The next morning, I woke up excited again, but not as much as yesterday. I’d seen what kind of opponents we’d be facing. The only difficult fights today would be when we were pitted against each other. It was guaranteed to happen at least once.
We ate a decent breakfast, not stuffing ourselves, since that would make fighting difficult. Plus, if we got hungry, we all had food in our item boxes.
We headed off early again, reaching the arena at about seven thirty. The arena was already open for spectators, so the others separated from the three of us, wishing us luck.
Making our way to the participant entrance, we showed our badges and IDs. After we were checked in, we were directed to the F-Rank waiting room. We were the first ones there. We got to choose our seats, not that there was anything really different about any of them besides location. We chose one of the corners.
Fran pulled out her sewing project while both Alfred and I started reading. Slowly the room started filling with people. They grouped up with those they knew talking quietly. From the frequent glances over at us, we seemed to be one of the main topics under discussion.
At 8:30, three men came in, one carrying a box. So that’s how they’d decide the order. Judging from the sound it made when it was set on the table at the front of the room it had balls or rocks or something in it.
It was numbered balls. We drew them out, and our names were added to the chart. I got to start things off with number one. Fran was on the other side of the bracket from me with number 25. We tensed up as Alfred was called to pull a number. Which one of us would be facing him?
He pulled 27. Alfred and Fran would fight in the second round. I’d face the winner in the finals. I’d definitely make it into the E-Rank bracket. The question was who was going to join me?
The staff took the box away, leaving us a copy of the bracket. The others gathered around it, we didn’t need to. We knew who our real opponents would be. The others didn’t matter to us.
At just before nine, the fighters for the first two matches were led out of the room. The next two pairs were told to stand ready. We were taken out of the passageway and into the arena. The six stages from yesterday were combined into two big ones today. So they’d be running two fights at a time. Fun.
The rules were the same as yesterday, except fight time was extended to ten minutes per match. Yeah, I wouldn’t need anywhere near that long. As soon as the bell rang, I was headed for my opponent. He raised his shield to try and block my strike, but the body blow was just a feint. I smashed my shield into his, while kicking his heel, knocking him over and placing my blade at his throat before he could react.
The judge called the fight as mine. I headed back to the waiting room. The other fighters looked at me, not surprised that I was the one who returned.
I started reading again. The fights continued. Most of them lasted a few minutes, as there was no one powerful enough to finish it quickly besides my trio. My next match was just as boring. Eventually it was time for Fran and Alfred’s fight. I wished them both luck, and reminded Fran that while she should fight hard, certain things were forbidden. Alfred didn’t need such reminders.
I really wanted to watch, but I couldn’t. Hmm, I guess I could, but it might distract Fran, so I wouldn’t. The fight lasted nearly the entire time, then Alfred reentered the waiting room. It seemed that he won. I checked in with Fran to be sure she was alright. She wasn’t injured, but she wasn’t happy. At least she wasn’t angry. She was frustrated with herself and thinking of ways to win next time. I had a feeling that if she had been allowed to use her panther form, she would have won.
“How was she?”
“She needs to learn patience. She is too hasty in her attacks. Had it been a lesser fighter, it would have been fine, but she knows basically how I fight, so she should have been more cautious. She also needs to practice her magic. It’s sloppy and wasteful.”
“We’ll address the issues next time we practice. She’s a fast learner, so as long as she listens, she’ll do better next time.”
The conversation was broken up as I was called to my next fight. I came. I saw. I conquered. My opponent didn’t last thirty seconds. I returned to the waiting room. Waited, fought my fourth opponent, waited some more, then it was time for the finals.
Telarynn vs Alfred. Girl vs Butler.
The crowd was roaring. Regardless of who won, we’d be moving on to the E-Rank bracket that’d start right after our fight. The standby fighters had already been told they were not needed. We also already knew where we were in it. They’d drawn lots right after we had. The blank spots were seven and eighteen. We’d meet again in the finals. Today was going to be great.
We faced off on the stage. I had my sword and shield ready. I was also ready to cast magic. There was no way I was going to win this fight without it. He had a dagger ready, while his other hand held a throwing knife. We tensed up, ready to move, and finally the bell rang. We shot at each other like bullets.
He threw the knife he had, then quickly drew and threw two more. I dodged the first. The second was caught by my shield, and the third I deflected with my sword. By then we were on top of each other. He’d drawn his second dagger. I worked to keep him busy, and multi-tasked to cast my magic. While waiting I’d thought about what I had and had not shown him. I chose to use the most evil technique I knew.
“Slip”
I had greatly improved my casting of this spell, especially since learning ice magic. Within a split second the ground around Alfred turned frictionless. He had been moving to attack, but instead lost his balance and fell. He tried pulling himself out of the area, but he had nothing to grab onto. I stepped away, expanding the field while also tilting up part of the stage so he started heading for the edge.
He did not give up. He tried to stab his knives into the ground, but it was too hard. He finally got around to using magic. I didn’t know if it took so long because of the distraction, or what, but I thought he’d use it sooner. He tried overpowering my magic, attempting to raise a ledge to grab, but I had more power than him, so he lost. I had the entire stage under my control.
What I didn’t have was the ground outside the stage. He grew a tree. It wasn’t thick, but it was enough to keep him in the ring. Damn, I needed to learn that attribute. I had one spell, but it was limited since I couldn’t adjust it.
Since the ground was still frictionless, he didn’t try to stand, instead throwing more knives at me as he prepared a spell. I dodged or blocked the knives, then started flooding him out. I didn’t use magic for that. I had a kiloliters of water stored in my item box for just such occasions. He held onto the tree, but he was completely out of the arena, and too distracted to cast any spells. It was all over when I cut the tree down. He wasn’t able to keep up with my power and casting speed.
I released my spells, returning the arena to normal. The water would have to drain on its own. Looking over the edge of the stage I called out to Alfred.
“You alive down there?”
“Indeed, it seems you flushed me off the stage. That was very unpleasant.”
“Sorry, was the fastest way I could think to win.”
He climbed out of the mud, coming back onto the stage. Using water magic, he rinsed himself off, then used wind and fire to dry his clothes.
“Ah, much better. Shall we proceed?”
“Yeah, lets let them getting the next group started. I need to rest. That fight took more of my mana than I’d like. Our next one is going to be even worse.”
“Yes, it will. I shall have to stop holding back.”
I shuddered. I knew the kinds of things he could do, and what kind of toys he had with him. Most of them were too deadly for the tournament thankfully.
We reached the center of the arena, declared our intention to waive our prizes for the right to compete in the next rank. We were led off to a different waiting room as the next fighters were led to the stages.
They knew we were coming, and they did not welcome us, me especially, since I looked so young. Most thought that Alfred had been a personal guard for my family until being forced to sign up as an adventurer. It’s not completely wrong, but they also viewed him as a middle aged man, when he was in fact only recently created.
We waited and fought, waited and fought. The fights were slightly more difficult, but only enough that it took maybe an extra few seconds to win. The waiting room slowly emptied out, and then it was finally our turn again.
Again we squared off on the stage. I wasn’t holding a shield this time. Instead I had my mace in my off hand. One of the things I’d never shown off was my armguard. I had always used a real shield.
On the bell...I moved to the side. Alfred must have been expecting me to move forward, since the knives he threw were aimed at where I would have been. Ha. I went straight to magic, throwing out a burst of light from one side of my sword to blind him. He was affected, but not as badly as I’d have liked. Must be because of being a homunculus. Well, try this then.
After the light came the dark. I cast a globe of darkness around him, then backed off until I was only a few feet away from the edge. Sadly, he did not charge forward like I’d hoped, well that was fine. Because of skills we knew where the other was, just not what the other was doing. I slipped him, again. It was such a fun spell to cast. It was a pain to have cast on you though. I would never tell how to do it. This world did not understand friction very well, so few people would be able to cast it.
This time, instead of tilting the ground a little to make him slide, I launched it. Going from flat to 60 degrees up was enough to send him flying. It didn’t give him a chance, he flew right off the edge of the ring and into the mud.
“Huh, didn’t think that’d get you. You OK?”
“Yes, just muddy. Again.”
We made our way to the judge and again declared we would fight in the next rank. The crowd was going wild. We had fought twice now, and they hoped to see it again. So far we had the most amusing fights.
Tomorrow would have more skilled fighters, but they knew us already, so we were the ones they would likely cheer for.
We headed back inside, were given new badges, and told to return before 8:30 tomorrow. As expected.
We took a roundabout way out of the arena, disguising ourselves on the way. I had it easy, I just changed what my armor looked like. I ended up looking like I was a boy with cat ears poking out of my coat. Alfred had to swap his butler coat for a different one. He decided to play old man, pulling out a cane and pretending to be stuck bent over.
No one recognized us, except for Fran, but she’s bound to me, so I have to actually try to hide from her. Fran happily joined us, leaving us looking like a pair of catkin sisters with our grandfather. The dragonkin were amused at our disguises. We made our way back to the inn, thankfully without getting stopped.
As soon as we reached the safety of the stairs, Alfred straightened up. We hastened to penthouse, where the others were all waiting. ‘Grandpa’ Alfred was not a fast walker, so they beat us back.
“Good fights. Very creative. How did you make him slip though?”
“I refuse to answer that question. That spell is one I will not share. Especially since I may have to use it on him again.”
“Please don’t. It is not very nice to cast that on friends. Please save it for enemies.”
“We’ll see. If I come up with a better plan, I won’t use it. But I can’t make any promises.”
Alfred sighed, resigned to his fate. Everyone else laughed. Dinner was served, during which they told me about Fran’s fight with Alfred. I wish I’d seen it. Actually, I wonder. After dinner I headed to bed. I wasn’t sleepy yet, but the beds here were a comfortable place to read. I pulled out a book, but didn’t read it. Instead, I checked the media app, and sure enough, there were videos posted from the tournament. There were also comments on them. The gods seemed to like my fights with Alfred. I also got mail.
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[To mortal01
From &%#@)4^#<$
You have amused the gods, who wish for more entertainment! They have heard your wishes and offer you a quest!
Quest: Win the C-Rank Division of the Leap Year Tournament
Reward: Alfred and two additional bound companions will receive access to the System Apps.
Additional Requirement: Alfred must continue to fight at his best, and cannot be told of the quest.
Good luck!]
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Oh, it’s on now. Hopefully Alfred and I face each other first tomorrow. I want to remove him from the competition. That will also give me time to recharge a bit before fighting the C-Rank fighters.
I studied Alfred’s fights from today. Trying to find an easy way to eliminate him. After a while, I came up with a plan. He wasn’t going to like it. I tried it out, and while it didn’t work as well as I liked, it still worked.
