Fane officially announced the start of the tournament and began explaining the rules.
In fact, most people were aware of the rules of the tournament. But Fane thought it would better to reiterate them, especially for the young men who would be fighting.
The arena was huge, but all the people in the stands and the competitors in the halls could clearly hear Fane. Before he began his speech, he discreetly cast a simple spell that greatly amplified his voice.
"Before I announce the first contestants, I will repeat all the rules one more time." Fane said loudly.
"You may use any spells, artifacts, and various tricks for your victory. The purpose of this tournament is to give you the opportunity to do your best and to provide the necessary conditions for that. You don't have to worry about the safety of the audience, there is a very strong magical barrier around the arena that you will never break through."
Fane looked around the arena and continued: "And most importantly, you are allowed to inflict absolutely any kind of wounds. You can even cut off a limb from your opponent, and more than one if you wish. Our special "Summoners" will heal such wounds quickly, so don't be afraid to hurt your opponent."
After finishing with what was allowed, Fane moved on to the prohibitions: "The only prohibition is that you cannot kill your opponent. You'll be stopped if your attack is fatal, but we can easily tell if it's accidental or on purpose. If you deliberately meant to kill your opponent, then you'll be killed on the spot and no one will save you, just like that."
Although Fane said directly that any contestant who would break the rule would not just be punished, but actually killed, there was no dissatisfaction among the audience. Of course, not everyone agreed with such harsh punishment, but no one dared to show it.
After all, for the most part, the rules were fair. There were almost complete discretion, what could be better?
Many feared Fane, he was a powerful magician and it would be a great mistake to contradict him in the arena.
After finishing with the rules, Fane announced the first two competitors: "Now that the rules are clear, it is time to name the two people who will start this tournament! Ladies and gentlemen! I'd like you to meet Dirk Lazoe and Fien Vierdag!"
No one had known about the first two participants before Fane's words, so this announcement was unexpected both for the audience and for the participants themselves.
Hearing her name, Fien stepped away from the wall without any emotion and walked slowly into the arena.
Watching this, Evan thought to himself, .
The girl had expected something like that, so seeing the stone blocks rushing towards her, she simply jumped over them.
Bam.
The stone blocks crashed into the wall, but the arena itself was unaffected. The blocks were stopped by the barrier Fane had mentioned earlier. They just turned into dust, that's all.
Dirk's attack wasn't successful, but he wasn't going to stop there.
Whoosh.
The young man stretched his free hand forward and while Fien was still in the air began to cast another spell - .
Whoosh.
The next moment, a thick stone bayonet appeared beneath Fien and rushed towards her at lightning speed. Thanks to the rules, Dirk was not afraid to pierce through Fien, so he didn't hold himself back. This attack could indeed do critical damage to the girl.
Nevertheless, Fien was not about to fall for such a simple attack. She arched sharply at a strange angle and pushed back with her hand from the stone bayonet that had rushed past her.
At the same moment, she began to gather her mana and prepare for the attack.