When inside the bounds of dealing with his new family, he was Fortkran Tenebach. Having a second name was like having a weird nickname he hadn’t chosen. Then again, he hadn’t chosen his actual name, so he probably just needed time to get used to it.

Either way, his body at least was able to pick out his name properly, so he heard his name get called. He had been watching the early matches, checking out potential future opponents. Now, it was his turn to fight. He was nervous, because this would be his first real fight. The chance of dying was… very low. The tournament had protections set up so that people were extremely unlikely to actually die… but this would be his first fight in his new life where someone didn’t have his best interests in mind. They would just want to win, not to make him better.

He stepped up to the arena, a fairly plain stone square about ten meters on a side. It had enough room for Spiritual Collection Phase cultivators to maneuver around, though those who preferred long range tactics would be somewhat at a disadvantage.

Fortkran hadn’t paid enough attention to notice the other name that was called out until he stepped up and his memories recognized Gergely Jancovics. The Jancovics clan was similarly made up of darkness element cultivators… but the relations between them and the Tenebachs was not friendly in the slightest. The man in front of him was about the same age- somewhere in his early twenties- but he was somewhat larger than Fortkran. He knew muscle didn’t matter that much in cultivation, but size was still intimidating. Still, he wouldn’t let that show.

When Gergely stepped up on stage, he immediately had something to say. “So it is true… you failed in cultivation and dropped back from where you were. It seems the Tenebach clan isn’t so great after all.”

Fortkran had many things he wanted to say in response, even though Gergely was technically right. However, anything he said might be overconfident. He’d only managed to reach the sixth level of the Spiritual Collection Phase, and Gergely was in the seventh. Along with that his spiritual totem was of the second tier. Not a particularly impressive resume, yet better than what Fortkran had. So he said nothing, because even if he lost at least he would only be a minor embarrassment. No reply might have indicated timidity, but he didn’t plan to be timid in the actual match.

As soon as the referee called for the match to start, Fortkran sprang forward.Gergely had a warhammer and shield- a common combination of weapons in the Stone Conglomerate. Darkness wasn’t inherently suited to hammers, but Gergely’s spiritual totem or just his training might have made it a better choice. Certainly, he couldn’t criticize someone for picking what suited them.

Two steps from where he could attack, Fortkran activated Hidden Steps, quickly moving around to the side where Gergely held his hammer. His sword came down, coated in energy. Despite the awkward angle Gergely managed to react and parry with his warhammer, swinging around to swipe at Fortkran with his shield.

The two of them exchanged blows, their energy clashing. Fortkran was unable to get any real advantage with his early gambit, but he also didn’t lose out. He was still taking stock of his opponent when he felt Gergely gathering more energy for an attack. The arena around them was covered in darkness and some portion of it concentrated on the hammer. Dodging the attack without being able to see would be difficult… but Fortkran could see. Swirling darkness didn’t impede his sight to any serious degree, as part of the blessing from the family’s guardian beast. The attack was made with the confident that it would be unseen, but instead he gathered energy for his own technique.

He wasn’t so used to fighting against a hammer, but the trajectory of one wasn’t much different from a sword… and Brage was a thousand times more skillful. Even if Fortkran could barely do anything against Brage, with Gravity Blade he latched his sword to the hammer, pulling it even more strongly along its path while making sure it didn’t hit him. The hammer crashed into the ground and was pulled out of Gergely’s hand. Fortkran instantly followed up by reversing the direction of his swing, not with the same explosive power he’d seen before but quick enough to catch his opponent of guard.

The shield came up, Gergely’s energy preventing him from cutting it in two. He pulled away… but took a little bit of the energy with him. He wasn’t so experience that he could say for certain, but the darkness energy he got seemed less pure than the rest that he had encountered among his clan. Then again, while the Jancovics clan somewhat considered themselves rivals to the Tenebachs, they really weren’t. The previous Fortkran shouldn’t have ever found himself in a match with Gergely.

Fortkran added his own darkness to the arena, and as thin as it was he clearly had more effect on his opponent. He managed to slip around behind him, and when Gergely looked around for him and decided to dash for his weapon, he slashed at him from behind. Gergely’s energy wasn’t condensed enough to prevent his slash, and Fortkran’s sword cut through it and the thin armor underneath. If the formations of the arena hadn’t activated, it might have cut even deeper through flesh and bone. He could have killed someone. The thought was somewhat unpleasant for a person who hadn’t gotten into anything more violent than a fistfight… but it was quickly tempered by the exhilaration of winning. Besides, he hadn’t killed him.

The referee could clearly sense things sufficiently through the two layers of darkness energy, declaring Fortkran the winner. Gergely was barely able to walk out of the arena, but as he was going Fortkran managed to say something. “No matter what changed with my cultivation, you should have considered if your own was good enough first.”

Yes, that seemed good enough. It didn’t admit much of anything and was somewhat insulting to the loser without going too far. Well, perhaps he would get more practice with that. First, though, he would have to win more. While he couldn’t say he won easily, he was able to make up for the difference in raw power by better technique. He couldn’t say that it was his own personal skill at play, but rather the fact that he had the personal attention of many skilled teachers, including his Soul Expansion Phase grandfather. Fighting against any lesser trained darkness with worse weapon techniques than Brage felt easy. At least it seemed his efforts had paid off.

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The next match was later the same day against an earth cultivator. That was entirely expected, being one of the most prominent cultivation types in the country. This opponent was a woman, Cosima Valdez. There was no real grudge between their clans, but of course both sides would try their best to win.

Fortkran had seen her previous match, and she had probably seen his. Even with the darkness from both him and Gergely, she should have at least picked up some idea of how he fought.

She carried a thin staff, but Fortkran knew not to underestimate it. It was thin, but made out of stone- and he’d seen her knock her previous opponent out of the ring with it, throwing him a total of five meters. The ring out was a loss, even if her opponent had somehow been able to stand with all of the broken ribs.

Fortkran politely bowed his head, and got the same in return. Then the match began. The two circled each other, looking for openings. The staff had more reach than a sword but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be used up close. A cut was more damaging than a strike in most cases, but that required him to land a solid blow… and it wasn’t guaranteed. Cosima was the first to unleash a few careful strikes, not committing to anything but instead testing Fortkran’s guard. He felt the weight of her staff, both its natural weight and the enhancement from the earth energy. She seemed more skilled than his previous opponent, but he couldn’t lose to her. Not because she was a woman- though there was certainly still some sexism in this world- but because he was from a large clan and was expected to reach at least the third or fourth round. As the young master of the clan it would be disappointing if he couldn’t reach the finals, but he at least couldn’t lose in the second round.

Fortkran had to be careful with how he moved. Hidden Steps might prevent his opponent from instantly recognizing where he moved, but in her previous match he had seen her throw someone off balance without even touching them. He flashed around to the side, attempting to get past her guard. As soon as he moved he saw her slam the butt of her quarterstaff down to the ground, and he felt the earth tremble. He nearly fell over… and indeed if he had committed to his attack he would have lost his balance. Instead, his movement had been a feint that he might have been able to turn into an actual attack if she hadn’t reacted at all. Now he just needed to figure out how to deal with her technique and perhaps he could pull out the win. With no enmity between the two of them, it felt much like a spar. He wanted to win, but he wanted to learn even more. It was actually sort of fun.