A few days had passed since Harden's encounter with Rory. His group had been training consistently with Hawkins until only a week remained before the tournament. During this time, all participants were required to go to the competition venue, where they would stay and practice until the tournament began. The reason for this was to ensure that participants wouldn't have interactions with unauthorized personnel — a rule put in place strictly because of the Cataclysmic Revolt.
The group made their way to the competition venue, where they met the other participants. In total, there were five participants from Earnshaw Falls. They were the first to arrive, since it was their home after all. Harden was met with familiar faces — the other two participants were Kyle and Wang Ling, who he had befriended in the Spider Abyss.
"I should have known you guys would be here," Kyle said with a smile.
The participants were then accompanied by a man wearing a black suit and thick sunglasses.
"Right this way," he said, leading the group into the competition grounds.
They went through the big, thick gates. The area beyond was vast and filled with stalls.
"It's quite busy here," Wang Ling commented.
"This area is mostly for the audience. You may come here when you're done settling in," the man said.
The group also passed other buildings beyond the stalls, such as Arcane, a merch shop, and others.
"Come on — we're far from your lodge," the man said, urging the group to keep moving forward.
They eventually arrived at the arena, which had a large number of properly arranged seats meant for the audience. In the center was the battleground — a platform elevated above water.
The group continued on until they reached their lodgings.
"Here we are," the man said.
This area had five small duplexes, each one having a sign in front indicating the continent it represented.
"I guess that's our building," Amy said, pointing at the building with "Earnshaw Falls" written in front.
"When you're done settling in, you may roam around if you please. The other participants will probably arrive later today or tomorrow," the man added before heading on his way.
The group entered the building and were taken aback.
"Isn't this supposed to be for one-time use?" Wang said, looking around at the well-furnished house.
"Seems like it's a parlor of some sort," Raizo said.
Beyond the parlor was a lobby with two doors on either side and a fifth door at the end. The group then entered various rooms and began unpacking.
"These guys weren't playing," Harden said, looking around his room.
"There has to be a training ground of some sort around," Harden thought, looking around. "Well, all that can wait for now. I just wanna sleep," he decided.
The next morning, the group wanted to explore a little bit, so they walked around until they stumbled across the arcade.
"I wonder what kind of games they'll have," Kyle said.
There were a lot of games, such as "Light Speed Tap," where players had to hit certain lights that popped up at random on a platform.
"That one clearly trains speed and reflexes," Harden thought.
"And this one is just strength," Harden said, looking at the punching bag in front of him.
"I need something more balanced," he thought.
As if the universe could hear him, he found himself standing in front of a game called Reflex Gauntlet. It consisted of an arcade machine where random panels would pop out, lights would flash, and alarms would buzz — you had to dodge, hit, or block incoming signals based on their color.
Red light? Dodge.
Blue light? Hit.
Green light? Block.
"Now this is perfect," Harden thought.