The first applicants started arriving in the late morning. Unlike those sponsored by the guilds, the preliminary candidates all had jobs which they had to attend to, especially during the festival. According to tournament rules, a candidate needed to wait half an hour between battles. For that reason, Dallion and Gola flipped a coin to determine who would fight first. Dallion won.

The battle was by far less intense than the first one. The challenger—a professional tavern awakened—didn’t seem all too keen on moving on to the next round. If Dallion had to guess, she had either gone as a bet or a means to test herself. It was clear that she had skills. The moment the fight started, she instantly dashed at Dallion, daggers in each hand. For some reason, a lot of the younger awakened preferred to fight with two weapons than a main weapon and a shield. There was no way of telling whether that was some new fashion trend, but it made things considerably easier for Dallion.

Avoiding the first series attacks with his guard skills, Dallion resorted to occasional counterattacks, slowly but reliably chipping away at his opponent’s life. In truth, he was mimicking what he remembered from Gola’s attacks, integrating them in his own fighting style. Normally, that would be considered a bad idea, but with opponents at this level, it wasn’t an issue.

It barely took Dallion a few minutes to bring his opponent to ten percent health. At that point, pretty much everyone in the realm knew that the fight was over. The woman attempted one final attack, charging with a combination of acrobatic, athletic, and attack skills. The charge itself was successful, resulting in Dallion sustaining a total of twenty damage, however, that was after he had dealt enough damage to his opponent to end her effort.

No speech was given by lady Marigold, and even Constanza seemed utterly bored by the fight.

Talk about a tough crowd, Dallion thought.

Dallion’s second victory was achieved, after which, the waiting continued. According to Nil’s calculations, all five victories were all he needed to ensure a spot. The old echo had gone over his calculations several times, but Dallion still wasn’t convinced. In his mind the only certain policy was to win all his fights so as to avoid miscalculations.

Seven minutes later, two more of the participants appeared. Dallion took on what looked like a rookie mercenary, while Gola faced a mother of three, who had even brought her children to the event. Given the time it took for the battle to take place—or rather the non-existence of real-life time—this shouldn’t have had any effect up or down on the outcome of the battle, but it definitely wasn’t something Dallion would have done.

Dallion’s own fight ended up being on the somewhat difficult side. The mercenary clearly knew his stuff, choosing to fight with an axe and a shield. What was more, he proved capable of fighting at a close and distance range. Often, he would throw his axe at Dallion, then charge at him, holding a newly summoned weapon.

The mercenary tended to rely on arc attacks, following a double swing and slash pattern. The only issue was that neither his speed nor his strength were all there. Even without combat splitting, Dallion had no issue determining the attacks, evading them before they occurred.

After a dozen exchanges, the mercenary’s strategy changed. Without warning, he split into four instances, attacking Dallion on all sides. This was precisely what Dallion was waiting for. Splitting into five instances, he blocked four of the attacks, while engaging in a counterattack with the fifth.

FATAL STRIKE

Dealt Damage is increased by 500%

A red rectangle appeared, instantly making the mercenary go on the defensive. However, it was already too late. Overwhelming him with instances, Dallion continued with his attack, finishing his opponent with two direct strikes of his harpsisword.

That was a bit overkill, Nil said.

It’s faster. Better not waste strength on weaker enemies. I want to have a few reserves for the strong ones.

You’re actually starting to learn. Just be sure not to mistake which is which.

Moments later, Dallion was back in the real world. There, he witnessed the first surprise of the day.

“Guess it’s back to waiting,” Dallion said to Gola across the room. He was about to say more, when he felt the unmistakable sense of disappointment coming from the sanitation worker.

He lost? Dallion wondered. Looking at his opponent, that shouldn’t have happened. The woman appeared way too non-warrior like. Tall and slightly rounded, she was what one would expect of someone who had recently given birth. The three children—all under ten—demanding and receiving her attention, suggested that she was the one taking care of them, which logically excluded any time for combat training. And still, it seemed she had won.

You’re jumping to conclusions, Nil grumbled. Time is nothing for an awakened.

I know, but… Just look at her. She’s far too motherly to—

There are two captains in our very own guild that reached that position while being with children. What’s more, their children joined the guild as well.

“Is anything wrong?” the woman turned to Dallion all of a sudden.

“No, I was just expecting Gola to win,” Dallion replied. The moment he did, he felt that it might have been better if he had used some splitting before making such a statement.

“He was close.” The woman smiled, then took a wooden dagger from her belt and gave it to her oldest child. “Very close, but luck was on my side, it seemed.”

Dallion’s music skills told him that was a lie. Based on the emotions of the people involved it must have been an utter defeat.

“I’m Celia, by the way.”

“Err, right. Dal.”

“We all know who you are,” the girl Dallion had fought earlier said. “Our very own local celebrity. I mean, being friends with the blondes, how could you not be?”

Again, that comment that made Dallion mentally sigh. That made him even more determined to win the tournament. At least then he’d stop being described in such fashion.

“Nirsa,” the tavern-awakened said.

The remaining two also introduced themselves, although Dallion’s attention kept to be focused on the mother. She was definitely a double-digit, but Dallion wasn’t certain whether she was a seer or not. This wasn’t supposed to happen. There were quite a few bits of jewelry that suggested blocking items of some sort.

Her weapons are standard, the armadil shield said. That’s why you need to be extra careful.

How is she winning then?

Better stats, better attack patterns, more experience. Who knows? Looking at her, though, I’d say she is the favorite to score the most wins.

What makes you think that?

I thought I told you. Out of everyone here, she’s the only one with common weapons.

She could be hiding the good ones till we start the fight. Gola did.

Dal, if there was anything out of the ordinary…

His worlds trailed off. Dallion was about to ask the shield to continue, when he understood the message. If there were any weapons of importance, the shield wouldn’t be able to tell him, just as he hadn’t warned him of the other’s special weapons. Gola had his linked and hidden away, summoning them in battle as a surprise. The mercenary and Nirsa had daggers hidden among their clothes, similar to Dallion’s holster boots. In all of these cases, the shield guardian hadn’t warned Dallion because the Moons had placed some restriction upon him. When it came to Celia there were no such qualms.

“Don’t be so tense,” Ceila said, moving closer to Dallion. “There are several spots. And you’re already ahead three. That gives you very good odds.”

“You’re stronger than you seem.”

“Of course, I am,” the woman whispered. “But so are you.”

The next half hour passed in tense silence, disturbed only by Celia’s children. Everyone knew who they would be facing next, and most of the participants already felt worried. A few of them already knew that they wouldn’t make it to the tournament proper, but they had no intention of quitting outright.

Twenty minutes in, several more candidates arrived. A few matches were held with them, but both Dallion and Celia declined, preferring to wait until their face off. Both knew that the other was the most dangerous person in the group and no one wanted to delay the clash. Finally, the time came. Both went to one of the combat spheres in the room and placed their hands on it.

ITEM AWAKENING

The all too familiar realm emerged around them, along with the five echoes that had been observing every fight until now. Boredom had filled Constanza almost entirely, yet she soldiered on, determined to make it till the end. Upon seeing Celia, though, her attitude changed. Several sparks of interest emerged.

Why are you more interested in her than in me? Dallion wondered.

Focus on the opponent and not the audience, dear boy, Nil reminded.

“Good luck,” Celia said. There wasn’t a single grain in dishonesty in her as she did. “You may start,”

“Thanks.” It was tempting for Dallion to attempt to dull her skills with a bit of music, but he managed to resist. There would be time for music skills on the arena.

Summoning his armadil shield and harpsisword, Dallion went forward. He didn’t dash, or even run, rather he calmly walked towards his opponent, leaving her to make the first response.

Five steps in green markers appeared all around him. Without any obvious danger present, a person would have paused to consider the situation before reaction. Dallion knew from experience that if he were to do so, it would be already too late. Instead, he leapt to the side, following the advice of the markers. No sooner had he done so, when the woman suddenly appeared a step away, slashing at the spot he was moments ago with a curved sharp knife.

This wasn’t a difference of stats. The attack had been slower than Dallion expected—possibly done by someone with a body stat in the upper teens. The initial approach, however, had been flawless and very similar to something he had seen a few times before.

Reflexes proved faster than reason. Without even thinking, Dallion summoned a dartbow, shooting a bolt directly at the woman’s torso. The bolt changed course, almost bouncing off Celia’s skin, then flying off in a completely different direction.

“Fury,” Dallion said. At this point, there was no doubt left.

“Semi,” the woman replied, before disappearing again. The blink of the eye later, she was twenty feet away. “You aren’t surprised?”

“I’ve seen furies in action.” Not to mention that one had tried to kill him in the past. Due to a complicated turn of events, she had ended up dead, killed by an unknown entity who seemed to be targeting the mirror pool.

“Good. Well, I’m nothing like them.” Celia was keeping her distance. “I only have a few of the gifts they do.”

“I’m guessing it’s enough.”

It was unclear whether music worked against furies, but one thing was for certain—ranged attacks certainly didn’t. In fact, it wasn’t obvious whether normal attacks worked either. Dallion had seen Jiroh use air to deflect sword attacks at times. Alas, for his opponent, there was one weapon that ignored air completely; Dallion summoned his Nox dagger.

“Going for the big guns directly?” the woman asked.

“Do I have a choice?”

A short distance away, Dallion could overhear a conversation between lady marigold and her great niece.

“Pay close attention,” the old noble said. “There’s a lot that won’t meet the eye. Try to catch it all.”

“Do you think I’ll ever fight her?”

“If she participates next year, you’ll most certainly face her. Or Dallion. These two are the brightest recent year stars of the tournament. You must be ready for them. Remember, you must learn how to defeat them, not just withstand their attacks.”

No sooner had Lady Marigold said that than both opponents rushed at each other at full speed.