“Welcome ladies and Gentlemen to the Knighthood Games of Calydon!” said the Headmaster of the Colosseum. “We sure have an AMAZING amount of participants! Jeez, Look at this crowd!”

The Calydon Grand Colosseum was filled with so many people...There were no empty seats to be found. As for the participants, They all sat at the top row, occupying 3 rows. More than 50,000 people had participated in the capital, but since the area already had so many viewers to watch the participants, half of the participants had to go to the other coliseum by the other side of the capital.

Reminder, The event wasn’t taking place just at the capital. It was taking place in all of the major cities of the country! By the time the event started, The country had recorded that in Asheria 13th 2200, A total of 1,000,000+ people had signed up for the big event in their local coliseum after hearing that Prince Aeneas will see them personally after everyone meets up at the capital. It was one of the country’s largest events in history.

“Now...In the tower, lies our Current Head of the Country, Prince Aeneas!” shouted the Headmaster.

Aeneas then smiled and waved at the crowd.

“Woah….So That’s the Prince! He looks….very relaxed. Sorta not what I was expecting. Not to mention...He looks like he just woke up.” The Silver man said as he witnessed the Prince poking his nose without a care in the world.

“Quite the interesting figure, don’t you think?” said a man next to him.

“Woah!”

“Oh! Sorry, I did not mean to scare you. My apologies for my rudeness.”

“Who are you? Are you perhaps one of the participants?” Sully then asked.

“Hehehe, Glad you asked…..” The man stood up and pulled out a dramatic pose for the world to see. He was much taller than the young man thought.

“I am Alonso del Medichi, Son of Count Medichi! I came here seeking a challenge! I have no intention of losing in this tournament! Noble as I may be, I care not about status, but about protecting the citizens and this beauty called Calydon. And Who may you be?”

Sully was Flabbergasted at the man's energy. When he thought about nobles, he always thought them to be more refined and smart, but Alonso seemed very different to them, in a good way. “I sympathize. I am Sully Aurik, I merely am a citizen of Calydon. I have but only one dream: To become a knight that will protect the weak and innocent. And the good sir next to me, is my Great Brother, Oliver. I have no intention of losing either, Alonso.”

Oliver smiled and thought to himself. "The Medichi Family...One of Calydon's Prominent Families of this Century. They are very close with House Arcadia. It was all thanks to the late Queen..."

“Well Said, Mr. Sully! In that case…..Starting today, I hereby declare you MY RIVAL! Do you think you can do a better job than I?”

The silver haired man grinned. “Let's test our might on the tournament then...Alonso.”

Another man with bushy hair then popped up behind Alonso. “That’s BARON Alonso to you, sir. And Big Brother, Please cut it out….You’re making us look bad.”

Alonso frowned. “Hey! Don’t be rude, I was just having fun."

The refined man then responded, "We represent a very important family, and we must act properly about it."

He then sighed. “Bruno….You know I really couldn’t give a damn about titles and all that. If anything, I never wanted to be a noble. Just doesn’t feel fair. So don’t disrespect Commoners when they have it the hardest lives out in this society. Apologize.”

The Man then gave up reasoning with his elder brother. He did not want to cause a scene so he apologized. “….Alright. I’m Sorry Big Brother.”

The Young Noble approached Sully and replied, “I apologize for my rude behavior, Sir.”

The Silver man felt uncomfortable and said “Oh please, It’s alright. I’m sorry if I was bothering you in any way… Are you and...umm, Baron Alonso related?”

Alonso then playfully grabbed Bruno next to him and hugged him tightly, to Bruno's embarrassment.

“Just Alonso is alright for me. Titles aren’t my thing….And Yes! Although it may be hard to believe, This man here is my Lil’ Bro! He is…”

Bruno cut him off. “I’m Baron Bruno del Medichi, Youngest Son of Count Medichi. That's all you need to know of me.”

Oliver and Sully laughed nervously. But something about Bruno's attitude bothered the Golden haired boy, and so he couldn't help but feel a bit of discomfort around him.

Alonso laughed loudly. “Now Now, Brother!” He then faced the Silver and Golden men. “I’m sorry about that. Though He is different from me and we have different mindsets, he's a good guy. He's....just not so sociable. He didn’t mean any offense back there. He isn’t too expressive either so It’s very hard to tell what he's thinking. But I assure you, He is in fact, very excited to participate in this tournament. I wasn’t able to teach him well as a brother so…”

He then went on his knees.

“I’m very, very sorry for his rude behavior back there.”

Oliver was shocked to see a noble commit such action and thought to himself. “This is the VERY first time I’ve seen a nobleman get on his knees….Am I really seeing this? Still….I gotta give him some respect. He’s willing to take responsibility...You don’t see that so often.”

Oliver smiled. “Please get up Mr. Alonso, You don’t have to get on your knees. But I respect that you’re willing to take responsibility….Thank you.”

He chuckled. “Heh! It's only natural to admit responsibility for one's mistakes. Otherwise, I'm just a fool.”

He got up and sat down.

Oliver then spoke to Bruno, giving him a glare. “I won’t go easy on you on this tournament.”

Bruno grunted at him. “Hmph.”

Oliver and Bruno gave each other intense stares.

Dylan and Alonso laugh nervously, looking at the 2 men with an intense aura around them. The People around them felt this.

“Looks like my Lil’ Bro and your brother are getting along, it seems!”

Sully felt sweat run down his cheek. "You think so?"

But then, A mysterious man behind them laughed.

The four looked at him. Bruno looked at him and replied, “What’s so funny?”

The mysterious man said: “Ah, need not for your frowns, I’m not mocking you all. I'm just reminded of my younger days seeing you all...” The man turned over to look at them. The man had odd clothing, foreign to Calydon. He had scruffy hair and wore a black eye patch. Looking closer at him, They also realized...he was blind.

Bruno then replied, “By the gods, He’s blind! And to top it off, he lost an eye!”

Alonso shushed him. “Hey, Watch it!”

The Blind Man laughed. “Hahaha, That’s quite alright. I was born blind. But That didn’t stop me from becoming a knight. It’s thanks to my training that I made it this far in life. But in the process, I lost my left eye during a battle. Not it really affects me, but I just have this really terrible scar...”

The 4 men were in awe. They never expected that such a person would be among the participants in the tournament.

“But Yet I participated here. I’m here to show the world that anyone can become a knight….even someone like me.”

Sully grinned brightly. “An true Knight you are, Sir.”

“Heh... The name’s Cormac. Cormac Udo. I’m not much of a talker but...Thanks for the chat, Gentlemen.”

The Headmaster then spoke. “Now then! The time has come! Everyone, Please come down and gather around your Specific Group! If you're in Mana, Join up with the Element of your specialty!”

Cormac stood up and held his Spear. “Gentlemen, I wish the best of luck to all of you.”

He then left, blending in with the crowd, before he vanished in plain sight.

Alonso then shook Sully’s hand. “Well by the looks of it, You guys are a tag team huh? Just Like Us. To be honest, I don’t really care if we win or not. Technically We could join anyway thanks to our status...but that’s not fair. I want a fair battle. And one thing is for sure: I'm excited! Let’s all do our best!” 

Bruno chuckled, and Sully and Oliver grinned and they all shook each other's hands.

“May the best team win!”

Everyone gathered around their groups. Sully Alonso, and Cormac joined the Prana Group. Oliver and Bruno joined the MANA Group.

Aeneas then spoke up out loud to everyone. “Uhhh, So Just a heads up, Assuming that everyone is ready, Here’s what’s gonna happen. The PRANA group will stay here, while the MANA group will head over to a special camp that we built yesterday outside of the capital. It’s not far, But there, You guys are pretty much free to let loose your insane magic powers, soo….Good Luck!

The Headmaster chimed in: “I was gonna say that, Milord!!!”

“Sorry ‘bout that!”

“Well, You heard the Young Master! Good Luck to you all!!

Everyone went their own path. More than half went to the Prana side, and less than half went to the Mana side.

After an hour of waiting for confirmation of the Mana Group arriving at their site, The Tournament was officially about to start.

“We just got our confirmation that the MANA participants have arrived at their site and are ready to start! Now then, By shooting this flare, The Knighthood Games shall officially Start! Ready……

The Headmaster then blew the flare.

“GOOOO!”

That Morning, On Asheria 13th, The Knighthood Tournament had begun.