Kien’s brother won his round. Everyone he fought collapsed in the same manner as his first two victims, but he still managed to avoid revealing anything else about his abilities. The only thing that Arwin was fairly certain of was that the man’s dagger couldn’t cut through metal any more than a normal dagger could. It had to meet flesh.
The next few rounds of the melee went on without anything of particular interest. It wasn’t that the competitors weren’t good. Many of them were incredible. If this were just for sport, they would have put on a great show.
But the Secret Eye had clearly made sure to keep the general strength of the people in the tournament approximately around the Adept tier. They hadn’t invited the true powerhouses of the kingdom — or, if they had, those guys had a more private tournament somewhere else.
Whatever the case may have been, none of the other melee rounds caught Arwin’s attention. He didn’t see anything about the winning teams that would have made them a real threat to Olive or Art’s teams. There was really only one other thing that he did take note of during the remaining fights.
The boy who Esmerelda had been oddly concerned about finally made his showing toward the end of the melee rounds. His team put on a pretty good showing, but it was clear that they were pushing themselves as hard as they could just to keep up.
There was no chance they would win the tournament. Arwin was confident that Olive could have handled the lot of them on her own, even if she hadn’t been given a replacement arm.
But, despite that, their team managed to scrape out a win. It almost came from thin air. There was only so far that the power of desire could take anyone. He just didn’t see the skill needed to win within them…
But it was as if the universe itself had decided they would make it through the round. Arnold stumbled into people, knocking them from the stage seemingly by accident, and blows whistled just inches past him.
“I don’t want to get too ahead of myself. I just have confidence that Olive will do well. My armor is just a bit of an insurance in case things are harder than we expected.”
“You didn’t say what it did.”
“No,” Arwin agreed. “I didn’t.”
“On the contrary. If things get to the point where that armor has to activate, I think you’re going to get a whole lot more fun out of seeing it activate if you don’t know what it does.”
Esmerelda squinted at Arwin. “You know what? You’ve got a bit of evil in you, just like the rest of us.”
The corner of Arwin’s lips twitched in amusement. “I never said I was a saint.”
“Sure do act like a savior, though. Got a bit of a complex, eh?”
“Says the one that just saved a boy for no apparent reason. Some evil saleswoman you are.”
Esmerelda coughed into a fist. “We can change the topic. Where’s Reya?”
“Warning Kien about his brother. We’re pretty sure we saw him. Did you happen to see the guy that won the melee a few rounds ago? The one with the dagger.”
Esmerelda’s brow furrowed for a moment before she shook her head. “No. I was, ah, selling things. In the audience.”
Damn. Her take on the weapon might have been pretty damn useful.
“Well, keep an eye out for him if you can,” Arwin said. “He’s got a dagger that seems like it’s stealing the powers of everyone it stabs. I didn’t think a weapon like that was even possible, but it happened to Kien and isn’t showing any signs of stopping.”
“That’s a nasty piece of work,” Esmerelda said, her expression going dark. “Power like that… I wouldn’t say I haven’t seen it before, but it never comes at a light cost. I’ll watch out for it. And you say you aren’t worried about Olive in spite of that?”
“That’s why Reya is warning her as well. The dagger doesn’t go through metal, but I don’t want her to be caught off guard — and I’m confident in her abilities. Anyone using a weapon needs to be put down for the good of the people.”
Esmerelda grunted. Then she turned and grabbed her wicker bag, slinging it back over her shoulder. “Then I’ll make sure to find a good spot to watch from. Don’t want to stay here long, and I’ve got more sales to make. I’ll let you know if I notice anything interesting.”
“Appreciate it,” Arwin said, his attention focusing on the arena floor as Esmerelda headed back out again.
It looked like Kraven had finally finished shilling whatever it was that he’d been trying to sell the crowds on.
“…so with that, we’ll get on with what you’re all waiting for,” Kraven was saying. “The melee rounds are finished. I hope nobody got too excited because that was just the appetizer! We’ve filtered out the best of the best to ensure that every round of this tournament keeps you on your toes! Now, I know you’re all busy people, so we won’t be waiting any longer. It’s time to get a little more personal. Our first fight of the day is coming up now!”
The crowd roared in approval. They were really doing a lot of that. Kraven hadn’t even actually done anything yet.
“The first of the two teams to take the stage will be the representatives of the Kererus Coalition!”
And just like that, the announcer had Arwin’s attention. The Kererus Coalition hadn’t come into direct conflict with him yet, but they’d tried to kill Melissa and take over the Montibeau house.
The Menagerie had already stuck their fingers in the Coalition’s lunch before… and Melissa had helped fund and source some materials for Art’s team. They were one of the groups that Arwin would have liked nothing more to lose in a swift, humiliating manner.