The banners of the four schools flapped in the flagpoles, and the trumpet music filled the air with a celebratory tune.
A sea of people swarmed inside a stadium. The mood was exhilarating. This might be the first time ever that the mere representation tournament received so much attention from citizens of Irio.
The sun was high in the sky today. It was a perfect day for the stadium's ceiling to stay open and let the warm rays shine down on the stage below.
Smiles were present on everyone's faces.
"Karuza High! Karuza High! Karuza High!"
The chants echoed through the stadium.
At that moment a bus carrying the members of Karuza High entered the underground parking lot and came to a stop at the end of the driveway.
With the door opening, they all departed the bus with their bags in hand. They were already wearing their Karuza High jerseys—white with the beautiful black flowers printed on them.
"Sabbath, don't forget the bag with water bottles!"
Coach Jin called out.
Sabbath picked up the bag with water bottles and followed the rest of the team off the bus. It was surprising that he was able to fit through the door with his bulging body.
"Alright, let's enter the stadium!"
Coach Jin said, and the rest followed closely after him, entering through the parking lot's entrance that was only reserved for the fighters.
Kiernan walked with one hand in his pocket, white headphones blasting music into his ears. He hummed along to the beat quietly, getting himself into the zone before the fights.
It still wasn't certain that he needed to fight today, but he wanted to be prepared for anything.
After entering the stadium, they made their way to their locker room, where they all started their own pre-fight ceremonies.
Kiernan dropped his bag on the bench, sat right next to it, and then flexed his fingers before cracking each one of them individually.
"How are you feeling?"
Sabbath asked, but based on the smile on his face, he knew that he must be in the best state of his life right about now.
Based on his calculations, in the last nationals, he was most likely only about sixty percent prepared with the current strength he had back then.
The nationals was quite soon after his reincarnation, after all, so he couldn't be as well prepared as he could.
It would usually take fighters months of nonstop preparation to be near a hundred percent state for the fight, but that perfect hundred percent was very hard to achieve, almost impossible.
However, now Kiernan was quite confident that he had achieved that hundred percent.
At that moment, through the screen in the locker room, they saw the match-ups for the representation tournament.
[Karuza High vs. Sumino High]
[Irio High vs. Kaito High]
"We'll be fighting first!"
Coach Jin stood up and clapped his hands loud enough to get everyone's attention on him.
"In the first match… Julia, Dominic, and Julian, you'll be fighting."
Julia was in the middle of wrapping her fists with the white tape, but when she heard her name come up, she stopped for a moment and looked up with a mix of excitement and nervousness.
She wasn't new to the tournaments, but this was her first team-based tournament, and it brought a new level of nervousness.
She couldn't afford to lose. She was carrying the pride of Karuza High, and as everyone had high hopes for them, she couldn't possibly drag down the name with her own poor performance.
Dominic looked calm and rubbed his hands together to warm them. He wasn't the same person who lost to Kiernan back then.
He'd grown as a fighter.
Julian hummed to himself with a smile.
He was in the roster for the first match just as a guarantee that an upset wouldn't happen.
If someone, by some miracle, went all the way to him, he would be the cornerstone of the team so that they wouldn't lose by any means.
Jonathan wasn't pissed about not being chosen. He knew why he wasn't. He was the third main fighter of the team, so he had a lot of opportunities to fight in the nationals.
"We're being called to the stage. Let's do it!"
With spring in their steps, they left the locker room and headed to the stage amidst shower of applause from the spectators.
"And there they are!"
A local commentator shouted through the microphone as Karuza High entered the stage amidst all that applause.
"This is this year's Karuza High team, which has been reported to be the youngest since their school's creation, but it is clearly the strongest!
"Their ace, Kiernan Hunter, is walking at the back, but most likely all thousand eyes are on him as everyone is excited to see what he'll be able to accomplish in the nationals!"
As everyone started to get seated on the benches, the other team, Sumino High arrived from the other entrance, quite nervous, yet excited looks on their faces.
When they saw Kiernan sit on the other side, the fighting spirit left their eyes quickly, but they already knew that they had zero chance of winning today, but it was still a great chance to fight against a powerhouse school!
Kiernan took out his phone after a sudden text message. It came from Karma.
[Karma: Can you meet up with me quick at the #9 VIP Room?]
'He wants to meet me now? He's been acting strangely for past few days back in home, and hadn't spoken much, but now he wants to talk? Weird.'
Kiernan pocketed his phone, and said.
"Sorry all, but I guess I'll catch up with you guys later. I'll have to go meet someone."
"Is everything alright?"
Coach Jin asked with a frown.
"Yeah, I'll be back very shortly."
Kiernan said, and then headed out of the arena quickly. It made some spectators sad because by the looks of it, he wasn't going to fight in the first match.
It was to be expected, but they were very excited to see him fight, so they were somewhat disappointed.
Sumino High's members let out a sigh of relief, but they knew that even without him, winning was still far-away dream.