by Yuu Tanaka
Aside from that, finalists were given priority in Ulmutt’s smithies. The tournament provided Healing Mages and potions in case of grave injuries, but contestants were still required to have their armor inspected by a blacksmith, just in case.
Having heard the official’s explanation, Fran left the room, only to run into Judith.
“I didn’t stand a chance, Fran.”
“Are you okay?”
“For the most part… Good thing you held back.” She was disappointed that Fran knocked her out of the ring so quickly. Still, her anguish in defeat was tempered by the fact that Fran hadn’t killed her in one hit.
Fran didn’t know what to do in this situation. She fixed Judith with a troubled look.
“Oh, don’t worry about me. Actually, I came here to wish you good luck. You better fight extra hard for my sake.”
“Hm.”
“And I’m putting all of my money on you! So please, win the first round at least!”
“Even if I end up fighting Lydia?”
“If you do, I trust her to your expert care!” Judith gave her a reassuring thumbs-up. We took Judith’s words of encouragement and greed and left the venue.
“I’ll do my best.”
Yeah. We’ve got Judith’s livelihood riding on us now.
It was day two of the second round. We received the tournament roster in the afternoon and spent some time looking through it. Sixty-four combatants made it to the finals, separated into blocks A to D. Each block hosted sixteen fighters. Fran was number eleven in A-Block. We looked up the other fighters she would be facing, but it didn’t help.
First up is…Zehmet?
“Never heard of him.”
He’s not a seed, so he probably made it to the finals because of his strength. We should hit the guild to see if we can dig up some info. Elza might know his fighting style.
Next, we turned our attention to the tournament seeds.
“Amanda and Forlund.”
Royce and Gaudartha are here, too!
Their names were on the four corners of the roster. These must’ve been the top seeds. The elite combatants would still have to go through the same fights as us, though.
The first seed of A-Block was A-1: Gaudartha. The second was A-16: Colbert. Colbert fought with his bare hands, but he was strong enough to send the giant Linford flying. We had yet to see Gaudartha in battle, but considering his frame and skill selection, he was bound to be some kind of power fighter. Both had the potential to kill you with one hit if you couldn’t block or dodge their attacks. We’d have to prepare a strategy before we stepped into the ring. Fortunately, we had their skills and stats as our guide. With Colbert right next to us, we would have to think of some martial arts countermeasures.
“Heh.”
Fran smirked, not looking the slightest bit worried. The prospect of going up against the Beast King’s personal bodyguard didn’t scare her. In fact, it only roused her fighting spirit. Still, she would still have to win two matches before she could even go up against Colbert. In any case, Zehmet was first on our list.
Who’s after Zehmet… Wow, really?
“Cruise Riouselle? Sounds familiar.”
I didn’t think you’d remember. He’s the C-Rank we met back in Alessa. We explored the dungeon with his party and Amanda.
“Hm?” Despite my best efforts to jog her memory, Fran tilted her head.
Remember? The good-looking guy who looked like he’d been carrying the weight of his teammates all his life?
“Uhh, maybe? I’m not sure.”
Perhaps seeing his face would remind her. I hoped so. If I saw Cruise, I would tell Fran and stop things from getting too awkward, though I wasn’t even sure he’d make it past his first round. He was up against the fourth seed in the block.
Looks like he’ll be fighting Radule. The self-proclaimed oldest adventurer in Ulmutt.
“He said he was C-Rank.”
But he’s as strong as a B-Rank, and he used to be a court mage, too.
No wonder he was seeded. Radule was stronger than his competition. With all due respect to Cruise, our time would be better spent preparing for a fight against Radule.
“Radule’s going to win,” Fran agreed. We needed to come up with a way to handle the old mage before our fight.
And if all goes well, we’ll get matched up with A-16 after that. Colbert.
“Hm! Can’t wait!”
Steelclaw had helped us a lot in Bulbola. He was more experienced than Fran, and he definitely had some tricks up his sleeve. We couldn’t completely rely on the data we got from Identifying him, since his gear might have the Fake Identity skill. All I remembered was that he had a strange Martial Arts skill called Dimitris Combat School. We’d have to do some more digging.
Beat Colbert and you’ll finally be up against Gaudartha.
“Hm.” Fran nodded, going quiet all of a sudden.
We’ll need to figure out a way to beat him, too.
“We’ll get him for sure!”
Yeah, that’s the spirit!
Beating Gaudartha would be like taking home the gold. He was an A-Rank, after all—strong enough to single-handedly bring an army to its knees. His reputation made him one of the top favorites.
You’re probably gonna get matched with another A-Rank if you beat him, though.
Amanda was a shoo-in for the semifinals, provided there were no upsets. If we beat her, we would face either Forlund or Royce in the final. I had a feeling that Amanda and Forlund were much stronger than Gaudartha—we had seen their power firsthand in Bulbola. Either way, my estimates couldn’t be that far off.
“I’ll beat them anyway.”
We’ll try, that’s for sure.
Fran was still determined. And if she was in this to win, then I had to step my game up, too.
Hrmph!
“Teacher?”
Just psyching myself up. Let’s win this, Fran!
“Hm!”
There were bound to be strong competitors other than the top seeds. We looked through the roster for familiar names and happened upon Phelms, who was in D-Block with Royce. I hoped the former A-Rank performed well. We should be in for quite a match.
Next was Elza, who was in B-Block with Amanda. It was bound to be an interesting fight, if a little hard to watch—a showdown between the two most terrifying women of the Adventurers’ Guild.
Phillip Christon was one of the C-Block seeds. What was he doing here when Bulbola was still in the middle of reconstruction? Didn’t his city need him or something? Well, he must have his reasons. He was a strong fighter, if the battle with Linford was any indication. We’d get to see him flex his skills against Forlund.
We found Charlotte in the roster, too—the caretaker of the Bulbolan orphanage. The girl was a Battle Dancer and specialized in malice purification and bewitching her foes. She was up against Elza. The poor thing didn’t stand a chance, but we should still watch her match to support her. I couldn’t find any of our other acquaintances in the roster, no matter how hard I tried.
“Lydia didn’t make it.”
I couldn’t believe she lost after all that talk before her match. So much for that!
When we were done going through the roster, we made our way to the Adventurers’ Guild. We needed information on the competition.
“Elza’s not here.”
Even if she were, should we really be asking her questions about the tournament?
“Hm?”
She’s fighting too, remember? I’m not sure if she’ll be too eager to tell us what she knows. We might end up facing off at some point, so I wasn’t sure we could trust her information. Let’s try asking Dias or the other adventurers.
“All right.”
We started looking for someone we could ask. At least, until Elza closed in on us like a frenzied shark.
“Frannie, it’s been so long! Congrats on making it to the finals!” Elza was beaming. I felt silly for thinking that our tournament rivalry
would change how she felt about Fran. “I saw your fight. You sure showed them what you’re made of!”
“Hm.”
“I just wish you would’ve roughed up that Blue Cat a little more… You’re allowed to, you know?” Elza turned red with anger just recalling Fran’s match. It was safe to say that the Blue Cats were now her enemies, too.
“I didn’t want to get disqualified.”
“Unnecessary force towards the defeated is forbidden…right. Anyway, you seem different, Fran.”
“Hm?”
Elza scratched her chin. “How should I put it? You seem much stronger now, more reliable.”
“Training paid off.” All those long hours in the dungeons preparing for the tournament weren’t for nothing.
“Is that it? It feels like you did a lot of growing up while I wasn’t looking. I guess that’s what training and tournaments do for you.”
“Hm.”
“Anyway, what brings you to the guild today?”
“I’m looking for information on the competitors.”
“Really? I didn’t think you were the type to go researching your opponents.”
“Information is crucial.”
Fran loved the heat of battle, but she also considered herself an adventurer. Collecting data on monsters was standard practice. As much as she enjoyed fighting for its own sake, she took the tournament very seriously. She was here to win.
“Of course! Let’s see who you’re up against for your first round…huh?” Elza looked at the roster and tilted her head.
“You don’t know him?”
“No. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of an adventurer named Zehmet.”
Whoever he was, he wasn’t an Ulmutt local or a renowned adventurer. Still, the fact that he’d made it through the qualifiers proved his strength.
“Do you know anyone who does?”
“Let me try asking the others.” Elza did just that, but all we got was…
“Zehmet? Never heard of him.”
“Me either.”
“Are we supposed to know?”
None of them knew him. Zehmet definitely wasn’t from Ulmutt. Maybe he wasn’t an adventurer at all. The tournament attracted mercenaries, knights, and mages, all of them strong in their own regard. Phillip Christon was a chief example of this.
Doesn’t look like the guild knows about this Zehmet character. Let’s move on to something else.
“Hm. Know anything about the Dimitris Combat School?”
“Oh? Why do you ask?”
“I might end up fighting someone who knows it.”
“You know someone using the Dimitris Combat School?”
“I’ve never actually seen him use it.”
Elza nodded at Fran’s response. “Oooh, I see. He’s still in training, then.”
“Training?”
“Don’t you know? The Dimitris School is famous for the impositions it puts on its students. They have to reach A-Rank with their energies sealed by a special piece of manatech.”
Other adventurers chipped in with other bits of information on the Dimitris School. Candidates wore Sealing Spheres, which locked away some of their stats and skills. Hitting A-Rank under such handicaps sounded like an impossible task, but it explained the dramatic strength Colbert displayed in the battle of Bulbola. He must’ve released his seal to fight Linford. Elza had teamed up with a student of the Dimitris School once and seen their skills up close.
“The one I knew was still a novice at the time, so they weren’t all that impressive.”
Spirit energy was the basis of the Dimitris School. Spirit was just one form of this world’s magic. When magic was applied to weaponry or used to strengthen your body, it was referred to as Spirit. When used to cast spells, it was Mana. Despite being made of the same thing, Mana and Spirit differed in their applications. You could tell which of the two a person was more adept in by looking at the skills they had.
“The Dimitris School specializes in using Spirit. I don’t know the details, but they can blend Spirit and Mana together to form some kind of hybrid.”
“Spirit and Mana?”
“Yes. They can create blasts of Spirit energy, form shields, and cause massive internal damage with a single strike. I hear the advanced students can do even crazier things.”
So firing off Kamehamehas wasn’t the only trick they had up their sleeves? If anything, internal bleeding sounded more dangerous.
“But I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that in the tournament,” Elza continued.
“Why not?”
“Students of the Dimitris School are not allowed to release their seals for the sake of personal gain. They can only do so to save innocents or crush the wicked.”
Saving Bulbola was a good enough reason to unleash Colbert’s seals, but a fighting tournament was out of the question. We might have the upper hand.
“Hm. I see.”
“Anything else you want to ask?”
We had Identify data on Royce and Gaudartha, and were probably better acquainted with Amanda and Forlund. Which left the question of Radule.
“What can you tell me about Radule?”
“The old man’s strong, for one thing. He’s not as spry as he used to be, but he more than makes up for it with combat experience. He has all kinds of spells up his sleeve.”
“Like what?”
“Land, Ocean, and Storm. To my knowledge, anyway.”
That was impressive. I’d never seen anyone that could use three advanced forms of magic. Royce was closest, with his Moonlight and Timespace magicks. There was no telling how Radule might use Land and Ocean spells together. We would have to be on the lookout.
“What makes him so dangerous is the way he uses all the elements together.”
“What do you mean?”
“The last time I saw him fight a mob of goblins, he used Land Magic to dig a crater in an instant, then flooded it with Ocean. As if that wasn’t enough, then he used Storm Magic to prevent them from escaping. A couple minutes later, their drowned corpses were the only thing left in that hole.”
“I see.”
On top of Radule’s individual spells, we needed to keep his combinations of magicks in mind. Storm Magic could produce tornadoes and Land Magic could amplify it with blades. The combination of Storm and Ocean magicks could allow Radule to cast a thick fog over the arena. The old mage was sure to have thought of even more devastating combinations.
“Anything else?”
“Hm? Not at the moment.”
“Okay. Just come to talk to me if you have any more questions. I’ll tell you all I know!”
“Hm.”
“But I won’t go easy on you if we end up fighting in the tournament. I think it would be awfully rude of me, don’t you agree?”
“Of course.”
“Oh, I knew you’d understand! Tee hee.”
Elza grinned. The two of them looked awfully similar as battle-hungry smiles flashed over their faces. Elza was a blood knight, too! And here I thought she was being honest when Fran’s bloodthirst had surprised her earlier! Was it mandatory to be a battle junkie if you wanted to become a high-ranked adventurer?
Then again, their love of fighting monsters would help them climb the ranks. Maybe they were all like that, deep down.
Aside:
The Beast King
“HOW’S THE TARGET, Royce? Any movement?”
“No, Lord Rig. And your incessant asking won’t make a difference.”
“So no plots to assassinate me yet?”
“Not by the looks of it. Fool she may be, but she clearly understands your strength.”
“Coward!”
“You have yourself to blame for this, my lord.”
“Because I scared her?”
“She was terrified of you.”
“I guess. She got so pale I thought she was gonna wet herself.”
“As provincial as your lordship is, please refrain from using such vulgar words.�
�
“Provincial? I am the Beast King.”
“All the more reason for you to act like one.”
“Oh, shut it. What’s the target up to now?”
“According to Godo, participating in the fighting tournament.”
“The qualifiers should be going on right now. Any news?”
“The target has passed the qualifiers. It’s why she is still under observation.”
“I might just hire her if she does well enough.”
“Unlikely. She hates you, you know.”
“Not happening, huh?”
“No.”
“Well, I guess I’ll do what I can to enjoy myself.”
“You are free to do as you please. Just make sure to put an end to it.”
“I know. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I shall leave it in your capable hands.”
“You got it! Heh heh… I can’t wait to see what happens next!”
Chapter 2:
The Nature of the Beast King
A FEW DAYS AFTER our victory in the second round, Fran was in perfect form. She had slept, eaten, trained, and fluffed Jet’s fur.
Did you sleep well, Fran?
“Hm…” said Fran, half-asleep. She rubbed her eyes as she ate breakfast. Despite her apparent sleepiness, her hand continued moving, determined to fill her belly.
Today’s your first match in the finals.
“Hm…”
She was her usual sleepy self this morning. I thought that was excellent. If Fran were fully alert, I would’ve wondered whether she’d gotten any sleep at all. Today, like all the days before, Fran needed to bathe and have her hair dried and brushed. Which was precisely why I thought today, like all the days before it, she should be in top fighting form. That said, her hair was going to need some extra attention.
It’s your big fight today, Fran. You have to look good for it.
“I don’t care.”
Oh, come on. Think of all the people who are going to see you.
Fran finally woke up as I was doing her hair. Her eyes lit up as she gave Jet the same treatment.
“You’ll have to look pretty too, Jet.”
“Woof!”
Jet squinted with pleasure and rolled over to show her his belly.
