A Knight's Slave

Volume 1 Chapter 6

So today, I'm going over the rules of the tournament with my dad that will take place on the morning after tomorrow. I obviously didn't need to because of my amazing photographic memory that I was blessed with. But still, my father insisted with a question and answer game and started firing questions at me.

"First question, only when is there a tournament and why does it exist?"

"The tournament only occurs every twenty years. It exists to find new and fresh young people to replace the generation before them. It helps because young people tend to have a lot of ideas that could benefit the country"

"What are the three requirements a participant should have?"

"One, the participant should be aged eighteen to twenty-five, can either be male or female. Two, the participant should be learning under a coach with at least six years of battle experience in a span of five years or more. Three, the participant should wield their own weapon."

"Next question, What are the rules to be followed upon entering the arena?"

"The first rule, the participants are only permitted to enter the arena if their names are called. They will be assigned in one of the three divisions depending on their abilities-"

"Now what are the divisions that you mentioned?" He asked cutting me off. 'Tch, how rude. I wasn't even finished talking!'

"The first division is wherein the participants will perform a mock battle between knights. The second is a mock battle between mages/magicians. The third, a mock battle between knight mages."

"Can you elaborate some more on the third division?" 'Ahh, this is getting annoying.'

"As I've said, the third division is a battle between knight mages. Knight Mages are a rare group of people only numbering a fourth of the human population, most of them are males as females are believed to be weaker than males. These people have bodies that can withstand using magic and doing martial arts at the same time which is really rare. Usually, mages don't have high stamina because of the mana overflowing in their bodies that is hard to control. If not aided with an enchanted item to stop the mana from overflowing, this will cause their body to weaken and feel horrendous pain. This cannot be healed by magic nor potions. Though there are only a few cases where a high tier magician can control their flow of mana and is able to use martial arts." He nodded looking satisfied with my explanation.

"Then, what is the second rule?" I sighed. 'Finally.'

"The second rule, wear the appropriate attire. Those that are not clothed accordingly, they are immediately disqualified from the tournament. The attire for both men and women in the knight division should be in a complete set of armour. Any kind. The attire for both genders in the mage division must be in a mage outfit. Any kind. And for the knight mages, dress as they deem fit for the battle."

"Third rule and the last rule?"

"The third rule, Do not cheat, dirty tricks are not allowed. Participants must not receive any kind of help from outsiders. You also cannot forfeit if not necessary. The fourth rule, if ever an unfortunate event happened, immediately postpone the mock battle and evacuate if needed. Let the authorities address the problem, participants are not allowed to interfere unless given permission. Those who will not follow the instructions will be disqualified."

"Very good, Talia. Now, let's start or training."

"Hai!"

>>>>>

After having a short review of the tournament, we began venturing in the woods in search for the crystal fox. It it a fox-like beast with a crystal horn growing out of it's head, they say the crystal's worth a fortune. It's rumored that once the crystal fox stabs you with it's horn, the poison injected will make you feel excruciating pain as if your insides are twisting and collapse weakened whilst the fox escapes. There are some rare occasions wherein they continue attacking instead of using the chance to run away.