The tournament continued.
From time to time, the bodies of knights and their warhorses were carried out of the arena.
Losa's opponent in the second round was the poor knight he had previously seen exchanging glances with a noble lady in the stands.
Not only was he wearing a cheap spine helmet, but his surcoat was washed to the point of being white, and there were even faint traces of rust on the rings of his armor.
Despite his decent martial arts skills, Losa still defeated him decisively.
He had no intention of letting the knight win, as he was certain that even if he deliberately lost to the poor knight, the man would still be eliminated in the subsequent battles.
The next opponent might not be as merciful as himself.
The possibility of this poor knight perishing on the spot was just too high.
Evidently, he understood this as well and thanked him sincerely: "Thank you for being lenient."
Losa shook his head: "You're welcome, but if I may be frank, you should at least get yourself some decent armor before entering a tournament."
The poor knight smiled bitterly: "I originally hoped to defeat a wealthy knight in the first round so I could use his armor, but unfortunately, my opponent was also a landless knight like myself."
"In any case, it's better not to take such risks. The tournament can be even harsher for you than the battlefield."
"On a chaotic battlefield, even a farmer soldier in rags with a pitchfork might kill a noble knight, but in the tournament, that's impossible."
The poor knight sighed deeply. These words compared him to insignificant farmer soldiers, which in the eyes of some self-important knights, was tantamount to an insult.
But he could understand the well-intentioned advice.
Moreover, for a knight with no fief and living in poverty, he never truly believed himself to be much nobler than the farmers laboring in the fields.
"Thank you for your advice. I am Ned Stark from Holstein. After the tournament, I will pay the ransom to your attendant."
Losa waved it off: "No need, keep the money for yourself and get some decent armor. Your martial abilities are good; it's the equipment that's holding you back."
He glanced at the noble lady in the stands clutching her handkerchief with a worried face, and said with profound meaning: "May the Heavenly Father bless you, and grant your heart's desires."
Such an opponent, though easy to defeat, offered little profit.
Forcing someone to give up their last penny for ransom didn't align with his values.
"Thank you for your generosity."
Ned expressed gratitude: "May the Heavenly Father bless a person of such noble character as you, helping you achieve great deeds and success in all endeavors."
Losa waved his hand and left the arena directly.
...
As time went on, the sky grew brighter.
The clouds gradually dispersed, revealing the dazzling and radiant sun.
Losa faced many more opponents.
Church Knights from Cologne, Monk Knights from a small knight order, and noble knights like Abelardo, who pursued honor and had deep pockets.
They came from Lombardy, Gaul, Albion, Germania... This knight tournament was a gathering of nearly half the knight types from Christendom.
A considerable number of them shared the same goal as Losa, preparing to go to Venice by ship, or travel overland through the Eastern Empire, to the Holy Land to participate in the Eastern Expedition.
Knights from Iberia were absent, as it remained on the frontline of the reconquest effort.
The power of the Moors, though already waning, was still formidable, supported by Morocco and other countries.
It was already a Crusader frontline, and drawing more forces to the Holy Land wasn't realistic.
After several rounds of matches and spectatorship, Losa had to admit that most of the time, wealthier knights were undeniably stronger.
There were two wealthy knights from Lombardy who even wore the rare half-body plate armor of this era (not historically accurate), making it difficult for opponents to breach their defenses.
Even discounting equipment factors, wealthy knights were generally stronger.
On one hand, they had more meat in their diets, making them healthier.
On the other, they could hire better and more expensive knight and swordsmanship instructors, or simply inherited some martial skills from a long lineage.
The adage "rich in martial affairs" holds true both ancient and modern, both home and abroad.
Fortunately, Losa's father, Count Werner, was a knight with exceptional martial skills, and he had gained considerable wealth from the Crusades, which allowed Losa to barely fit into the "wealthy knights" category.
...
Finally, the number of participants dwindled.
Losa's rest time grew increasingly short, often just a couple of rounds after defeating an opponent before he had to return to the battlefield.
He felt as if he were a bow, the string being pulled ever tighter.
Hans's combat experience was still very limited, despite having strong attributes, he unfortunately lost after defeating three opponents.
Luckily, his opponent had no significant advantage and, after defeating Hans, failed to capitalize, barely maintaining his stance, leaving no room for demanding ransom.
Hans won three victories, earning thirty Suludes gold coins of varying purity. The defeated, who were not devoid of wealth, decided to pay to redeem their cherished steeds and precious armor.
But Losa's luck was much worse.
Most of his opponents were paupers, struggling through with martial arts and luck. Even if he won, the ransom he could demand was very limited.
Losa even received blackened dinar silver coins, indicating a pitiful silver content.
Yet, he accepted the opponent's offer in the end.
He didn't want to be overly stingy, insisting on stripping off his opponent's mediocre, worn-out armor, making the scene too unpleasant.
A reputation for generosity is very important for a knight.
Being too calculating could easily lead the knights and minstrels present to spread nicknames like "Algo's Jew" or "Algo's Sherlock."
Of course, this was before the Renaissance, with no classic "Merchant of Venice" in print yet.
…
By the penultimate match, both Losa and his opponent were already at the end of their rope.
Constrained by physical exhaustion, neither could quickly determine victory, resulting in repeated clashes of weapon, shield, and even body.
Finally, Losa seized upon a momentary lapse from his opponent.
A shield bash dislodged the opponent's shield.
He then struck the opponent's helmet with the hilt, and as the opponent reeled from the blow, Losa quickly removed his helmet and knocked him out with a headbutt.
Finally won!
Perhaps because no blood was shed, the experience points Losa gained from defeating these knights were sadly lacking.
But he was already close to level two.
Defeating this opponent successfully pushed his experience bar up the final notch.
In an instant, he felt his previously depleted physical strength become full once more.
His entire state was instantly replenished.
Even the fatigue accumulated over days of arduous travel was wholly released.
Losa raised his sword, acknowledging the spectators.
The crowd responded with warm applause.
They were filled with affection for this young man who won continuously, stormed into the finals, and generously waived much ransom for poor knights.
After this tournament, even if Losa couldn't claim the title of Champion Knight, he would successfully make the name of Algo's Losa resound along the Eastern European borders.
One day, if Losa were to be enfeoffed as a lord in Jerusalem, though it may not summon countless knights to rally to his banner, it would still be far superior to remaining a nameless figure.
As for the newly acquired three attribute points.
Losa certainly wouldn't consider adding them to Spirit, as although increasing Spirit could improve his reflexes and spiritual resistance, the main benefit would be the blue bar.
He had no active skills, so the blue bar was useless.
Likewise, Power was also excluded.
As a knight, during a charge, he mainly relied on horsepower, and his attack power was more than sufficient. In infantry combat, even if his strength were increased, it would be hard to cut through the enemy's armor.
What allows him to continue fighting was, on one hand, Physical Strength, and on the other, Endurance.
But Endurance primarily enhanced Defense.
Even if Losa allocated all three attribute points to Endurance, the toughness of his skin would still be hard to match up to sturdy armor.
Moreover, Losa hadn't drawn a Healing Attendant yet, and with the era's poor medical standards, a common cold or a plague could easily claim his life.
His top priority right now was survival!
Therefore, he invested the newly acquired three attribute points entirely into Physical Strength.
If Losa previously had 8 points in Physical Strength, just meeting the basic level of a powerful knight, then with 11 points now, he had begun to surpass human limits.
Ordinary diseases could no longer affect him, and injuries that could be fatal to ordinary people would only severely injure him.
Not only that, a whopping 11 points in Physical Strength allowed him to feel his vigor becoming ever more bursting, his entire being seemingly overflowing with energy, eager to be unleashed.
In the stands, Count Leopold's witch consultant gave Losa a long look.
The corners of her mouth raised slightly, but she said nothing, instead shifting her gaze to Prajna.
She attributed the changes in Losa to Prajna, whom she regarded as a powerful witch on par with herself.
She was not puzzled at why such a powerful witch would serve under a mere knight.
After all, witches are inherently emotional creatures.
Becoming blind for love was not uncommon.