The Systemic Lands

Chapter 480: Day 925 – Tournament Planning (3)

Chapter 480: Day 925 – Tournament Planning (3)

“Good morning, Emperor Michael,” Samantha said after entering my office and giving me a bow. She seemed to have partially recovered from our intense planning session yesterday. I gave her the afternoon to make arrangements and handle things while I focused on what would be the best monster to use for the tournament. Still, she seemed a bit stressed by the tone of her voice. It was probably just my imagination and Clarissa recommended her.

“Good morning, Samantha. Handle everything that we talked about and get everything ready for meeting with this committee today? Oh, please sit,” I asked. She took a seat and pulled out her notebook.

“Right now the initial rulesets that you devised are being copied over. They should be ready for our meeting shortly. Here is a copy,” she handed me a page of all the rules. It covered a lot of what we discussed. It would be a good starting point.

“A perfect starting point for our discussions today,” I replied and set the rule sheet down.

“The next item was a tournament space and architect. A plot of land has been set aside outside the inner city in the planned commercial district. I consulted with Supreme Governor Clarissa and she has agreed to allow the development of the coliseum there. A large square structure, four city blocks, two by two blocks including the streets between them. Each block is four by four building units wide and the roads a unit wide.”

“With the walls being two units thick, that will make the total arena size nine by nine building units and the arena floor seven by seven building units,” she replied. I considered the size and the size of the monsters I had fought.

“That is a good size for other cities, but we need to double it,” I replied.

“Double?” Samantha asked with her eyes wide.

“Yes. With the Perception stat people can see further clearly and I want room for the monsters to move around. Also, some of the monsters can get big. We will also have team battles. Double the overall size to four-by-four blocks and make the walls three building units thick.”

“I…of course. Let me just make that note, so I can ensure we will get that space within the city,” she said.

“Thinking ahead is important. Good first try there,” I said since I didn’t want her to get depressed.

“Thank you Emperor Michael,” she replied as she hastily made several notes in her notebook and put away several plans for the initial arena. “The next item are instruments and a national theme song.” I nodded at this. It was very important to have a theme song. That was something that happened before all sporting events, so we should have that here for the Monster Battle Arena.

“Right now, I have recruiters looking for people and have spread word. I am currently working on composing a national anthem. This is the preliminary draft,” she handed me a paper and I looked over it.

“Hmm, decent, but more bombastic. I want powerful energy coursing through the song. It is uplifting, but I want martial strength coming through. Also, I need a mention in there somewhere. Like a verse that says how brave and heroic I am. Again, a good first try, keep at it,” I said.

“Of course, Emperor Michael. I will make those corrections right away,” she said. Her afro was fraying slightly. She really needed to take care of it better. Since it was a unique signature.

“What’s next?” I asked.

“The information about the committee members including their demands,” she said and placed a piece of paper in front of me.

“Oh, we can ignore that. Just let me know if they are up to anything funny in the meeting,” I replied. Samantha stared at me for a moment. “Have you worked out an itemized budget yet?” I asked.

“It is in progress. The expansion of the arena will require additional calculations. I have the preliminary bracket outlines written up and the prizes,” she passed over another sheet.

“Hmm, twelve on twelve level 1 matches. Teams of four people, each running three monsters. Six on six, with two people at level 2. That would be the teams. Then one six monster round, level 2. And then three on three with one person for level 3. So, four brackets. Two team brackets and two individual brackets,” I noted.

“Yes. So, we need four sets of prizes. If we do Rods of Taming as the prizes for the winners that would be eight of them at eight million points. But we need to decide on the prizes for runner ups and possibly third place.”

“I am thinking nothing. Winner takes all,” I said.

“That would make people hesitant to commit a lot of resources to the tournament and risk their lives. That is one of the requests by the committee,” Samantha explained.

“Then they can give out participation trophies. No runner up prizes. Winners win. Losers lose. As simple as that,” I replied. “Still, we can have an exhibition match after. All of them versus a team of six level 4 monsters by me.”

“The danger will be immense,” she replied.

“Hmm, let’s add a one million point bounty for whomever lands the killing blow on my monsters. Winners only.”

“That brings up the question if people are allowed to switch around?” Samantha asked.

“Of course. They can switch around between matches. But no changing levels. Once someone competes at a level, that is the level they compete at. Aren’t the registrations for monster use like that?” I asked.

“No, they aren’t,” Samantha replied.

“Well that is dumb. A level 4 monster is a lot more dangerous than a level 3 monster. Let’s add the law that anyone using level 4 monsters needs to get that cleared first. Another permit and evaluation. That’s where the real danger starts. Also, a test, include a test for these people and an evaluation every hundred days or so,” I added.

“There already are regular evaluations, but a test? What would the test be on?” Samantha asked.

“Like one of those DMV tests to make sure a person isn’t an idiot. Anyone can pass them, but just the basic safety rules of using monsters,” I said.

“Very well, I will arrange for the law to be changed,” Samantha said. She was growing on me. Clarissa would have pushed back a bit, but Samantha was just handling everything like a boss. Better watch out Clarissa, someone is coming for your job one day.

“Also, if the opposing team wins in the exhibition match, give them another million points each. I will use monsters on at a time as well. So, they have to beat six in a row.”

“Will that be out of your portion of the treasury?” Samantha asked me.

“The bonus prize for wiping my team. Sure, but the rest will be covered by the city at a zero interest loan. If I lose that is on me. But the rest will be paid off by the betting. We need betting set up as well. The casinos or gambling halls should be interested. Charge any person running monster bets a fee for how large of transactions they handle.”

“I am sure you can work out the math for that. They have to be able to cover bets. The city won’t cover bets. Only ensure their safety. Anyone scamming or arranging bets without a license, kill them publicly,” I added.

“Would you prefer horrible torture or just a straight execution?” She had gotten that deadpan down just like Clarissa. I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

“Horrible torture, to make a point. The points must flow. Only the Imperial Government can issue loans right?” I asked.

“Yes,” Samantha replied.

“For the biggest betting groups or organizations, we can loan them points to cover any shortages, but I would prefer not to. Oh and pet sales,” I added.

“What?” she asked.

“I guess I didn’t mention this before, but I want to capture several level 4 monsters as pets and sell them. We can hold an auction after my match so teams can buy them up. I am sure even some cities will snap them up. That should pay for a lot. We will need a place to store them. That is why we need a bigger arena.”

“Also, only the capital arena will be allowed level 4 monster fights or higher. We have to keep our prestige. Oh, the level 3 winner can also get a level 4 and above monster license. That seems like a good reward. Otherwise, we can sell them for exorbitant amounts,” I added.

“That will go counter to Clarissa’s grinding plan,” Samantha said.

“Hmm. Then something else to make the level 3 prize even better. Oh, I know. They get to pick one of the auctioned monsters beforehand as their prize. That will really motivate them and make the level 3 battles even more intense,” I replied.

“I will make of note of that and arrange for an auction. There is the issue of announcing and refereeing such a large arena,” she replied.

“Just get someone to make some sonic energy constructs. I have seen the Astrologer do it. It isn’t that hard. Hmm, give me a second.”

WEEEWOOO! GARRRR!

“Well maybe a bit of work,” I said as Samantha had covered her ears. One of my protection detail went to the door to my office to let the other soldiers outside know that everything was okay. “But I can figure it out, and someone with enough stats can learn. Or maybe you can figure it out. I mean you seem to have everything else pretty much handled,” I said with a smile. That would give her something to do during her down time.

“That…I mean…thank you Emperor Michael, but I need to focus on this tournament to ensure it is success. And you refereeing and announcing would probably make it more exciting,” she added.

“Hmm, but what about the last match?” I added.

“Well you could do both?” she added. Oh, that would be a lot of fun.

“That’s a great idea. We are going to work together a lot more in the future, I can tell,” I added with a grin. Samantha was really on her game today. Clarissa 2.0 with afro. It was becoming more frazzled. Well no matter, I am sure it was fine.

“Now I just need to figure out six monsters that will utterly crush the competition. And figure out the best order for maximum drama and coolness. That is going to be a lot of work. Since I don’t want repeats and I need to ensure they are each impressive,” I considered.

“Oh, and my protection detail needs to enter. Hmm. Well I will get them level 4 monsters and maybe we can have a second exhibition match after the first, wouldn’t that be the best?”

“Yes Emperor Michael. That would indeed be the best thing ever.” Samantha totally got it. I was like ninety nine percent sure. This was going to be awesome. Now I just needed to figure out if I was missing anything.

“Oh we should make the arena terrain changeable at random. That will make it even better. That should be something you can figure out.”

“Ah, that might be a bit much for the first tournament. Perhaps in the future we could do something like that, but for now we need to focus on getting everyone to buy into this tournament and not cause issues,” Samantha replied.

“Just threaten them a bit. If this isn’t the best tournament ever or anyone causes problems, I will not be happy.” I paused for a moment. “But I am sure everything will just be perfect,” I added.

“Yes perfect,” Samantha said. Why was she sweating? I was talking about the committee, she was great.

“Don’t worry, you are doing a great job,” I added and she gave me a smile and nodded.