Harem Tournament of Champions

The sun was shielded by clouds that cast its shadow on the open field of the arena.

Hisha watched as the large wooden doors were opened to allow the harem members in.

[Are you as excited as I am, host? You get to win a hundred points from each win of your harem and five hundred for an outstanding performance]

Hisha clicked his tongue and had his cheeks pressed on the back of his palm. He lazily looked at the crowd as they still filed in. It was surely going to take some while before anything began.

The fact that not all were going to duel against the other made him wonder why all were present to watch.

'Some self-gratification?' He questioned the reasonableness of a crowded environment.

The ground rubbled as Kritz raised his hands.

'What the heck?!' He got to his feet to see the extremity of the field from the steps of three rows.

The ladies didn't look like they were bothered by this ability as the ones who came watching took out a piece of cloth and placed it on their seats.

[One of the abilities of a Vandrik]

Hisha's eyes widened at the ingenuity of his assistant before a smile crept on his face when he realized how lucky he was to have Kritz by his side.

Sitting back down, he cleared his throat to get the attention of Kritz.

Following the cue, Kritz walked towards his lord and went down on one knee with a bow. "My lord."

When he returned to his room after taking care of Pesa, he realized that Alta was nowhere in sight. At first, he had not paid much attention to it, but she was still unaccounted for till the very day of the first official tournament he would personally host.

"Where is Alta?" He questioned in a whisper, worried she might be up to no good.

Kritz raised his head and had a smile, "she would soon arrive."

'Soon arrive? What's that supposed to mean?' Hisha tilted his head and gave a nod.

To his dismay, before the doors sealed shut, the tribal chiefs walked in and climbed up the stairs to pay their respect to Hisha.

Hisha had expected to see just 6 tribal chiefs since one was dead but was surprised to see the face of another merman.

He was handsome, tall, and muscular. His face was finely chiseled, and he had his shoulder-length blue hair held in a high ponytail with gold bands. His pale skin and faint scale marks on the sides of his face only reminded him too well of the uncanny resemblance.

Unlike the other tribal chiefs, he looked fairly younger and full of vigor.

[The new chief of mertac and younger brother of Frich]

Not satisfied with the information, he requested a character status on the suspicious chief.

[Name: Mich Mer]

[Height: 170cm]

[Position: Chief of the merfolk tribe]

Something was unsettling about him, his mischievous gaze only made his stomach churn. He would need to visit these tribes to know what they were up to behind his back, starting with the merfolks.

When they had made their presence known, they took their positions on the sides of Hisha.

Internally facepalming, Hisha finally understood why there were three seats to his left and four to his right.

Once the old geezers were settled, he made eye contact with Kritz and proceeded to hand over the responsibility of stating the rules out to his harem.

Kritz conjured up a scroll and pulled it open and read out the rules:

¶ All would be given a fair chance with their opponents, they would be entitled to a weapon of their choice, armory if needed.

This first rule had one clause, if they were overpowered while using their armor, it would be allowed for the opponent to end the life of the armored one.

There were murmurs among the ladies below as if confirming one of their fears. The tribal chiefs shared a knowing look.

¶ When engaging a human, the opponent is forbidden to use their ability against them, instead armory suit-up is greatly encouraged.

In the crowd, Tia whooped and burst out in a peal of laughter.

'Who's that hyperactive lady?'

[Tia Gran, she's a member of the human race]

'Human race? Must be tough in a world that thrives on the activities of those possessing Sux.

[Where they lack in ability usage, they make it up with brawns and brains]

Kritz narrowed his eyes at Tia for interrupting his speech. "Ahem!"

Tia reclined in her space and looked down once she noticed Hisha watching her.

Kritz continued with the rules and stressed the fact that they don't need to hold back whatever they had to overpower the opponent, the least they could get would be dismissed and their mark removed.

When he was done with reading the rest, he closed the scroll and watched it disintegrate.

The tribal chief's role in watching the tournament was to pick a lot and scatter it to decide who will be paired against the other. Hisha and the seven tribal chiefs would have their turns in choosing two papers–which would make up eight pairs.

[Duel: 8]

[Number of possible harems participating: 16]

[Victories: 0]

[Points accumulated during the tournament: 0]

Reaching into a hovering silver cup, Hisha pulled out two pieces of paper and handed them over to Kritz.

"Solara Nyx and Lilt Tundra." He announced.

The moment he stared down at Solara, he caught her gaze already on him. She had a smile as she got up from her seat and so did the Lilt.

He heard one of the tribal chiefs hiss in regret at such a pair and couldn't help but wonder who Lilt was and what was her connection to one of the tribal chiefs?

Unable to curtail his curiosity, he immediately demanded a character status for this lady.

[Name: Lilt Tundra]

[Height: 169cm]

[Position: Vampire–Countess]

'Interesting matchup.' Hisha laughed it off as he realized that the tribal chief–Vanas who was called by Frich when he was still alive sat beside him. If he could take a wild guess without using the character status, he could bet that he ruled over the vampire tribe.

*****

A/N

My heartfelt appreciation to those who vote with power stones on my book constantly or happened to devote them currently.

Do use your comments, summoning pens, gifts, votes, and golden tickets to request faster/more updates(I'd respond immediately when we hit the target)

Who would are you rooting for?

¶ Solara

¶ Lilt