- Arthas -
I stood in the arena once more the next day.
This time the games were held in another stadium, outside the city, something prepared just for today.
The other participants for the second round of the T5 competition were standing beside me.
Around us, the stadium had changed, containing several stages, with a large stage in the middle.
In front of us, stood a tall man, the one who would oversee this stage of competition.
Morrison Ford, Grand Knight, level 56
This guy… he was almost at the level cap of Grand Knight.
He gave off a type of invisible pressure of sorts as one looked at it.
Was it some kind of skill or was it just my imagination?
He raised a hand and the participants quieted down. One of the Knights, perhaps a subordinate of his, brought a box in front of us.
"Alright, line up everyone. One by one, put a hand in the box and pick out a number. Only one number for each. If you try to be too smart and take out two, you will be assigned the higher one so be careful."
We did just that.
One by one, we picked up the numbers.
My number was 8.
I waited until everyone was done because that's when Morrison addressed us once more.
"Good. Now that everyone has their numbers, listen up. I will tell the rules only once so pay attention to it."
Everyone was silenced and listened to his words quietly.
"You will now face the opponent whose number adds up with your to 65. That means number 1 will face 64, 2 will face 63 and so on. Since there are only sixty three participants, one person will get a bye and pass on without having to fight in the first round. Is that understood?"
We nodded and he continued.
"After every match, you will be given time and items to heal back to your best state before the next match. There will be six rounds in total. Once you lose, you are out. Any questions?" He asked.
We shook our heads.
"Eight matches will take place at the eight stages around this one at once. Go on and line up." You will be able to see your numbers there."
We left the main stage and found our respective stages. I had another guy from the Knight Academy in my section named Edward.
Each stage had a T6 Knight as a referee on them.
I was on stage number two.
One to four and their opponents on stage one, five to eight on stage two and so on…
There were three other matches scheduled before mine and we were given a place in the stands to rest. I had time in hand so I took the chance to check out the levels and classes of other participants around me.
There were some known as well as some classes I hadn't seen yet.
A Level 46 Myrmidon.
He looked like a sword based class with a katana like blade and light armour.
He wasn't a level 50 so this guy must be skilled in what he does to make up for the level difference.
Looking by his gear, he seemed like a Speed Type fighter.
There was also a Heavy Warrior, the next step of Warrior, something which Suikazua-san was aiming for.
Getting through that defence is going to be hard.
The matches started.
On stage number two, the first match between number five and number sixty, a Magic Knight and a Master Monk, both at level 50.
Last time I didn't have much of a chance to see the fights of other participants so I decided to check out their fighting styles for myself.
This was my first time seeing a Magic Knight fight.
As the referee gave the signal for the match to start, both players moved simultaneously. Their speeds were not that fast… at least to me.
The Master Monk was faster than the Magic Knight but that was only until the Magic Knight raised his sword and a green aura enveloped him as his speed rose, surpassing even the monk's.
Both of them clashed in the middle of the stage, a slight shockwave passing around the area as the sword and the gauntlets clashed against each other, sparks of fire flying from the point of contact.
In terms of strength, the knight was slightly below the monk. The latter didn't want to give up the advantage as a white aura enveloped him. Both his speed and strength increased suddenly.
He was suddenly as fast as the Magic Knight with the boost while his hits were sending the Knight sliding back even when defended against.
The Master Monk didn't let down his attacks and maintained pressure on the Magic Knight who was having a hard time keeping up with the attacks.
"Do you know what Skills they are using?" I asked Edward who was sitting beside me.
"The Magic Knight? Wings of Wind. It increases the speed of the user by a large margin depending on the skill of the user. He looks like he has it at a high level too. Too bad it's going to end now. The max time to which the skill can be kept up is one hundred and twenty seconds."
"And the Master Monk?"
"That's probably some kind of aura based Skill. Monks specialize in those. It consumes stamina but increases their stats. Those muscleheads pack a punch… quite literally. His aura will fade in a bit too."
"Hmm." I nodded. It seems to be a similar type of skill like Armament Haki. "So it's a contest of who lasts longer, isn't it?"
"Well… normally I would say that is the case but you never know with those Magic Knights. They are all tricksters. The best way to fight them is to not give them any chances at all, just like the Master Monk is doing. If they get any chance to activate a skill, it could get ugly… ah, the Monk fell for it."
Sure enough the Magic Knight's aura faded and the monk kept his attack up, moving away and making a distance when his aura was about to fade, taking a moment to reapply the skill and rushing in once more.
It was only after a moment that I understood what Edward meant by the Monk falling for it. While continuing his assault, the monk suddenly paused, a look of pain passing through his visage.
The Magic Knight didn't let this chance go and his sword took on a bluish glow as it sparkled with electricity and he attacked immediately.
I checked the Monk to know what was going on and found that he was paralysed.
"When backing away from a Magic Knight, always make sure they are disoriented or they will pull this kind of stunt. The guy probably used the Volt Body Skill, a very rare skill for Magic Knights. It has a certain chance of causing paralysis for three seconds when attacked. Normally, when the person is paralysed, Aura Type Skills get dispelled."
Sure enough, for the next two minutes, the monk was on the mercy of the Knight who rained skill after skill on him till he gave up.
"Seriously, these tricksters…" Edward shook his head although the guy was smiling.
"You know that he will probably be up against you in the next round, right?" I asked.
"Yeah… it's going to be a pain in the neck… but I'll manage." He chuckled. "I still have to fight you in the round after that."
"Oh… I guess I will have to win my next match then." I smiled back at the guy.
It was his turn next.
His opponent was a Templar.
A Lord Knight vs a Templar.
It was my first time watching a real Templar at play too.
This time I understood what Kenneth had meant back then… that in a fight among Knight Trees, Lord Knight tree almost always wins.
The Templar had nice skills, basically focused on healing, increasing defence and Holy Attribute attacks… they were however all useless against the sheer speed and brute attack of a Lord Knight.
The Lord Knight Tree's essence is violence with surgical precision and Edward showcased it perfectly.
It was not to say that the Templar was bad. It was completely the opposite instead.
The guy was good.
Far better than many players I had seen in Llyne, better than even Kenneth and other Sword and Shield Knights I had fought against. His skills were trained to a high enough level and his technique was good too… but it just wasn't enough.
He was trashed aside by Edward's attacks, his defence torn apart. All his defence increasing buffs and healing did was increase the time of that trashing.
The match ended in Edward's victory
Next was the turn of the Heavy Warrior vs Great Swordsman, an advanced Class of T4 Swordsman. It was an interesting fight.
High defense vs high attack.
Heavy Warrior was very good in defense, good attack but slow speed while the Great Swordsman had a very good attack and high speed but low defense.
It came down to who could last longer and the Great Swordsman proved to be the winner in this by a bit.
Finally it was my turn and up against me was the Myrmidon.
I stepped up on the stage under the cheers of the crowd and faced the guy in front of me. Light cloth armour and samurai sword. He gave me a nod and took a stance, bending his knee slightly, waiting for the signal to charge towards me.
I drew my sword and took my stance too.
The referee gave the signal and almost instantly the guy charged towards me.
My first thought about him was… fast.
The guy was probably one of the fastest enemies I had faced yet.
However I was never afraid of speed. Observation Haki made sure I wasn't taken by surprise and the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū style of fighting was based on speed and fast sword draws. Both gave me the capability to react to high speed attacks readily.
I clashed with him and found the weakness of the guy immediately.
Strength.
His strength and defense was lacking… a lot. His blade was repelled as soon as our swords clashed against each other and his balance looked like it fell through before he quickly, in a show of incredible reflex, regained his balance and attacked me from another angle.
I parried his attack and the clashes started between us.
This time however I held back a bit, clashing with him and matching his attacks, trying to counter him with my swordsmanship.
It was rare to get such fast opponents and my Observation Haki and Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū level was rising. Since I was going to get healed anyways, I took some time to grind my skills for now.