The day of the tournament arrived with bright sun and a tension that hung in the air like smoke before a fire.
Ji-hu stood outside the stadium with Yuna and Ara, staring up at the massive structure that dominated the city's central district. Thousands of people streamed through the gates while guild banners hung from every level and the noise of the crowd rumbled like a living thing even from outside.
Yuna: I've never been to one of these before.
Ara: It's just fighting with extra steps and more people watching.
Ji-hu: You've been to a tournament?
Ara: I've watched them from a distance when I needed to understand how things worked here. But I never participated because participating means being seen and being seen means questions and I don't like questions.
Ji-hu looked at her and noticed that she wore the same practical clothes as always but had pulled her hair back differently today. Still hiding. Still careful.
Ara: Are you ready for this?
Ji-hu: I don't know if I am but I'm going in anyway.
She nodded like that was the only answer that mattered.
They walked toward the competitors' entrance together.
---
Inside the stadium, chaos reigned everywhere they looked.
Hunters from dozens of different guilds crowded the registration area, some checking in while others argued with officials about rules and brackets and prize splits. The air smelled like sweat and leather and the sharp edge of anticipation that came before violence.
They found the registration desk and gave their names to an official who checked a tablet and nodded.
Official: Yuna, C-rank, affiliated with Nameless Guild. Ara, S-rank, affiliated with Nameless Guild. Ji-hu, C-rank, affiliated with Nameless Guild.
Yuna: They updated his rank already.
Official: The system shows C-rank as of last week. Unusual growth rate but it's in the records so it's official.
Ji-hu felt Ara glance at him but she didn't say anything.
Official: Your first round matches are posted on the boards over there. You need to be in the waiting area thirty minutes before your names get called.
They moved into the crowd and started searching for the match boards.
---
That was when Ji-hu heard the commotion.
A voice cut through all the noise, loud and aggressive and absolutely refusing to be ignored no matter what.
Boy: I DON'T HAVE THE REST OF THE MONEY BUT I'M FIGHTING HERE ANYWAY!
Ji-hu turned toward the sound and saw a young boy practically climbing over a registration counter at one of the secondary tables. He looked maybe thirteen or fourteen, small and wiry with messy hair and eyes that burned with a desperate kind of fury. Behind him, clinging to his jacket with both hands, a tiny girl had her face buried in his back like she was trying to disappear.
Official: Get down from there right now! You can't register without paying the full fee and that's final!
Boy: I PAID HALF SO THAT SHOULD COUNT FOR SOMETHING!
Official: Half is not full and rules are rules!
Boy: I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STUPID RULES BECAUSE MY SISTER NEEDS TO EAT!
The official tried to push him back but the boy grabbed the counter and held on so tight his knuckles went white.
Boy: YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING! I HAVE TO FIGHT IN THIS TOURNAMENT BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY WAY I CAN GET ENOUGH MONEY!
A hunter from one of the bigger guilds pushed through the crowd looking annoyed, a big man with an A-rank patch who clearly had no patience for delays.
Hunter: Someone move this brat out of the way so the rest of us can actually get registered here.
Boy: I'M NOT MOVING ANYWHERE BECAUSE I WAS HERE FIRST!
Hunter: Right now you're just a nuisance taking up space.
He grabbed the boy by his collar and yanked him off the counter hard enough that the kid swung wildly and connected with nothing but air. The hunter laughed and shoved him and the boy hit the ground and slid across the floor.
His little sister screamed.
Soojin: OPPA!
She ran to him and dropped down beside him with tears streaming down her face. The boy scrambled up and pushed her behind him immediately, his whole body shaking with rage.
Boy: DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER! DON'T EVER TOUCH HER!
The hunter took a step toward them and the boy stood his ground even though he had to know he couldn't win any fight against a grown A-rank hunter. His sister was crying behind him and he still didn't move.
Ji-hu stepped in between them before he even realized he was moving.
Ji-hu: That's enough right there.
The hunter stopped and looked him up and down, noticing the Nameless Guild patch with clear contempt.
Hunter: Who exactly do you think you are?
Ji-hu: I'm someone telling you to back off and leave them alone.
Hunter: You want to try making me?
Ara: He won't have to do that.
She appeared beside Ji-hu like she had materialized from the air itself, no sound or warning, just there suddenly with eyes that had gone completely flat and cold.
Ara: You need to walk away from here right now.
The hunter looked at her and something in his hindbrain must have recognized that this was not a fight he wanted because he spat on the ground and walked away without another word.
---
Ji-hu turned to the boy who was still shaking and still standing in front of his sister and still ready to fight even though it would have gotten him killed.
Ji-hu: Are you okay?
Boy: I didn't need your help at all.
Ji-hu: I know you didn't need it but you got it anyway.
The boy stared at him with defiance and exhaustion fighting for control of his face while his sister peeked out from behind him with tears still wet on her cheeks.
Boy: I had everything under control here.
Ji-hu: Sure you did.
Boy: I DID have it under control!
Ji-hu: What's your name?
Boy: Minjun. And this is Soojin who is my sister.
Ji-hu: It's nice to meet you Minjun. I'm Ji-hu.
Minjun kept staring at him like he was trying to figure out if this whole thing was some kind of trap.
Ji-hu: What happened back there at the desk?
Minjun: I paid half the entry fee because I saved up for months to get that much. But they won't let me register without paying the full amount and I don't have the rest of the money anywhere.
Ji-hu: How much more do you need?
Minjun told him and it wasn't a huge amount, not to someone who had been saving for guild registration, but to a kid alone with a little sister it might as well have been a fortune.
Ji-hu: Why do you want to fight in this tournament so badly?
Minjun: Because the prize money is real and winners get paid and even losers get something if they make it past the first round. I need that money for Soojin because she needs to eat and we need a place to stay that isn't a shelter and I have to take care of her no matter what.
Ji-hu: What about your parents?
Minjun: They're gone since the first minute.
He said it flat like a fact he had accepted so long ago that it didn't even hurt anymore.
Ji-hu: How old are you?
Minjun: Fourteen. Almost.
Ji-hu: And you're awakened?
Minjun: A few months ago. They said it's mass manipulation which means I can make things heavier or lighter around me and am Rank C , It's not strong yet but I'm getting better at it every day.
Ji-hu: That's actually a rare affinity to have.
Minjun: I don't care about rare at all. I only care about winning enough to take care of her.
---
Ji-hu looked at the registration desk and then at Minjun and then at the little girl who was still hiding behind her brother.
Ji-hu: Wait right here for a minute.
He walked to the desk and the official looked wary when he saw him coming.
Official: If you're here about that kid again I already told him—
Ji-hu: I'm here to pay the rest of his fee so he can register.
Official: What are you talking about?
Ji-hu: How much more does he still owe?
The official checked the tablet and told him the amount and Ji-hu pulled out the money from his own pouch and set it on the counter.
Official: You're not related to him at all though.
Ji-hu: No I'm not.
Official: He's not in your guild.
Ji-hu: No he's not.
Official: Then why would you do this?
Ji-hu looked back at Minjun who was staring at him with an expression caught somewhere between confusion and suspicion.
Ji-hu: Because he reminded me of someone I used to know.
The official shrugged and processed the payment and Minjun's name went into the system as officially registered.
Official: He's in now. Tell him to behave himself though.
---
Ji-hu walked back and Minjun hadn't moved an inch the whole time.
Minjun: Why did you do that?
Ji-hu: Why did I do what?
Minjun: You don't know me at all so why would you pay for me?
Ji-hu: I know you have a sister that you'd die for without thinking twice. I know you're here because you don't have any other choice left. I know you'd fight anyone who threatened her even if you knew you couldn't win.
Minjun: So what does that have to do with anything?
Ji-hu: So I had a sister like that once and I still do actually. She saved my life more times than I can count while I was too weak to do anything for her. If someone had helped me when I was in the same place you are now maybe I wouldn't have wasted three years feeling useless.
Minjun kept staring at him without saying anything.
Ji-hu: Go and fight in the tournament and win and take care of your sister. That's all the thanks I need from you.
Minjun opened his mouth and closed it and opened it again.
Minjun: You're really weird you know that?
Ji-hu: I've been told that before yes.
Minjun: But... thanks I guess.
The last word came out like it physically hurt him to say it.
Ji-hu: You're welcome Minjun.
Minjun grabbed Soojin's hand and started to pull her away but then he stopped and turned back.
Minjun: Hey Ji-hu.
Ji-hu: Yeah?
Minjun: I'm going to watch your fight so don't lose. I want to see if you're actually as tough as you act.
He ran off before Ji-hu could respond, dragging his little sister behind him through the crowd.
---
Yuna: That kid is absolutely exhausting just to watch.
Ara: He's got fire inside him though. He just needs someone to point it in the right direction.
Yuna: Do you see yourself in him at all?
Ji-hu: I see Hana in him more than myself. The way she was back then. Fierce and desperate and ready to fight the whole world by herself.
Ara: Your first match is posted.
She pointed toward the board where Ji-hu's name was listed for Arena 3 in fifteen minutes.
His opponent's name was right there next to his.
It wasn't an unknown after all.
It was one of Dohyun's A-rankers, the speed-affinity hunter who had attacked the dojo, the one Ara had wounded badly. He was healed now and his name was on the board and he was smiling from across the arena where he stood with Dohyun.
Yuna: They fixed the draw somehow.
Ara: Of course they did because Dohyun has been in Valiant for years and he has connections and money and favors and he can influence things like this.
Yuna: You don't have to fight him you know. You could withdraw and there's no shame in—
Ji-hu: No.
Ara: That's the right answer.
Ji-hu: If I run away from this now then they win and I'm done running away from anything.
He walked toward Arena 3 with his twin blades at his side and fire and water waiting inside him.
Behind him Ara and Yuna followed through the crowd.
And somewhere in the front row a loud fourteen-year-old with a little sister on his arm was already pushing his way to the best seat he could find, ready to watch and ready to learn and ready to see if this strange man who paid for him was actually as tough as he seemed.
The tournament hadn't even really started yet.
But the war already had.
---
END OF CHAPTER 22