Chapter 175 - The Kingdom’s Strongest (2)

A young girl with rose-colored hair in light armor sailed past several combatants as they jumped away from her blurred form. Accompanying that speed was a sword encased in flames.

One unlucky fighter was slow to turn his head, being occupied by another in front of him. By the time he felt her mana approaching and turned, the heat of a fiery sword collided into his mouth and sent him tumbling.

Fortunately, this girl had used the flat of her blade, resulting in a cracked jaw and the hairs of his mustache burnt off. He was down for the count, in which soon after, Ludmila hopped in and whisked the man away.

In the meantime, the swift girl skidded to a halt along the edge of the arena, where finally, the people in the stands could see the reason for her speed.

"That's not illegal in this tournament?" I asked Eryn, pointing to the levi-board she had carried into the battle.

The girl in question was Violet, the daughter of Viscount Lingonberle. She was a knight trainee that had just turned 16, old enough to compete in the tournament. Using a combination of fire magic and swordplay, she coupled her fighting techniques with the swift mobility of a levi-board.

Seeing her bounce from enemy to enemy and glide in and out of their attacks was certainly impressive to behold. It was like the board had become an extension of herself. Eryn was beaming with pride for the girl fighting below, her star pupil of the Valkyrie Knights.

"Of course not! The Queen gave me the okay for it!"

Though she had not entered herself, the next best thing was to enter a student that she had trained herself. Though that being said, Eryn had trained her in swordplay and magic only.

Violet had a natural gift when it came to using the levi-board. Having taken a keen interest in it since the product first became available, she would use nearly everything on her family's grounds as an obstacle to perform tricks upon.

As such, she became the most proficient of the Valkyrie Knights, taking Eryn's place as the prime representative of the Faulkner domain. I was a little jealous as to how fluidly she could weave around foes in conjunction with the rhythm of her attacks.

Those that tried to knock her off the board found her disappearing before their eyes, before getting a nasty blow to the back. In the blink of an eye, Violet was able to accelerate her board around to their backs. Even I, with my high level, struggled a bit to follow the full movement, which would be missed with a single distraction.

"Geez, young people are so adaptable to new things, aren't they," I said, sounding like an old man. It had only been two years since I had come to this world, but life moved at such a blindingly fast pace that I couldn't help but feel a bit weathered. Certainly, this was not where I imagined that I'd be at the age of 21.

"It 'is' your fault for introducing such things to the world." Eryn c.o.c.ked an eye at me.

"I didn't invent it, Katalina-" Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="#&apos;t-help-but-rely-on-critical-attacks-to-succeed_14734744205449505/the-kingdom%E2%80%99s-strongest-(2)_51258864162633656">#&apos;t-help-but-rely-on-critical-attacks-to-succeed_14734744205449505/the-kingdom%E2%80%99s-strongest-(2)_51258864162633656</a> for visiting.

"But 'you' were the one people saw riding around town…"

My retort shrank back into my throat. I might have been a bit too gung-ho on the streets. My flagrant horseplay no doubt attracted the attention of children and contributed to the popularity of the item.

I turned my attention back to the quickly thinning arena. It looked like Violet was currently in a deadlock with someone that could handle her movements. The heavily-armored man stood his ground like a turtle in its shell, cautiously scanning for openings for his spear to be thrust towards.

"Ah, but of course, a veteran would approach such tactics in a wise manner. Sir Gadwin has been defending the northern wall for many years."

My memories perked up at Eryn's mention of his name. I recalled that he was one of the regulars in the Tournament of Warriors. And come to think of it, he had done quite well keeping up with Pietro, only for his defenses to be crushed by the ruthless strength of Saki.

Certainly, Gadwin matched every blow that Violet dished out, regardless of where they seemingly popped up from. However, before either could land anything significant, the signal for the end of the last preliminary match sounded. Around them, two others were left remaining,

Violet and Gadwin abruptly halted their attacks, giving each other a greeting of acknowledgement. Upon their faces were slight grins, giving the impression that neither one had faced the other seriously.

-------------------------------------------------------

Group A1:

Chancellor Evers vs. Feltz

Lord Deggendorf vs. Sir Smully

Group A2:

Lady Cornwallis vs. Sir Roderick

Saki vs. Sir Gadwin

Group B1:

Lord Allenguard vs. Lady Lingonberle

Group B2:

Horwitz vs. Goldar

Juggler Mask vs. Butler Mask

----------------------------------------------------------

I looked around the crowd of people who had qualified. Aside from the people that I already met, there were some unfamiliar faces – magic knights from different regions, mercenaries looking for fame, and one man who didn't exactly look like much of a fighter.

The man in question had a thin frame, sullen eyes, and seemed like he belonged in some dark corner of society pitching shady wares. The man, who I vaguely remembered as Jayce, was the one person that didn't seem to fit in among the physically well-trained participants. I had trouble remembering how exactly he fought since he was in the round with the masked fighters. However, surviving that ordeal was quite an accomplishment.

After a brief intermission, the signal for the primary part of the tournament rang across the arena. And the first match had me front and center to start off with. 'Lucky me.'

As I drew my chef knife from its holder, I looked at my opponent, Feltz. Nothing in particular stood out about him, a standard swordsman with a swagger that exuded some confidence in his skills. The only thing standing out was that he was glaring at me like a hawk, trying not to miss a single movement that would betray my weaknesses.

Of course, Feltz would be cautious. I was the Chancellor after all. It was not a title that was haphazardly given to some lucky person. It showed a strong trust by the crown.

I simply walked up to him casually, eyes glowing, making him even more nervous as it appeared that I purposefully left myself unguarded to taunt him.

But for most opponents, I needed no stance. The only action necessary was a quick flick of the wrist, something so casual and seemingly harmless when all one possessed was a dinky, short knife.

Feltz obviously had not trained himself proficiently in mana detection. Otherwise, his eyes would have been drawn more to the mana building up around my knife than to the glowing eyes gazing at him.

Watch a person's eyes – that is what fighters are often taught. But for someone as unorthodox as me, even the casual swaying of the weapon in my hands was an imposing danger.

Feltz realized this too late. At several yards away, the mana running through my chef knife extended into a very long blade. The casual sway of my knife in front of me had sent a near-invisible mana slice at his legs. This resulted in the mana gates in his t.h.i.g.hs to lock up and induce cramping of the muscles.

Feltz futilely tried to step back but found that his movement was sealed. As I approached within knife-striking range, cold sweat beaded around his forehead, a sign of obvious panic about what to do.

I smiled and pointed my knife right in front of his face, its mana now extinguished. Slowly, it inched closer to drive a sense of fear into him. That succeeded, as he bent backwards so much to avoid it that he finally fell over on his b.u.t.t.

"I concede," he finally said.

With that, the first match finished in less than a minute. An overwhelming victory for myself. Even as the cheers happened, all I could think of was how to end the matches quickly. This wasn't something that I volunteered for in the first place, but Cornelius pressured me into giving a show fit for the title I held.

As expected, Deggendorf easily overwhelmed his opponent, a magic knight that I brushed by occasionally. It wasn't that Smully was a bad fighter. Far from it. Deggendorf was just too imposing of a man.

If I could describe the entire match in one image, it would be a game of 'katamari' vs fleeing object.

Deggendorf created a giant ball of earth in which he proceeded to roll at Smully. Like experiencing the stereotypical scene from an archeologist flick, there was no fighting against a solid boulder stampeding towards him. Smully simply didn't have the firepower that some other combatants had.

But he had his wit and his experience in combat. That kept him relatively safe from being rolled into the ball… that was… until a second round object emerged from behind the first one. With no way to avoid two chasing him, the two balls collided and smushed him in between.

Since the limbs sticking out from the in-between the collision grew limp, it was pretty certain that Smully was out for the count.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The opponent for Rodernick fared marginally better, as the one named Penelope was a busty mage noblewoman with ginger hair who specialized in ice magic. Having seen his bout against the Queen, where Roderick was frozen into an icicle, Penelope was quite confident in her ability to do the same.

However, when the matched started, she was surprised to learn that no amount of ice that she threw at him caused it to adhere to his body. The frozen restraints crackled and shattered as they futilely tried to ensnare his body.

"Why! Why isn't it working?!" Penelope muttered in a panic. "Knowing that he would compete, I watched and watched every move, every morning of practice to understand how I could take advantage of his weakness!"

Roderick arched a brow. "Oh? A man keeps a trick or two in his pocket. There's no way I didn't notice that someone was spying on me from afar. My mana detection ability could pick up your iciness overlooking the balconies."

Penelope had indeed spied up him during morning practice to gauge his abilities and craft a plan of counterattack. Given that she was the second daughter of Viscount Cornwallis, there wasn't much for her to do but refine her magic ability, the one skill she was proud of. Despite being barred from enlisting as a magic knight by her family, that didn't hinder her interest in magic crafting. She wished to follow in the footsteps of her idol, Duke Reichenstein. Past her prime for being married off and too eccentric to suit those that met her, her remaining option was to head to the capital and impress someone with her magic.

A man of the Duke's caliber was too far out of her reach, but perhaps, he would take notice of her if she did well in this tournament. Therefore, she was determined to spy on the training of the royal guard, teasing out what weaknesses her magic could capitalize upon. The well-trained men that protected the crown were the perfect study to validate her magic ability.

She had done well in the preliminary round, freezing all those who approached her. Luckily, many of the combatants were focused on the girl speeding around on her magical board. Unfortunately, that was all crumbling before her eyes, as Roderick had also renewed his focus after his embarrassment.

That came in the form of approaching Lau Ki Young, the rival of the man he looked up to. Seeing his abrupt challenges with Pythagoras had astounded him. Here was a man who could go toe-to-toe with a legend. And he desperately wanted to know his secret.

After a bit of training under Lau, he had found his answer – a thick shell of mana collected around him that repulsed magic and rendered their effects null. Those from Sistina merely learned to craft barriers encompassing the surroundings around them. But if that shield could be shrunken and wrapped close to the body, the effectiveness was exponential due to the proximity of mana to oneself. Very little was wasted and scattered into the air as a result.

He smiled at Penelope. If it had been the him from before, there was a possibility of him being overwhelmed by magic. But as it stood now, he hardly felt a chill. He could tell that was her trump card. She was no fighter, just a bored noblewoman with a genuine interest in spellcrafting. He recalled looking up towards the balcony casually during practice, not to tip her off that he knew.

Penelope absent-mindedly formed pieces of artwork from ice, only to leave them to melt in the sun. Sometimes, she would toss one over the railing and onto the grass below, a look of dissatisfaction on her face. Sparking his interest, he walked over after practice one day and pulled out one of the pieces that had shattered from impacting the ground.

His eyes stared intently at the remains of the carved ice, marveling at how such fine detail could have been placed for something she simply tossed aside. Such things required a massive amount of mana control.

Walking right up to her, Penelope grew progressively more panicked as her unwavering shower of ice produced no effect on Roderick.

'Oh no, I am making a disgrace of myself!' Her eyes wandered to the seating area of the Duke, wondering what he was making of her. She saw the man in the distance rubbing his chin with a thin smile, an action every bit the boyish charm that handsome face was supposed to produce.

"Ehem, shouldn't you be looking this way?" Roderick's voice interrupted her swooning.

Surprised that her attention had swayed so much, she turned back to see Roderick right next to her, his arm raised back for a swift punch.

"I realize that this is a battle, but I really don't like decking women. Won't you consider conceding?" he asked nicely.

Penelope looked down, willing her mana to stop the creation of ice. "Yes, I am no match."

"Great, a beauty such as yourself is attracting quite the attention. Rather than that, I much preferred monopolizing your lovely crafts this past week."

Penelope's eyes widened at Roderick's sudden statement. Something momentarily stirred in her heart. She looked up sheepishly. "Y-You've been watching? You knew?"

"Of course, I did. Who wouldn't notice someone like you suddenly coming by every morning? Though I had my doubts at first, you really were watching me, weren't you? I even tried to put more 'oomph' in my sparring to catch your attention."

"Oh my, I noticed that you were being a bit more gallant than usual, Sir Roderick, but I had no idea it was because of me." She placed a hand over her mouth to mask her surprise.

Roderick pulled off the gauntlet from his hand and reached out to gently take hers. "Since the match is over, does this mean you won't be coming by to show off your icecraft anymore?"

Penelope looked away with a blush before answering, "I don't know. Should I?"

"It would be my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, if you could."

While still holding her hand, Roderick led her off the arena, ignoring a crowd that snickered at their public exchange. What started as a bout ended as a connection – two hearts longing for something a little more than they had settled for. And for once, they had found acknowledgement of each other, not simply one-sided adoration.

But that would be a tale for another time. The tournament was far from over.

**Disclaimer**

This story is published on WN/RoyalRoad/Honeyfeed/RaisingTheDead/Tapread/VoyceMe. If you are reading it on any site different from these, then it was uploaded there without my knowledge. If you paid for any chapters or gave donations, then you are paying the pirates. All chapters of this novel will remain free, and the author rejects donations, so be warned.