"This is... quite the crowd, to say the least."
Rei muttered this while standing in a participant waiting room at the coliseum built on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital.
Beside him, Rhodos spoke up, his own voice tinged with as much awe as Rei’s.
"W-well, this is a Fighting Tournament that draws participants not just from across the Bestia Empire, but from all the surrounding countries as well. It was bound to be this crowded."
Looking around restlessly, Rhodos seemed relieved to find that fewer eyes were on them than he had anticipated. He continued, as if trying to talk down his own nerves.
Due to the registration numbers, they had been separated from Ruzy and the rest of the Wind Dragon Fang, who were in a different waiting room.
Rei spoke again, partly to help Rhodos settle. "What surprised me more was the lack of a Fighting Tournament Opening Ceremony."
"Hmm? Oh, that. Well, with this many people, an opening ceremony would just be a massive waste of time. I suppose it makes sense to save the grand display for the final tournament once the main tournament officially kicks off."
Just as Rhodos said, the opening ceremony was scheduled to occur only after the final tournament began. This was partly for the safety of the Emperor, the imperial family, and the gathered nobles, and partly because the qualifying rounds were generally considered to be of a lower caliber.
Of course, that lower caliber often led to wilder, more unpredictable matches, which in turn fueled the betting. Many spectators were there specifically for that chaos.
Rei had naturally placed his own bets. He’d asked Elk to wager several gold coins on his victory in the Qualifying Rounds' Battle Royal.
Rhodos had looked on with exasperation at the time, but he hadn't voiced any objection, though he certainly hadn't followed Rei's lead by betting on himself.
And, as Rei's transaction with Elk suggested, Daskar, Elk, and Min were also present to spectate, each having placed their own bets on Rei and Rhodos.
"And these aren't even all the participants, right? Since Ruzy and the others aren't here," Rei noted, surveying the room.
Rhodos nodded, scanning the crowd and confirming that none of the rookies they had trained with for the past two days were in sight.
"Likely so. Looking at this lot... there's a real mix of the strong and the weak. If they ran a standard bracket in this state, it would take forever. I suppose the battle royal format for the qualifiers is the only way to do it... maybe?"
He had been addressing Rei, but his words reached the ears of several other participants nearby.
Unfortunately, the fighters in the waiting room were already itching for combat with the Qualifying Rounds so close. They weren't in the mood to let two youngsters talk with such knowing airs. It was even worse given that one of them was exceptionally small and looked like nothing more than a mage in a robe.
Feeling insulted, a man in his twenties stood up and approached them.
"Hey, you brats. You're talking awfully big for kids who look like they wandered into the wrong place. This isn't a playground. I can maybe see the warrior brat over there testing his luck, but you in the robe—you’re clearly out of your depth."
He directed his sneer at the person who barely reached his chest: Rei.
The other participants, bored while waiting for the start, took this as a fine opportunity to kill time and began to jeer.
"Yeah! A brat like that is just going to get crushed in the qualifiers. Go home and suck your mama's tits!"
"Nah, his mama's probably in my bed right now, so that's out!"
"Gwah! Talk about bad taste in women!"
"Seriously, the warrior I get, but the one in the robe isn't even wearing armor. He's obviously just a mage. He might fluke his way through a qualifier, but he'll lose in the first round of the main tournament for sure."
"Please, he won't even make it that far!"
The participants mocked them one after another, though a few skilled individuals in the room naturally saw through the facades of Rei and Rhodos. Those veterans cast looks of pity at the hecklers before distancing themselves, wanting no part in the coming trouble. They did, however, keep their eyes peeled, hoping to gauge the pair's true strength from a safe distance.
Technically, fighting between participants before a match was prohibited and could lead to disqualification. However, such rules were only strictly enforced once the final tournament began. Given the sheer number of roughnecks in the qualifying battle royals, those rules had become essentially toothless.
As a result, a few participants usually withdrew due to injuries before the qualifiers even officially started. The organizers worked under the assumption that anyone skilled enough to reach the main tournament should be able to handle a little pre-game scuffle, so the situation was never addressed.
"Did I say something that bothered you?" Rei asked, his voice devoid of any tension even as the man glared and closed in.
Taking the calm response as further mockery, the man’s temple throbbed as he reached out. He intended to grab the robe, yank the boy closer, and drive a fist into the face hidden by the hood to teach him a painful lesson.
He lunged, but because Rei shifted half a step back, the man’s hand grasped only thin air.
"Pfft! Look at that! He tries to muscle the kid and ends up looking like a clown!"
"Hey, don't tease him too much. He's probably just a bundle of nerves."
"Ah... shouldn't someone stop him before he makes it worse? I don't care if the kid gets hurt, but I don't want to get dragged into a mess."
"What are you talking about? If he struggles against a shrimp like that, he doesn't deserve to be here!"
The mocking voices of his peers echoed in the man's ears. Having failed to even touch Rei’s robe, he trembled with rage.
"If you're done, can we stop? I'd like to relax until the qualifiers start," Rei said.
Coming from the person who had just made him a laughingstock, those words were more than the man could take.
"Don't screw with me, you little shit!"
He threw a punch. To his credit as a tournament entrant, he didn't telegraph a big swing; he stayed in his stance and drove his fist forward, putting his full weight behind the strike.
The man specialized in unarmed combat, but he had chosen the worst possible opponent. Rei was a veteran of many battles against Vihera, a master of martial arts. No matter how much skill the man thought he had, he was hopelessly outclassed.
Rei slapped the fist aside with his palm as it flew toward his face. Using his palm instead of his fist was his only small mercy.
"What!?"
That single exchange was likely enough for the man to realize his opponent was far more than he appeared. Under normal circumstances, he was prudent enough to back down once he understood he was outmatched.
However, the setting was his undoing. This was the empire's greatest stage. If he backed away now after picking a fight, he would be a joke. He would be targeted as an easy mark in the Qualifying Rounds' Battle Royal, and his reputation for future jobs would be ruined. He knew the gap in power, but he felt he couldn't afford to retreat.
"Tch! Damn you!"
He yanked his arm back and unleashed a flurry of punches. He abandoned the heavy, weight-behind-the-blow style for pure speed. A continuous stream of boxing-style jabs rained down without a second’s pause.
The rapid-fire strikes proved the man wasn't just bluster. The jeering crowd fell silent, their eyes widening at the sheer velocity.
Even Rei was briefly taken aback. He had fought Vihera many times, but her style used her supernatural physical ability to deliver high-impact strikes. While she was undoubtedly faster than this man, she didn't sacrifice power for the sake of such extreme frequency. Fighting someone who prioritized speed to this extent was a fresh experience for him.
"I see. Impressive speed," Rei muttered.
Yet, despite his praise, Rei continued to parry every single fist with just his right palm.
At this point, everyone in the room had to acknowledge Rei’s overwhelming skill. Those who had distanced themselves earlier watched with rapt attention, trying to memorize his movements and look for habits.
"Alright, that’s enough. Go to sleep."
The man, face pale with disbelief, gritted his teeth at Rei's words. He sensed a counterattack coming—and he knew he couldn't block or dodge it.
Rei slapped aside one more fist and stepped in...
"What is going on here!?"
A sharp voice cut through the room. Every head turned to see a man in his 30s wearing the uniform of a Management Committee Member. Even the most hot-headed participants couldn't continue under the direct gaze of an official.
"...Tch. You got lucky," the man spat at Rei, though his brow was slick with sweat.
The room was hot and crowded, and he had just exerted himself, but the amount of sweat was unnatural. He knew the truth. If the fight had continued, he would have been the one on the floor. His cold sweat was the evidence.
He glared at Rei one last time before retreating to the far corner of the room, his bluff already fraying at the edges.
Seeing him go, Rei relaxed his stance. Rhodos looked at him with sheer exasperation. He couldn't fathom why Rei would start a brawl right before a grueling Battle Royal.
Rhodos opened his mouth to say something about wasting energy, then closed it. He remembered Rei’s monstrous stamina. The boy had fought Rhodos, Ruzy, Veikyul, and Most one after another and then all at once without breaking a sweat. Rhodos simply couldn't imagine what it would take to actually tire Rei out.
"Fine... but keep it down. If you get too rowdy, I’ll have to revoke your eligibility," the Management Committee Member warned with a sigh. It was only the qualifying round, and he knew the room was full of ruffians, so he settled for a light reprimand before getting to business. "Qualifying C Block is starting. When I call your name, step forward."
The room went silent.
"Rei."
Rei stepped forward at the call. A few people reacted to the name, but 'Rei' was common enough. Moreover, with the rumors of Crimson describing a hulking giant, no one made the connection to the small boy in the robe—though a few eyes remained suspicious.
One after another, the names for C Block were called. Rhodos’s name was never mentioned.
The management probably decided it would be a waste of talent to put Crimson and the son of the Axe of the Thunder God in the same block, Rei thought as he followed the official out.
"...Don't think you're getting out of that arena in one piece," the man who had attacked him muttered as he passed by.
Rei could only sigh.