178 Short Story : A missed competition

"Is she here yet?"

"No, my king. Do we make them wait like this again?" The two dwarves were looking with a bit of a worry at the absence of someone they expected to show up. Even if they had already delayed the beginning of the tournament by half of an hour, there was no sign at all that doing it again would be useful. Still feeling that it won't end good for them, the king shook his head.

As for the commandant of the Iron Beards, seeing that, he only stayed silent. They had experienced fully the power of that dark soul called Leilade, and after that they had not been particularly joyful, knowing she had slaughtered all the spiders in the Foundations of Iron. It was truly a funny thing, the entire population should be celebrating this news, but they had no choice but to conceal it. And none of the handfuls of people that knew about were more excited than their king.

Maybe one was, but he was also deeply stressed by the very important task that was on his shoulders. Even if he had two days of rest and was freed of being the guide of the floating undead, Glini was right now sweating. Sweating a lot. Even his uncle and his family that were present could not prevent it, in fact, they were making him even more unstable. For he was strangely the only one that was found capable of beating the criminal Sharpeye.

As he was beginning to get ready, he saw one of the couriers he met previously running at full speed. Glancing left and right and seeing nothing, the quite fearful ranger shook his head and try to forget everything but his training. As for the dwarf that was beginning to pant, he arrived in front of the king, that immediately understood what was happening.

"He is here." Seeing the other party repeatedly nod, he glanced at the place he was in. It was a small platform and all around him, he could see some dwarves seated on the stands surrounding a huge open cave. In fact, it was the biggest and largest cave in the Iron Kingdom, and maybe even the biggest in the entire planet. There was easily a kilometer of open ground, which was quite rare. As for the reason why it was not used to build the capital, it had a huge defect.

High above them, there was a small opening leaking snow inside. If it was just that, it could be fine, but there was regularly a few drakes and wyverns trying to put their head inside. Therefore, it was used to train most of the rangers and Iron Beards, as it had the environment of the outside while staying relatively safe. With that in mind, there was also a very small wind that could easily give problems to the competitors.

"Let the 102th Sharpeye's tournament … BEGIN!"

Shouting loudly, the crowd began to also cheer in impatience. Even if for the royalty, the fact that a criminal had his hand on the artifact of their Hero was a disgrace. But for the common dwarves, they were far more appreciative of the fact that the outlaw was incredibly talented, and showed it time and time again.The fact that the latter never harmed a single dwarf was also part of why no one truly tried to imprison him.

Soon, everyone, be it the dwarves or the few ratmen that were present, began to search for the now familiar champion. On the other hand, the other rangers participating didn't even dare to do the same, as they had already been crushed because of the difference of skill. Only the youngest of them, Glini, still looked a bit, trying to not do it too obviously. But with his mindset, it was deadly obvious and made the king lose hope.

"Look there!" One ratman finally spotted the dwarf of the day, that was confidently walking past the guards. On his back, the rifle designed by IronSkull, the blacksmith of the Heroes, was perfectly visible. The closest watchers could even see the runes inscribed on it, making the weapon glow in blue light.

Arriving in front of an empty table, he picked up his rifle and put it down, as he had already done it many times. Flanked by two Iron Beards, the two strong warriors could only look at the former ranger, before putting their eyes on the weapon. Almost sneering, Sharpeye walked slowly to his position, where he waited for the true beginning.

Seeing the prize with their own eyes, it immediately provoked the envy of all the rangers. But that thought was dismissed immediately when they saw the champion looking as confident as he ever was. Some remembered how bad they performed the last decade, while others just recall how superior he was compared to them. By luck or fate, Glini was next to him.

Realizing that his neighbor was such a young dwarf, Sharpeye raised his eyebrows. He was a bit surprised and that made him looked more intensely at Glini. If it had been before, the new ranger would have begun to shudder or even panic a bit. But his constant presence with Leilade had at least reinforced a bit his mind. Making him only lowered his eyes when he noticed that the killer was looking at him.

However, past the initial curiosity, there was nothing else. Looking at the first one to go, all could see him grabbing an old random rifle. In fact, it was truly an old random rifle, only that it was only used one day out of ten years. It was the tournament rifle; no one could use it except on that day. The rest of the time, it was locked in the treasury itself, to not tamper with it.It was strange to be that extreme, but the tradition was meant to be preserved.

In the huge open cave, there were ten targets, randomly placed. The points were gained based on the distance and accuracy. It was incredibly hard to calculate, and needed countless rulers and drawing to finally know the results. Fortunately, the targets were always at the same place, and a small guide was provided the day before the competition. With all the points and how to earn them. It was on 56 pages.

Each ranger had five shots, to earn the maximum amount of points. Because he was first, maybe that ranger felt that it was better to play safe. Choosing one of the closest targets, he managed to hit it every time, even the center of it once. However, the crowd only mildly clapped as it was not good for spectacle.

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The others performed like everyone expected until the turn of Sharpeye came. Picking up the rifle, he looked closely at it, for one minute. After so many usages, there was always a few problems that could slightly deviate the bullet. Breathing loudly, he aimed and missed. Twice. The two shots went completely out of the targets and hit nothing at all. However, instead of being joyful, the king was even more depressed.

Only Glini was not understanding, before the ranger on the other side compared to Sharpeye explained to him. "He didn't miss. I mean, he missed, but intentionally. If you walked toward where he shot, you will see his previous bullets, right next to each other. This is why we are so depressed, even with just three shots out of five, we are still losing to him."

"SHARPEYE! SHARPEYE!"

Hearing the crowd going wild, Glini turned around, only to see the three targets that are the farthest away from where they stood to have one additional hole. Not having the time to be shocked, he saw a rifle handed to him by a dwarf with a smug smile. "Good luck kid!" Grabbing it, the young ranger began to calm himself, even if he could not do it entirely.

At first, he shot the closest target and didn't even hit the center. In fact, it barely touched it. But with that, he aimed at one that was in the middle of the cave. Once more he missed the center, but the criminal next to him lost his smile. Following the third and fourth shot, he was definitely not smiling. Realizing that if that young baby that was still drinking milk shot once more, he had a good chance at stealing his title.

So, he had to do something. Realizing that he had been too arrogant before, he recalled the words of the Black Gauntlet that were complaining about his attitude. "Maybe that giant of a man was right after all. But today, I will not lose." Starring at Glini, he did not even look at his rifle but only at the dwarf. Trying to imitate one of the cadres of the Organization, his entire body began to emit an intimidating aura.

Of course, the change in Sharpeye did not escape the eyes of the others, and the king realized that in fact, the one they chose was in a good way to win. For anyone that was not particularly interested in the competition, it was impossible to calculate the current points with just a glance of an eye. As the king, he, of course, had not the leisure to do that.

But for Glini, to be starred like that proved to be too huge. Shooting for the last time, he looked at the target he aimed for. In fact, everyone looked at that target. If he hit the center, he won. If he didn't, he failed. "Yes." Almost murmuring this, Sharpeye clenched his fist in relief.Leaving a dejected young dwarf on the side.