With that loss, Hephaestus was out of the tournament. The nobles that associated themselves with the house were ashamed of this development.
"Most seeds, but the first house to bow out of the competition."
A new low for the double winners of the previous rendition of the trials.
"How does it feel, Henry? Even Perseus has a chance of making it further into the trials than your house."
Right now, in the Overseer's room, Theresa took a dig at two house leaders simultaneously.
Henry remained quiet. He had nothing else to say. Joan, however, gave a quick retort.
"One can say the same for you, Theresa."
The next match was between Aldrich and Gawain. Under the right conditions, she could be out in the same round.
"You don't have to worry about that, Joan. Unlike you, I give a shit about my students."
Joan shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't offended.
"Confidence is good. We will continue this conversation after the result of the match."
"Prepare yourself then. I will make you eat your words."
There was a difference in tiers, but both of them were equal in standing.
Arthur looked at William. The latter took notice of his glance and asked,
"Do you want something?"
"Bringing a Yoshinaka into this was an amazing move."
Everyone was taken off guard.
"Arthur..."
"Praising William?"
William raised an eyebrow.
"I know that. But why are you praising me?"
"Because..."
Arthur paused. The reason was simple.
'I couldn't do it.'
William looked at him.
"Because?"
Arthur nodded his head.
"It's nothing. Just a compliment."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Falchion vs. Sword And Shield.
Aldrich Niels vs. Gawain Rolfe.
The third pair walked to their positions. Gawain didn't greet his family this time.
"I will defeat you, target."
Before their duel began, Aldrich dared to make a bold statement.
Gawain didn't pay any attention to his word. His mind was preoccupied with something else.
'Brown hair tied into a short ponytail and an unnaturally wide smile with a thin body frame.'
His arms looked comfortable with the sword.
'His attacks will be weak, but fast. And his body will be constantly moving to tire me out.'
"Begin!"
The officiator raised his hand.
"Try to keep up!"
A flurry of attacks followed, which were fast enough to confuse many of the audience members. Gawain blocked the first few attacks, but the pace kept increasing. By the 12th strike, Aldrich found a way to get past his shield and attack a blind spot. In quick succession, the shield had to resist a strong cut from the left, followed by a second strike that gave Gawain no time to respond.
'Swoosh!'
The sword stopped right above his wrist.
"Three points, Aldrich!"
Gawain took his hand back and went straight to his previous position.
"You should forfeit. It is already clear that I am better than you."
He raised his shield. The officiator came between them and said,
"Ready?"
Gawain nodded. Aldrich smiled.
"Begin!"
"Right!"
Paying attention to his stance, Gawain shouted out the direction of the first attack.
'Clang!'
blocked. Aldrich continued.
"Right!"
'Clang!'
The prediction was correct.
"Left!"
'Clang!'
Correct.
His next strike was about to be in the center. Gawain finally used his short sword to deflect the weak strike. Aldrich recovered and let out another strike, this time with more force.
"And done."
Slightly raising his shield above his waist, Gawain smiled. Aldrich saw his expression, but didn't understand the meaning behind it and continued forward with his attack.
'Bang!'
A loud crash. Most of the nobles in the stands had to open their mouths at the sudden change of events.
"Looks like you even had to sacrifice most of your intelligence to become fast."
Aldrich was down on the ground. His vision had turned blurry, which made him see two instances of Gawain. The ringing sound was playing in his ears on a loop.
Predicting the trajectory of his movement, Gawain had raised his shield to serve as an obstacle to Aldrich's head. His reckless attempts at attacking were his weakness.
"This isn't a violation! The student rushed into the shield, which was his fault!"
Gawain smirked.
"Do YOU want to quit now?"
The tables had turned.
Cedric furrowed his brows.
"That was intentional."
Elizabeth looked at him.
"How could that be? It was clear that the other guy rushed in recklessly."
That was far from the truth.
"It wasn't exactly a bash, but the boy named Gawain was aware of his actions."
Elizabeth frowned as well.
"We might lose this bet."
Cedric had been correct about every one of the previous fights. His admittance was enough to show that he wasn't expecting this either.
'He agitated the opponent by correctly predicting his moves and calling him out. Then, when the opponent took the bait, the boy used a trick to knock the wind out of his enemy.'
This is the difference that good strategy makes in a fight.
'Swing!'
Aldrich lifted himself, still dazed by the attack. Nonetheless, he wasn't giving up.
"Tricks like these can't do anything to me. I will-"
He swung his sword, but it was way slower than before. Gawain repelled it back with his shield, creating an imbalance that was much harder to recover from due to Aldrich's current state.
"Are you sure about that?"
He raised his sword towards his neck, and Aldrich couldn't do anything.
"5 points, Gawain!"