The four of them use the teleportation chamber to teleport to Thereath. Jack asked them to go ahead first to the palace. There was still some time left, he wanted to pick up two weeks worth of coins from both Ellie’s Restaurant and Amy’s Bakery.
Jack collected 136 gold coins from the two establishments. Feeling royal after receiving the coins, he hailed a carriage to take him to the palace.
When he arrived, he saw the other nine candidates had gathered in front of the palace wall gate. All of them had increased to level 46 already, which made him the lowest level in the group.
“You took a carriage and let your gramps walk on foot?” Domon said when Jack approached.
“Uh… I thought you needed the exercise,” Jack replied.
“How dare you make us wait! Do you think you are the main character?” Princess Purple uttered with displeasure.
“Duh, isn’t it obvious,” Jack replied without any humility.
“Is everyone here? Follow me then,” A kingdom official who was there said. He ushered them through the wall gate.
When they came into the palace courtyard, they saw many people had gathered there. They were the three princes, Royal Advisor Mason, and several other kingdom officials. Jack saw Duchess Isabelle, Commander Quintus, and Gruff amongst them. On the two sides of the courtyard, the imperial army stood in formation.
Mason came forward when the ten outworlders approached. The kingdom official that ushered the players arranged them so that the ten stood in a line facing the royal advisor.
Mason then launched a series of speeches. Jack had expected this kind of ceremony before they left. He thought it was a waste of time but one they had to go through regardless in this official event.
Mason thanked them for representing Themisphere and stressed the importance of this tournament. That the tournament was not simply just about glory and honor. If a country’s participant won, the country would also receive a benefit. He explained that the Council of Virtus who oversaw the tournament was one of the most respected institutions in the world. They were a faction under the divine protection from the God of Courage. Their warriors were the best in the land. Countries with winning participants would receive favors from the council in the form of blessings and training provided to the top officers of their army. The slots will be based on the number of champions from the country.
Mason didn’t forget to mention that the Council of Virtus would also bestow prizes directly upon the participants who won. He informed them that he was not privy to the prizes but the council wouldn’t grant simple rewards. Aside from that, those who were part of Themisphere kingdom among the ten would be granted merit points for every win. Those who were not would be granted the opportunity to join the kingdom faction. If one chose not to join, one would be rewarded with coins instead.
Mason also stressed the importance to watch their attitudes when they arrived at Daminos Square Garden where the tournament took place. This sacred place rested atop the summit of Mount Audacias didn’t usually accept visitors. This tournament was a special event where selected visitors were allowed entry for a limited time. The place was within the territory of Hydrurond Dominion, yet they were not under its control. The Council of Virtus was an independent faction that hold its own rules. If anyone dared to show disrespect in this place, they could be captured or even executed on spot. No country would dare to challenge their authority within that place unless they wanted to face the wrath of God of Courage.
‘Too bad that God is no more,’ Jack thought within.
Mason informed that the second and third princes with their retinues would be following the participants to Daminos Square Garden. The ten participants should stay with the princes’ entourage and not wander around to avoid unnecessary incidents.
Finally, Mason ended the speech by again thanking the ten participants. He asked them to now followed the second and third princes’ entourage, who would now travel to Daminos Square Garden using the palace’s teleportation chamber.
Commander Quintus approached Jack when Jack came to the third prince’s side. His hand was holding a book.
“Is that…?” Jack asked.
“As promised,” the commander said, handing him the book.
Jack accepted it with glee and inspected the book.
*
Technique Book: Hundred Shadow Strikes (Unique Consumable)
Grant the skill: Hundred Shadow Strikes
Restriction: Any Elite class branched from Warrior class
*
‘Unique-grade!’ Jack exclaimed in his mind. He had known the skill Commander Quintus exhibited was not simple, but after seeing the grade now, he could be sure.
The kingdom official that ushered the ten came and asked the outworlder representatives to follow him again. The second and third princes also started moving, they followed after them. Commander Quintus said he was not joining the group to Daminos Square Garden, so Jack thanked the commander for the technique book before following the official.
The second prince was accompanied by the cloaked man that Jack had seen before in the throne room. Prince Alonzo was accompanied by Duchess Isabelle. The first prince didn’t join, but Garland came with the entourage. Gruff also followed after them.
“Why do you think the first prince not joining?” Giant Steve asked in a low voice.
“I can think of two reasons. One, because this is an event mainly for outworlders. Second, he has the fewest participants representing him, he probably just feel ashamed to be behind his two younger brothers,” Jack answered with a not-so-low voice, which prompted Garland to turn and glare at him.
They were taken to an open garden in which at its center was a teleportation device similar to the one in the city’s zone portal. One of the guards there operated the device. It then come to life, a large silvery portal appeared before them.
The second prince with his cloaked confidant entered first, followed by Prince Alonzo and Duchess Isabelle. Garland entered next with Gruff. The kingdom officials then gave the sign for Jack and the others to enter.
“Let’s go then,” Kill Order said as he strutted forward.
“I’m interested to see what this sacred garden looks like,” Yellow Death uttered and followed.
The rests went in one after another.
When they came out, they were greeted with scenic views. Before them was a large expanse of gardens decorated with trimmed plants and trees. They could feel that they were currently in a very high elevation. The temperature was cold and the air thin. They could see the mountain tops some distance away. The white clouds were also especially close.
They saw many natives tending to the garden. They came from every race. Humans, Dwarfs, Elves, Orcs, Ethereals, even Vampires who wore hooded cloaks to protect them from excessive sunlight. Then there was the last race to which Jack finally laid eyes on, the Draconians. They basically looked like lizardmen, except their maws were slightly shorter, making them more human-like. They were still covered with scales though. They also possessed a tail, not as long as the lizardman. While lizardman had a slight hunchbacked posture, these draconians had straight frames. They were also generally larger than the other six main races. These natives simply ignored the newcomers that had appeared here, as if they were of no importance.
Another interesting thing was that around the place were statues of giant heads. Seeing them reminded Jack of the stone head statues on Easter Island in their real world.
Jack turned back and saw a series of buildings with roman architecture. Large columns surrounded the buildings, larger than the columns from their real-world counterpart. At the highest terrain was an extremely large building. An extremely tall statue depicting a tough-looking man in armor stood towering within that large building. The building seemed to be built around that giant statue. Jack figured that large building should be the base of the Council of Virtus.
A draconian in a priest’s garment came to them and greeted, “Welcome. I assumed you must be the representatives from the Themisphere Kingdom?”
“We are,” Prince Rhemos replied. “I am Prince Rhemos of Themisphere Kingdom. We come to join the Outworlder World Tournament. Those ten are the participants.”
Prince Rhemos had intentionally ignored the existence of Prince Alonzo, which drew displeasure from the third prince. But Prince Alonzo didn’t show any expression, he simply saluted the draconian priest and introduced himself, “I am Alonzo, the third prince of Themisphere. We will be troubling you to guide us in this place.”
Prince Rhemos made a silent snort.
Either the draconian priest was oblivious of the two subtle rivalries, or he chose to ignore it. He said, “the tournament will start tomorrow. But we will have an introduction ceremony late this afternoon, followed by a feast to welcome your visit here. You can mingle with the other contestants during this feast. Please follow me. I will take you to your resting quarter. You can stay there until the ceremony started.”
The draconian priest then led them away.
Jack used Inspect on the draconian priest during the walk. The priest was a level 60 special elite. There were also several natives in armor standing guard around the place. Jack scanned them and found them to be level 60 to level 70 rare elite. They were not kidding when they said this place was home to the strongest warriors. Even the guards were almost as strong as Garland here.
The draconian priest stopped after arriving at one of the many buildings around this place.
“You can rest here. You are free to walk around the public gardens, except for the ones behind our Temple of Courage,” the priest said while indicating the largest building with the giant statue. Jack assumed that the statue would be an imitation of the God of Courage. “And do not enter any other buildings without permission. We also expect you to behave yourselves and do not create a disturbance. Any violation will be dealt with strictly.”
The draconian priest left them afterward.
Prince Rhemos went into the building first, probably to take over the best room before Prince Alonzo.
