There was only one day left until the tournament.
Noah had improved so much that he seemed like a different person.
"Come to me, Noah. Let's see if you can win or not."
Noah was stronger, much stronger than before. His movements were fluid, full of energy and determination.
It was as if his character had changed at its core.
The title helped him a lot, but his change was not only due to that.
"Is that all you can do?" Kuer asked, trying to provoke him.
Noah, however, did not answer and smiled.
He charged at Kuer again, without hesitation. The blade that had been used fluidly until a moment ago was now full of uncertainty. It was as if Noah wanted to confuse Kuer.
The sword strike came from below, aiming for the neck. Immediately afterwards, Noah distanced himself and began charging again, this time at the maximum speed his body would allow.
Head, chest and even legs. He tried to attack wherever possible, but there were no openings.
Kuer was like an invisible shield. No matter how many sword strokes Noah wanted to strike, none of them landed. He was too fast, so fast that Noah's eyes could barely follow him.
As they fought, Noah pushed Kuer further and further back, without fully realizing it. Although they were not yet tired, the space behind Kuer was shrinking with each blow, sparking a glimmer of hope in the young knight's mind.
Suddenly, Kuer stumbled. He didn't fall, but that moment of imbalance was enough for Noah to glimpse an opening, the perfect opportunity to launch an attack.
'NOW!' Noah shouted inside his head, focusing all his remaining strength into a single blow, the fastest of the entire battle.
The blow was aimed at his heels, a blind spot for Kuer after his loss of balance. In that moment, there was only one choice: regain the balance or fall into defeat.
However, the choice was not limited to these two options for a warrior like the captain.
With his only remaining leg firmly planted on the ground, he performed a jump that turned into a somersault in midair. At the end of it, Kuer charged with an axe kick, aiming his heel at Noah's head.
He hit him, and Noah fell to the ground immediately after clenching his teeth, helpless.
Kuer had put almost all his strength into that kick. He was excited, a thrill he thought he would never feel again, let alone in a fight with one of his subordinates.
'He's not dead, is he?
"..."
After 5 minutes, Noah began to move. Kuer stopped worrying.
'Where am I?'
'Ah, right. I'm dead.'
Noah was genuinely convinced that he was no longer in the world of the living, while Kuer chuckled.
After recovering, he had a sad expression on his face.
"Don't be downhearted, I always lied about you beating me. Do you really think you would have had a chance against me?"
"You may not have beaten me, but you exceeded my expectations. You entertained me, Noah."
Noah, however, wasn't sad because he hadn't beaten him. He was sad because he hadn't even managed to make him use a finger, let alone a sword.
'I'll do it,' he thought as he got up from the ground with a smile on his face.
"Good, Noah. Our training is over. You may not realize it, but you've improved a lot these past few days."
"You won't be training with the others today. I'll give you the day off to rest. You need it."
Noah was almost in tears after hearing this. He hadn't expected such kindness from the captain.
"Before you go, though, I need to tell you something. We finally know who you'll be fighting tomorrow."
'Why is he so worried?'
Noah didn't understand. Why was the captain so serious about a stupid match?
"The person you'll be facing is Ozi."
"What? How is that possible? We're from two completely different leagues, it's impossible that I got him."
Ozi had been in the cavalry for much longer. It was a certainty that he would be transferred to the protection team. His skills were formidable, which is precisely why he shouldn't have been paired with Noah.
"I don't know, Noah. I don't know how it's possible, I'm not joking. It will be a difficult match, but I'm sure you can do it."
"You can go now. See you tomorrow for the match."
Noah nodded and started to walk away.
"System," he muttered afterwards.
[Strength: 12 -> 20]
[Agility: 8 -> 14]
[Dexterity: 10 -> 19]
[Constitution: 14 -> 21]
[Intelligence: 18 -> 23]
'I've gotten stronger, huh?'
His stats had increased tremendously. It would take a normal person at least a few months to achieve the same results, or a few weeks for those with extreme talent.
Although Noah suspected it was thanks to help from the system, it must also be said that he had never seriously committed himself to training. Precisely for this reason, the new stimuli had caused him to grow disproportionately in a short time. After this training, even with hypothetical help from the system, the effects would not have been so immediate.
"Perfect, it's time to go out and gather some information, it seems."
For the first time in weeks, Noah stepped outside the gates of headquarters.
The town was full of happy people, making everything feel more peaceful and comfortable. There was life.
Despite his desire to wander around town, there was one specific place where Noah would get most of the information he wanted: the tavern.
The tavern had always been a gathering place for all kinds of people. There, it was possible to hear information from all over the world, especially about recent events. It was easy to bribe people with a few coins, but that wasn't Noah's intention. He just wanted to hear what they had to say to each other.
"A beer, please."
The situation was quiet. There was nothing interesting to hear, so Noah got up to leave the tavern.
"What stage are we at with the plan?"
Just before walking out the door, Noah heard this sentence from a masked man dressed in black with his face covered.
The phrase would not normally have been heard, but thanks to his increased stats, he could now hear at greater distances than a normal human, even if the voice was very low.
'Plan? What are they talking about?'
"Sorry boss, I forgot to pay. Here you go."
Noah came back again looking suspicious, but no one noticed his real intention.
"We're in the advanced stage, everything should be ready. By tomorrow, at the selection tournament, he should die..."
They continued their conversation, but the rest was irrelevant. Noah returned to the door and left the tavern.
He had no idea who they wanted to kill, but he knew the most important piece of information. It would be at the selection tournament.
'I'll have to be careful. If someone is killed during the selection tournament, the nobility of the entire kingdom will rise up.'
The goal was clear: they wanted to instigate a war between nobles, probably to corner the empress.
'I have to stop this. I can't let anything happen to Elise.'
The empress was not the tyrant described by Noah's home kingdom. As in every kingdom, there were those who supported her and others who opposed her. Although her enemies were numerous, she had no shortage of loyal allies. However, an incident during the selection tournament would be enough to ignite the latent conflicts. That must not happen under any circumstances.
Information was scarce, but Noah knew he would have to remain extremely vigilant. He had no idea what would happen the next day, but he was determined to prevent the accident by any means at his disposal.