The tournament had officially begun.
The pairing was done randomly over three different stages and more than a hundred participants. The matches started intense but ended in minutes.
Matt, Tidlen and Lily watched with slight anxiousness. They had bet more gold than expected and now it was slowly coming back to bite.
"I am very interested in that badge. How does it form a shield and armour at the right time?"
Tidlen wondered.
The first from their group was Kyle. She had been paired up with another Twin Dagger wielder.
The match ended fast.
Kyle won.
Then Ray.
And lastly, with slight contempt, they watched Rhea.
She won. Overwhelmingly.
Her next fight came.
Only after three consecutive duels would a participant be selected for the next round. After that was selection for the quarter finals, held in a similar way.
Rhea's next opponent wielded a long sword while she wielded a broad sword. The opponent charged at her.
Rhea blocked the first strike. Immediately, she bent her knees and pushed against the ground to jump, avoiding a slash at her legs. But that was not all, skillfully maneuvering her broad sword against her weight, she directly attacked her opponent's neck.
She was blocked by the badge-shield. The badge fell down.
Her second victory. And the next one followed soon after.
This opponent wielded a regular sword and was well built.
The match started with a standoff. Then Rhea charged, swinging her broad sword.
The opponent immediately dodged to the side and countered with a horizontal strike. Rhea jumped up. She spun in the air, and delivered an unpredictable but precise strike.
Her opponent was on the ground. Shocked.
Her third victory.
She walked off stage, not having sweat a drop.
She didn't rest.
She stood beside the stage and observed her eventual opponent, Ray.
Ray's fight took longer. His opponent was relentless in his attacks, but Ray parried them with little effort.
As the opponent tired for a second, Ray's blade reached his opponent's neck, stopping just in time.
Ray walked off, having won his third victory.
Feeling her gaze, he glanced at her, and without much reaction, he simply walked to the resting room.
Ray seemed weaker, but Rhea didn't let her guard down.
Having observed this quiet standoff between Ray and Rhea, Kyle, who had also finished her third match, wiped the sweat off her forehead and shook her head, seemingly amused at this rivalry.
Back in the waiting room, she asked Ray.
"What do you think? Is Rhea someone you can beat?" It was somewhat a joke, and Ray responded with a smile, which soon turned into small laugh.
"Who knows, but I'll probably win" he said nonchalantly.
Their next fight would be 2 hours later, and so they had plenty of time. Enjoying the refreshments provided, Matt showed off his grin as he happily laughed. "I basically doubled everything I bet! " He had said.
"Hey! Half of it is mine!" Ray countered, punching Matt slightly on his shoulder.
Returning back to the audience, Tidlen asked aloud, "Rhea really is strong, isn't she? Even I couldn't predict her sword's path and I have been using analysis magic the whole time!"
Listening to this, Matt said, "Hey, Ray is gonna win, all right."
"Of course he's gonna win!" Lily and Tidlen responded in kind.
The match pairings came.
This time, their participants were divided into blocks, two blocks. Kyle and Rhea were in the same block, while Ray was not. He would only fight her in the finals.
Looking at the rankings and the pairings, Ray thoughtfully wondered, "Is it a coincidence?"
He smiled, laughing slightly at his own statement.
Seeing that his block would be later, he joined his group in the audience.
In each block, there were about 20 challengers. And Kyle would only be fighting Rhea in the final match of the block.
They waved at Kyle, who was walking to her first match, and the group wished her all the best.
The match went on for two minutes, and Kyle won.
Just like before, she would have to fight three matches consecutively before getting a break for the block finals. Kyle's second opponent walked up the stage. He held a rapier.
He was very fast and he used mana intelligently. Kyle had to repeatedly block and parry. She was on the defensive. The match dragged on.
2 minutes.
Then 3 minutes.
Then 4 minutes.
Finally, reaching almost 5 minutes, Kyle's dagger, though exhausted, reached the opponent's neck, another reached his heart.
She won, but with exhaustion as the cost.
Still...after drinking some water, she went back on stage for her third match.
This opponent wielded a single-sided blade, a curved blade similar to Ray's usual sword.
As the match started, he charged first. Kyle immediately parried and kicked, but her opponent dodged.
Kyle felt her movements a bit sluggish due to fatigue, but she smiled, gritting her teeth, still enjoying the fight. This time she waited for her opponent to come and he charged, running at her.
They both knew that Kyle wanted to recover and he didn't want to let her.
Just before reaching the range, he spun 180 degrees using the rotational force. His hand was very fast, and before Kyle could put enough strength in her block, his blade had reached her neck.
Just before the block finals...but Kyle...had lost.
As Kyle walked down the stage, her team was there. They gave her some water. Ray supported her as she walked, and they went to the waiting room.
Tidlen cast healing magic along with another healer as provided by the competition staff.
A few more matches had continued, and the block winner had been decided. It was Rhea.
The next block would start in a while.
Kyle made her way to the audience. Ray remained in the waiting room.
He was up first.
The duels resumed.
Ray walked on stage and took a sword, just like before, patient and calm.
As the fight started, he charged at his opponent, attacking first. The opponent blocked and counterattacked. Ray dodged to the side. Another attack came his way. He ducked slightly. Finding an opening, Ray precisely stabbed directly to the heart.
Ray won.
Another match. Another victory.
All of his fights till now were of similar length. None had dragged over 2 minutes.
His third opponent came up stage.
Using a long spear-like blade, a weapon unique, mostly unconventional. This opponent was much taller than Ray.
Ray went first, but he did not immediately close the gap.
Then, with one instant, the long, spear-like blade stabbed at Ray's face.
Ray dodged in the last second, the spear warily grazing his hair. Using the same momentum, Ray slashed at his opponent's hands, but was blocked.
The exchanges continued again, block after block, parry after parry, both sides yielded not an inch, much to the audiences' excitement.
Finally, using a momentum of parry, a stab came directly at Ray's heart. Ray spun and slashed directly at the weapon.
Ray's strength and precision combined together at the opponent's blade handle, cutting it clean.
But Ray wasn't done. He immediately slashed at his opponent's neck.
The opponent dodged backwards, stumbling a step.
Yet Ray's sword found him at his chest. Unable to dodge, the opponent was defeated. Ray sheathed his sword and lent his opponent a hand.
Both were smiling. It was a fun duel of more than 3 minutes.
Ray had qualified for the quarterfinals, and by luck he was directly promoted to the semifinals .
The semifinal match was also long. Both were precise and powerful. Neither wanted to loose. Technique after technique were exchanged and both of them were smiling ear-to-ear, thoroughly enjoying the duel.
The match went on.
Five minutes, five and half, then six minutes.
Both seemed exhausted. Ray was also sweating for the first time in the tournament.
Finally Ray clinched victory.
Time passed quickly and it was time for the last match.
The finals of the day's competition.
The match of the bet.
Kyle, Lily, Matt, and Tidlen had gone back to the audience. Ray walked out of the waiting room.
He quietly looked at the audience, first at his group, then at the old man sitting quietly at the edge.
He smiled at both, went on stage, and just like always, took the standard issued sword.
Next, Rhea also stepped up. She was focused and serious, holding her own sword, being cautious.
As she climbed up on stage, Rhea looked at her opponent, Ray, the white-haired, blue-eyed adventurer.
She had observed his matches, and all of his matches followed the same pattern.
'He was holding back', she knew, and she didn't like it.
She didn't want him to underestimate her.
The match was yet to start, but the rivalry in the air was obvious.
Both were rested. Both were ready.
And then, the duel started.
Rhea rushed at her opponent, Ray, her broad sword, ready to slice him apart.
She was aggressive.
Ray dodged. But Rhea used the momentum and kicked him in the stomach.
Ray stumbled a step back and then with a small bright smile he dodged the next at the last moment. But Rhea's attack was still not over.
She slashed straight at Ray's neck. Ray barely parried it. His smile more evident.
Rhea was still not done.
Using mana, she dashed behind Ray and then
Slash!
Ray expected this. He turned and counterattacked with his sword at her neck.
Rhea was forced to duck. But Before she could find her balance, Ray returned the kick, sending Rhea back a few steps.
Rhea didn't rest. She immediately attacked, and pushed back Ray. Then using mana, she jumped high in the air twisted her body, and brought down her sword at Ray.
The sword curved in an unpredictable path, but Ray didn't block, instead he raised his brows, with his smile gone stiff, as though asking a question.
In the last moment, Ray simply dodged with a single movement.
A simple bend of his neck.
That's all.
Rhea launched a kick at Ray's face, but Ray once again dodged with a single movement.
"Are you gonna keep running?" Rhea taunted Ray with a smile, but Ray didn't respond.
His face felt expressionless, though a smile remained on his face.
She taunted him again, "You will have to give me that object!".
Barely a minute had passed, yet so much had happened in the match. The audience could barely keep up.
Rhea rushed towards Ray, jumping from afar and turning in the air. Mana covered the sword.
Dark green mana flared up everywhere, as though snakes or vines.
Ray dodged every attack, walking towards her with barely any visible movement of dodging.
With another huge volley of mana, Rhea slashed at Ray, closing the distance in less than a second. Ray barely dodged and he turned right, letting Rhea's blade reach the ground instead.
He knew the attack wasn't done and jumped back a step to the centre of the stage.
Rhea continued her tremendous onslaught. But this time, Ray didn't even dodge, he simply parried all her attacks.
Again.
And Again.
He had barely moved from his place, and simply parried all the attacks with minimum moments.
As Rhea got more exhausted, she jumped back.
Ray had a disappointed look on his face.
He looked at her.
His eyes were colder, stricter.
"Are you an amateur performer?"
He asked.
Rhea's eyes widened at the sentence.
In the next second, Ray was already in range, taunting her to attack.
She did.
She released mana techniques, the sword techniques, and all of those techniques that had gained her victory in the past, attacking from various sides.
But.. Ray parried it all, without looking.
He slowly turned at her. "Are you dancing?" he asked. "Or are you fighting?"
His voice was cold, as if educating her.
Rhea couldn't tolerate it. She readied her mana and focused her senses. She would be giving her best.
She dashed with the help of mana, appearing before Ray in less than a second, and attacked.
Another.
Once more.
Again.
And Again, she attacked.
But Ray dodged them all.
He knew she was determined, but that was not enough to win a fight.
Rhea was frustrated and exhausted.
Huff, huff, she breathed.
"Stop holding back! Stop toying with me!
"Show me your true strength!!" she shouted loud.
Her voice was hoarse and was breaking apart, but she shouted at Ray with rage and frustration building up inside her.
But Ray raised both hands in a gesture, acting completely innocent.
Rhea couldn't hold her frustration any longer.
'i won't lose...Not like this! Master...I will win no matter what.'
She pulled out all the mana she could gather. From her very veins and heart, mana was pulled out.
Determination, frustration and anger driving her through the inexpressible pain. Every blood vessel felt destroyed.
Her mana started to go still, and her body felt limp, but she did not stop her efforts.
She would pull every last bit of mana in her body.
Every. Last. Bit.
Even holding her own body felt unnecessary.
She was that frustrated.
That was her choice. That was her decision.
A new volley of mana flowed in her movements. Every sense was sharpened to the extreme.
All were directed at Ray. She could see his movements, hear his breathing, even his beating heart. She could feel her own skin and blood inside her body being ripped apart by pain.
Blood gushed from her mouth, and ears, but...ignoring it all, she rushed at Ray, faster than she ever had, stronger than ever before.
Seeing her trying to do something new, Ray had patiently waited for her, and he was surprised. He momentarily glanced up, at his old friend, to see him completely shocked with worry.
Ray frowned slightly. He sighed, shaking his head.
Ray intercepted Rhea's attack, before she completed it. And in that single exchange, all the strain and pain drained from Rhea's body.
And with it her strength was gone too.
'What happened? What did he do!'
Rhea glared at Ray, but she still didn't give up!
Ray had intervened in her mana flow by sending his own mana. She tried to control his mana to gain some strength.
And she attacked.
To launch one last strike. A perfect strike.
Such determination genuinely moved Ray.
He felt as if he could see a silhouette of his own past.
And finally he made a choice.
He said in a voice only they both could hear,
"I cannot show you my true strength, but... I'll show you... what you can see."
In the midst of her attack, Rhea smiled, but she didn't stop.
She wanted to win.
'One last strike, one perfect strike.'
She raised her sword and struck down at Ray with full force.
But then something special happened. Rhea felt time slow down, and only Ray's movements were visible.
Ray's mana that she had tried to use, showed her what was happening.
Ray gripped his sword with both hands for the first time in the fight.
Raised his sword and slashed down.
And cut!
At that moment, everyone had turned to look at their fight.
Every single one. From newborns to old men, even random passerby had turned at their direction without noticing, involuntarily...
They didn't know why.
Most of them couldn't even see what was happening, but everyone including the staff and the other duelists were affected.
Those sensitive to mana felt their gaze turn automatically. As though... mana itself was calling them.
In that moment, that standard issue sword, which was duller than Rhea's sword, was able to cut through...
For the first time since production, the badges were split. Even her sword was split in half, a perfect half.
She was unharmed, yet no barrier had activated.
Rhea had felt the force directly, but had not been cut or slashed.
Her knees gave out and she knelt down. Her badge was split in half on the ground in front of her.
She looked down. Her mind was empty, unable to understand what had just happened, even though she had seen it all.
She was stunned beyond measure. So was the audience.
They all stood in a trance. And then finally, they searched for the one responsible for the feat. The winner.
But Ray was already leaving the stage. He kept the sword back, and just as calmly as always walked back to the waiting room.