After being forcibly rehomed by the mysterious member, Sone and Mai quickly came to enjoy their new lodgings. Unlike their previous place they had no house mates. They had the whole spot to themselves and it was really nice. The nicest place they’d ever stayed.

The next morning they awoke and found all their belongings had been dropped off in the foyer, Sone thought that’s what it was called, of the house. They had both assumed that Main was a lowly maintenance member when they had first come across him. Now, they weren’t sure who he was.

For the next week their routine fell back into training with the hardcore Manawa and exploring the various amenities provided by the Conglomerate when they had enough energy to do so. Near the end of the week she informed the siblings that their training sessions were coming to an end as the tournament was starting soon. The announcement was bittersweet for the siblings, despite her ruthlessness they had come to appreciate her.

The tournament was finally nearing and all the candidates were buzzing with anticipation. The past month had flown by for the siblings as they had spent most of their time embroiled in hellish training.

In an effort to keep things simple and fair, the tournament brackets were split up into groups based on the ships that the candidates had arrived on. 5 ships had arrived carrying 100 candidates each. The first part of the tournament would be fought in a round robin style with candidates fighting for points.

Each team would participate in 5 seeding fights to draw up an initial placement list, which would take into account performance in those initial fights. They would then be guaranteed 5 fights after placing with tiebreaker rounds being announced as necessary. Each team starts with 10 points and can steal the points of their opponents when they win. Teams will lose and gain points starting from the seeding rounds.

Sone and Mai found themselves poring over the brackets that the Conglomerate had released. “I dunno why we’re looking at this. We don’t even know any of these people.” Sone said as he leaned back in the recliner he had come to favor in their new lodgings. “Plus, they got some weird ass names.”

“I know some of them.” Mai answered matter-of-factly. “Unlike you I was actually paying attention to some of the others.”

“Oh yeah? Then what do you know about our first match up?” Sone asked as he threw a crumpled up piece of paper at his sister.

“Nothing. Never heard of ‘em.” Mai answered as she swatted the ball, smiling. They had both been so busy trying to survive Manawa’s training that they both didn’t know anything about any of the other candidates.

Sone groaned and threw another piece of paper at her. “I guess we’re winging it!” he exclaimed as he jumped out of the comfortable recliner. “I can’t wait for this thing to start!”

_______________________________________

In another lodging a much more dour group sat in semi-darkness, occasional flares of brilliant lights leaking out.

All of them could see perfectly in the dark so external light sources were unnecessary. The intruders had now fully assimilated into the forms of Mr. Bel’s former lackeys. The only thing that was outwardly different about their looks was the disturbing way their eyes lit up and how their most prominent features had manifested physically. They all appeared as if there was a light source shining from deep within each of their eyes. Each of the intruders, including Mr. Bel, had a specific colored sheen to their eyes that reflected all light sources.

“It is almost time, semya.” Mr. Bel spoke through his steepled hands. With his elbows propped up on his spindly legs he appeared as if he were wearing an oddly shaped mask tinged with a dark purple.

“I look forward to eating that one.” said the leader of the intruders. While he had taken on the appearance of the human lackey he had eaten the lips were now comically plump and pink, reflecting his true appearance.

A shudder spread like a wave through the intruders as they thought of their encounter with the leader of the Tu’i. Enough time had passed for all of them to now feel anger at being treated so indifferently by a lesser. The intruder with the bloodshot red eyes grimaced at the thought of losing his prey. “I want the small one.”

The intruders sat in their dark room, stewing and waiting for the dawn of the first day of the tournament. In their minds the words of the Tu’i churned, fueling their anger.

_______________________________________

In the Domain, Nima had called all the currently awake Tu’i in for a conference.

Instead of the Domain’s usual dark, amorphous appearance it was now a comfortable meeting room. A large, rectangular meeting table sat in the middle of the room with 11 chairs arrayed around it. At the head of the table Nima sat, quietly studying each of the Tu’i. He was really good at staring intensely and making everyone uncomfortable.

The other 6 Tu’i in attendance all sat, trying to hold Nima’s gaze as respectfully as possible without giving in to the urge to look away.

“I’m sure you’re all aware of the intruders.” Nima said as he leaned forward, placing both elbows on the table and resting his chin in the palm of his left hand. “I won’t rehash any details but I did have an impromptu meeting with them and laid some ground rules.”

All of the Tu’i were aware of the intruders. They had expected as much since this tournament was an Advent Tournament. These weren’t the first intruders to cross the void-ocean on their own. But they were the first to openly act against the Tu’i before the events even began.

“I informed them that we are allowing them to participate.” Nima said as he looked at Fiti. “I had Fiti provide them with the proper access. The only thing they weren’t allowed to do is disturb any of the candidates or members outside of the arena. They can only hunt during the tournament.”

Taking this as her cue, Fiti took over. “The tournament starts tomorrow. It being an Advent Tournament we’ve changed up the format.” As she spoke she handed out detailed plans of what the tournament would look like as they advanced. “Due to the number of candidates, the first stage will be treated as a trimming stage.”

Taha piped up, growing impatient. “Yeah, we get that. Get to the good part.”

Fiti shot him a disgusted look before continuing. “The second stage will be special. There being 5 groups, the winners of each group after the second stage will get to face a Tu’i.”

All of the Tu’i smiled at this. Due to how the Conglomerate ran their tournaments, each Tu’i could only expect to accept a challenge once or twice a year. That left all of them a lot of down time between potential acceptances. Now they would each get a chance to accept a challenge and potentially a second based on the results.

“Due to limitations, Nima will be exempt from accepting in the 2nd stage while I am exempt from this tournament due to my duties.” Fiti continued, taking in the greedy looks of the rest of the Tu’i. Even Wanu, who spent more time behind the scenes than Fiti, appeared to relish the thought of getting to accept. “That being said, we are assuming that the intruders will be amongst the finalists. The Tu’i who accepts that group will be announced after we get a full measure of their capabilities.”

This announcement put a slight damper on the group's mood. They were all aware that this group of intruders was much larger than the usual group that made it in. While none would admit to fearing for their own well-being, none relished the thought of having to deal with them.

Especially not Taha. While he had fought one outside of the arena, he knew he wouldn’t be able to take on the whole group on his own even inside the arena. Fear began to take root deep within him. He felt that they’d throw him at the intruders as an appetizer before Nima mopped them up. But he still wanted the chance to get his revenge. That hunger raged within him right alongside the fear.

“Because the group of intruders is slightly larger than usual, Nima has agreed to move that specific match to the Tu’i grounds.” All the Tu’i nodded in agreement, feeling that the grounds would serve as the best place for a match with the intruders. Due to the grounds being much more closely linked to the Domain, all the Tu’i were allowed to fully enjoy themselves. Certain limitations were in play within the arena forcing them to self-regulate.

“We’ll see if they make it.” Nima said quietly, almost mumbling to himself. This piqued the interest of all the Tu’i and they waited for him to explain. As usual, he didn’t.