Chapter 79 - Beast Tamer Fight
Leyvi told Stripey, Mr. Bison, and Scarlet to prepare themselves while they were in the spirit beast bag.
Leyvi's group departed to the place where the Beast Tamer Tournament would be held, multiple coliseum-like arenas made specifically for battle events. When they arrived outside the coliseums, many people were busy registering to participate in the event. Some participants had brought out their spirit beasts to intimidate other people.
Leyvi frowned as he saw a few high-level spirit beasts in the mix. Does he need to fight against high-level spirit beasts? He wouldn't be able to win if this was the case.
Sensing Leyvi's distress, Layla explained to him, "Husband, you don't have to worry, the Beast Tamer Tournament has three categories. Low-level, Intermediate-level, and High-level categories. All category winners will receive the same prizes."
With her mini clones, she had acquired sufficient information about the Beast Taming Tournaments beforehand.
"Fuuhhh! That worried me. Hahaha! I thought they needed to fight against high-level spirit beasts. Stripey would shit his pants." Leyvi was relieved.
Since he only had intermediate-level spirit beasts, Leyvi could only participate in the Intermediate-level category.
After he walked and observed the surroundings a little more, he saw a big banner on the coliseum's wall explaining the rules and the prizes. It was blocked by the huge high-level spirit beast previously. Leyvi stopped for a few moments to read what was written on the banner.
The format of the tournament would be a single elimination type where participants are eliminated after a single loss. This process repeats, halving the number of competitors each round until only two participants remain for the final match.
All participants would be paired up in the first round of matches. If there is an odd number of participants, one might receive a bye, meaning automatic advancement to the next round without playing a match.
Each round consists of multiple matches, with winners advancing to the next round and losers being eliminated from the tournament. The number of participants would determine the number of rounds in the tournament. For example, if there are 8 participants, there will be 3 rounds, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals.
In the finals, the losers of the previous round would fight for the 3rd place and the winners would face off for the runner-up placement and the tournament's Champion for their category.
Participants are allowed to send only one spirit beast in each match, but they are not limited to only one spirit beast. They can use a different spirit beast in the next match.
Leyvi wondered how many beast tamers would be participating in the tournament. He hoped for more participants so there would be more matches. Leyvi continued reading to see what the prizes were. Lilian was very excited about it so it must have been quite special.
For third places, they would receive a bottle of low-grade Spirit Beast Physical Boost Pill. It was a Tier-3 pill that could forcefully increase the physical abilities of any demonic beast by twice for around 5 minutes. However, they would faint for a day from fatigue after that.
For runner-ups, they would receive a single Metallic Durian fruit. This Durian is so heavy that when it matured and fell from the tree, it would cause a huge impact on the ground to the point of causing damage to the tree's roots. The Metallic Durian Tree could collapse and die on its own if it happened frequently enough.
Each pulp eaten by demonic beasts and human would increase their physical strength slightly but the effect would be permanent. The only side effect was that the consumers would be accompanied by a strong stinky smell for a week.
Finally, the champion of each category would receive a Beast Tamer Qi-Sharing Pair Ring. It was a Tier-3 Spirit Artifact made specifically for beast tamers. The spirit beast and beast tamer that wear the rings would be linked to each other and the spirit beast could receive Qi transfer from their beast tamer, enhancing its strength. At a higher level of mastery, the spirit beast could also use the martial skill abilities that their owner had learned.
When Leyvi read this part, his eyes widened. Isn't this too strong? What if Mr. Bison could use his Qi-detonating ability? Rest in peace to those rammed by him. They wouldn't just have broken bones anymore but exploded into pieces.
Although he had the urge to get the Beast Tamer Qi-Sharing Pair Ring, he had promised Lilian to get the Metallic Durian, so he couldn't just break his promise. He didn't want another one of his wives to employ the silent treatment. In any case, the Metallic Durian wasn't that bad because when Lilian planted this in her garden and bore new fruits, everyone could eat them and improve their strength. In fact, it was a better choice for his family overall.
"Alright, let's register for the Intermediate-level category!" Leyvi led them to the registration booth.
"Name, category, and give me your spirit beast bag." A middle-aged woman with curly hair repeated her usual registration lines to Leyvi as she held out her hand.
"Leyvi Leyan and Intermediate-level," Leyvi said as he put his spirit beast bag into her palm.
The curly middle-aged woman brought the bag close to her and inspected it with her spiritual sense. She recorded the details of Leyvi's spirit beasts in her logbook under Leyvi's name in the Intermediate-level category. After she was done, she returned the spirit beast bag to Leyvi.
"The tournament will start at noon. If you aren't in your designated arena when the round starts, you are eliminated." She reminded.
Leyvi smiled. "Thank you, madam."
"Let's go let's go! Let's pick the seat first! We need to have the best view!" Hana was excitedly urging them to follow her quickly. Sayu was excited too but she walked closely behind Lilian as her personal maid.
At the entrance of the coliseum, Leyvi's group paid the seat ticket fees except for Leyvi. When they entered the coliseum designated for Intermediate-level, almost half of the seats were already filled. Leyvi was quite surprised considering the event would start two hours later.
The Beast Tamer Tournaments were quite popular huh? Considering the value of prizes they prepared, they must made a lot of money. Leyvi thought.
Two hours later, the coliseum was full! A coliseum that could fit two hundred thousand people was filled to the max. Leyvi extended his spiritual sense and checked the other two coliseums, they were also full. This meant there were a total of six hundred thousand people who were spectating the Beast Tamer Tournament.
Leyvi didn't expect that the event would be this popular. Layla had told him that before the Alchemy Conference started, many organizations took advantage of the high number of people who came to Holy Cat City to organize their own quick but profitable events. Now Leyvi understood why. There were simply too many people. It would be stupid to pass this chance.
At this moment, Leyvi wasn't sitting with his family anymore, he was sitting in the frontmost seat along with other participants, waiting for the tournament to start. Leyvi counted a total of 64 participants, meaning there would be exactly 6 rounds with no bye. Leyvi wasn't sure if this was a coincidence or if the organizer stopped the registration at this exact number.
Exactly at noon, an announcer wearing a colorful outfit walked onto the podium and talked to a microphone, a voice-enhancing array device.
"Ladies and Gentleman, it is that time again, to witness the most exciting battles between the Beast Tamers of the South Region. As the opening event before the most awaited Alchemy Conference in two weeks, we would like to thank you for attending this event. Without further ado, the first round starts!"
The announcer called the names of the participants for the first match of this round and they quickly got into the arena. The arena had a mixture of different kinds of terrain made to complement all types of spirit beasts and for strategy purposes. Rocky areas, ponds, trees, swamps, grass, sands, and many more could be seen in the arena.
The moment the two participants summoned their spirit beasts from the spirit beast bag, the crowd cheered loudly and excitedly.
It was a fight between a Demonic Wolf and a Demonic Gorilla. Leyvi chuckled when he saw the Demonic Gorilla because it reminded him of what happened in Bara Forest.
The wolf circled the gorilla, snarling and growling, its eyes never leaving its opponent. The gorilla beats its chest and roars, a thunderous sound that echoes through the arena, shaking the ground and the trees nearby.
With a sudden burst of speed, the wolf lunged forward, aiming for the gorilla's throat. The gorilla sidestepped and swung a massive fist, narrowly missing the wolf, which darted away with agility.
The wolf used its speed to its advantage, darting in and out, snapping at the gorilla’s legs and arms, drawing blood with each bite. The gorilla responded with powerful swipes, trying to catch the nimble predator.
As Leyvi watched the fight intently, he noticed that the demonic beasts weren't just fighting on their own, but their moves and attacks were carefully instructed by their Beast Tamers.
Leyvi was intrigued. Was this how a Beast Tamer actually fights?