Chapter 74 Tournament (2)

The preliminary rounds were soon over after a few exciting and some boring bouts.

It was natural that not all participants were good fighters so some easily defeated their opponents in just a few sets of moves while some took their time.

The knights in service of the noble guests present obviously had an unfair advantage due to their gear and training but Akarxia was an unfair place and there were no excuses on the battlefield.

From the dozens and dozens of knights, only the top of the crop was left for the real tournament consisting of twelve knights in total.

Surprisingly enough, only eight were pledged ones while the rest were either wandering or rogue. This just made the tournament more interesting.

After the four preliminary rounds, everyone had seen the fighting styles and prowess of the participants and now it was time for betting on the winner.

There would be a round of betting conducted with each match going forward and with each win, the chances of the participant would increase.

"Ser Cedric of House Cromwell! Vs Ser Gawain of House Sterling!"

The announcer announced waving the flag of the White Family declaring the start of the round. Both the knights stepped forward and took their position opposite of each other in the ring.

A piece of paper was then circulated through all the guests on which they would mention who they were gonna bet on and how much.

"Ethan, You see there? That's Count Cronwell and that's Viscount Sterling. Both are under our Duchy and thus in our faction. The Cronwell Family has been there for a long time while Viscount Sterling has newly emerged to be a regional influence." Albaer whispered.

He was taking this opportunity to educate Ethan and briefly tell him about the various noble houses in the White Family's jurisdictions as well as those who were outside their Influence.

"So then, who will you bet on?" Naenna asked leaning towards Ethan.

'Good opportunity to get more money other than my monthly quota eey, well… No money is less money!' Ethan thought in amusement as he scrutinized the two knight's in the ring.

Ethan took the piece of paper from the servant's hand and scribbled something on it with the quilt and then gave it back.

"Begin!" The herald declared.

Both Cedric and Gawain cautiously approached each other slowly while not getting too close. Both of them had about the same kind of sturdy, strong physic and equipment. However, Cedric used a longsword while Gawain used a bastard sword.

Cedric abruptly made his move swooping in with a quick step as he aggressively swung his sword at Gawain holding it with one hand.

"Cling!"

Cedric jabbed at the chest but Gawain parried easily knocking Cedric's sword to the side, this did not affect Cedric as he turned his hand once again, this time making an uppercut targeting the neck. Gawain jerked his head backward narrowly saving his head as he took this opportunity and stepped forward preparing to bring down his bastard sword on Cedric in a counterattack.

Cedric had anticipated this as he instinctive jumped back and Gawain's strike was missed.

Cedric once again strode forward aggressively gaining his lost momentum and mounting a violent assault on Gawain forcing him to move backward while constantly blocking the heavy strikes.

A flurry of clashing metal sounds rang in the arena as both their swords struck each other with monstrous force behind them. Cedric was very aggressive as he swung his sword tirelessly, bombarding one strike after another.

Gawain would be pushed back to his limits but he would capitalize on even a small opportunity to somehow hold himself together, breaking Cedric's momentum again and again.

In a way, he was only defending, blocking, and dodging as if he was scared to launch an all-out assault himself.

"Tch, Fight, you coward! Don't run!" Cedric jeered putting even more effort into his strikes.

Gawain did not speak as he simply held his bastard sword with a firm grip in both of his hands and parried the bombardment of strikes.

But due to Cedric's unbreakable momentum, he was getting pushed back constantly nearing his breaking point. Sweat was starting to form on his face, he frowned looking at Cedric.

"What? Can't even strike back? What sort of warrior is that?" Seeing that Gawain's defense was much firm than he had expected, Cedric started spouting nonsense to disturb Gawain's focus.

However, no matter how much he tried, Gawain did not speak a single word from the start. He was as calm as the lake water.

The thing about momentum is, it never lasts forever. And Cedric's momentum was also weakening. Just as it seemed like the bastard sword was about to be knocked off Gawain's hands due to the intense tremors, Gawain finally made his move.

Cedric had a momentary lapse in his posture as he had been aggressively swinging his longsword nonstop which sucked his stamina quickly.

Although it would have paid off, Gawain had excellent skill in defense.

"Thud! Clang! Shing!"

Gawain did not waste his opportunity as he quickly shifted his stance from a defensive one to an aggressive one. Before Cedric could recover, he had completely lost the momentum and had to go on defense instead.

While Cedric's style was to attack rapidly not giving the foe any opportunity, Gawain's style was to concentrate all the strength in compact strikes.

In short, he preferred quality over quality.

His strikes were more precise and forceful. it looked as if he wasn't being aggressive at all but only hammering his sword at Cedric slowly but in truth, the tremors going through Cedric's body from the clashes were even making his organs shake.

"Agh!" Cedric groaned in pain as he could not perry one of Gawain's strikes completely as the bastard sword scraped by his right shoulder tearing through his armor.

The next thing he knew, Gawain was ready with another strike, this time though it came at him like a tsunami wave.

To his wrong judgment, Cedric decided to dodge the attack by sidestepping but how can one dodge a tsunami?

"Ahhh!"

A painful scream sounded as the audience watched wide-eyed. Cedric had a shallow wound on his chest from which blood was gushing out slowly, the longsword was still in his hand but it was no use as his neck was on Gawain's sword tip by then.

"Heh, Perhaps if you had actually focused instead of spouting nonsense then you might have won. Oh well, what can we expect from someone who has such a barbaric sword style?" Gawain muttered calmly, looking down at Cedric with a mocking smile.

It was only after winning that Gawain spoke, and with poisonous words at that.

"YEEE!" HOORAY!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as the match concluded with Gawain winning magnificently.

"Ser Gawain of House Sterling Wins!" The announcer declared dramatically amidst loud cheering as the drums of triumph sounded.

Ethan smiled with satisfaction and relief as he saw the knight who he had bet on winning the match.

The ones who won the bet smirked, cheered, and clapped enthusiastically while the ones who lost, grimaced in frustration.

The ring was then cleared quickly and it was time for the second match.

"Next match! Ser Herald of House Waverley! Vs Blade of Kahnver!"

The entire crowd whether it be the audience or the guests paid attention to this match in anticipation as both mentioned knights stepped into the ring.

Ethan's eyes glowed with a strange light as he looked at the same knight that had ended the first match even before it began.

The knight used an alias that was also famous among people and Ethan especially felt interested in this person after seeing their performance.

No one knew who they were as they did not specify their name nor did they show their face. They wore light-weight full body armor and a helmet that covered their face completely, only revealing their enchanting purple eyes.

Ethan did not even think as he directly placed a bet on the mysterious Knight. It was because he knew something that the others did not.

Some also placed their bets on Ser Herald as his name was too known throughout the Whitesburg Duchy. He was a tall man with a body like a mountain. He was bald and used a broadsword.

"Begin!" The voice of the announcer rang again as everyone did not dare move their eyes from the Arena even for a second