Another Stupid Isekai

The two last days before the tournament was filled with two things. The first one was a visit to the arena. Each hotel went at separate hours, to avoid the possibility of a conflict between hunters. We drove in cars to the edge of a desert where the structure was located.

All we could see before arriving at the spot was quite tall walls made out of concrete. Those apparently were put there because of two reasons. The first one was to contain whatever the hunters would throw at one another during the clashes, and the other was simply sand.

As we found out later, there was also a part of large screens being installed, to show the audience from different parts of the world to us during fights.

The whole thing was quite big. More or less in the size of a football stadium.

There were two entrances, one on the outside and one inside the walls.. Both leading to the underground bunker. It was basically a long corridor with rooms on the left and right sides. Some for the hunters, others used to contain the broadcasting equipment and team, also a place for the medical team, and lastly bathrooms.

We took a peek inside each one. The waiting rooms were quite big, with a large couch, TV through which one could watch what was going on in the arena, a table to have a meal, several fridges. Empty at that moment, but were supposed to be filled with meals. The drinks were present, though.

After the tour of the bunker ended, we finally got outside to see the large space surrounded by the walls covered in large screens. It was filled with desert sand. There was a thick concrete slab underneath it, supported by columns going quite deep underground.

We spent there few minutes looking around. Some people tried the surface by running and jumping, but nothing more past that.

– So as you can see, the whole event will be happening here – said Salem Ali’s colleague.

A man responsible for explaining, and showing our group everything around that place.

– There are hundreds of cameras monitoring this place, so even though there will be no referee present, there will be one watching you. The fight will end if the referee calls that one participant can’t fight anymore, or when you resign yourself. There will be also additional drones flying around at a safe distance, so please don’t worry about any incursions. As I showed you before, the medical team will be present on the site, and the equipment is already there, so you don’t have to worry about any injuries.

– We have our means – Marcella pointed out.

– Yes… – he responded to her words. – Do you have any questions?

People looked at one another, and since nobody had any, the event finally came to an end. We returned to our cars and were taken back to the hotel.

The rest of the day somehow passed, but the next one was filled by Vikram. He knocked on my door very early in the morning. I opened the door and found out that he wasn’t alone. There was room service with him, pushing a cart filled with food. The man himself was holding some papers in his hands.

– Morning – he said. – I brought you breakfast and intel. I’m great, aren’t I?

I ignored that remark, and just made space for him, and the cart. Breakfast ended on the table, and the room service left us alone, so he could start his presentation, after pouring himself some coffee. He took a sip and then stepped out of the table with the papers in his hand.

– We have quite a number of people to go through, but first. I didn’t find a thing about teams from China. Nobody did. We only have the names. Not even full names, just partial. But I have quite a bit of information on both Brazilian teams and Americans. Let’s start with the first one…

He went through his papers quickly and found the right page.

– Team fifty-five, Paulo Silva, Pedro Silva, Dan Morris.

– I already know about the Silva guys…

– Ok, so only Dan Morris then. He apparently is an agile assassin and can vanish. This plus some magic. A bit of fire and earth plus telekinetic skills. All we know is that he can move his knives with the force of his mind.

– Ok…

– Then we have team seventeen: Manuel Santos, Seve Diaz, Carlos Sosa. All three are close combat enthusiasts. They are known for their synergy since they used to hunt together from the very beginning. Santos is quite dangerous with his spear. Diaz uses a heavy hammer. That’s pretty much it. We don’t know about Sosa anything more than that he uses a ‘weapon’.

– Ok…

– Next team… – he again went through his papers. – O! Here it is. Team Fifty-one: José Flores, Álvaro Moreno, Apolonia Ramos. Flores is good support. He can heal, and enhance the abilities of his friends, as well as hinders the enemies. We have no idea about the details. Moreno uses a sword and shield, no magic, while Ramos is a mage.

I grabbed a croissant, broke it in two, and stuffed it in my mouth, then nodded, so he would continue.

– Team Eighty: Juan Manuel Otero, Marcio Rey, Gervásio Pereira. The second strongest team. They are all well diverse and can fight in close combat, as well as use magic. Then we have Thirty-six: Matias Lima, Cristiano Costa, Isa Gomes. Lima is an archer and he enhances his arrows with magic. Costa wears heavy armor and a large ax. He fights at the frontlines but also uses earth magic. Gomes can heal.

[0)ᴠʟ I slurped my coffee especially loud as he finished.

– This is important, Peter. Listen.

– Mhm – I nodded and slurped it again.

He gave me a look.

– A third strongest team – he continued, as he slowly looked back at his notes. Team forty-three: Francisco Fernandes, Fabiano Montes, Nico Ribeiro. Fernandes is very dangerous. He can jump just like you. He uses knives to fight but also can do some ice magic. Montes is their tank. He is very strong and fights with a hammer and a large shield. Ribeiro normally uses guns, enhanced with magic, but during the tournament, he will be fighting with a bow. Apparently, he is very good with it.

– Vikram… This is almost useless…

– This is all we got, and you should use every advantage you can. Do you think we gave others better intel? They got the same shit.

– Are you worried about me?

– No? Why would I be worried about you?

I snorted, shook my head, and stuffed myself with the second part of my croissant as he went through the notes again.