Kyrie was shaken from the attack that she had witnessed but the Ori brothers told her not to worry about it too much. Such conflicts were normal during dwarven succession. However, they had started earlier than Furorin anticipated and now she was scrambling for damage control. Kyrie was sure that is what Gorin wanted.

  The next few days Kyrie heard of scattered conflicts all over Karzasham. However, it did not affect the tournament as she had feared. The elimination rounds continued and Kyrie fought against four more adventurers, winning against them all. She experimented with various combinations of her new and old spells to find out the optimal combination that she could use.

  She found that there was no optimal combination and based on the opponent Kyrie needed to modify her equipped spells. She did not mind. This provided another kind of challenge which excited her.

  Winning five matches now, Kyrie had reached the top 138 participants. Now when Loring had made the announcements of the rules, he had said that officially, the participants will be whittled down from their respective numbers on each side to 128 participants each side. Kyrie wondered how the organizers were going to do that.

  She got her answer soon enough. To eliminate 10 of the participants, 20 participants would be randomly selected for a one on one elimination match. Kyrie wondered whether she would be selected but when the names of the participants were mentioned, her name was not there. However, she noticed that all four Ori brothers were present in the list of participants. More dwarven politics, she presumed.

  Kyrie also looked at the names of participants supporting Gorin. They had to whittle down 18,056 participants to get to 128. After eliminations and reaching 142 participants, they had taken a similar route and now they had 14 matches to eliminate the 14 extra participants that they had.

  All of the matches would take about a week. Kyrie wondered whether she should watch all the matches or not. Her schedule after winning her first match and acquiring new spells had been the same.

  She would wake up everyday, practice with the Ori brothers, then see one or two matches and then spend time relaxing till nightfall. She was mostly with the Ori brothers but she also spent some time with Ledia and Rella. She enjoyed spending time with the air nymph and the land nymph.

  When she had a match on a particular day, she did not practice much but focused on her opponent. They were usually given the names of their opponents on match day itself. She would plan her strategy based on her opponents and fight accordingly. After winning, the nights were usually celebratory.

  Kyrie walked away from the stadium where the announcement for the participants for each of the factions was taking place. She thought of taking Nalana for a ride, to go visit some water nymphs but she hesitated. She did not know why but today she was feeling a bit down. Something was wrong, she felt it in the atmosphere around the stadium but she could not put her finger on it.

  That was when a hooded cloaked figure decided to bump into her. She felt the figure slip something in her hand. It was a folded piece of paper. She looked around to see where the strange figure had gone but they seemed to have disappeared.

  Yep, thought Kyrie, definitely not good.

  She opened the paper and read what was on it. She frowned. The message read:

  Meet me at the forest outside outer Karzasham at 7 tonight. Come alone. You will know the location as you enter the forest.

  Kyrie wondered what this was all about. She pondered whether she should go or not. She knew she was an adventurer and if this was a trap and she died, she would simply respawn but did she want to take such a risk. If she had been with Marcus, she was sure he would have said that they needed to go. Marcus was a curious person by nature and he would get lost in his curiosity sometimes. But this was not Kyrie. She decided not to go.

  Kyrie had been warned by the Ori brothers about assassins. She wondered how it would affect her when Ori brothers told them that the assassins would merely incapacitate Kyrie and keep her from participating by kidnapping her. She remembered the discussion and that was all the motivation for her to not go to the forest as per directions from a peculiar stranger handing her a message.

  Kyrie decided to go to the palace. She felt safe there. She would spend the night there tonight if the Ori brothers do not mind. Tomorrow, she will deal with whatever tomorrow brings.

  ***

  The next few days passed normally. There were surprisingly no conflicts amongst the two factions and Kyrie watched all the Ori brothers’ fights. They won their respective fights.

  Kyrie did ask them about the message that she had received and Orik reassured her that it was mostly a false alarm. The Ori brothers had sent a high level guard to check out the forest and the guard had not been able to find anyone on the outer edges. He had not gone in deep but had been thorough in his search.

  Kyrie wondered if only she was the one who could have identified the location that she had to go. However, she had not voiced this opinion out to the Ori brothers.

  By the end of the week the 128 participants from both the factions had been finalized. The 256 participants along with the representatives from the royal family were now sitting in the stadium present inside the Karzasham mountain.

  Loring was back as their presenter and he was currently standing in the middle of the ring. Even from the distance Kyrie could see his grin and his gleaming teeth.

  “Welcome back participants and members of the royal family”, Loring bowed to the royal pavilion as he addressed them.

  Kyrie looked up from Loring to see the participants supporting Gorrin sitting on the opposite side. She frowned as she viewed them. Even though many adventurers had decided to support Gorin, only 52 out of the 128 were adventurers on Gorin’s side. Rest 76 participants were formed of non-adventurers and mostly dwarves. Gorin must have quite the proficient non-adventurers on his side.

  Compared to that, there were only 16 non-adventurers on Furorin’s side with the rest 112 participants formed of adventurers. That was quite the stark contrast. Kyrie did not mind it. She was glad she was in the top 128 and her target was now to get into the quarterfinals.

  Loring said, “Now that we have all the participants finalized, let the true entertainment begin. Things will now start to get interesting. Each of you 256 participants will now be divided into sixteen groups of sixteen. The groups will be selected randomly and will be a mix of participants supporting Princess Furorin”, cheer from Furorin’s side, “and participants supporting Prince Gorin”, louder cheers from Gorin’s side, “and they will fight.”

  “Now I remember I said in the beginning that all fights are going to be one on one. However, there is a slight change in the format. The fights will still be one on one but they will have variety. Now what do I mean by variety?”

  Loring paused, letting the anticipation build, “Now, that is a surprise. However, I can guarantee the participants that each fight would be unique in its own way. And from a particular group of sixteen, there will be only one winner who will go into the quarterfinal.”

  “We shall announce the groups by this evening and the fights shall take place after two days. You have some time to prepare participants. So, go, prepare and may luck be with you.”

  There was no cheer after that. The royal representatives started to leave and so did Loring. The participants looked at each other for some time but the non adventurer participants started to leave as soon as the royal representatives had left. So, the other participants also left. Kyrie however, remained seated in her seat.

  That was such a short announcement. Why had they gathered participants into such a large stadium to make such a small announcement? There had got to be something else, hadn’t it?

  Kyrie waited for quite some time but nothing happened. It was Orin who found her sitting alone in the stadium.

  “What the gork are you doing here, Kyrie?” asked Orin

  Kyrie gestured towards the arena, “This was it? This was the announcement? I mean they could have sent us a simple letter telling us what Loring told us. Why gather all the participants?”

  Orin sighed, “Did you look at the participants? Did you examine them?”

  “OH!” Something dawned upon Kyrie. This gathering was not about the announcement. This gathering had been to take the measure of their opponents and Kyrie had not realized it.

  “I am not going to research my opponents much like Marcus does”, said Kyrie, “I am not bothered by this. This was a waste of time for me.”

  “I know lass. Now come on. No need to waste your time sitting here.”

  Kyrie followed Orin out of the stadium and went back to her inn. Soon, it would be time for her to fight and fight, she will.

  ***

  Kyrie looked at her opponent and examined him.

  Thaddeus Rosanburg

  Human, Level 150

  Interesting. Thaddeus was wearing a heavy plate mail and had a mace and a kite shield in his hand. He had taken a defensive pose as soon as he had entered the arena and had been keeping a wary eye on Kyrie.

  Kyrie had gotten to know about his opponent in advance but she had looked into him this morning only. Thaddeus was in Gorin’s faction and he was a good melee fighter with high health. Kyrie could not see many weaknesses in the plate mail that he was wearing and Kyrie was sure that she would have to create some opportunities.

  The spells Kyrie had equipped for this fight were [Field of Ice], [Enchant Weapon: Ice] [Summon Water] and [Curve Shot]. She was hopeful that ice would help against this opponent well.

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  The announcer was explaining the rules of the match to everyone and Kyrie was paying half of her attention to him. Her other half was focused on her match. She knew what was going to happen.

  The fighting arena had been enchanted for the upcoming fights. Both the fighters would be shrunk and the arena would be filled with obstacles. The nature of the obstacles would vary and so would the format of the match.

  From what the announcer was saying, Kyrie gathered that her fight with Thaddeus was going to be an elimination match. They would both be shrunk and a whole city would be set as an obstacle. They would have to navigate through the city and try to eliminate their opponent before being overwhelmed by the city’s residents. They were not supposed to kill the city's residents. Doing so would result in elimination.

  This was an interesting challenge. Kyrie was sure that her stealth would be effective here. She wondered how Thaddeus would take this challenge. It was good that their spells and abilities would not be nullified.

  The announcer finished explaining the rules and mentioned the fight was now starting. Instantly Kyrie shrunk and buildings rose all around her. She felt a whoosh of air and the next moment she was standing in a dark alley. The air was stale and suffocating and Kyrie was feeling disoriented and claustrophobic.

  She took a deep breath which devolved into hacking coughs. She took support of the wall next to her and took some time getting used to the air. After she was feeling well she took in her surroundings.

  The buildings on either side of the alleyway seemed to be tall, taller than what Kyrie was used to. They seemed to be made up of material which Kyrie could not identify. It was definitely not the sort of building you would find on Una. There were metal staircases which led to the top of each building. The alleyway was littered with waste which explained the smell.

  Kyrie started climbing the metal staircase of one of the buildings to get to higher ground. The building she was climbing was shorter than the other one but was still ten storeys high. It took her some time but soon she was on top of the building. The roof was empty and it provided a good view of the city she was in.

  The city was made up of large buildings. Kyrie could see humanoid figures walking besides its streets which were filled with what looked like closed mechanical quadrupeds. Smog filled the air and dark clouds covered the sky blotting the sun. Kyrie was sure there was no sun and the dark clouds were to obscure the arena audience so that the fighters would not get too disoriented during their match.

  Kyrie wondered how she was going to find Thaddeus in such a huge city. She was sure he would stand out just like her but she had an inkling that the residents of this city were not just going to help her.

  She needed a plan and she needed it fast. She stood there on the rooftop thinking about her next steps for some time. Then she decided to take a risk and ask someone for help. But first, she needed to cover herself. She would stand out in her armor.

  She started climbing down the stairs. One of the windows of a house in the building was open. Kyrie entered inside to find furniture quite out of the world. She made her way towards a wardrobe and opened it. She found some clothing which she did not recognize but it covered her body. Luckily she also found a cloak with a hood which would help her hide her face.

  Kyrie put on the clothes over her armor and then put on her cloak. Her shoes did stand out but she hoped not much. Majority of her was covered and she also found gloves for her hand. She went out back to the metal staircase and back into the alley. She exited the alley and almost bumped into the walking pedestrian.

  Kyrie looked at the humanoids walking past them and recognized their species. They were humans. Interesting. She had not been to the human kingdom yet but she was pretty sure that this was definitely not a city in the human kingdom. Still it was populated by humans. No one was paying attention to her as they walked past her. She started walking in a random direction, keeping off the streets where the covered MQs were moving.

  She ignored the humans walking around her and for the mast part they ignored her. Some threw curious glances at her but those were only for a moment before they continued on their way. Kyrie broke out from her aimless wandering reverie from the sound of sirens.

  Kyrie looked at MQs with flashing lights on top of them racing through the streets with other MQs giving way. A flying MQ raced over her head between the buildings and made Kyrie curious. At a run she started following the flashing MQs. She could not summon Nalana. Kyrie was sure the wyrm would draw attention. So she followed the sounds.

  Kyrie came to an open area which seemed to be filled with trees on its edges and Kyrie could see a clobbered path with grass beyond those trees. It had to be a park. In front of the entrance of the park stood Thaddeus.

  Thaddeus was in his full plate but had his helmet down. His weapon was sheathed but he had his shield up. Several MQs surrounded him and out of them had come humans with similar clothing. Uniforms of some sort. Thaddeus was trying to tell them he meant no harm but considering what the humans were shouting she could tell he was not being successful. Kyrie realized that she could not understand what the humans were saying and she was pretty sure they could not understand what Thaddeus was saying.

  This was an opportunity. Kyrie looked around and saw another alley nearby. She climbed up on top of a shorter building, only five storeys this time and glanced down from the rooftop. She had a clear view of Thaddeus. She had only one shot of this.

  Kyrie brought out her bow and took aim. She fired. However, Thaddeus somehow seemed aware of her. He brought the shield just up in time to block her attack which was aimed at Thaddeus.

  Pandemonium erupted. The uniformed humans had something in their hand which they fired at Thaddeus. Pings were heard when projectiles collided with Thaddeus’ armor and bounced off. Some of the humans also pointed at Kyrie who was now exposed. She quickly put her bow away and her hood up and started to run.

  She jumped from the roof of one building to the metallic staircase of another taller building and climbed it. She jumped to another roof and got down the metallic staircase of that building. She quickly ran through the streets before she was confident no one was chasing her.

  The flashing MQs passed her but they did not notice her making her confident that she had evaded them. However, she wondered what had happened to Thaddeus.

  However, the next moment she heard a crash and saw Thaddeus barrelling through a building and running towards her. Kyrie pursed her lips and brought out her bow. Humans were panicking around her and running away from her and Thaddeus.

  Thaddeus covered the ground between them with astonishing speed and attacked. Kyrie dodged at the last moment and shot an arrow between the links of his plate armor. It went through. Thaddeus stumbled and crashed into a wall.

  Kyrie cast [Field of Ice] and the area twenty feet around her froze. She could hear the sirens getting closer telling her that she did not have sufficient time. She had to do this fast. She shot an arrow casting [Curve Shot] which hit a clasp of Thaddeus’ armor loosening it.

  The uniformed humans arrived. They said something which Kyrie did not understand. Both the adventurers ignored them. Kyrie shot another arrow at Thaddeus and he blocked it. He was making his way slowly towards Kyrie because of the ice. The humans started firing their projectiles again and Kyrie dodged behind a bench.

  Thaddeus faced the full onslaught, but his armor protected him. However, one of the projectiles hit another clasp and his armor came clattering down. Thaddeus gritted his teeth and raised his shield to protect himself from the projectiles of the humans.

  Kyrie shot another arrow casting [Curved Shot] and it hit Thaddeus in his back. Cursing Thaddeus stumbled and his shield shifted. A projectile hit straight in his neck. Blood spurted out and Thaddeus fell.

  The city disappeared. Thaddeus disappeared and Kyrie was back to her original size, the cheer of a roaring crowd in her ears. It was over. She had won. The announcer announced her name as the winner and the crowd roared even louder. Kyrie smiled.

  ***

  The next two matches for Kyrie were of similar nature. Kyrie faced Lemina Lightweaver, an elf adventurer from Furorin’s faction and Chadresh Dohud, a dwarven adventurer from Gorin’s faction.

  Against Lemina, Kyrie had a capture the flag match where there was a flag in the centre of the arena and they were shrunk in a rocky and dry environment. Kyrie did not take long and reached the flag. She did not even have to fight Lemina and she won easily by capturing the flag.

  Against Chadresh they were given an environment filled with water and small islands and they had to destroy each other’s boats. Kyrie had laughed at the match. She was a water nymph. The fight had been very easy. She had given her second in command at the vessel to do whatever he wanted and dived into the water. Then she rode the waves to Chadresh’s ship and destroyed it easily. Chadresh was simply unlucky in his matchup against Kyrie.

  Kyrie was gaining popularity with each match she won. She thought the cheers after winning against Thaddeus were loud but the cheers were simply getting louder with each match she won. She was gaining supporters. She could hear people shouting her last name before and after the match. They never called her Kyrie. Chants of Shiningstar filled the stadium. Kyrie felt a sense of contentment with each match.

  Kyrie’s next match was the final match for this round. If she won the match she would be in the quarterfinals. She was excited about this match. She was close to her current goal.

  Kyrie went to meet the Ori brothers in their quarters to find them in a somber mood.

  “Alright”, said Kyrie, “Who died?”

  “No one died”, mumbled Orin, “Not yet.”

  “Woah!”

  “Ignore him Kyrie”, said Orim, “He is feeling down because he is not Furorin’s favourite anymore.”

  “Shut the gork up Orim”, said Orin and the others laughed.

  “What happened?” Kyrie asked Orin.

  The laughter stopped immediately and all the brothers bore serious looks. Everyone was looking at Orin who took a swig from his mug. He put the mug down, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and gave a long sigh.

  “I forgot why we became adventurers, Kyrie”, said Orin sadly, “It was to get away from all this horseshit dwarven politics. And here we sit, embroiled in it balls deep in this gorking shit.”

  Kyrie did not say anything for some time. The brothers drank their ale while Kyrie simply sat there, waiting for an explanation she was sure was coming.

  “Furorin asked me to tell you to throw the next match”, said Orin, “Gorking horseshit.”

  Kyrie shrugged her shoulders and said, “Oh! Is that it? Why did you get so worked up over such a minor matter?”

  “What?” Orin looked confused.

  “Furorin wants me to throw the next match because?”

  “Your next fight is with Dollace Brewborne. Furorin believes he has a very high chance of winning the tournament, ensuring the throne for her”, said Orik.

  “I understand now”, said Kyrie, “So then Orin. Tell me the message from Furorin.”

  “That you need to throw your next match against Dollace. That’s the message. That’s gorking it.”

  “Okay. Message received.”

  They sat in silence for some time.

  “That’s it?” said Oril, “Are you giving up, Kyrie?”

  “When did I say that?”

  “But… you… Furorin…”, stammered Orin.

  “Furorin asked to deliver a message to me Orin. You did it. I received the message. Is she expecting a reply?”

  “No?”

  “Excellent then.”

  “What are you going to do then?” asked Oril.

  “My dear Ori brothers, you have forgotten something.”

  “What?”

  “We are adventurers. And this tournament, in the end, for me, is another adventurer versus adventurer tournament. Given it is on a larger scale and has high stakes, it has nothing to do with me. I am here to give it my all and win this. And that is precisely what I am going to do.”

  The Ori brothers stared at Kyrie for some time. Then they all started to laugh.

  “Of course! We are adventurers”, said Orin.

  “We are going to gorking win this tournament”, said Orik.

  “Yes, gork Furorin”, said Orim, “We may come here for her but we are now going to stay for the tournament.”

  “Thank you, Kyrie”, said Oril, “We needed this reminder.”

  “You are right, Kyrie”, said Orin, “We are going to focus on the tournament. We had been focusing too much to get Furorin on the throne that we forgot what was important. What we had set out to do.”

  “We?” asked Orim.

  Orin threw a cushion at him, “Ha ha. Alright. Me.”

  They celebrated the rest of the night. Kyrie had one match to win to get to the quarterfinals but all the Ori brothers had already won their match and qualified for the quarterfinals.

  They celebrated that night but the message from Furorin left a sour taste in Kyrie’s mouth. She had simply come here for the tournament and not worry about the political aspects of it. However, recent events had convinced her that she was not going to remain immune to it till the end of the tournament.

  It was time to take some action. It was time to show the world who she was. As she went back to the room at her inn that night, the cheers of the crowd echoed in her mind. She was going to show everyone who she was.

  SHININGSTAR!