Randolf gazed menacingly towards the retreating figure of Arthur as he was assisted off the stage by the medical Fae Masters.
He didn't want to admit it. In fact, he didn't even want to think about it but-.
'In the end.... I was absolutely trounced. I didn't even have the ability to fight back in the end....'.
The combination of Fae. The resoluteness in his offensive. The decisiveness behind his blows. The way he carried himself. And the unwavering confidence he had in himself the entire tournament....
This was 'Arthur'.
Never once, throughout the entire tournament did someone manage to land a hit on him.
Even Borik, who Randolf wasn't completely sure he could best in a fight, only managed to graze Arthur before being bested by him.
In fact, just like Borik, Randolf himself was led into a false sense of security. Arthur made them both believe that they had a chance of winning.
When Arthur let himself get pushed back into a corner, before unleashing the moonsword fae on Borik.
And when Arthur revealed both his camouflage fae and black smog fae on Randolf.
In fact, even if he knew that Arthur possessed all of these fae, he probably wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
If Arthur wanted to win in a single blow, he would just use the moonsword fae instead of beating him into submission. In fact, if he wanted too, he could probably defeat all of the new generations Fae Masters like this.
Randolf sighed, groaning slightly as one of the medics placed a special paste on his cheek.
"This'll hurt for a little bit, but bear with me. You're the tournament champion after all!".
A wave of relief washed over Randolf.
He almost forgot.
'Even if I don't get to pick a new fae for myself, being given access to the Clan Reserves will allow me to inspect all the Fae's inside! It won't just increase my knowledge, but also allow my A.I to record all the data relating to the Fae!'.
Randolf smiled slightly, ignoring the pain in his face.
He went to place his hands in his pockets, but found that there was something inside his pocket, something that he didn't remember putting inside.
Taking it out, Randolf unfurled the rolled up piece of paper, his eyes widening for a moment before an expression of surrender appeared on his face.
Randolf tore up the piece of paper, burning it with the tiniest fireball before letting out a large sigh.
"This guy.... makes me remember not to underestimate the talents of this world....".
In terms of combat with fae, Arthur was extremely talented. His own natural talent aside, Randolf couldn't of got this far without his A.I helping him.
Arthur's styles of combat, in addition to his manipulation of origin essence far exceeded his own!
And that was someone who had two lives worth of experience helping him!
Individuals such as Leonardo Da Vinci, or Galileo, or Einstein were geniuses in their own respective fields! Science wasn't nearly as developed in this world as it was in his previous world, but it stood to gain that geniuses in fighting and in fae still existed!
This Arthur person was undoubtably one of them.
Speaking of Arthur-.
"You were so cool! You were like blam! And then like kaboom! And then-".
Arthur's mother sighed for a moment patting her child's head.
"Alright Ivan, I think that's just about enough out of you. You're brother's probably tired. Give him some space, will you?".
Both Ivan and Ivanka nodded slightly, but still looked towards their elder brother, stars could be seen in their eyes.
Arthur smiled, but just patted their heads.
"It's fine. If I had just a little bit more origin essence, I would've won, but unfortunately....".
Arthur sent his Father a glance, who smiled before nodding slightly.
His Father knew about the bloodseeker leaf fae, and knew about its abilities as well.
He knew very well Arthur could've won that fight, even if he did truly run out of origin essence.
Niklos also guessed that Arthur and Randolf had some sort of deal. There was no way his son would give up first place without some sort of special reason behind it, so he guessed that the rewards for first place might also be Arthur's.
His mother patted his head, letting out a small sigh.
"I have nothing to say about your last fight, but your fight against Andrea was absolute preposterous! You just sat on that poor girl's... chest area! Imagine her embarrassment Arthur!".
Arthur glanced towards his Father, but the latter merely swung his head to the side, pretending to greet one of the referees.
He tsked, and faked an apologetic expression.
"I.... understand mother. It won't happen again".
Arthur's mother said a few more words to him before he was called back towards the main stage.
All of the new generations Fae Masters stood tall, some happy, others sad, but all somewhat accomplished, despite their placements in the tournament.
Randolf, despite his injuries also stood at the very front of the main stage, directly before the platform where the Clan Elders and Clan Leader sat as well.
His anger had mostly dissipated, and a slightly respectful look could be seen on his face.
.... On all of their faces.
Alina, Borik, Ratimir, Zoya and Andrea all gazed towards Arthur, with looks of respect.
Some looked at him enviously, or infatuated, but all them knew the same exact thing!
'Don't mess around with Arthur!'.
He'll beat you up so bad, you won't even manage to lay a finger on him.
His talent in combat, far exceeded their own. And even if his talent dragged him behind somewhat, other than Randolf, he could still compete with the rest of them!
The young man smiled slightly, giving his "classmates" a nod before standing directly beside Randolf.
Arthur didn't say anything, but Randolf moved his head slightly, whispering to Arthur.
"It's done".
Arthur raised an eyebrow, and smiled politely at Randolf.
"What's done?".
Randolf scoffed, rolling his eyes as he turned back towards the platform above them.
Both the Clan Leaders, and the Clan Elders all stood up, most smiling as they gazed down at the Fae Masters on the stage.
Niklos' smile the largest out of all of them.
"It seems that this generations first tournament has come to an end! Some of you are probably happy, others saddened by your losses, but all of you can be proud of one thing!
"You are all proper Fae Masters now! You have tasted what it means to be a Fae Master of the Kovacs Clan!".
Most of the commoner Fae Masters felt a feeling of unity sprout deep within them.
"They" were apart of something bigger than themselves.
"They" were recognized personally by the strongest man in their Clan.
"They" felt more belonging that they ever had before.
Borik, Alina and Ratimir just stood tall, their gazes focused on the Clan Leader.
Randolf remained expressionless, while Arthur still kept up his emotionless smile.
"Your placements here today will mark a boundary that you should set yourself! In a years time, another tournament will take place to evaluate your strengths once more! Every single Fae Master here, should aim to best the current self, and ascend higher! Becoming stronger, and making the Clan stronger by extension!".
"Those who are rewarded today are reminded not to waste their talents, despite having won. If the talented misuse, or let their talents go to waste then....
Niklos voice went slightly cold.
"What good are you?".
The descendents of Elders shivered slightly but remained steadfast in the presence of a stronger being.
Niklos let his words sink in, before smiling once more.
"I will now release the rewards for those in the top ten spots. Please come up and receive your rewards".
"Tenth place.... Milena Kovacs, please receive your 5 origin stones".
"Ninth place.... Godemir Kovacs, please receive your 5 origin stones".
"Eighth place.... Parvan Kovacs, please receive your 5 origin stones".
"Seventh place.... Zlatanna Kovacs, please receive your 5 origin stones".
Each of them people possessed Rank 2 Fae Masters as parents. Most only had the one Fae Master as a parent, but Arthur was sure that the tenth place position had two.
"Sixth place.... Iryna Kovacs, please receive your 10 origin essence stones".
"Fifth place.... , Ratimir Kovacs please receive your 10 origin essence stones".
"Fourth place.... Alina Kovacs, please receive your 10 origin essence stones".
Both Alina and Ratimir glanced at each other, before both of them sighed, resigning to the own fate.
In fact, even if Ratimir was the victor in their fight, he would only receive fourth place, unable to best Randolf in a fight with such a low amount of origin essence at his disposal.
He could only blame himself for not being good enough to fight Alina and defeat her with ease.
Niklos nodded a little before picking up a small Fae in addition to the small back of origin essence stones.
"Third place.... Borik Kovacs. Please come up and receive your 15 origin essence stones, in addition to this bear torso fae!".
Most of the eyes of the crowd went wide, and most revealed jealous, or worried expressions.
With this bear torso fae, Borik's transformation using using bear arms fae would be increased! His defensive power would drastically increase in addition to his bear transformation!
Alina, Ratimir and Randolf all narrowed their eyes.
A troublesome opponent just got more troublesome.
However-.
Their eyes all focused back towards Arthur.
What would he receive as a reward?
"Second place.... Arthur Kovacs. Please come up and receive your 15 origin essence stones, in addition to this.... wind stalker fae!".
Zoya's eyes widened and he turned towards Arthur with a bewildered expression on his face.
'Arthur chose the same fae that I have?'.
In fact, most of the Fae Masters were curious about Arthur's new fae.
It was obvious that in his fights, his technique was his greatest advantage.
He had nothing to increase his strength, stamina or speed like most of the other competitors, so they guessed it was natural for Arthur to receive something that increased his base abilities.
The expressions of Randolf and the others went dark!
'This freak! He's already more agile than the rest of us, and yet he wants to increase his speed even further! Fuck!'.
Arthur smiled politely, cradling the small fae in his arms.
"Thank you, Clan Leader".
He returned to his spot on the main stage, ignoring the gazes of the others surrounding him.
Niklos cleared his throat, drawing the attention back towards himself.
"And in first place, and the winner of the tournament is.... Randolf Kovacs! Please come an receive your 25 origin essence stones!".
Randolf let out a deep breath before stepping up and receiving the rewards from he Clan Leader. He could feel someone whisper into his ear as he took the bag of origin essence stones in his hand.
"Someone will come for you tonight. Do not go to sleep".
Randolf blinked a couple times before nodding.
"Randolf here has won the right to pick out a new Fae from the Clan Reserves! Please join me in celebrating his victory!".
The vast majorities of the audience stood up and clapped, screaming and shouting the name of their victor.
Young girls screamed out Randolf's name while young men shouted out, desiring to be him.
Despite being the winner today, Randolf couldn't help but glance down towards Arthur.
He had joined in, and clapped his hands, smiling politely as he looked towards Randolf.
'It felt as though someone else had been the true winner of the tournament today', he thought.