Chapter 3:
The Seven Star Cup
“THE DAY is finally, finally upon us!”
The young woman’s voice boomed through the loudspeakers to the fifty thousand people in the empire’s colosseum. Communal joy and excitement bubbled through the crowd—a feeling that had only grown as they painstakingly waited for this day to come.
I was on the top floor of the colosseum, in the VIP lounge. I looked down at the girl with the microphone in the commentary booth. She was the Seven Star Cup’s play-by-play commentator, a young gnome who had chestnut-brown hair with two locks tied up on either side. Like most gnomes, she was short with a youthful, childish face. Her frilly pink-and-white dress only enhanced her adorable features.
“I am Luna Luce! I am so honored to be your commentator for this event! I could practically die!”
Luna was a pop star getting a lot of attention recently. She was obsessed with Seekers, and this knowledge paired with her
fame made her the perfect announcer. I wasn’t the one who’d picked her—the recommendation had come from her producer, Finocchio, who sat beside her. He’d be taking on color commentator duties.
“It’s been three long weeks since the press conference featuring Prince Caius and Noel Stollen, who we all know as the genius clan master of Wild Tempest and third-tier regalia member! I’m willing to bet that I wasn’t the only one suffering sleepless nights of buzzing excitement! This is the day we’ve all been waiting for, the day our dreams come true! That’s right!” Luna’s voice grew louder as she said, “It’s the opening of the Seven Star Cup, where one Seeker will be crowned the empire’s strongest!”
The crowd roared with such enthusiasm that the colosseum shook. Screams and shouts rang out into the air, but Luna was not about to be drowned out by the zealous cheers.
“Ladies! Gentlemen! Let’s not burn ourselves out before the event has even started! As of today, we’ve got one week of preliminary matches to look forward to! But don’t let the name fool you… Every single Seeker in the preliminaries is renowned for their prowess! So let’s get wild and cheer with everything we’ve got to send these Seekers off to battle! Woo-hooooo!”
At Luna’s cry, the entire audience shouted back in unison: “Woo!”
They were all united; Luna was doing a fantastic job. I was impressed.
“She’s so lacking in class it’s practically nonexistent,” Prince Caius said with a sigh, as if even the effort of saying so annoyed him. He was blatantly unenthused.
The prince was with me in the VIP lounge, along with his security detail and a number of the empire’s rich and famous.
“Couldn’t you have chosen someone a little more suitable?”
“I think she’s perfect,” I countered. “It’s her first time as a commentator, but the crowd hasn’t intimidated her in the slightest. She’s owning the role.”
Caius’s face scrunched up in obvious disgust. “Surely there were others who could just as easily have…owned the role. Ugh. Well, at least I’m not in the other lounge.”
He looked over at the VIP lounge on the opposite side of the colosseum. The emperor, members of the imperial family, and nobles in government were there watching the event. Caius hated them. He took issue with the fact that, when he put his support behind the Seven Star Cup, they all looked down on him for mingling with the common people. The prince carried himself with such arrogance, yet even a minor slight like this consumed him. He was about as big a man as his balls, which I assumed were minuscule.
I kept an eye on him as the openers continued.
“While our competitors prepare to fight, and before I explain the rules of the tournament, I’d like to introduce our color commentator, Finocchio. Take it away, sis!”
“I’m Finocchio Barzini,” the mad clown said, “and I’m the manager of this tournament as well as its color commentator. I usually work in management consulting and producing pop stars like our wonderful Luna here. Let’s all have a marvelous time here at the Seven Star Cup!”
Finocchio winked and blew kisses to the crowd. His handsomeness and charm had them enthralled. Although many spectators cheered, those who knew Finocchio’s true identity did not. Even the clown himself—the empire’s most dangerous gangster and a slave trader—could never have imagined he’d be on a stage like this one.
“The Seven Star Cup is a tournament unlike any other,” said Luna. “What makes it so unique is that the competitors are protected from any and all injuries. The two Megaliths you see by the rings absorb any damage to competitors synced with it. Now I know what some of you may be thinking: What’s the point if there’s no damage? Where are the stakes?! But rest easy, ye who doubt! While damage is absorbed by the Megaliths, competitors will still feel the pain of every attack. What’s more, the attacks they receive will impede their mobility just as they would in a real battle. Right, sis?”
“Spot on, Luna. For example, if an arm is cut deep, the competitor will not be able to move it or use it. The effects of poison are also accurately reflected in the competitors’ conditions.”
Luna let out a gasp of awe. “Poisons too? Amazing!”
“Indeed. That’s why it’s in the best interests of all competitors to treat this as a real fight. Avoiding damage is your best bet!”
“When a competitor takes too much damage—that is, when the Megalith hits its damage limit—the synced competitor will be rendered immobile. If a competitor attempts to attack an opponent that has fallen unconscious but still has not hit the Megalith’s damage limit, the attacking competitor will be immobilized. There are no referees in the Seven Star Cup matches, so this action acts as a referee stoppage. Any competitor who attempts to attack a downed and fully damaged opponent will be disqualified without question. So let’s all follow the rules!”
Luna and Finocchio then went on to explain the rules: the two-skill limit registered in advance, the weapon restrictions, and so on. They also clarified that losses were incurred when a competitor stepped out of bounds, could no longer fight, wouldn’t rise after a ten-count, or conceded the match.
After that, one of the tournament organizers approached the commentary booth and whispered in Luna’s ear, causing her to perk up.
“Good news, everyone! I’ve just been informed that preparations are complete! Let’s give a big hand as we welcome the competitors for Block One of the preliminaries!”
The spectators clapped and cheered, and a symphony orchestra played a marching tune as the competitors appeared at the ringside entrance. There were twenty Seekers in total—forty if you counted cornermen. The initial competitors, all clad in their gear, waved at the crowd. I recognized numerous faces among them.
I spotted Wolf, Lycia, Veronica, and Logan right away—four members of Mirage Trident. By the looks of things, Wolf and Veronica were the competitors, while Lycia and Logan were on cornerman duties. All of them were clearly much stronger than they’d been when last I saw them. The battle and experience they’d gained from their clash with Lorelai had opened new doors for them. That said, it was bad luck for two pairs in the same clan to fight in the same block.
“How many competitors are there in total?” asked Caius, his eyes fixed on the Seekers below.
“One hundred and thirty in the preliminaries,” I said.
“So aside from the regalia, every single clan in the empire has two representatives in the tournament. Astounding.” A hint of a smile crossed the prince’s face.
“Just goes to show how excited the Seekers were for this. Because of the huge number of applicants, we broke them up into separate blocks. Some of them will have to fight a lot to get to the finals, but it’s not a bad deal when you consider the point of the tournament. The more a Seeker fights, the more they get to show off their strength and the more their stock rises.”
“But won’t some of them simply want to win?”
“Well, that comes down to luck, which is just as big a part of Seeking as anything else. Those who refuse to bend to its will have no choice but to grow strong enough to overcome it. If you don’t have it in you, this industry will chew you up and spit you out.”
Caius nodded, then shot me a sidelong glance. “Speaking from personal experience?”
I laughed. “It’s just common sense.”
I took sips of wine throughout our conversation. By the time the bottle on the side table was half empty, the competitor entrances and the opening ceremony had ended. Seekers took their places in the rings for the first round.