Zeke nodded and followed Jorgel out of the room. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Maximilian scooping up Maya and bringing her back to his parents. Zeke was certain that he could count on the old man to keep an eye on his family while he was gone.
Jorgel seemed to notice that Zeke was thinking about something and decided to leave him alone. Zeke appreciated the sentiment and started to digest all that he had learned just now. He had had no idea that adopted members were treated so poorly. His own experience had been vastly different. Maximilian had treated him like his own grandson from day one.
Zeke thought about the implications of this new revelation. Something else that Roland had said bothered him even more.
"Once a commoner, always a commoner," he had proclaimed. It was very telling that not one of the gathered noble descendants had refuted this claim. Was this really how the empire worked? Did it really not matter how talented, smart, or hardworking a commoner-born Mage was? Would it really not make any difference?
The two of them exited through a stone gate and Zeke found himself in a place he had only ever seen from afar. They had arrived on the giant balcony the announcer usually stood on. From this vantage point, Zeke could look down on the entire stadium. He could see the fighting ring surrounded on all sides by the commoner seats. Higher above, in the private lounges and boxes, were the noble seats.
The moment the two of them stepped out on the open balcony, the crowd began to stir. They must have been waiting for the interviews to begin. Zeke was getting a little nervous upon being stared at by thousands of people. Seeing his distress, Jorgel took charge of the situation.
"Stay calm, you are gonna be fine," he said. "Just go over there and stand in the center of those crystals."
Zeke looked at where the announcer had indicated and found a slightly raised spot that was ringed with purple shining crystal. The formation looked similar to what he had seen in the engraving chamber. To distract himself from his nerves, Zeke observed them closer. The crystals were all pointed toward the raised platform that he was to stand on. He could see that they were not all the same. They glowed in slightly different colors and he noticed that the spells that were etched into the crystals differed as well.
"What are those crystals for?" he asked. The arrangement seemed elaborate and he could not tell what functions the crystals served.
"Ohh that? That's just for recording your appearance and voice. The crystals will capture images and sounds and then transmit that signal to all the light screens you see around the stadium. There is also a screen downstairs, so your family and friends will be able to hear and see you up here," Jorgel explained.
The man was fumbling with a multitude of levers and buttons as Zeke made his way over to the raised spot. He climbed onto the platform and waited for the announcer to start the process.
"How does it work?" Zeke asked.
"I'm not sure I understand it enough to explain," Jorgel admitted. "This piece of magical engineering was not developed in the empire, you see. We bought it from the merchant union. Those merchants love their magical gadgets. You won't find our empire waste any time on such trivial projects."
Zeke didn't agree with this stance. In his opinion, it would be a mistake to look down on such a useful tool. You could never be sure how useful an invention would turn out to be in the end. Had he not also come up with his meditation technique by accident?
Outwardly Zeke merely nodded. However, he made sure to scan the arrangement of the crystals and their engravings. He would later go over his recordings and find out how the device worked while running.
Jorgel pressed one final button and then stepped up to the edge of the balcony. With the help of his funnel-shaped device, he projected his voice unto the entire stadium.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, honored nobles! I have brought to you the first of the contestants. You have all been waiting to hear and see more of him and here he is: I present to you EZEKIEL! VON! HOHENHEIM!"
There was a thundering cheer coming from the crowd of commoners and a scant few claps from the ranks of the nobles. He could make out Sophia and Viola cheering loudly from their private area. The sight of the two brought a slight smile to Zeke's face and he waved at them. At that moment he noticed his face and upper body appearing on the four giant screens that were located at each of the cardinal directions of the stadium.
On the screens, it appeared as if Zeke had been waving toward the entire crowd and another round of applause was his answer. He felt a bit awkward about the misunderstanding. He had not meant to wave at everybody, but there was little he could do. He looked at his two friends again and instead of making a big gesture, he just winked at them. He was convinced that the crystals would not catch the slight movement.
To his surprise, the slightly delayed image on the screens was zoomed in on his face in the next moment. It was a close-up of him winking at the camera in a flirtatious manner. Zeke was flabbergasted. He had not meant for that to happen! Before he could remedy the situation in any way, there was a loud shriek from the majority of the girls in the stadium.
Zeke merely sighed and tried to remain as stoic as possible for the rest of the interview. Who knew how the crowd would interpret his behavior otherwise? Jorgel had an amused smile on his face as he observed Zeke's antics. He decided that it was time to step in and continue with the interview.
"Let's start the first official interview!" he proclaimed. "First question: is it ok if I call you Ezekiel?"
"Sure," Zeke responded.
"Great, great, so tell us Ezekiel, who do you believe will win the tournament?" the announcer questioned.
"I am going to win," Zeke answered without any delay, to the cheers of the crowd.
"No hesitation, I like that," Jorgel praised. "Let's talk about your next opponent. What do you think of Roland?"
Zeke thought about his answer for a moment. He was unsure of how much he should say in front of so many people.
"I don't like him as a person if that's what you are asking," he finally replied.
"Can you elaborate more on that? What is it that you don't like about him?" the announcer prodded.
"Pretty much everything, if I am being honest. For example, he has proven to have no morals during the battle royale," Zeke explained. There were boos and jeers from a certain section of the crowd. Zeke assumed that those would be Roland's fans.
"Some people claim that you are no different. You have admitted that you let the betrayal happen. How can you justify your own actions while denouncing Roland's character?" Jorgel asked.
Zeke thought about his answer for a moment. He had to be careful how he explained his reasoning. It was less important to have a sound argument than to win over the crowd.
"It's a matter of priorities. My top priority in the battle royale was my group. To the people who claim that I was wrong to put my group first, let me put you in the same situation. Let's say your carriage gets attacked by bandits. Are you honestly going to tell me that there is a single one of you that would abandon your family to save a stranger? Of course not! In the same way, I could not put my team in danger to save an alliance that was doomed to shatter no matter what I did."
Jorgel took a moment to think over Zeke's statement. This pause was also meant for the crowd to have time to figure out how they felt about this line of reasoning.
"Wasn't that the same for Roland as well?" he finally asked.
"Yes and no. Roland's only priority was his own selfish benefit. I won't even claim that it is wrong to look out for oneself. I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with, however, is that Roland will always choose to abandon his team, his friends, and even his family if he stands to benefit from it. I find his conduct distasteful."
"You speak with such familiarity about his character. Do you know Roland well?" Jorgel asked.
Zeke shook his head. "We had barely any contact before today. But in the same way that I could see his betrayal coming, I can also predict how he would behave in other situations. It is not that hard to predict another's behavior if the person in question is as faithful to one's bestial urges as Roland is."
"Ouch!" Jorgel commented with a smile. "You really seem to dislike the young master Erdherr. It appears to me that your dislike for him has greatly risen since the end of the battle royale. You seemed to be almost indifferent to him back then. Has something happened between the two of you?"
Zeke paused again. He didn't want to go into any details about their argument earlier. It would appear to the crowd as if he was complaining about his problems like a child. Zeke looked straight into the crystal that was displaying his face on the screen and let out a dramatic sigh.
"I am just tired of it, that's all," Zeke stated mysteriously.
"What are you so tired of?" Jorgel asked curiously. The crowd also broke out into a murmur upon hearing that cryptic statement. Zeke took his time before answering. He looked up into the sky, observing something in the distance that nobody else could see.
"When I came to the capital city a year ago…" he started, "I had thought that I would become one of the heroes that I had always heard about. I wanted to learn magic, make friends, and bring glory and honor to my family and to the empire of Arkenheim."
Zeke let his voice wash over the crowd. The entire stadium was deathly quiet, even after he had paused his speech. The people were listening attentively for his next words.
"But that is not what happened. From my first day at school, I was always told that I was worthless. I was told that no noble family would ever adopt me. I was told that multiple affinities would only slow me down. I was told that my Blood affinity was evil and that I was evil for having it."
Zeke looked around the arena. He let his gaze travel over all the commoners that had gathered here today as he made his next point.
"…But most of all I was told that I was nothing but a commoner."
The crowd reacted instantly to the statement. Most of them lowered their heads, but Zeke could see the irritation on the faces of the gathered commoners. Jorgel also saw this and was about to divert the subject, but before he could, Zeke spoke up again.
"But that didn't matter much to me," he said. "I knew the way forward, after all. I would only need a noble family to adopt me, right?"
"Right!" the crowd yelled back.
"Wrong!" Zeke stated calmly, to the surprise of the crowd.
A wave of confusion swept through the stands. What did he mean by that statement? The crowd waited for Zeke's explanation with baited breaths. In this situation, not even Jorgel dared to change the subject.
"You see, that was what I believed as well," Zeke explained with a calm voice. "But not even half an hour ago, I was informed that every commoner that gets adopted by a noble family is seen as little more than a servant. I have heard this from the mouth of my next opponent, Roland, himself.
"Now, you might say that he does not speak for all the noble families, and you would be right. But none of the other nobles gathered there opposed his statement. This leads me to believe that this is a practice employed by most of the noble families."
There was another wave of unrest coming from the commoners, but this time Jorgel stepped in.
"So, where are you going with this, Ezekiel?" he asked with a sharp tone.
"You asked me what I am tired of, did you not?" Ezekiel stated more than asked. Before he could be interrupted again he immediately continued, "Let me state it clearly: I am tired of not even being given a chance. I am tired of being belittled by those far beneath me in skill and intellect. But most of all I am tired of being seen as an inferior Mage, just because I was not born into a noble family. However, all of that will end today!"
Jorgel and the crowd were both stunned by this grandiose claim. How would he even go about changing something like that?
"And how will you bring about this change?" Jorgel asked. The man seemed to have gotten over his earlier anger and now seemed to be intrigued. Zeke had to leave it to the man, Jorgel had an eye for what the crowd wanted to see.
He looked into the recording crystal one last time and stated with a voice that was full of determination and certainty.
"Not only will I, as a commoner-born Mage, win this tournament, but that is not all. For everyone betting on the tournament, I hereby guarantee you that the final match will be me against Leo. There will be no Feuerkranz, Wellenrufer, Steiner, or Windtänzer in the final round. It will be Ezekiel against Leo. Born with nothing but talent and grit. Let them claim their superiority after only the two commoners are left standing!"
The crowd erupted into an uproar the likes of which Zeke had never heard. In a moment, the stadium was on its feet. Zeke raised one of his fists toward the sky and the crowd mimicked the motion as they cheered.
Just as he was about to step down from the platform, Zeke heard a new chant rise up from amongst the commoners. It started out quietly but gained momentum with every passing moment. Before Zeke knew it the entire stadium was cheering a single name.
"Blood-Dragon! Blood-Dragon! Blood-Dragon!"