in order to pull me properly. So long as I could keep her from gaining that tension, it wouldn't have an effect on me.

Seeing that her weapon was having no effect on me, she gave one last twist of the metallic rope and gave a hard whip with it.

Feeling warmth begin to grow on my leg, I noticed the dagger was beginning to glow red as a dust crystal had had been activated in what I assumed to be an explosion. With how knotted it was around my leg, there wasn't enough time for me to safely take it off, so I opted for the next best thing.

Rushing towards Arslan, I landed a harsh kick just as the dust crystal detonated, sending her flying backwards.

-300 AP

It hadn't been that much damage, but it was the first bit that I'd experienced when fighting someone other than Maria. I was impressed with how Arslan fought.

Kneeling down, I undid the dagger and dropped it off to the side, before going to retrieve my sword. Glancing up at the screen above the arena, I saw that Arslan's Aura was dropped to about 60% while mine was quickly counting back up to 100%.

It was only the first match and someone had already revealed one of my cards, I may have misjudged this tournament. I wondered if there was anyone other than Pyrrha that would actually force me to use Sun Breathing.

Grabbing my sword, I heard the familiar whistle of Arslan's dagger and stepped to the side as it sailed passed me, ducking she once again tried to ensnare me with it.

"As I said before, you're pretty good," I hummed as I held my sword at the ready. "Unfortunately, this fight has to come to an end, but it's been fun."

We met at the centre of the arena for one final clash. Swinging my blade down, I was surprised to find it caught in Arslan's hand that was wrapped in the metallic rope that she attached to her dagger. She took a low stance and rapidly brought her fist towards me in a last ditch effort to win.

Keeping a single hand on my sword, I brought my other hand up and grabbed onto Arslan's fist and tugged her to the side as I lashed out with a kick, sending her rolling backwards.

There was a loud beep that sounded through the arena and I quickly looked upwards to find that Arslan's Aura had officially dropped below 30%.

"Well damn, I didn't expect that," Razz announced. "There we have it folks, the winner for this match, Coal Calavera."

The stadium was silent for several moments before everyone suddenly erupted in clapping and cheering. Sheathing my blade, I noticed that Arslan's dagger was lying on the ground near me and picked it up.

"Nice fight," I said, handing Arslan her weapon.

"Thank you," Arslan nodded, taking the dagger. "Although it wasn't much of a fight, you had me beat pretty early on."

"I wouldn't say that," I hummed. "I needed some time to figure out your fighting style first. Nice trick with the dagger by the way, you really threw me off when you disarmed me."

"I suppose I could say that you startled me when you used my own dust charge against me," Arslan commented. "I never would have expected someone to do that in a fight."

"It was going to blow up on me anyway, so I thought, what the hell," I chuckled.

"Ahem," Razz coughed into his microphone. "I can see that the two of you are interested in talking after such a hard fought match, but there are still more rounds left. You can continue flirting back in the waiting area."

Arslan stiffened slightly and I let out a sigh. I'd almost forgotten that this was a tournament.

"I suppose that he's right," I muttered, suddenly becoming aware that thousands of people were watching my every move. "I'm going to head back in before that announcer tries to embarrass us."

"Sounds like a plan," Arslan replied.

Going our separate ways, I quickly found myself back in one of the designated waiting rooms that were set around the stadium. Seeing several appraising looks thrown my way, I sat down and resigned myself to watching the next few rounds on the holographic projector that had been set up in the room. There were still quite a few more fights to be had.

And another Chapter down.

I'm back to my original time zone, so the update time will be returning to normal.

Anyways, I'm up to chapter 18 on the P word website

P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.

Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.

Next chapter will be posted on the 29th of July.
See you all then.