ENTRY 4: RETURN TO THE TOURNAMENT

Soon enough, they went through the two rounds, after what seemed like a couple of hours. I headed back to the stadium with grandpa.
‘So, are you making a decision on whose group to join? Or are you serious about flying solo like you always do?’ he asked.
‘Well, I am serious, however…’
‘But…?’
‘I just need to feel out the game a little bit more, just to get a hold on it. I think I still can go solo, but there is still the possibility of better gamers coming into the world of Pandora as of tomorrow, giving me a slight advantage if I do succeed in the tournament, but even losing would give me the tools to better understand the game. I just gotta find out what will be best for my character, that is all.’
‘I agree, which is why, as your grandfather, I wish you to join a group. But choose wisely, is all I will say.’
After he said that, he continued to walk ahead, closing in on the stadium that lied in front of us. I quickly followed him, not wishing to lose him in the midst of all the excitement that seemed to be bursting from each of the players as they got ready for the official launch of the game.
I hurried out into the stands to see how far I had, finding out I had two fights before my own, so I headed down to the waiting rooms that were held below, prepping myself for what was to come.
Soon enough did I hear my name be announced did I head on out to hear plenty of cheering and booing, all intermixed. The excitement flowing through my bones was electrifying.
The individual that stood before me was another figure of staggering height, but not so much like the gentle giant from the bar. No, this was a tree folk type, or rather, a tree in the likeness of a man, or rather vice verse. However the case may be stated, the issue before me was of staggering altitude, or not.
I looked at him like an actual tree. Each tree has a base root, cut the root, cut the tree, do that and timber, or get the hell out of the way.
So as the announcer was making his comments and finally letting us go at each other, was all that going through my head. It really was quiet the thrill.
The brute came right at me, wasting no time in me waiting, and so I wiped into action at the very last second I could afford to allow before side stepping the thing, as he throw his branch back, trying to catch me in the process, which is when I went airborne, allowing him to launch me into the air, but only for a moment before I fly right back at him, and yes, I could fly.
It was one of the updates that I had done, and it was through the rockets that weren’t showing before but now were deployed along with the rockets within the soles of my feet. The machine could be adapted to do many things, is what the conclusion of this tiny experiment within the battle taught me, but enough on that, and back to the fight. He turned around, getting ready, but not so ready to have me sailing through right at him in that moment, so when he did see me, his eyes of course grew big and he couldn’t move quick enough to match my movements, as I went right though him, cutting a branch off with my blade arms and catching some of the leaves on his head on fire as I finally passed him.
He proceded to jump up and down, trying to end the flaming torment that had been unleashed all over his body when I looked back at him. I whipped right back at him a couple more times before I let him burn, ending the fight and heading over to grandfather, making it into the final roster of competitors in the competition.
“So, then what? This seems to be a rather long story…”
It is, which is why I thought that if you would so kindly clear the rest of your schedule, then I could carry through the story without much delay in time or anything else, since there is a lot of topic and content to cover and have you informed of if you are supposed to be treating me so that I can make a swift and full recovery from, well you know, but I am not there yet.
We are were?
“The tree man fight is over and…”
Right! Ok, right, then yes. I had just finished that fight when I went back up to grandpa. He wasn’t smiling too much anymore however.
‘He was a good competitor, that one.’
‘One of yours?’
‘Yes, yes he was. Fifth in command and surely to move up too during the course of the day if he didn’t have to fight you. Well, that is life I suppose, always denying us what we truly deserve or want out of it.’
‘Sounds like women to me.’ I jested back to him, bringing the light back into his eyes and a smile on his face.
With that, the screens that littered the arena and outside the wall of the colesium also showed the structure of the rest of the fights, and of all the different seatings. I was seated 2nd in the bracket to the lower left side, where I had topped the snake lady leader who was third in that bracket. I looked over to see the snarl scawled over her face. The fairy man was seated first in our bracket, and all the other leaders were placed first or second in their own brackets, grandfather being first in the top right bracket.
And so, the tournament truly began in that moment in time, setting in course the actions that would help influence the game and how it would be played by the gamers who would enter this world of Pandora on Christmas day.