Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Coliseum
"Alright, Elif, try not to accidentally kill anyone; it would give you a bad reputation among the noble families if you killed one of their children." Advised Tiana as she rubbed Elifs head, much to his annoyance since he'll need to fix his hair later.
"Well, even if I do, it would be their fault for being too weak." Replied Elif while fixing his hair.
"He's not wrong, dear; in this world, being weak is a sin, although that doesn't mean you should just go around killing people." Said Tyler as he patted Elif's back.
"Grandpa, I'm six. Do you think I will go around and start massacring random people? Besides, I don't feel like wasting my time killing innocent people when I could do something much more productive like cultivating, training, or playing with Elaine." Replied Elif with his honest thoughts, though Elif has never lied when speaking with his family, except for when he teases Elaine, but that's different.
"Haha, he's got you there, father." Said Marcus with a chuckle.
"Anyway, ignore those two, Elif, though when you go out there, make sure to show everyone watching the strength that the Crown Prince wields, as the strength you display is also going to represent the Royal Elven lineage, and I'm sure you don't want the world to start thinking that our lineage is weak." Said Maria while kneeling down to eye level with Elif, both of her arms on his shoulders.
"Of course not, mother; I can't allow people to think our lineage isn't powerful. However, what do you mean by the world? I thought only the citizens of the Empire were going to watch?" Asked Elif, confused as he figured only the Empire would watch the tournament.
"Haa Elif, you don't know how important it is to other Immortal Hegemonies that news of the Crown Prince of the Immortal Elven Empire is planning to join a tournament and will openly display his strength, do you?" Asked Maria as her face twitched when she saw the confusion on Elif's face deepen.
"Well, there's no point in talking about this right now as it won't change anything, but do know when the tournament is over, you need to head to the library and start learning more about the world." Said Maria in an exhausted voice as she gave Elif a quick hug before letting him go.
"Why do you make it sound like I know nothing, mother? For your information, I know the names of some nobles." Said Elif, slightly hurt at Maria's tone.
"And let me guess, the Noble family names you know are the same ones that introduced themselves to you two years ago." Argued Maria, and she didn't even need Elif to respond to know she was right.
"Anyways, let's hurry up, as the Crown Prince, you, can't show up late for something this important." Stated Marcus as everyone gave their last words of encouragement before letting Elif leave.
"You better win, big brother, or I won't forgive you for not playing with me!" Said Elaine with some sass, though her words sounded more like an order than encouragement, and it brought a chuckle out of everyone in the room, except for the ever-stoic Illumia, who was standing by the exit.
"But of course, Elaine, as your big brother, how could I ever be defeated?" Replied Elif with a chuckle as he kissed Elaine's cheek before saying his last farewells.
"Don't forget; we are going to be watching the tournament from the palace on the crystal ball!" Announced Tiana quickly before Elif exited the throne room.
Waving my hand in acknowledgment to grandmother, I make my way down the hall with my destination being the entrance of the Royal grounds, as that is where I had ordered the carriage to wait. A little bit later, I arrive at my carriage and see Mandy with her guards, along with someone new who had replaced the spy, though when they noticed me, they all quickly kneeled.
"Shall we set off, Prince Elif?" Asked Mandy respectfully, no longer being nervous when addressing Elif.
"Yes." Casually replied Elif as he stepped into the carriage, followed by Illumia.
While we were moving, I took out my sword from my dimension ring and set it on my lap. I then began meditating along with my sword, which I'd finally named Hokori, and while it may sound weird, it comes from the Ancient Elven language, and when translated to the common language, it means 'Pride'. I'd even got its name carved onto the sheath. Through the constant sparring sessions with Illumia over the years, I've managed to master my sword intent; however, recently, I'd hit a barrier as the improvements I've made in the past couple of months have been relatively minimal compared to what I'm used to, though when I asked Illumia about is she just told me I was most likely nearing Sword Aura, the next step on the path of the sword.
I don't know how long has passed since I started meditating, but when I started seeing dense lines of people through my divine sense, I stopped meditating and opened my eyes before slightly moving the curtain out of the way so I could peek outside. What greeted me were dense lines of people, most were Elves, but there were also plenty of other species, luckily since I'm the Prince, I don't have to wait in those lines; in fact, everyone gets out of the way for my carriage wherever I go, and now is no different. After having traveled through several dense lines of people, we eventually arrived just before the magnificent coliseum I always see in the distance whenever I go to the Elven Cuisine.
However, we didn't go in through the entrance like everyone else as that was for the audience and commoners; we proceeded to head down the side of the coliseum until we saw another entryway, this time with much more guards than before. When we entered, the guards were about to stop us, but I saw another one wearing a different armor suddenly appear before smacking one of them and then quickly bowing to Mandy. Once that little charade was finished, we continued into the coliseum before parking the carriage at a stable explicitly meant for me, as it had a large hanging sign with our last names above.
"Prince Elif, we have arrived." Said Mandy as she kneeled before the carriage door.
Standing up, along with Hokori in my hand, I exited the carriage, and when I did, I saw what looked like other noble carriages in the distance; however, I didn't notice any other nobles, so it made me wonder if we were late.
"How much time until the Tournament officially starts?"
"Five minutes, your highness/Five minutes, Prince Elif." Answered Illumia and Mandy simultaneously.
"Alright, well, you guys know what to do." Said Elif to Mandy before turning around and started heading toward his booth
After walking down a few hallways and up some stairs, I arrived at the VIP area that was being guarded; however, just like before, when they saw me, they quickly moved out of the way while bowing to me. As I walked past them into the VIP area, every noble inside stopped what they were doing, whether they were happily conversing amongst each other, eating, drinking, or even just sitting down and minding their own business, all stood up and gave me a slight bow.
I nodded in response, and that was enough for everyone to continue with what they were doing previously, though I could tell it was much calmer and quieter than before. While making my way through the VIP area, I finally arrived at my personal booth, and when I closed the door behind me, all the noise instantly vanished.
"This is quite nice, and they even have a bed in another room." Muttered Elif as he did a quick scan of the place with his divine sense before heading towards a throne placed directly in front of a large glass wall that allowed a full view of the enormous coliseum.
"Even the chair is comfortable as well. Illumia, inform me of the tournament schedule for today." Ordered Elif after having gotten comfortable.
"Well, with his highness participating in the tournament, some things have been changed to what they previously were; one of them is the tournament format. Before they planned on doing a double elimination tournament, bracket-style, but now with the increased number of noble participants, they have decided to do a few battle royale tournaments to narrow down the number of contestants; there will be six battle royale tournaments, with each one having approximately one hundred contestants. After that, everything will return to normal, with the normal double-elimination tournament; however, it is expected that the tournament will last four days instead of three." Answered Illumia, standing just beside Elifs throne.
"Ugh, another day, how annoying. Anyways, why are there so many participants, and which tournament will I be joining?" Asked Elif as he took a bowl of lightning cherries out of his dimension ring and started eating them.
"The reason why so many participants have joined is that before, only noble families of Earls and above had enlisted their younger generation, but when news of the Crown Prince was planning to join, even the lowest-ranking noble families in the empire sent some members of their younger generation to join, hoping they might somehow manage to catch your interest. Also, as the Crown Prince, you can skip the battle royale if you wish."
"Well, inform whoever is in charge of the tournament that I plan on participating in the battles today, as I didn't come all the way here just to watch other people fight."
"Right away, your highness." Replied Illumia with a slight bow before leaving the room.
'Now, what the heck is an Earl? I thought there were only Archdukes and Dukes. Maybe mother was right.' Thought Elif while chewing on lighting berries.
A short while later, Illumia returned along with her informing me that'll I'd been scheduled to participate in the third match; however, shortly afterward, we saw someone appear in the middle of the coliseum on the giant arena at the bottom. While wondering what he was doing, I sensed how he released his cultivation and slightly pressured everyone, which caused the audience to quiet down instantly.
'Such strength! I can't even begin to compare myself to the amount of power he displayed!' Thought Elif in shock after he sensed the man's cultivation base, as even though he is surrounded by incredibly powerful people, they'd never fully displayed their strength.
"Now that I have everyone's attention, I want to announce that the Tournament of the Nobles shall officially commence!" Shouted the well-dressed man in the middle of the coliseum, and even though the coliseum was gigantic, with his cultivation, it was an effortless feat to allow everyone to hear him clearly.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone