I won't have my laptop to be able to type out new chapters but I'll be trying to release a chapter a week (for the next couple weeks) when I can through my phone. Here the first part!

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Chapter 45: Tournament Arc! Part 1

The morning of the tournament had finally arrived. The reason why we came here. What we had worked for through our party to get better for. I knew now that our stats were better than most other people’s but sword skill wasn’t something measured by those stats. There was something to be said for technique in sword fighting. That was where I was more worried about.

Anyway we all walked over together to the Sword Fighting tournament area. Where I bid farewell to both Emi and Foxy. They had been placed in different seeds to me. These seeds were based on some type of qualifier that we did not enter. Therefore we were all at the bottom of each of our groups. I was on the right side while they were on the left. I was secretly a bit happy about this as it meant that I wouldn’t fight them until later on so I could warm up and get my eye into sword fighting.

I looked around and spotted the area that we would be fighting in which was an in-the-round stage where at the center of stage we would be fighting with audiences on all sides. This area where we would fight was circular and as per the rules you were not allowed to step outside the circle. I’d estimate the circle was around about 30 meters in diameter. There was enough space for a bit of maneuvering but not enough to run away from your opponent. Meaning you could potentially power through your opponent but they could just as easily put you on your ass with a counter. A thought came into my mind about worrying for Emi and Foxy but I tried to put that out of my mind as this was my battle and I needed to focus on it. Luckily there were a couple battles before me so I could see what other people use as strategies.

The first battle was between Gerald Smith who was a scrawny man with a rapier as a weapon against Mary Andrews that Human Animal Hybrid which had kept the ears but lost the tail from her Animal side. There would certainly be a faction in my old world that would have worshipped her as a god but I was more focused on the battle than what would take my fancy. Before the battle was about to start, there strolled a wizard who came onto the stage and cast a spell. He explained, “My fellow spectators the protective shield has been cast upon the stage. So that neither you’re the spectators nor the participants will have any long term injuries.”

The compere next to him continued the explanation, “For those new to the scene this damage will instead the damage will be converted into mental pain that will paralyze you the more you get damaged! Let’s get this battle started between, the Dancing like Classically trained Gerald Smith and the Ferociously Predatory Mary Andrews! May the best swordfighter win!”

He left the ring afterwards and in his place was a ref. Which gestured the two fighters to walk to the opposite sides of the circle. As both of them motioned that they were ready, the ref signaled the start of the match with a loud “BEGIN!” The crowd shouted their approval as the first of many matches began.

The two fighters had vastly different approaches to the fight. Gerald had opted to get into the classical stance with a fencing like posture while Mary Andrews dressed in red had more animalistic qualities and prowled around with her two one handed swords searching for the smallest chance to pounce. The intensity in the air was palatable as the competitors sized up their competition, looking for some cue, some reaction that would give the other the advantage. My heart beat with adrenaline as I saw the concentration and fire between the two. Mary Andrews took the first move after a hesitation step from Gerald. She pounced at him with a sword slash to bash the guard of Gerald’s sword away. But Gerald had foreseen this and had spun as his sword grip was bashed away and spun around with the power of Mary’s hit twice fold against Mary. Mary jumped away to cushioning some of the power. It was obvious she had taken some cues from Rock Style and incorporated them into her Lightning Style.

They once again sized each other up, trying to force the other to make the wrong move. After a couple minutes of a few jabs here and there traded by Mary and Gerald, Mary lost patience and charged at Gerald. She ferociously struck at the mid section of Gerald pushing him back to the edge of the circle with each hit. Gerald tried to push the divert the power away from each hit but with so many sword swipes he just couldn’t nullify all the sword strikes. He was soon littered with many small cuts and his movements were dulled as he incurred these wounds. It was both breath taking and painful to watch as Mary wore down the defenses of Gerald. With a final strike to bat his sword away, Mary used her shoulder to smash Gerald out of the ring.

The ref jumped in between Mary and Gerald as Mary went into finish the job, “Mary Andrews wins with a touch fault by Gerald!” Mary roared which drove the crowd wild as they cheered the ending of this intense match. I came back to my senses as I noticed I was sweating from the sheer adrenaline and excitement caused by watching two different sword styles clash and fight for supremacy. While Mary Andrews sword style gave her the advantage against the counter guard of Gerald it was still an amazing sight. I was pumped for my match and as I was looking forward to watching the next match, the backstage manager gestured me over for my match which would begin after the next match. I was lead to the waiting room and told to sit and wait quietly. I could hear the compere outside entertaining the crowd by playing to them while he was announcing the next matchup. My heart was beating so quickly I was afraid that I would not be able to contain my excitement. Was it excitement or was it actually nerves? I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down and prepare for my battle.

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