After Catalyn and I had finished our coffee, we left the cafe, and had started heading to the inner part of the city, where the Training Center was located. 

We had hoped to meet our siblings while on the way there, but if we couldn't find them, I sent them a message through my Link, asking them to just go on ahead of us. 

Receiving multiple affirmations, except for Lena and Thanatos, we opted to head for the inner part of the city. 

Just before we had entered the city, Lena and Thanatos had went on ahead of us, with my older sister pulling the somehow unwilling Thanatos. 

Maybe they went on a date, heh. I had noticed them being more close than they used to be. 

Lena had apparently started it; she had approached Thanatos and started getting closer to him from there. 

Good for her, I can't imagine having that sort of vibrance around me at all times. 

Anyway, since those two were the only ones who didn't respond to my message, we went to look for them.

And there they were. Heh, and right in the middle of a hot moment. Thanatos was holding my older sister in his arms. 

I didn't know why, but Lena looked as if she was crying. 

We didn't want to ruin the moment, so I gave a shush gesture to Catalyn, who understood my message. 

The two seemed really into it. As Thanatos was holding the weeping Lena in his arms, he would occasionally pat her in the back softly. 

Time seemed to pass by as the two of us watched them exchange an almost intimate moment. 

But eventually Thanatos pulled back, and I saw that my older sister was pouting. Heh, she wanted more. 

But since they had finished by the looks of it, we started to approach them quietly.

The two didn't seem to notice us, and were still in their own world. 

So we were free to make a bit of noise, if it helped us get to them closer. 

"Hey there! You two seem to be having funnnnn!" I spoke up loudly, startling the two. 

"Eep!" 

Upon noticing that we were there, my older sister immediately retreated from her place beside Thanatos.

"Li-little brother! What are... you doing here?!" 

"Nothing. You guys didn't respond to my Link message, so I thought something happened to you guys. That's why we came over to check on you two."

"Well, we're doing fine, so can you leave, please!?" 

"No need to be so forceful. I guess we'll head on to the Training Center. Take care of her for me, Thanatos." 

The man bows towards me, stretching his torso all the way down. 

I was worried that he'd break his back doing that, but he seemed fine. I waved goodbye to my flustered sister, and we soon started heading to the Training Center, where the competition would be held.

*

It took us a while, since the place was still very much crowded. We had also tried looking for Aurelia, who had notified me that she was going to explore the city. 

No luck though. I did receive a positive reply from her when I messaged her. So we went on ahead.

We eventually found the Training Center, with the help of the teleportation devices. 

The day was rapidly approaching its peak. The sun had started to shine even more brightly. 

I could stand this heat, since the mist at the volcano was much more hotter, but it was still irritating.

 After passing security, who had let us pass the long line because I had mentioned that we were close friends with one of the competitors, we entered the air conditioned building. 

First thing I had noticed was that the main lobby was pretty empty. We went over to the reception, and asked a few questions about the event. 

Apparently the event would be held in the V.T.G, but I think I already knew that. 

This was done to accomodate the large hordes of people, and allow us to watch the event live while in the same "world" as them.

I asked some more questions, and found out that the event lasted three days, with today being the first. 

It was supposedly split into multiple sections, with the first one being a normal forging competition. 

The participants would each be given a certain item, and they'd be forging it within the time limit. Usually, it'd be a piece of armor or the edge of a blade.

But once I had gotten my fill of info, we headed over to the auditorium, where there were hundreds of seats lined up.

We saw that there were people already in them, and they were all wearing the V.T.G. So we moved as quietly as possible. 

We managed to spot Lucas and Gwyar in the sea of people, after they had waved their arms around like idiots. 

They hadn't worn their gear yet, maybe they were waiting for us. 

"Were you guys able to get a session in?" I asked the two. They had headed right for the Training Center the moment we got here, so they should've been able to.

"Yeah. But it was only about an hour or so until we were told that the competition was about to start." Lucas replied, holding the Training Gear in his hands. 

There were tables beside each of the chairs, with the Training Gear plopped on top of it, and a cord extending from the device to the inside of the table, which I assumed were charging ports.

"That's good. Let's put on the gear then, I'll just send a message to Lena and Thanatos telling them where we're seated. I hope they receive it this time." I mumble the last part of the sentence to myself, as I place the gear on my head. 

After a few seconds, I was logged in, along with my siblings. 

We were all inside a white space, an empty void that was purely white. 

I went over to the screen that was flickering in front of me.

Woo, I'm having some bad feelings about this. Maybe it's just trauma from the last time we got teleported.

Luckily though, everything worked fine. It seemed like the gear was modified so that we couldn't make our own worlds, but instead could only join existing worlds. 

There was only one at the moment. "Klolla Competition." I chose the only world available.

After my siblings did the same, we were teleported into the world. 

It was like going through a portal, but longer. Maybe it was loading and rendering the world, hehe. 

Once we got through though, I was astonished to find the environment we were in. 

This was right in the peak of Mt. Burnmist's activity zone. The heat that suddenly started creeping onto me was scarily familiar.

Luckily though, there was an option to lower the temperature, and another to grant us vision that could see through the mist, so there was no problem.

"Welcome! This is the 278th Klolla Smithing Competition! I'm your host, Bradley Macks!" 

A loud voice suddenly rang through the entire area. I looked to my sides and noticed my siblings, who were complaining about the noise. 

"The event will be starting in a few minutes! Until then, please sit tight."

Once the voice had subsided, I opened the screen that had popped up beside me. 

So the smithing was going to happen right above the volcano.

Not on top though, there was a large platform where the contestants would be doing their smithing. 

Tapping a few more buttons allowed me to see the arena. There was a tab that let you see into the arena live.

There were actually multiple cameras and drones stationed in the sky, allowing for 360° vision. 

So the viewers would be able to see every bit of the action. 

I looked to the top of the screen and noticed the timer counting down. There was only around a minute left before the competition was about to start, and I was worried, since three of us hadn't gotten here yet. 

But my worries were for naught, as Aurelia soon appeared right beside me. 

"Welcome. Did you see Lena or Thanatos on your way here?" 

"I did, my lord. They said they'd catch up soon. I last saw them at the cafe." 

"Well, I won't force them to join us, so give me a minute. I'll log off to send them a Link." 

Even if the competition was about to start, I didn't need to see everything that was about to happen. They'd probably only introduce the people participating. 

So after logging in, and noticing that Aurelia was seated in the row we were in, I took a few seconds to send the two lovebirds a message. 

I received an apologetic reply from Lena, stating that she didn't think she and Thanatos would be able to come. I assured her that it was fine. 

After replying back, I logged back in to the V.T.G, just in time to hear the announcer introducing the contestants. 

"... And over here on the left side, we have Andvari Hammzer! One of the few dwarves who have come from Hudra to attend the competition!"

I arrived just in time, as the voices of hundreds of people crowd the area. 

It seemed like the match was just about to start.