I glanced at my companion as more people walked up to the box, only to frown when I saw how her arms were shaking. Fay had broken out into a cold sweat. Her breathing was a little unsteady, too.
“Are you nervous?” I asked.
“It is hard not to be.” Fay swallowed. “I have seen this competition many times, but I never participated before. I feel like there is this intense pressure from the other participants pushing down on me.”
“That would be their Spiritual Pressure.” I nodded. “I imagine the excitement they feel is causing some of their Spiritual Power to leak out. That normally wouldn’t cause this kind of feeling, but there are so many of them that the combined Spiritual Power has magnified the Spiritual Pressure surrounding us.” On impulse, I reached out and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Do not worry. I have been taking the measurement of these people, and among them, there are only about ten or so that you need to watch out for.”
Fay glanced at my face, then looked at my hand, and then looked away. “I-I see. If you say I do not need to worry, then I will of course believe you. Thank you.”
“You are welcome.” I smiled and removed my hand from hers.
Just after I retracted my hand, I felt someone’s vicious gaze piercing into me, causing me to turn and look at Grant as he walked up to the box. Our gazes locked. While I could feel sparks of resentment flying from him, I felt absolutely nothing. That was not because this man didn’t make me feel anything. There just wasn’t anything I could do to him during this tournament. Even if we faced each other, I would not be allowed to kill him, so it was better to suppress the burning urge to see his head removed from his shoulders.
Grant stuck his hand in the box and pulled out a slip of parchment. After looking at it, he turned around, smiled, and showed everyone the number.
Four.
“I hope you don’t get the same number as me,” Grant said to me in a loud, booming voice. “I want to fight you in single combat, so I can humiliate you and show these people just how weak and pathetic you really are.”
I paid him maybe a second or two of attention, then I dismissed Grant. The man’s face turned red. As he stalked back into the crowd with anger radiating from his every pore, I couldn’t suppress my smile. The best way to piss off a noble was to ignore them as though they were beneath you.
Nobles hated it when you treated them like dirt beneath your boots.
As the number of participants coming up to the box trickled down, Fay finally stepped forward, her legs shaking only a little as she reached into the box and took out a slip of parchment. She didn’t glance at it as she walked back to me. After she came back, I walked forward and reached into the box. I could feel the eyes of Dante, Rainer, and Valence on me as I pulled out a parchment and looked at it.
Two.
“Good luck,” I heard as I turned around and walked back to Fay.
“You all have your numbers,” Rainer began once everyone had finished drawing. “That means it is now time for the preliminary rounds. Those whose parchment has the number one drawn on it shall stay in the arena. Everyone else shall head toward the viewing booth that has been reserved for the participants. Dante will lead you there.”
“All right!” Dante clapped his hands and stepped forward. “Everyone who does not have the number one drawn on their parchment follow me.”
Dante walked off and many others followed him. I was about to turn around and do the same, but then I noticed that Fay was not moving. Turning back, I looked at the girl who was shaking with nervous jitters and frowned.
“You drew a number one,” I said.
Fay nodded. She looked like she was about to hyperventilate.
Placing my hands on her shoulders, I looked into her eyes, making sure she locked eyes with me before saying anything. I needed to instill in her a sense of confidence.
“None of these people can beat you,” I said in a firm voice. “You are more powerful than any of the other people who drew the number one slip. Just remember this: Observe the other opponents carefully, watch how they fight, and don’t let yourself be caught in a two-on-one battle. You have the Flash Step to help you either gain or close the distance between people, and you’ve mastered the Spiritual Fire Technique you were practicing. You don’t need anything else to win.”
Fay nodded several times as her body stopped shaking. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Opening her eyes again, she glanced up at my face and smiled. It was such a warm, gentle expression that I couldn’t help but feel my heartbeat quicken.
“Thank you, Eryk. Your advice and encouragement means a lot to me.”
I smiled to mask my own guilt and patted her on the shoulder. “You don’t need to thank me. I’m only telling you the truth.”
The last person who didn’t have the number one aside from me had just left, so I turned toward the door and ran after the group. They weren’t that far. I could see the large mass of people walking down the corridor.
I hurried and caught up to them as Dante led us to a viewing booth on the first floor. It was large enough to hold about a hundred people, longer than it was wide, and didn’t have any seats. That said, the viewing booth did have an open window that would allow us to watch the other participants as they fought. It stretched across the entire room.
“This is where all of you will be staying when you aren’t fighting,” Dante said. “I will also be staying in this room to make sure none of you fight outside of the arena.” While his smile looked lazy, there was a sharpness to it that made many of the people present shudder. “Anyone who tries to fight while I’m around will not only be disqualified, but I will challenge them to an Honor Duel, and then I will humiliate that person until they are too ashamed to even show themselves in public.”
The man’s words made me snort a bit, but I didn’t say anything as I wandered up to the window and looked out. From where I stood, I could see Fay beginning to square off against the other four combatants.
* * *
Eryk’s words had done wonders to calm her down. Even though Fay still felt her legs growing a little weak, as she stood there alongside the four other combatants, she did not feel the nearly overwhelming nervousness that had invaded her body earlier. This just went to show her how much his words meant. It also furthered her determination not to hand him over to Kari.
She eyed the four other people who stood in the arena with her—three men and one other woman.
The first one she noticed was obviously the hulking man wearing nothing but a loincloth. He towered over all the other competitors like a giant. His massive muscles flexed with even the slightest movement. This man’s arms were thick and covered in veins, and his hands were so large he could probably fit his fingers around her entire cranium. His skin was also tanner than most. He probably spent a lot of time outdoors.
Standing in the next point of this pentagon was the second man, a person who looked positively tiny when standing next to the hulking barbarian. His slight frame made him seem more feminine. He was not wearing any armor, but his clothing made it clear that he was a noble of some standing. A white vest was hidden underneath a blue coat with tails that traveled past his knees. The sleeves were rolled up and fingerless gloves extended up to his forearms. Black pants, blue boots, and a broadsword strapped over his shoulder completed his ensemble.
She switched her gaze from the man to the woman on his other side.
Fay felt a little inferior when she eyed this gorgeous woman clad in chainmail and wielding a spear with a leaf-shaped blade. Her silver gauntlets gleamed in the light. The chestplate she wore over her chainmail only protected her chest, but it would also allow her the freedom of motion to twist her torso. Unlike the two men, she wore a sharp-looking helmet with a pair of wings jutting from either side. A few blond bangs stuck out of her helmet and hovered around steel-gray eyes.
Finally, Fay looked at the last person and couldn’t help but wonder what this man had been thinking when he en
tered. He was old. His bald head and face were covered in wrinkles. His skin was tanned from being out in the sun for so long, making her think he might be a farmer from outside of the city. He wore simple pants, a tunic, and carried a wooden staff that did not look like it could do much damage.
Someone stepped in the middle of their formation. It was Rainer, who slowly turned in a circle to eye the combatants. Everyone focused their eyes on him as the crowd, previously loud enough to shatter a person’s eardrums, grew quiet and restless. Everyone was watching on bated breath.
“All of you already know the rules so I won’t repeat them,” Rainer said. “Remember, what I say goes. The same goes for Valence, who will be helping me referee these preliminary matches. If we tell you to stop fighting, you will stop fighting. Failure to comply will result in your immediate disqualification. Do you all understand?”
All five combatants nodded as Rainer gazed at them with his blade-like eyes. Fay couldn’t repress the shiver that ran down her spine at the sharp gaze, which she could practically feel cutting into her.
Rainer smiled. “Good. In that case, all of you will begin this battle on my signal.”
The Second Husband of Empress Hilda walked out of the circle, standing on the opposite side of the arena as Valence, who had his arms crossed and wore a stern expression.
All the other combatants readied their weapons. The barbarian-like man clutched his axe, the noble unsheathed his broadsword, the woman swung her halberd around, and the old man tapped his staff against the ground. It was only now that Fay realized she had no weapons with which to fight.
Nothing except for her fists.
Crap.
Rainer held up his hand and swung it down. “Let the battle begin!”
Chapter 3
Fay’s First Battle
The moment the fight started, everyone except Fay suddenly turned around and clashed with their nearest opponent. She stood there, unable to do anything except watch as the other four began battling against each other. It was like they hadn’t even deemed her a threat. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but she also knew that having them underestimate her would be an advantage.
Two battles had broken out. One of them was between the armored woman and the old man, while the other was between the noble and the barbarian. As the odd woman out, Fay could do nothing but stand in place and watch as the two battles happened.
A loud crashing sound caused her to shift her attention to the battle between the barbarian and the noble. The massive man in the loincloth had swung his axe down without mercy. While the noble had dodged, the swing was so powerful that the axe split the earth when it struck. Fault lines spread across the ground as a loud rumbling sound echoed all around them.
The noble wore a grim expression as he eyed the damage. However, he didn’t appear frightened as a powerful Spiritual Aura activated around him. Wisps of dark green energy swirled around his body like a slowly flickering flame. His Spiritual Aura emitted a Spiritual Pressure that felt very solid. He must have possessed an affinity for the earth element.
After his Spiritual Aura ignited, the noble took a step forward and swung his broadsword in a diagonal slash that started from the ground and curved into the sky. Numerous rock projectiles suddenly sprang from the arena floor and sailed toward the barbarian, who also activated his Spiritual Aura. A powerful sensation like an electric jolt caused the hairs on Fay’s arm to stand on end. It felt similar to Eryk’s Spiritual Aura, but where his felt like a calmly flowing river bathed in lightning, this one felt like a spark.
The earth projectiles slammed into the lightning Spiritual Aura and broke apart. The barbarian threw his head back and laughed.
“Hur hur hur. You’ll have to do far better than that if you wish to defeat me, little man.”
The noble narrowed his eyes. “Then why don’t we up the stakes?”
Slamming his foot on the ground three times, the man spun around and created three stone spikes that sprang from the ground around the barbarian. However, just like before, these spikes merely smashed against his aura and vanished. The barbarian laughed some more as he swung his axe in a half-circle, a powerful ripple of lightning spreading out from it. Seeing this quick moving ripple of lightning charge toward him, the noble swung his sword in a strange pattern like a series of figure eights before stabbing it into the ground. A massive slab of stone rose from the surface just as the lightning arrived. The blue arcs of energy slammed into the slab, but it didn’t break through.
Fay shifted her attention from the battle between the barbarian and the noble to the one happening between the old man and the lady warrior. While the other battle was pitting Spiritual Technique against Spiritual Technique, this one seemed to be more like a battle of martial skill. The two were trading strikes with their staff and halberd respectively.
The lady warrior spun her halberd around her body in graceful arcs before she struck at the old man, her leaf-shaped blade seeking to penetrate his defenses. Yet the old man was wily. He moved his body by using a strange method of shuffling his feet along the ground in an off-time rhythm, allowing him to narrowly avoid each attack. A stab was dodged when he tilted his body to the left. A swing was avoided when he sidestepped. The lady warrior swung her halberd horizontally, but the old man merely leapt into the air and let it pass beneath his feet.
“You are very good at dodging,” the lady warrior said, her eyes narrowed. “However, if dodging is all you can do, then I am afraid you should consider giving up.”
“Oh ho ho ho ho!” The old man broke into a smile as he eyed the lady warrior. “I do appreciate you handing me advice, but that is not something the young should be doing. It is the duty of the old to deliver advice to the young. That is why I’m going to suggest you forfeit. You can’t beat me.”
The lady warrior gritted her teeth as her Spiritual Aura erupted around her. It was like a whirlpool of flame surrounding her body, encasing it in an additional layer of heat and protection.
“We will see who defeats who,” the lady warrior said as she charged at the old man. Despite her activating her Spiritual Aura, the old man did no such thing. He remained standing where he was, a calm smile on his face as though he had nothing to worry about.
The lady warrior moved her body into an elegant dance. Her feet slid along the floor. Her body twirled. As she moved, the leaf-shaped blade of her halberd suddenly ignited. Fire danced around her blade, which she swung at lightning speed. It was so fast Fay could barely see it.
While Fay could only see a soft flicker of light, the old man could clearly see everything, for he leapt backward, clearing several meters and allowing the blade to pass harmlessly by. This didn’t solve the full problem, though. As the blade flew through the air in front of him, a sharp crescent-shaped wave of fire shot from the halberd’s tip. It continued to travel toward the old man at a speed that Fay didn’t think he could dodge.
“Hup!”
The old man surprised Fay by spinning his staff around in front of him like a windmill. Strange streamers coagulated in the air, converging on the area immediately in front of the man’s windmilling staff. It was water, she realized. Dozens of streamers composed entirely of water appeared in the air and agglomerated in front of the old man’s staff as he continued spinning it, creating a large shield.
The crescent fire wave slammed into the shield. A loud hiss erupted from the attack as steam shot across the battlefield, covering the old man and making it impossible for either Fay or the lady warrior to see what happened. However, just as Fay was wondering if the man’s shield had been broken, ancient laughter like aged paper being crinkled rang out from inside of the steam cloud.
“That wasn’t too bad. You have quite a bit of power to you,” the old man said from within the cloud. “However, if that’s all you have, then I’m afraid this battle is already won.”
The lady warrior clicked her tongue as she held her halberd in a two-handed grip, legs spread apart and knees bent. She
narrowed her eyes and glared into the rolling steam.
“This is not even close to everything I am capable of,” the lady warrior replied. “Don’t go counting all of your chickens before they even hatch.”
“Oh ho ho ho! More attempts of the young giving advice to the elderly.”
Seconds after those words were unleashed, a figure darted out from the steam cloud. The figure was moving swiftly, but Fay was able to see what, or rather who, was traveling that fast. He headed toward the lady warrior, whose expression suddenly turned grave. She swung her halberd. A loud bang echoed all around them as the shaft of her weapon struck something hard. The explosive impact sent dust and wind everywhere, causing Fay to flinch. When she looked back at the old man and the lady warrior, it was to see the two of them exchanging blows at lightning speed.
This is… a battle…
Fay’s eyes were wide as she stared uncomprehendingly at the fight before her. Even though she had trained for several months now (she had trained for months before even meeting Eryk), she didn’t actually have any experience with combat. Her training consisted of strength training, learning to control her Spiritual Power, and learning the Flash Step and Fire Spiral Spiritual Fist. Seeing these two fights erupting right before her eyes caused her legs to lock in place.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
BAM!
A loud sound caused Fay to suddenly turn her head, and she was just in time to witness the noble get struck by the barbarian’s axe. The attack came in so fast the noble had no time to dodge. The axe crashed into him like a thunderstorm, blasting him clean off his feet and sending him soaring across the arena floor. He didn’t stop until his body slammed into the wall, which dented around him and caused cracks to spread from the center of impact.
WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior: Volume 4 Page 4
