"Yay, let's celebrate the past and the present with bloodshed. I am so amazed by that…" Aion thought. "I wonder if I can complain that much considering that I am going to use his stupidity to get what I want."
During the speech, Aion wondered why there was a difference in age between the king and his wife. It was hard to imagine that he stayed single until his middle forties. He didn't find anything in history books either, so it was weird… very weird. Regardless, the first fighters were called to the arena, and things started just like that while the audience was cheering like crazy.
The first duel was between an officer in the army and an adventurer. Most of the time, those two groups didn't get along since one was too serious and the other was too laid back. Thanks to that, the tension in the air could almost be touched… regardless, the adventurer grabbed two knives, and the officer grabbed the standard shield and sword.
Aion didn't know if his standards were too high, but he didn't find their fight impressive. Maybe it was because they hadn't been in a real fight, but they fought in a pretty clumsy manner while focusing on defending and waiting for the other to make a mistake. As such, the fight lasted for a while.
Despite that, the audience sure looked excited… they didn't have standards, or they had never watched a real fight. Regardless, the officer won when the shield hit the adventurer's head.
"The first round will have 250 matches… yikes," Aion thought while looking around. "It should be enough to satisfy this bloodthirsty audience."
In any case, some individuals that had talent showed up, but Aion couldn't measure their strength since they only dodged the enemy attacks and then hit the enemy's stomach, head, or sides enough to make them pass out instantly.
Since Aion didn't know many people, it took a while for him to see anyone that he knew fighting. The first one had been Elio with a spear. Unfortunately, he looked pretty nervous since he was in the focus of many people, and he wasn't too that.
"Hey, hey… seriously? You can't lose because of something like this," Aion said.
It would be better if his brothers were to lose before facing him, but Aion didn't want to see them messing up in public. The enemy was another soldier, and while he didn't look much older, he also looked confident with a spear as well.
When the referee saw the sign for the start of the battle, Elio finally focused on the task ahead. The enemy was quite fast, and with a rain of thrusts, he tried to hit Elio's face… that wasn't against the rulers, but he sure was being vicious.
"Does he have a grudge against our family or just against nobles?" Aion thought.
Regardless Elio noticed the killing intent of the adversary, and his focus increased. Blocking the enemy's attacks became easier, and when he showed an opening, Elio stepped forward and then hit the stomach of the adversary with the butt of the spear, and when his body bent forward, Elio hit his face with an elbow attack that indeed smashed the enemy's nose… In the next moment, he fell to the ground unconscious.
The audience began to cheer even more loudly since that had been a clear display of skill… Elio returned to the waiting room while looking embarrassed.
"He sure got skilled with a spear…" Aion thought. "Still, he needs to get mentally stronger. I suppose nobody is perfect."
Speaking of which, Lexus' turn came after a few more turns, and the audience got extremely noisy. It was almost like they were seeing a living legend. Aion knew that his father was strong and he played an important role in the last war, but he didn't expect that he would be that recognizable after ten years.
Lexus' adversary was also a big adventurer. While he selected a long sword, the enemy chose a battle ax. Trying to block those strikes will be the same as asking to be split in two with the sword. That is… If the enemy can hit him.
As one would expect, the big guy charged like a bull and swung his weapon at Lexus, but he dodged to the side like he was slipping without moving his legs. Aion tried to sharpen his evasive maneuvers like that during those three years, but he didn't know if he got even close. Decreasing the difference in strength was something, and the difference in experience and skill was another matter altogether.
Despite the strength of the attack, the big guy stopped the swing before it could hit the ground and swung to the side to hit Lexus. He jumped and then hit the side of the ax and made it fall. At the same time, Lexus kicked the adversary's chin and made him fall with his back on the ground. An instant knockout…
"... he is even better than I thought," Aion thought while furrowing his eyebrows. "I am not sure I can defeat him with brute strength alone."
It was hard to tell his limits, but Aion assumed that Lexus' strength was at least fifty to be able to knock down the ax and that guy with a single hit. At least his speed was supposed to be eighty, and his dexterity was 90… He was fast and skilled. If he uses Inner Force and adds that to his unknown limits… Aion could imagine why he was so famous.
"It doesn't matter. He is an obstacle that I have to surpass. Eventually, this is only going to happen a bit sooner than expected," Aion thought.