Chapter 356: All-out Attacker

Chapter 356: All-out Attacker

The tournament, rather the festival itself, was a clear indication of the hostilities between guilds and individuals. This was one of the few times that part of the citys restrictions were lifted, allowing people to act on emotions they kept in check for the rest of the year. The city guard, the overseer, the domain guardian controlled by the Lord Mayor himself, ensured the calm that Nerosal enjoyed. Apparently, all that was a forced calm, and the festival played a far greater role than Dallion had thought so far. It didnt only serve to pick up the mood, it also served as a pressure valve. Unfortunately, Dallion appeared to be caught in the crossfire between guilds.

The person who was going to face him didnt have anything against Dallion per sehe barely knew him. However, it was enough that Dallion was part of the Icepicker guild. Having him humiliate Mord was also a significant factor. As a result, the sight was going to be more difficult than expected, and with a mage around, the Flameforger could be as brutal as he wished.

Know anything about him, Nil? Dallion asked as he made his way to his section of the battle grid.

No, which means hes no one significant, the echo replied. Aside from the obvious, you shouldnt have too much trouble facing him. As long as you stick to a good strategy, youve nothing to worry about.

That was easy for him to say. The echo wasnt about to face a goliath the size of a mountain. Normally, in the world of awakened, size and muscles werent a deciding factor when it came to strength. The almost supernatural abilities allowed people to use stats to achieve far more than training could. However, as Vend had told Dallion, physical exercises helped a lot. His opponent being strong didnt just mean he had spent a lot of time exercising every day, it meant he had spent just as much time fighting in the realms.

The stands of the arena were packed more than ever. Those who, for some reason, had missed the previous two days had joined in there now, eager to see the real fights. In a way, Dallion could understand them. Having the combat grid four times as large provided a much better view, not to mention that there were far less people to pay attention to.

Not too far from the nobility sections of the arena, Dallion noticed the general. The man looked as smug as always, constantly accompanied by his two fury bodyguards. He seemed rather popular, for he was chatting with a lesser noble. Upon seeing Dallion, the general smiled, then raised a glass of wine in his direction.

That your patron? Dallions opponent asked.

Something like that, Dallion whispered. He really didnt want to think of the general as a patron, although that was a valid description for the moment.

Im sorry for him. The large man grunted and drew his sword.

Unlike what Dallion would have expected, his adversary had chosen a pretty basic setup: a sword and a shield. Examining them with his music and forging vision had revealed nothing unusual. What was more, Dallion had even had a brief conversation with the items while in the waiting room, to little avail. Both the shield and sword were veterans and, as such, were both laconic and loyal to their owner.

Once all the fighters were in place, a silence filled the arena. As before, all heads turned in the direction of the countess. The noble smiled, leaned back, then flicked her fingers. Chaos followed.

Two hundred and fifty-six fighters split into instances and charged forward. Dallion was one of them.

Given the size of his opponent, Dallion had resorted to a strategy of evading and counterattacks. That turned out to be easier said than done. The mountain of flesh turned out to be quite nimble on his feet. Considerably faster than Dallion, he engaged in a multi-attack that halved Dallions health in three out of five instances. In the remaining two, Dallion managed to leap back out of danger, though just barely. The attack didnt stop there. The man used the initiative to do a series of piercing strikes, ending with a shield thrust.

Hes an all-out attacker, Nil said. The shield is just for show. Hes no intention of guarding with it. For him its just another weapon.

It wont work, the man replied. I know about your music skills.

And still, Dallion could clearly sense the anger within the man. After all, there was more to a taunt than music skills, and as much as his opponent was trying to hide it, that anger was leaking out. On the surface, the man might well be stronger than Dallion, but he had so many flaws disrupting him, that he felt like a much easier opponent than Elvira, or even Mord. Was it possible that Dallion had grown so much in just two days?

The crowd around was going wild. A few of the fights had finished with an overwhelming victory for one side. For the most part, though, the pairings were evenly matched. Taking advantage of the increased space, the participants engaged in long and short ranged attacks. Acrobatic attacks were more the norm than the exception.

At this stage of the tournament, the betting had become more brazen. Now that bookmakers had seen enough to make adequate predictions, they were moving about the stands offering odds. The city guard didnt bother to stop them, if anything, they were probably annoyed that they couldnt bet as well. Only the area around the overseer remained out of bounds.

Youre worse than Mord, Dallion laughed as he clashed against his opponent.

The two had kept exchanging blows for over ten minutes now. There was nothing particularly flashy in the way both fought. To Dallions surprise, the Flameforger had turned out to be quite straightforward, relying on brute force attacks combined with counterattacks. The combination seemed strange when said out loud, but considering he had limiting guard skills, it made sense. All he could do was attack and counter the counter.

Pay attention to the patterns, Nil said.

Got it, Dallion replied. He was in the unenviable position to constantly and try to disrupt the attack sequences of his opponent. Tricks didnt help here, and for the most part, neither did combat splitting. If the mountain of muscles managed to complete an attack chain, he would instantly use its bonus to make his attack fiercer to the point that even Lux wouldnt be able to get Dallion out of trouble fast enough.

As the fight dragged on, Dallion was incredibly pleased he had improved his body after his last level up. If he hadnt, he would probably be out of breath at this point. The really annoying part was that as a pure attacker, the Flameforger hadnt invested in anything else. Being allowed to participate in the tournament he had to be less than level forty. Given a few achievements, that meant his body was at least that much as well. By all accounts, perception seemed to be his greatest weakness, but with his speed was far too great for Dallion to take advantage.

You have to make your move, Nil said. If you continue like this, youll lose the fight for sure.

What do you think Ive been trying to do? Dallion leapt in the air, attempting another attack from above. His whip blade danced in the air, sending dozens of slashes towards the ground, but other than dust little was achieved. The Flameforger had parried most of the attacks, filling the air with miniature lightning.

Why isnt he using the blades on me? Dallion asked.

Because they arent meant for you, Nil replied. They only affect guardians.

In what way?

They wound them directly. If your guardians werent as strong as they were, they would have been dead already. Thats why I told you it should be easy for you to handle him. His method of fighting doesnt focus on his enemies, but their weapons. Once they have crumbled to pieces, he has the advantage.