I was going about my business when Hatta contacted me through the coin.

- Peter? I have some news.

- What? What's going on? - I asked recognizing his voice.

- There is agent Bharat Kumar here in my office, alongside agent Wolf Linton. They informed me that the countdown to the tournament is to be announced today, and they want to confirm your entry.

- Ok...

There was a second of hesitation on my side, as a stream of possibilities flashed through my mind. I saw myself bugged by irritating reporters every day throughout my life from this point forward. I saw people wanting my signatures, pictures and basically going nuts around me. The complete end of privacy.

- You can confirm it - I said, although I could feel my throat twitching as the words emerged.

- Ok. Are you busy, or do you have time for the details? - he asked.

- Hit me.

- Everything is going to be hosted on the Egipt's part of the Sahara desert, and you will be hosted by the country. There have been some issues among the countries with the gates, and they decided to make it a team competition. Up to three people in each team.

- My team is me - I replied to that, interrupting him.

- Ok, I'll let them know that... They have some intel on other participants, not much though. Maybe you should come over and hear them out?

- Fine, I'm coming.

- Ok, see you.

- Yeah, see you.

The connection disappeared. I sighed, as I didn't expect this whole thing to happen so fast. The pressure from people around the world had to be immense since they made the event happen so fast.

The fact that they made it a team competition meant only one thing, they didn't want any casualties among the hunters. It was understandable.

I changed my route and started moving towards the Wuxia's headquarters. I passed by the guards and went all the way to the office of their leader. Nobody even bothered trying to stop me.

I found Hatta in the middle of the conversation, sitting on his desk, while both agents were standing in their formal attire, with jackets taken down because of the heat.

- Hi.

- Morning Peter - said Wolf.

- Namaste - said Bharat.

- I heard you have something for me - I said to them.

- We do, but first... Do you really think that competing alone is a good idea? - the IB agent didn't seem convinced.

- You are scared I might lose? Or are you scared I might die?

- As a matter of fact, both. It's reckless, Peter. We know very little about the powers hunters from behind other gates can do.

- But you know something - I interrupted him.

- Yes - he agreed - but it's only a little. They might be as strong as you.

- You should have more faith, I'm the messiah - I replied to that.

My comment made Hatta smile, as he knew very well that I thought this whole thing was nonsense more than anybody else, and yet it was me pushing this narrative.

- I'm not a religious man - said Bharat. - I believe in information, and our's are limited. We should take it easy. Make sure we don't suffer any casualties.

- He is right - said Wolf. - We know you are strong, but being overconfident is not wise.

I noticed that he was very carefully picking his words. Normally he would probably just go with 'stupid'.

- The decision has been made - I informed them. - Now give me what you have o the other guys.

Both of them sighed, and I used the time to make a throne out of void essence for myself, and sat on it, crossing my legs.

- Adam Silvas, they call him THE Fire Mage - said Wolf. - He is the strongest among the people from behind the Hungarian gate. He can use earth magic, barriers, and obviously fire. We only heard that burning down an entire city wouldn't be a problem for him.

I nodded.

- Gavriil Semenov, the one from the Russian gate. Apparently, he is the only living person in that city. He is a very concerning persona. We know only that he can raise people from the dead, have strange powers that can influence others' minds, and he himself doesn't seem to be entirely alive. He killed over three thousand Russian soldiers that tried to take over his city - said Bharat. - I'm mainly concerned about him. Since he can raise people from death as his own troops, he ming try to kill people during the tournament.

I needed a moment to think his words through. There was a chance of some of my friends encountering the guy, and him killing somebody.

- Put me against him - I said after a moment of silence.

- Really? - asked Wolf. - Peter, you don't have to prove anything...

- I'm not proving shit. If he goes against somebody else, he might kill them. He won't do that with me. I'll eliminate him before anything bad happens.

- Are you sure about that? - he asked again.

- Yes.

- Then I'll pull every string I can.

- Mee too - added Bharat.

Everybody went quiet for few seconds, digesting what just happened.

- Then we have Paulo and Pedro Silva from the gate located in Brazil - Wolf restarted the talks. - They work as a duo and are not related, despite the same surname. Paulo is an expert in close combat. They call him Indestructible, as, apparently, no matter what you do to him, he won't get wounded. Pedro on the other hand is more of a glass cannon. He uses various types of magic.

- I don't know about the CIA but we don't have anything bout China's gate - said the IB agent.

Wolf just shook his head.

- What about the American gate? - I asked looking at Wolf.

- We want to cooperate - he assured me.

- Then cooperate, and tell me what you have.

There was a moment of hesitation in his behavior, but he gave up eventually and sighed heavily.

- I'll bring you a report about our participants later. Is that ok?

I nodded.historical

- You could just say it right here, right now - said Bharat, raising his eyebrows.

- I've never been there, so I have to pull the information from other sources. The American gate is handled by a different branch - was Wolf response.

I wasn't sure if he was lying or not, but the fact that he didn't really want to share what he knew with Indian intelligence, was obvious.

- So that's all you know? - I asked them.

Both nodded.

- Other hunters showed up their inhuman physical capabilities, a bit of magic here and there, or some other skills, but it's hard to tell more from just that - Wolf explained. - If you want a detailed report, I can get you one.

- No, it's fine. I'm only interested in the big fishes anyway.

Bharat sighed again.

- Just don't get yourself killed, ok? - he asked.

- I'll be fine - I assured him.

He then gave a look to Hatta and left. Wolf followed soon after. When the door closed and only the two of us was left in the room, the leader of Wuxia asked:

- What do you think?

- I think that Wolf would prefer not to talk about the American gate. I'm not really sure why, but the American government might be trying something. I will know more when he gives me the report he promised.

- He is afraid of you...

- I threatened him more than once.

Hetta shook his head.

- You are unbelievable, Peter. Realy unbelievable... Do you really think it's a good idea to go after the big fishes? I know you are strong and everything, but you don't have to prove yourself to anybody.

- I'm not proving shit, Hatta. I'm trying my best to cover our people. We know very little about the other gunters, so It's safer for me to face them, than for example Nil, Hailwic, or Nobuo. I'll be fine but they? I don't want to lose them.

- So you are going to throw yourself at the enemy to protect ours? - Hatta rose one of his eyebrows. - How noble.

- Don't be so cynical. I'm not trying to be a hero here, or getting the attention. I want to make sure nobody dies.

- Well, for what it's worth, I hope everything will work out. To be honest, I'm against this whole tournament idea, but I guess it has to happen.

- Yeah...

- Anyway... I have few things to do, so if you could - he waved his hand at me, clearly gesturing me to leave.

I smiled at him and left, shadow walking past the door, and making the throne disappear.

I walked the rest of the way outside, thinking. There was a lot of trouble approaching, even in the most fortunate chain f events, and I needed to make sure nobody from Arc gets hurt.

I knew that would be a hard thing, considering how much pride some of our people had, and the format of the tournament.

The day came to an end with 24 357 720 points remaining on my account, and 21 class points.