A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

After the first day, no one knew what to expect of the second. Sure, long time contestants might have some clue of what's to come, but one small change in an expected theory could cause an entirely different outcome of a match.

Mooks met with Flint the very same morning of the second day at the Throne. Their presence was unusual for others walking by, but neither bothered to care. Flint casually led Mooks to his office in the depths of the capitol building.

What most contestants weren't aware of was that some Guilds had a mentor throughout the tournament. The mentor would usually always be a member of the bureau providing crucial information about the day's round that no one else had insight on. This not only led to strategy, but insanely precise decision making among either the Guild captains, or the advisors. Since Calvin wasn't present, Mooks took the role, and Flint became intrigued in Endless Sun after Faibel's preliminary round.

Most Guilds that were longtime contestants had a mentor. The only Guild that didn't have one was Kryptonite, but that was mainly because of Alastor's history among the Bureau.

Flint's office was fancy, but not as fancy one might expect from such a prestigious and well-crafted structure. It was simple, a desk and a chair to occupy it. A large window overlooking the magnificent view of the city. An old clock on the wall, and a few plants in each corner. The tiles on the floor were shiny and smooth, as were the walls in a separate manner.

Flint gestured for Mooks to take a seat, resting his cane against the desk and taking one of his own. "You know, I'm the only one that was interested in your Guild out of the others." Flint started with a raised eyebrow, and a peaceful afternoon grin.

"Let's just get to business, and save the mokeryfor after." Mooks said with a hard look.

Flint chuckled, coughed, and agreed. "Today's match will focus on decision making on who to engage with, and who to stir away from."

Mooks thought for a moment, "Treasure hunt?"

"Not exactly," Flint chuckled, quite surprised Mooks even came close to the answer. "A competitor will need to find stars scattered throughout a town. Only the competitors can see the stars, and who has the most. Of course-" Flint coughed again, "The stars are worth points."

Mooks sighed, "So once again, sending the strongest is most likely the option."

Flint gave a sturdy look, "Or one that can hide, attacking at just the right moment. However, you can expect Golden Eagle to send Draxx again."

"Isn't there a rule against sending the same person twice?"

"Well, no more than twice per stage. There are usually three stages in the tournament. So you can expect to see Draxx a minimum six times. That is, if the fourth stage isn't in play."

Mooks sighed, "You seem confident the Golden Eagle will come out on top."

"Well," Flint laughed, "They do every year. And Draxx isn't their only secret weapon, making them almost unstoppable."

"You say 'almost' like there's a different meaning behind it."

"That boy," Flint flicked his fingers against his head in trying to remember the boy's name, "Atlas was it. He intrigues me." Flint rolled his fingers against his chin as if he was curressing it. "It's quite obvious you enchanted your good'ol team to hide power levels. It's smart, but drags attention."

"I did it to protect them at the Academy."

"Hmm," Flint put his elbow on the desk, placing his chin into his hands. "Atlas might have a chance to defeat Draxx… But that's also saying they'll put him into this round. If they don't, he'll most likely lose."

"I've already decided on Leo." Mooks said with a strong voice.

Flint laughed, but settled down quickly. "Listen closely, I'm only here to help. The only reason I'm helping is from what happened with Osiris."

Mooks suddenly showed a look of caution, but dismissed it instantly. "So you do remember."

"My body obeyed commands, but my mind stayed strong." Flint paused, walking up to the large window behind him. "Why you even decided to enter this tournament is beyond me, but if you truly d.e.s.i.r.e to win, get past the first stage and we'll talk again. Just remember, Draxx isn't the final boss. There are others who are stronger."

"Like?" Mooks asked.

Flint gave a small chuckle, "I'm sure you're well aware of the five?"

"I've heard rumors, nothing more."

"Draxx. Celestia. Ellacina. Moxie. And of course, the Reaper."

"I've never heard of any 'Reaper.'" Mooks raised an eyebrow of fur and concern.

Flint walked back to his desk, raising an eyebrow of his own. "He's only competed once before. Surprisingly, it was the only time the Golden Eagle had lost."

"I thought they were undefeated."

"Well, up till now. The first year the golden Eagle ever entered the tournament they came in second. Back then, there were no rules on how many times you could send the same contestant. So, Fallen Angels kept sending the Reaper in, and he won every single round there was."

"What makes you so sure he'll come back." Mooks asked, actually curious for once.

"I've heard rumors. Nothing more." Flint gave an awkward smile.

Mooks sighed, and left.

…

After a morning full of breakfast and laughs, the afternoon rolled around pretty quickly. Considering there wasn't much to do between breakfast and the tournament, everyone arrived at the Throne a little earlier, and mooks went over the details of today's challenge.

The challenge was just like Flint explained to Mooks. The competitor of each Guild will be granted an enchantment, one which will allow them to see their objective for exactly 30 minutes. Their objective revolves around collecting so-called 'stars' around the arena they are placed in. Each star is worth anywhere between 1 through 10 points, and any person can steal stars from another by whatever means necessary.

Mooks chose Leo with no objections. Although Mooks did want to put Atlas in, Leo was begging to be put in from the start, so Mooks obliged to shut him up.

Around noon, everyone gathered in the stands once more. The competitors from each Guild were already on the field, separated from each other by a fair distance. Unfortunately, Draxx was standing down there along with Leo. Moxie Mora from Haven Eclipse and Caspian Liff from Elementalist were competitors Leo also had to look out for. Leo could also see Gilford from afar, and Alastor's grin shining down on him from the stands.

Mooks and Endless Sun sat in their usual place, however, a sudden guest came and tapped Mooks on the shoulder, "Excuse me, but is this seat taken?" A soft voice pierced through Mooks ears.

Mooks turned his head, squinting his eyes in trying to remember the familiar face he's definitely seen before. "The p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e is all mine, Ms. Liff." Mooks welcomed her.

The ginger haired girl gave a cheerful smile and thanked him, grabbing the open seat next to him. The girl turned around, "Hi all!" Waving to the rest of Mooks's guild.

"Katie?" Atlas asked in a confused tone, "How's it been!?"

"Heya Atlas! Well, since the finals ended, I haven't much to do around my home. So I decided to come cheer for my.." She gave an innocent look. "Well, I originally came to cheer my brother on, but… You guys as well!" She laughed, pointing to the small, skinny and mysterious looking competitor on the field.

It was definitely her brother, but the resemblance between them was uncanny. Her brother wasn't much older than her, and he also shared the same hair, but he hid under layers of black clothing and a droopy hood over his face.

"He can be a bit weird at times…" Katie added, awkwardly.

Paris and Laena said their hello's as well, but before they could engage in a conversation, the seats were filled, and the announcer began.

The announcer first went over the rules of the thirty minute timer, and a few of the faculty ran out onto the field to give the competitors their needed enchantments for the round. Once again, the enchantment wasn't larger than a marble, and a little hard to swallow to say the least.

The announcer also introduced all the competitors, rounded up a few jokes for the crowd, and initiated the formation of the Arena.

Buildings and Houses started to appear out of blinding white lights on the ground beneath the stands, forcing most with s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e eyes to close them until it was over. Streets and towers formed as well, basically mimicking the entire capital in a quarter mile radius for the competitors. Even a small park appeared in the corner, making it the only open space in the entire arena. The details in the roads and streets weren't as lively, but still, it was amazing.

The announcer scrambled through the guidelines for the audience, and started the match. As usual, projectors were displayed to cover all the competitors in live action.

Leo found himself stuck between two buildings in an alley. With his enchantment, he could see tiny sparkles of golden stars in nearly every direction. He knew every star was worth 10 points, but seeing how many there were sent a shot of adrenaline down his spine. He could see dozens, dozens and dozens of golden stars through walls, but he had no clue as to how far they truly were.

He looked to his left, realizing there's a pretty close one near him in the next building over, or so he hoped. Leo quickly ran out of the alley, and just as he was about to turn left, a hooded man popped out from the street.

Leo backed up, locking eyes with the stranger like he was a murderer. However, this was soon to be his first brawl, so he gained a grin of confidence almost instantly, and clenched his fists with excitement. "ALRIGHT! You dare challenge me!" Leo yelled.

The hooded man gave him a thorough look, sighed, and ran away. "No thanks."

Leo's excitement vanished just as fast as the man fleeing. So, instead of chasing after him, Leo ran inside the building to search for the star.

After going inside, the absence of furniture and any sort of items that might occupy space made finding the star almost too easy. He ran to the back of the room, following the trail his eyes laid out for him, and picked up the small golden ingot that kept glaring through his vision.

It wasn't anything fancy. Just a small nugget about the size of a walnut just laying on the ground. He gripped it tightly, snatching it inside his pocket, and making case for the next nearby target.

As he left the building he could see multiple ingots traveling together in other directions, most likely signaling to him that others already have more than one. In fact, almost all were already on someone's person.The closest one that wasn't moving around was down the street, so Leo made way towards the ingot as fast as he could.

The ingot was inside a rather large building, matter-of-factly, it was most likely the largest one there was. The gates were held up by pillars, and no doorway except a large entrance was given.

Leo hopped inside, but just as he locked eyes with the ingot, another competitor gently placed it into their pocket. The competitor was older, perhaps in his thirties, but his size was very off putting to say the least. He was short, shorter than Leo, and perhaps even shorter than most high schoolers. However, Leo could read his power level quiet easily, and despite the man's short appearance. This could possibly be an evenly matched duel.

Leo stretched his hand out towards the man in terms of him handing the ingot over, but the man just laughed. "You think I'm just handing over my points just like that?" He said in an accent Leo wasn't familiar with.

"No." Leo said, "That would make this less fun!" His grin widened, and his hands became engulfed in flames.

"Great," The man mumbled, "Another one of those Elementalist."

Leo didn't hear him, mainly focused on the man, and what his action might be. Leo was about to initiate with a spell, but the man suddenly pulled out some sort of bamboo out of his combat robes, and placed it onto his lips.

He quickly inhaled a breath of air, and released it in a burst of merely half a second. A small object flew out, striking Leo right in the neck, and knocking him out cold before he could even react to it.

In the stands, Mooks got irritated, "This is exactly why I didn't want to put him in." Mooks growled. "Leo's ignorance and childish schemes always lead to the same outcome."

Katie gave Mooks a concerned look, but realized from Mooks's tone that they most likely lost the previous round as well. "He just doesn't want to let you guys down."

The attention of the entire Guild quickly turned onto her. "I've talked to him many times before, and he always feels like he's the weakest out of all of you…"

Faibel chuckled lightly, "That moron seriously thinks he's the weakest? I can't even use any magic during the day…"

Katie's expression grew dim, "He always wants to be there fighting with you guys, but he always feels like he's lacking behind."

Mooks remained silent, patiently observing all the other fights going about around the arena as Leo stayed motionless on the floor of the empty building. Leo was still awake, able to hear, see, and feel the surroundings around him, but his body wouldn't move, and the excitement building inside him was gone faster than he could make another breath.

…

Twenty five minutes passed. The stage was soon to be over, and almost all the ingots have been found already. Leo was finally able to move, but his time to readjust to his movements took another minute of his time.

Sitting to one knee, he slowly picked himself back up, and walked out of the building looking as if he just woke up. He looked up at the stands from afar, seeing his Guild looking at him with worried faces and hopeless looks. He saw Katie, unsure of how to feel, and unsure of what to do.

He then turned to his left, and a tall, muscular man was approaching. The man had a small sack around his waist with what seemed like at least twenty glowing ingots.

Leo just stood there, waiting for the man to attack, but he never did. The man just walked past him, bumping Leo out of the way as he continued his deathly march.

"Draxx was it?" Leo asked as the man passed him.

Draxx stopped, and turned around slowly.

Leo shoved a finger in his direction, "Lemme see what you got, mister undefeated."

Draxx's face grew angry immediately. Leo knew Draxx hated to be called the undefeated. Leo also knew that he had a short temper, and a power level like no other.

Draxx unbuttoned his sack, dropped it on the floor, and cracked his knuckles. "A small child like yourself doesn't deserve to call me by that name."

Leo spread his hands wide, and gave a faint smile. "What you goin' do about it?"

Draxx grabbed a large rock from the curb on the street, placed it in his hand, and squeezed. The rock shattered into pieces, and Drax looked back up at Leo, "Your head is next, boy."

Leo sparked a few flames in his hands, feeling the thrill of battle finally refill his joy for the fight. "Bring it, old man."