The day of the tournament has arrived. The festivities started in the early morning as shops is getting set up on the side of the road while attracting any passerby to buy something from them. A large number of people from different kingdoms have come to see the spectacle since this kind of public tournament is rare and few in between.
Lawrence wakes up from the noise coming from the street as he looked below through the window in his room. Carriages lined the road while warriors and mages walked in groups. His stomach grumbled as Lawrence decided to head outside and walk downstairs to find everyone sharing a meal in the dining room. It seems that the festive atmosphere got them in a good mode as they smiled while talking. Even the clone is there, eating silently.
"Morning boss" Luke greeted as Lawrence nodded and grabbed the nearest chair. Samantha gave Lawrence a plate full of food before Lawrence thanked her and ate it silently.
"I'm confident i can reach top 10" Catalinna boasted with a huge grin
"R-really? I heard there are some strong contestants"
"Come on, Vania. I might not win but I will definitely bring a price" Catalinna replied
"H-how about you Luke?" Vania asked. Luke gave her a bright smile before showing his three fingers.
"T-top 3?"
"I don't think so, I heard that a son of heaven will be participating. Also, almost all of the heirs of the sword saints will be there. Top 10 might be even pushing it." Geiryst commented as Luke shrugged
"You are close-minded. Did you think I haven't collected any information? My good friend Keiren has brought us some good news or bad, depending on who reads it. The sword saint Quinyang Feng was slain. So most likely that his son won't be participating" Luke slides a piece of parchment on the table as no one was surprised except for Vania while Samantha didn't care. That sword saint was killed by the demons, it was their first move against humanity.
There will be a continuous streak of deaths coming from influential individuals in the coming days. Creating chaos and spreading fear to the masses. The next death would be the head magician of the magic tower that was located in the Swordwin Empire. Which temporarily halted any business that can be conducted by mages themselves.
"Oh, no one seems to be surprised. That was disappointing. Anyway, here's the information on the people who are predicted to be in the top 10" Luke puts a stack of paper on the table as one by one, they each grabbed one.
The son of heaven is named Osborn Forwill, a four-star mage that was raised by the church of light to be their weapon and future hero. With 1 in a million talent in light magic while mastering over 15 light spells and many more. Has one known ability called the reign of light which allows him to absorb the light from the sun temporarily to restore his health and mana reserves. His weakness is that he's extremely prideful and easily irritated, which results in being reckless and wasting mana.
"Geiryst. Have you met Osborn?" Lawrence asked as Geiryst looked at him briefly.
"Yes, once. From what I have seen he isn't that great at fighting and tends to just throw light spells until he wins. Though with his unique ability, it makes him a hard enemy to fight against"
"I see. He's like Catalinna but stronger. Noted" Lawrence nodded
"That's funny haha." Catalinna sarcastically replied but Lawrence only smiled. He grabbed another paper to read.
Delia Petrov is the projected top 2 according to Keiren. She's the daughter of the vagrant sword saint Andrei Petrov. She's a 4-star warrior with unknown sword art, body art, and movement art. Still, the reason why Keiren ranked her so high is simply because of the achievements she's reached. The youngest warrior to be able to reach 4-star at age 17 and the youngest warrior to obtain 5 abilities. According to the information that Keiren has gathered, the abilities she gained include sword intent, one with the sword, sword domain, unending stamina, and body mastery. Which makes her deadly without even the use of sword art and swinging her blade can simply kill anyone below her star level with ease.
"Boss, look at this." Luke handed him a piece of paper as Lawrence looked over it to find someone familiar. It was Cain with a cheerful smile on his face. Reading the information, there is really nothing except for the fact that his sword has a peculiar ability. It's a sleek black sword that can absorb the blood of monsters that was damaged by it in which Cain is nourished and healed by it.
The rest continued reading the papers as both Samantha and Geiryst left the dining room. Vania simply felt that she needs to read it for the sake of reading since Catalinna needed her to rest once in a while. With the speed of her strengthening her mana heart, it would take two months before she can break through despite the high-grade potions given to her by Samantha.
An hour passed as they carried everything they needed. They have maintained their weapons, especially Luke who keeps asking Samantha for help to coat almost every hidden weapon in his body from poison needles, small daggers, powder bags containing irritants, and even the blade hidden under his shoes is covered with poison. After that, he puts every hidden weapon inside the storage of his relic Carnwennan. Meanwhile, Lawrence summoned the clone to check his progress.
"Did you reach adept level?"
"Yes" the clone muttered before sighing
"Hmm..don't worry. If we win the tournament, I'll grant you anything you want as long as I can get it" Lawrence smiled and the clone looked at him suspiciously before nodding. Lawrence unsummoned him as he heads downstairs and outside the mansion to find Catalinna standing around impatiently. Her arms are crossed while tapping her shoes on the ground with an annoyed look.
"Where's Luke? What's taking him too long?"
"Don't know. We can only wait" Lawrence shrugged
"Anyway, Vania and Samantha will watch us once we reach the top 30 after the preliminaries so you better win" Catalinna replied
"Of course." Lawrence smiled which soured Catalinna's expression
"Can you get rid of that annoying smile?" Catalinna remarked but Lawrence's smile stayed the same.
"Why? Why are you always angry at the world? Why are you always annoyed? Hm?"
"Tsk, you don't answer a question with a question" Catalinna commented before going silent. Lawrence wondered why Catalinna seems to be annoyed when she was around him but was extremely caring and gentle to Vania. She also acts somewhat annoyed at Luke but not to this degree. How can a smile be annoying? He gazed at her deeply but Catalinna snorted before looking away. Lawrence can only scratch his head.
Finally, after a few minutes of waiting. Luke finally went outside fully decked in a black cloak with a hood hiding his face. Naturally, all three of them are wearing the identity that was given to them by Keiren. Catalinna glared at Luke before walking away as both of them followed.
Arriving in the coliseum. The seats are full to the brim with the audience hoping to see some spectacles while a faint barrier protecting the audience can be seen covering the arena. Lawrence was given a number as he was asked to go to room 25. After saying goodbye to both Catalinna and Luke, he followed the attendant as he entered the waiting room.
There will be preliminaries with a point system., the first 30 people that reach 10 points will head straight to the ranking match. Each fight gives a winner 2 points while the defeated loses 1 point meaning that if someone loses the first round, they will be immediately eliminated. Only the 30 people who win straight 10 times will proceed. This creates a competitive atmosphere as Lawrence entered the room to find five people waiting for their fight. Everyone was alert and sits silently to avoid getting any information leaking from them.
A minute later, someone from his room was called. Another minute later, another one was called. Finally, it was Lawrence that was called. Whoever was fighting them was extremely strong that it only takes a minute to defeat them. Lawrence composes himself before walking outside the room and heading into the arena. There, 10 stone stages were placed where everyone fights. It's leading to most defeats via pushing the enemy down the stage. Lawrence was escorted to the stage to find a burly man with a large red ax resting on his back. Blood surrounded the stage and there are some bits of flesh on the floor of the stage. The burly man snorted with a savage grin upon seeing him. Once Lawrence steps his foot onto the stage, the burly man postured his body in a way to create an overarching slash towards Lawrence.
"Both fighters. Be warned, killing is allowed. If anyone wants to step down, it's your time to do so" the attendant who escorted Lawrence spoke out as the burly man chuckled.
"It seems that both fighters are ready. Start!" the announcer shouted as the burly man immediately swings his large ax toward Lawrence's waist but the ax only stopped a couple of inches from touching his skin as Lawrence charged at the astonished man. Summoning the Gungnir out of his space ring, a swift and deadly strike pierced the man's chest. Allowing for blood to flow to the burly man's shirt. The burly man was about to jump back but a strong force of gravity pulled him back only to meet Gungnir straight to the face. Piercing the skull and killing the man instantly. His large body slumps to the floor as the pool of blood slowly seeps out of his body. Lawrence swings his Gungnir to the side as the blood splatters to the floor. Cleaning his spear tip in one go.
"Congratulations, Mr. Evan. You are awarded with 2 points. Please return to your room" the announcer calmly said as a group of people wearing medical garb approach the corpses and puts them in a wooden coffin. Lawrence nodded as he was escorted once again by the attendant.
Upon returning to his room, he founds that the two warriors were still there and covered with blood. One of them looked terrified and was about to throw up while the other one calmly glanced at Lawrence before looking away. The calm man was wearing a black cloak with a hood on, in his belt, two daggers were attached and sheathed. Lawrence tried seeing what star the assassin is but he can't perceive anything. Hinting that he might be a four-star-warrior.
An hour passed and Lawrence easily dispatch his next opponent. Netting him a total of four points. In the room, only the cloaked man remained. Occasionally glancing at Lawrence.
The man was called out as Lawrence has all the room for himself as he was sure that the cloaked man is an assassin. From the hints and his suspicion, Lawrence is assured that he is targeted by someone, and by the looks of it, the empire has sent someone to deal with him. Although he isn't certain that the woman who appeared in the Keiren's pub is working for the empire. She gave hints such as reaching the second round and wouldn't want to get paired against a four-star warrior that raised a few questions.
Lawrence can only laugh as it seems that the empire can't do anything they want ever since their hostility against the three kingdom alliance started. This three-kingdom alliance was formed during the height of the monster wave from the north and the creation of the north wall. The three northern kingdoms decided to ally as they sensed that the support that was given by the empire to the protection of the north was not enough. It also seems that the Sekai Kingdom has some hostility against the empire.
The cloaked man returned after 5 minutes as blood can be seen covering some parts of his cloak. Though not his blood it seems. An hour passed as both of them were called once again and were escorted back to the stone stage with blood splattered to the side. Lawrence cracked his neck before stretching. Against the piercing attacks that a four-star assassin can do, he felt that using the gravity barrier wouldn't be strong and he can't perceive things fast enough to concentrate it.
"Are both fighters ready?" the announcer asked as the assassin nodded while Lawrence gave a thumbs up.
"Remember, killing is allowed, and getting pushed off the stage will result in a loss. Ready, Set, Go!" the announcer shouted
Lawrence immediately summoned the clone which was immediately stabbed through the heart but it was enough to give him time to use removal as the assassin started floating in the air as the Gungnir pierced the air with a frightening speed but the assassin use some kind of hook that attaches to the floor as the assassin pulled himself to the ground. Still, the Gungnir moves unnaturally as it falls to the ground with the spear tip aimed at the assassin's head. Out of nowhere, the Gungnir changed directions and swung upwards before crashing to Lawrence's back. A cloak appeared to be empty as blades flew from it, luckily the gravity barrier was strong enough to block it. Lawrence felt a serrated blade ripping his skin as he grunted in pain before turning around to find the assassins with a wound that almost split his shoulder apart. Lawrence touched his back to find blood dripping from it as both he and the assassin locked gazes.
A whip out of nowhere was lashed as Lawrence only finds a wound across his shoulder as he immediately steps back. He didn't even see it coming as the assassin was many times faster. The assassin lashed his whips as it cracked the wind from the force of it alone. With his inferior speed and lack of range options, it appears that this assassin is harder to deal with than he thought. Still, a grin appeared on Lawrence's face as an inconspicuous dagger flew at a speed that the assassin didn't anticipate. Once the dagger digs into the assassins' flesh, Lawrence charged only to get lashed by the whip once again as another wound appeared on his right leg with blood slowly dripping to the floor.
"Immune to pain huh? It seems that the empire did their research" Lawrence chuckled