Chapter 92 Before the Tournamen (1/2)

It was earlywhen Arran set off with Darkfire and Liane for the tournament Their departure caused some consternation for the steward, who tried to foist a handful of guards on Liane, but the man relented when she pointed out that both Darkfire and Arran could each easily take on a dozen of his strongest guards

Arran looked around as they walked along the streets of Hillfort, and he saw that there were even ht was barely possible

The city held a festive ath the crowd, all dressed in bright colors, s

He could also see groups of young boys and girls, excitedly hitting each other ooden swords in mock combat, with the occasional cry of pain when one of them attacked a bit too enthusiastically

”The tournaments are extremely popular with the people in Hillfort,” Liane explained ”Everyeven froion”

”Can the arena even hold thatat the size of the crowd Reine even a fraction of the people on the streets fitting inside

”You don't know?” she asked hi surprised ”The tournahts are held between all fighters who qualified there, until there are four left The final four from each arena then face each other outside the city, with tens of thousands of spectators watching the fights Many people skip the arenas, instead traveling outside the city to eat and drink in the hills until the fighters arrive”

”Tens of thousands?” At this, Arran frowned He would prefer not to attract anywhere near as ht occurred to hihters at the northern arena?”

”None that I know of,” Liane replied ”You should have little trouble h But of course, there are soth until they need it”

Arran sighed, disappointed If he h opponent at the northern arena, he could throw thetoo much suspicion, and never even have to appear in the final rounds But for that to happen, he would need to face someone who at least looked like a worthy opponent

When they arrived at the northern arena, it was already filled with a crowd so thick the people inside could barely move It seemed that even if most people skipped the arenas, the people who did come were still more than the arena could hold

”I'll take the lead,” Darkfire said, then started to push his way through the croith Liane and Arran following behind him

As a Body Refiner, Darkfire had little difficulty pushi+ng his way through the crowd, even if his efforts did draw some cries of protest

Finally, theycha outside,” Arran said ”I'll see the two of you after the fights”

”Good luck,” Darkfire said before Arran left Then, in a low voice, he added, ”And don't lose too easily Show them at least some of what you can do”

At the entrance to the waiting cha to hold back the crowd frohters' quarters

”It's Ghostblade!” one of theh!”

The guards broke ranks just long enough to let Arran slip through, then foret past theet inside, there were so ot filled

Finally rid of the constant push of the thick crowd, Arran breathed a sigh of relief He had never expected there would be so many people for the tournament — it was as if the entire city had squeezed itself into the arena

And yet, he knew that there were three other arenas in the city, each of theht filled hie the crowd at the final fights would be