Author's Preface
Aaron led the team down to the basement of the Association. A mage stood waiting in the center of the room. "Is everyone ready?"
Aaron nodded. "Yup."
The mage raised his hands. A portal opened in front of them, humming with contained energy.
"Next stop, Berlin." He looked at the team. "Good luck."
They stepped through. Within seconds, the basement of the Columbus Association became the basement of the Berlin Association. The team walked out of the portal and stopped. To their left, portals. To their right, portals. Every direction, portals opening and closing as awakeners flooded in from nations across the world. The hum of energy and conversation filled the space in a dozen different languages simultaneously.
"GUTEN MORGEN!" A German awakener stood at a microphone near the elevators, his voice bouncing off the concrete walls.
"Please take the elevators to the main lobby. The Association leaders are waiting."
Darrien leaned toward Chris. "Guten what?" He lowered his voice. "Did he just secretly curse at everyone?"
Olivia's hand landed on his shoulder. "Behave yourself."
The main lobby was organized chaos. Fifty teams. Every major nation represented. Most groups were cordial, handshakes, nods, the careful friendliness of competitors who respected each other. Others had already found corners away from everyone else, evaluating the room with quiet calculation. Then a voice cut through the noise.
"Aaron!" A hand waved from somewhere in the crowd. Aaron spotted it and gestured for the team to follow. Arthur, Terrance and Olivia split off without a word. The man pushing toward them moved fast, already grinning before he got there.
He pulled Aaron into a hug the moment he was close enough. "Man, it's good to see you. I heard you're starting to push past the walls."
Aaron turned slightly. "Everyone, this is the leader of the Wolves Guild out of Minneapolis."
The man stuck his hand out toward the team. "Harry. Follow me. Let me introduce you to our guys."
He fell into step beside Aaron, glancing back. "I thought Columbus was sending two teams. What happened?"
Darrien and Chris looked at each other. The rest of the team's faces shifted, subtle, controlled, but unmistakably irritated.
Harry read the room immediately.
"Ohh." He raised both hands slightly. "Touchy subject. No matter." He waved it off. "We're going to be the ones to beat the Germans anyway." He kept walking. "Come on."
Harry gestured toward the two groups flanking him. "These are my guys. Ranked 45th and 6th respectively." He looked at Aaron. "Have you seen the other three US teams? I haven't spotted them yet."
Aaron opened his mouth to answer. A hand landed on his shoulder. "Ah. I see you made it."
Harry glanced at Aaron and read the situation in about half a second.
"Well." He took a step back. "I think that's our cue." He looked at the team. "We'll see you around. Good luck."
Harry and his teams turned and walked away without looking back.
Aaron turned slowly. "...Grayson. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
Grayson stood in front of him, relaxed and unhurried. Behind him, his team had arranged themselves facing them, close enough to diliberately try and intimidate them. The kind of positioning that wasn't quite a threat but wasn't nothing either.
"I just wanted to say hello." Grayson smiled. "We're all here representing the president. Shouldn't we get along?"
He gestured to his left.
"This is David."
A man stepped forward, stopping directly in front of Blue. "Ranked 15th on the solo rankings. I wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to get acquainted."
Blue looked up at him. "Ever heard of personal space?"
He took a step back and walked directly into Grayson. "Ah." Grayson's hand came to rest on Blue's shoulder. "Blue. My boy." His voice carried genuine warmth that didn't reach his eyes. "I heard you didn't need the doctors I sent. I'm glad to see you're well."
He looked past Blue toward the rest of the team. "We look forward to your performance." He looked between the team members. "As for the rest of you, just try not to embarrass the country. Yeah?"
Grayson's hand stayed on Blue's shoulder a moment longer than necessary, he leaned in and whispered. "One day you're going to tell me the secret to your miracles."
He dropped his hand and gestured for his team to follow. They moved through the crowd without looking back. The team watched them go.
Chris turned around first. "Well, that's one team I'm looking forward to beating."
The team nodded.
Aaron looked at them. "Forget proving anything. Just bash everyone's skulls in."
"Hell yeah," Darrien said immediately.
TAP. TAP. TAP.
A man stepped up to the microphone at the front of the lobby. Tall. Composed. The kind of person who had run large rooms for a long time.
"Hallo. My name is Klaus. I am the president of the EU Association."
He looked out at the assembled teams. Fifty groups from nations across the world, all packed into one space.
"I am happy everyone made it in one piece. Accommodations have been arranged for all teams. This evening we will close the night with a banquet." He paused. "The tournament begins tomorrow at noon. Enjoy your time today."
Klaus stepped back from the microphone. Titus stepped up. He didn't introduce himself. He didn't need to. The moment he reached the mic, the entire room shifted. Fifty teams, guild leaders from every nation, awakeners who had never been in the same room as him, all of them already whispering. Everyone knew the name. Everyone knew what it meant.
He looked out at the room. "Please shut the hell up and pay attention." He let the silence settle. "I won't repeat myself."
The room went dead quiet.
"Tomorrow each team will fight an S-rank monster. Same monster. Every team." He looked across the crowd. "Your score will be based on time, proficiency of abilities and team coordination. Half of you will fail. The other half move on to the real tournament."
He paused. "Questions?"
Nobody moved. Most of the veterans remembered the story from the last tournament. Supposedly, someone had raised their hand and Titus's shield had come within inches of taking their arm off. The newer teams had heard it too.
"Good." Titus continued. "The main tournament operates as it always has. The top 25 teams can challenge any team. Win, you take their position. Lose, you drop to theirs." He let that sit for a moment. "The Germans have held rank one for three years. That ends when someone in this room decides it does."
His eyes moved across the crowd and stopped. Blue felt it before he saw it. Titus had locked eyes with him directly.
"The devices used in the arena mean there will be no deaths. But pain is inevitable." He stepped back from the mic. "Go eat. Enjoy your night. Prepare yourselves for tomorrow."
The banquet was exactly what it was supposed to be. Teams mingled. Old friendships picked up where they left off. Stories were traded over food, training methods, gate runs, near misses that became legends in the retelling. Most of the teams knew each other from previous tournaments. The room had the energy of a reunion as much as a competition.
Blue stood in the corner by himself. Across the room, Eve and the rest of the team had fallen naturally into conversation with others from the American Association. He watched them for a moment, then looked away. Aaron appeared beside him and leaned back against the wall.
"Overwhelming, huh?"
"Yeah. A little." Blue kept his eyes on the room. "This whole thing makes you forget about everything happening outside."
"That's the point." Aaron crossed his arms. "It's designed to replace the olympics. Give normal citizens something to watch that tells them the awakened can protect them. Also to keep awakeners from getting complacent. Two birds. One stone."
Blue nodded slowly.
"How are you feeling about the competition?"
"There are some strong teams." Blue watched the room. "I'll have to be careful about when I use the divine energy." He glanced at Aaron, then smiled. "But nothing that's going to stop me from getting that guild."
He pushed off the wall and tapped Aaron on the arm as he passed. "Maybe after, if you're nice enough, I'll make you vice guildmaster."
He walked away toward Eve and the team without looking back. Aaron watched him go. A presence settled beside him. Titus.
Aaron didn't look over. "He's going to be a problem. A good one. But a problem nonetheless."
Titus said nothing for a moment. He just watched Blue moving through the crowd toward his team.
"Time will tell." His voice was quiet. "Whether that boy becomes a blessing or a curse."