(Tess POV)

 

The first two matches of round 2 were over, and I was next. Uriel was super excited seeing the fights and we had some fun talking about it. We chose to sit away from the hero and his friend. When he first saw us, he came over to say hi, but his friend seemed annoyed by this. We exchanged pleasantries, but knowing what I know now, really changes my mood around him. I didn’t really care about him before, mainly because he was just another hero, but now that I know that he is None’s older brother changes that. Uriel confirmed it for me, explaining that it was almost definitely true. Abby told us that he wasn’t a good person to None, or Riley back then, and that makes me mad.

 

As a person, I like protecting my loved ones. It’s the reason I became an adventurer. But None isn’t someone who needs my protection, or not at least physically. But when it comes to emotion, that's where I can help.

 

My fight was against another sword user. Thanks to the training I did, my sword skill evolved into sword mastery and leveled up a few times even. This gives me a massive advantage in sword fights. That plus my high stats and title boost makes it so that I basically can’t lose a fight against most people.

 

Making my way onto the battlefield when it was ready, I saw my opponent do the same. Behind me I can hear Uriel cheer for me. This fight isn’t going to be that hard, but giving my opponent decent respect is the least I can do.

 

We make our ways to the center of the field and I greet them. They greet me as well and we shake hands before the fight begins.

 

The announcer counts down, and the battle begins.

 

I start the battle by charging them. Suddenly when i get close, I get pushed back by a magic attack.

 

Looking at what was going on, I see that they brought out a magic sword. The sword glows a green color, which represents wind magic. Magic swords are weapons that are enchanted with magic. THey can be used to create magic effects without the user needing the magic skills, or knowing the spell itself.

 

Thinking fast, I spin in the air and use my air step skill to stand against the wind that the sword was creating. The wind seems to be quite strong, but I had no way of knowing what the spell was.

 

I stop holding back as much and push off of the airstep and fly towards my opponent. Magic wind moves quite fast no matter the caster, so even though I was now moving fast enough that my opponent couldn’t keep up, the wind was still hitting against me.

 

But I was able to push through and hit my opponent, which knocked the sword out of t

here hand, stopping the magic.

 

Lowering my speed a little, my opponent got up and looked around for their sword. Before they could run to grab it, I hit them back against one of the walls. This was strong enough to knock them out, winning me the fight.

 

With this, the medics come on to the field to help them out, and I head back to the staging room.

 

When I got there, Uriel gave me a big hug and congratulated me on the quick win. My fight was drastically shorter than both of the ones before me.

 

While we were talking about the fight, the hero Arthur came up to us.

 

“Congratulations, Ms. Tess. You were amazing out there. The way it looked like you teleported after being blasted back by the wind was cool. How did you do it?”

 

This question confused both me and Uriel. I knew that I was fast, but seeing the power the hero had yesterday gave me a sense that he would have been able to keep up just as well.

 

“Ah, yes, I also wonder what you did there. It was quite impressive.” Trumhere said, joining our conversation. I had met Trumhere on several occasions, due to my relations with this country. It was the previous king that nominated me for rank 1 status and afterward i kept up a relationship with several members of the nobility and knight orders. One of them was the previous captain of the custodian of the crown.

 

“Um, it was just using the air step as a platform to push off of. It was just at a very high speed” I said to both of them.

 

When i said this, both of them looked at me with a lot of confusion.

 

“Outside of being an elf, you are a normal person right?” Trumhere asked.

 

“Um, yeah, why do you ask?” I say back to him.

 

“That level of power shouldn’t be possible. You moved so fast that no one here could track you.”

 

“Yeah, but I'm also like 100 years older than all of you. And I've been an adventurer for a long time.” These questions are really confusing to me. I knew that I was strong, but it never was something that really bugged me like this. 

 

So what if they couldn’t track me. I was one of the strongest people on the planet and I worked hard for this power.

 

Then something started to eat at me. I know about the level limit. There is a limit to the amount that a person can grow. It isn’t a hard limit, but breaking it is very hard. The limit for most people is 100, but if you are good enough you could break this limit. There were titles that did it and other things. For example getting the dragon slayer title gives you a 50 level boost to the limit. But then I think about my own level.

 

But I quickly stop. My head starts to hurt and I go sit down. Uriel follows behind me to make sure I’m ok. I don’t know why but I don't think my level is important.

 

(None POV)

 

“What was that skill?” I say after Tess’s fight ended. This one was longer then the last due to the magic sword that Ebonie was using, but still was much shorter than both of them before it.

 

When I asked my question everyone else in the room just stared at me for a second.

 

“He could follow that fight?” Chloe’s brother in law asked the king.

 

“Oh crap, I could have gotten all of them killed this morning” The king said under his breath.

 

“What happened this morning?” I ask him, confused on how that comment came up.

 

This, once again, gets everyone to stare at me.

 

“Oh, yeah Dad, he doesn't know, I don't think you should tell him” Chloe told the king. When she tells him this, she has a smile on her face but still looks scary. I think the king is also scared of her. “Nothing important happened this morning, None, and you shouldn’t pay attention to what they are saying.”

 

“Well, ok then. But what was the skill that Tess used?” I ask the group again.

 

“Um, none of us know. We couldn’t follow the fight.” Abby told me.

 

I didn’t have a response to this. I knew that my stats were unbelievably high, but Tess was a normal person. When i start thinking about this, I hear a message from wisdom

 

Notice. Target skill is known as Air Step. It evolves into Air Walk.

 

Wisdom gave me the answer I was looking for.

 

“Well, you can ask Tess later. After this fight there is going to be an intermission before the semi finals.” Chloe tells me.

 

“Oh, sure, I can ask her. Can I ask everyone a question? Has anyone heard of a skill that can answer questions that the user has?” I ask. Wisdom is the skill that that woman said she gave me, so im not sure if anyone would be able to help me with it, but maybe something else does the same thing.

 

“A skill that can answer questions? How would that even work?” Amelia askes.

 

“Yeah, None, we've never heard of anything like that. Why do you ask?” Chloe askes.

 

“Oh, it's nothing, just a question.” I say back, now more curious about wisdom and the women from last night.

 

“Hey, the last duel is about to begin. Everyone pay attention, the hero is coming out” Chloe’s sister, Lily, told us. We all looked towards the newly appearing screens, that the hero and Bianca were now shown on.

 

(3rd Person POV - Bianca Vs. Arthur)

 

Both of them made their way to center stage. When they faced each other, Bianca started talking to Arthur at a volume that no one else could hear.

 

“Dear Hero, I have to ask you, do you know why they placed the two of us to face each other today?”

 

“Isn’t it random?” He says back to her.

 

Hearing his response, a smile formed on Bianca’s face. “No, they are not random. The tournament’s are held to show off, and this one is meant to show off your strength. This round is meant to show off your sword skills. That is why I am your opponent. In this country, I am known as the best sword wielder. So if you can beat me, then your reputation will be much higher. So, I must ask you, please fight me with just your blade. Show the people of my country that they can have more than just blind faith in your power, but also trust your skill with the blade.”

 

What he just learned didn’t really surprise Arthur. He knew that the holy empire and the church held massive power even in other countries. Setting up this tournament would be that hard for them, and checking his growth was always a good idea.

 

Arthur had gained the sword mastery skill and it was currently level 1. This was a massive achievement, made even more special by the fact that it only took him a year. He had some faith. Skill level wasn’t the best indicator of actual skill with the weapon, but it was a good starting point for experience. Two people who got sword mastery would have the same level of real experience with the sword, but one might understand the sword better.

 

“Alright, just a battle of swords then” Arthur agreed.

 

The announcer started the match, they both bowed to each other, and the fight began.

 

The first few minutes were just basic exchanges of blows, nothing very special. After they both got a good judge of the others basic abilities, Bianca started the real battle.

 

Using some of the more advanced techniques she has, she tried to push Arthur back. He responded very well. He responded with his own more advanced techniques. This continued with more back and forth, neither one gaining any ground on the other.

 

Eventually, they both release that they would need to do something special to get any advantage.

 

This is when they pull out there finishing sword techniques. Sword techniques, unlike sword arts, are made from the sword school they are taught by, and don’t use mana. They are purely physical in nature.

 

Both of them prepare for a second, then they clash.

 

And on the other side, Arthur is the one left standing. And the duel is called for him.

 

(None POV)

 

“Did you guys see that. He was so cool. And he even beat Aunt Bianca. The hero is so cool” Lily said. She seemed very excited about the duel, after spending the rest of the first three fights saying nothing.

 

“You seem pretty happy about that, don’t you Lily” Chloe says. “Any special reason?”

 

When she is asked this, Lily starts to blush. “What are you talking about? It's normal to be excited about something like that. Also he and I became friends on my trip. It's completely normal.” She said.

 

When she said this the king got a look on his face.

 

With the fourth fight having been settled, the announcer calls an intermission to give every fighter a chance to rest before their semi-finals match.

 

“Well, why don’t we take this time to get some food with Tess?” Chloe askes me.

 

“Didn’t you say that the king needed to talk to me?”

 

“I don’t remember that”

 

“Chloe, my dear, didn’t you say I needed to…” The king starts, before being interrupted by Chloe.

 

“I changed my mind, Dad, I told you earlier that we weren’t telling him” She says back to him.

 

“Of course” the king says back to her.

 

During this I lean over to Amelia and Abby, who were also walking with us, and ask “Do you know what that's about'' to which they both nood.

 

Following behind us, Lily also comes with, saying that she is going to go see the hero with Abby.