Artura looked down to Shandria and smirked. [color=red]"Come now Shandria, let him play his mind games. Everything matters in a battle from beginning to end, even before the combat starts."[/color] She stood up and looked down at the two, and up to the rest who were watching. [color=red]"Today we will find out who the strongest person in the guild is. You will earn little more than bragging rights, but there is more to it than a show of strength. As you all know, recently quests have been divided between five tiers of difficulty. All of us, myself included, are starting out at rank one and will work our way up. Becasue of this, rank four, and rank five quests will be temporarily prohibited. Rank two quests can be done if two or more rank one members take part, and a rank three quest can be done if three or more take part. What this means is, if you want to do the more difficult quests you will have to work together as a guild like never before. Not just becasue of a quest's difficulty, but because you are literally prohibited from doing quests above your rank without aid."[/color]

She looked around at the different members of the guild. Shandria, Kaito, Grey, Gareth, Silvia. Even her own daughter likely lurking around somewhere, and of course all the other members of the guild. [color=red]"I trust in all of you, to protect each other and use each other's strengths. But first you all have to see those strengths for yourselves. So this tournament will allow you to enter combat with your fellow guild members, and see first hand what strengths they offer. What power they hold and how reliable in a fight they are. There is no better way to get to know a person than to fight them one on one."[/color]

She sat back down on her "throne" aka big chair, one leg crossing over the other. [color=red]"That being said don't try to kill each other. There's not enough of us to be throwing our lives away in duels. So have a nice, clean fight."[/color] She held her hands up and motioned to each of the combatants. [color=red]"Grey, this is your brother. Kaito, this is your sister. For a short time, you will be enemies. But don't lose yourselves to rage in combat, and don't do anything you will regret. Hold back, and you will lose. Go overboard, and you will lose family. That is your challenge here today in this arena."[/color] 

Little did anyone know the little flags that made the circle of the arena, and by far gave plenty of room to move around, had runes etched into them. It was a protective barrier, and neither side could suffer fatal wounds. After leaving the circle, their bodies would be reversed in time to the point they entered, restoring their energy and mending any wounds. But it wasn't any fun if they knew that. If the threat of mistakes and death wasn't real, they wouldn't take it as seriously. And Artura needed them to see each other's feelings, even behind a mask. Every swing of the sword, every spell cast. If one was holding back for the other's sake, they would see it. They would understand the emotions going through their mind. The danger of hurting a fellow guild member, a member of their family. And at the same time, they would see their strength to push past that danger and win. 

Little else mattered now but a chance at victory, and the truest victory was bringing the guild closer together.