The current leader, Kelgam Zakkalight finished his not-too-long speech, the anxious spectators let out a short moment of applause, and the tournament finally began. Even so, this was only the preliminary selection, taking place so as to first cut the number of people from 28 to 8. The contestants walked up to the East and West block stages one by one, showing off the designated «Style»
The term 'style' would refer to the trajectory of the sword, and of course, it referred to a series of actions that were strictly designated. What was demanded was a precision of actions, ferocity and elegance. To the observer who had witnessed the 5 months of training the boys went through, leaving aside Eugeo, there was some concern with Kirito. He had the mysterious «Aincrad-style» he created, but the tournament stated that the styles should all be from the Zakkalight style, and the ones grading were the Zakkaria guards and brass of the town. They were staring at the weird participants with stern glares, and it was likely that they would not hold back.
As it continued to watch worriedly as the tournament proceeded on, Eugeo's number in the East block was read out. His face was still as pale as ever, but he still summoned his courage at the crucial moment, bowed on the stage and did not show any stiffness as he drew his sword.
Eugeo took approximately 10 seconds per style, 100 seconds altogether to perform without mistakes, showing some form of dance-like elegance. This was likely the result of his intense practice during day and night, and also the effect of having such a High Object Control Authority. To him, the sword he was wielding in the tournament was probably as light as a twig.
The spectators burst into a round of applause louder than any of the participants before for Eugeo's performance, since he was neither a guard nor an apprentice guard. The judges were probably giving this mysterious visitor a very high score in their hearts, but could not act on their own impulses because of the restriction of the clause that 'They could only assign points based on the performance'. It would be another thing altogether if they were not restrained by the ruling of the lower-level «Imperial Nobles». It would have been different if so, but only a 5th rank Lord, the leader of this town, Kelgam Zakkalight, was close enough to be present. Luckily, he was not one of the judges.
Eugeo, who finished his performance, walked down the stage, wiped off the sweat on his forehead, and gave a hearty grin to his partner who was waiting for his turn at the side of the West stage. Kirito gave a thumbs up in response, But honestly, you're the one who's making people worry here.
After 2 minutes, Kirito's number was finally called. He walked towards the large steps, not showing any signs of tension, but this caused the observer to feel anxious. Don't pull any flashy stunts now. Just be normal. The observer hid itself in the front of the scalp hair, hoping to command Kirito like this, but managed to endure it.
Kirito stood on the stage that was without any gaps, not made of sandstone, but of red marble. He bowed to the leader at the VIP seat, and immediately drew his sword. Such an impatient action caused the judges sitting right under the canopy to frown. However, Kirito did not mind at all as he raised the sword in his right hand. First, the first style—
*Zun*, the strong stamp rocked the entire arena. *Buush*, the wind that glided with the sword swings reached the spectator stands 20 Mel away. Cries of shock and some cries of anguish caused the nobles to leave their seats slightly. It was understandable since the style Kirito should complete in 10 seconds was completed in 2 seconds in a very forceful manner.
What are you thinking!? The observer wanted to rip off his hair, only to realize something important at this moment. In the rules, when performing the styles, there was no indication of how many seconds would be required to finish them. In other words, it would not be against the rules to finish quickly... But even so.
He adjusted his body that was swinging the sword, faced the spectators in the north and performed the second style. The raging sword winds that blew again caused the hair of the spectators at the front seats to dance, and this time, though the cries had some anguish mixed in, the cheers were a lot louder. Then, as Kirito continued to perform action number 3, 4 in a very fast manner, the cheers continued to grow loudly, and applause continued to rain. On thinking things through, it must be very boring to the spectators to see the same actions over and over again. That was likely why the tournament was held in two blocks.
Kirito did not slow down at all as he finished the ten actions. He sheathed the sword and bowed, and was greeted by a thunderous applause and cheers rained down on the entire arena. He looked over at the enthusiastic cheers, and saw the Wilde twins in the spectators at the West block, Telin and Telulu. As promised, they were brought here by their parents to support them.
Of course, the one who jogged over to Kirito, who was waving to the western spectators and casually walking down was Eugeo. He looked like he was trying his best not to grab Kirito by the shirt, but he wisely squealed out with a very soft voice,
“Wha-What were you doing?”
“Well, I just felt that it would take too long to see other people perform... So, I thought that it would be good to settle this fast.”
“It might not be against the rules, but can't you just do it normally?”
“If I do it quickly, even if there were some slight miscues, the judges won't be able to see them, right...”
“...”
Eugeo showed an expression that was 70% shocked and 30% amazed, dropped his shoulders, and sighed hard.
“...Let's just pray that the judges will grade us according to the applause...”
On hearing Eugeo say such words lifelessly, the observer could only think Great minds think alike.
The preliminaries lasted for another hour, and ended when the bell rang at 2pm. The participants again stood on the stage, and the judges' representations read out the numbers and names of those taking part in the finals.
The observer felt some form of relief after hearing that Eugeo passed the preliminaries, followed by Kirito a few seconds later. It never had such feelings in these few years of memories, and it could not help but bring its weak legs in.
—Really, when was the last time I got so emotional observing someone? No, I'll say this is the first time.
The 40 participants lowered their shoulders dejectedly as they left the rest room, and only 8 swordsmen from the East and West blocks were waiting in the standby area of the arena. They were all given Siral Water drawn from a deep well and some simple food, and during this time, the spectators were taking a short period of rest. Once the 30 minutes of rest ended, the finals would begin. In this elimination tournament, the 1st to 3rd rounds of battles would be held, and a winner will be decided from both the East block and the West block.
According to the Wilde farm owner, Banou explained to Kirito and the rest, that until several decades ago, there was a final match that was to be held between the winners of the East and West blocks. The reason why this event was cancelled was because of an accident that happened in a certain year because of intense fighting in the finals, where blood was spilled when it should not be spilled.
In the whole of Norlandgarth, the Zakkaria Tournament notwithstanding— No, in the swordsmanship tournaments held in the entire Human World, this was a rule that was strictly enforced.
This rule was based on the Absolute Taboo Index «In situations with no other clauses in effect, no deliberate harming of other people's Lives would be permitted». That was why there was such a paradoxical skill required in this tournament— So that they can ensure other people's safety while making them submit.
The reason for each school to focus on their «styles» was to prevent accidents from happening by making sure that both the fighter and the enemy's breathing were on the same wavelength. Style vs Style; this would refer to repeating the same attacks and defenses, and the first to be fatigued or lose concentration would most likely be the loser. The only times blood was allowed to be spilled would be the Higher Ranked tournaments in Central where the rule «
First Strike» or when prestigious organizations like the Integrity Knights or the Master Arts Academy take part.
However, Human Units had something that other living Objects did not have, something called «emotions». It was because of this that they had a powerful strength, but could also lose their cool and do unpredictable things.
The incident Banou Wilde talked about was a result of the rising emotions of the two Swordsmen 'wanting to win', causing the swords to hit each other on the bodies instead of the swords. Of course, there was no fatal injury involved —If it had become that serious, the Axiom Church would have intervened— However, a mere drop of blood caused the people in the town to be terrified. Of course, it was understandable why the final battle between the East and West block winners were scrapped.
Of course, these two young swordsmen did not know about this. Their aim was to be the winners of this tournament, stand out from amongst the guards, get the rights to attend the Central Centoria's Master Arts Academy exam, pass one hurdle after another, and one day, they hoped to meet this «Alice» in the Centoria Cathedral of the Axiom Church.
It was shocking, but both of them were headed down in the right direction. This was so troublesome and so distant, but that path would definitely lead them to the Cathedral. However... if Kirito and Eugeo really do gain the right to enter that white tower, both of them would have...
The 2.30pm bell broke this trail of thought. After that, the orchestra that was lined up in a corner of the spectator stands let out a majestic March, indicating the start of the finals.
The duo, which had already finished eating the simple meal, stood up forcefully from the fold-able chairs at the waiting area. The black and green eyes exchanged looks with each other, and they reached their right fists out to bump each other, turning away as if there was no need for more words as they head off to the stages of the East and West blocks. The spectator stand that was somewhat empty during the preliminaries was already filled up, and the rain of cheers descended like howling wind.
The guards in charge of miscellaneous stuff moved the large board with ordinary paper to the atrium the judges were at. The words that were written in black on them showed the table for the tournament finals that would be carried out in an elimination format. On the East block, Eugeo's first match was the 3rd match of the 1st around. Kirito too had his on the 3rd match— but the observer's stare seemed to be attracted by the young apprentice guard called Egome, the one Kirito seemed to be worried about for some reason.
I've let him be in the same block as Kirito. That 5 mil body felt a mysterious feeling it did not feel during that draw. It did some baseless thinking. It could not possibly have the same functions as that of a human.
Kirito's concerns were completely different from the observer as he did not react even after seeing Egome's name. Once the chief judge's speech ended, he immediately walked down the stage and sat on the chairs in the West block waiting area. Eugeo came here when they were having their meal, but as of this moment, he could only remain in the standby area at the East block, so there was no chance to talk to him.
It watched the first and second match from Kirito's head, and saw that the battles were won smoothly.
The party that attacked first continued to use basic skills since the 3rd and 4th move, and the defense continued to take the hits without showing any openings, letting out a casual rattling sound. Then, it was a reversal of roles as the sounds of metal clashing could be heard again. One might mistake this for practice, but they were using real metal swords after all. No matter whether it was the side swinging the sword or the one defending, they would lose Life due to fatigue. Once the Lives drop past a certain value, their movements would show openings, and their defenses would become weird. The one to fail in defending himself ended up letting the opponent's sword tip poke right at his body— 'That's enough!' or something like that.
It felt completely different from the Central-class tournaments' speeds where the fighters would sprint and retreat. However, the tournaments held in the North should be something like that as well. The young man named Egome should not have any outstanding abilities, and in that case, the 3rd match of this tournament would likely be Kirito's easy victory since he had a larger Object Control Authority. The observer dispelled that anxious notion that came before as it boarded the red marble stage together with Kirito, who had his name called out.
A short moment later, Eugeo's name was called out on the East stage. However, from a glance, it could tell that Eugeo's opponent was too overenthusiastic and was already sweating, so there was no sense of worry at all. On the other hand, Kirito and Egome were facing off against each other on the west stage, and the eyes under the sand-colored hair were staring intently at Kirito. It again checked the Stacia window, but the values were lower than the average competitor in the tournament. So why is Kirito so wary of him—?
Both of them started walking, drawing their swords slowly. The young judge raised his right hand and swung it down, shouting,
“—BEGIN!”
At the same time, Egome started to take action. Normally, both sides would first stare at each other and begin the battle after checking each others breathing rhythm, so there was a slight commotion from the crowd. However, this was not against the rules. Even though using surprise attacks to win was not advocated, it was a strategy in fighting.
“OHHH!”
Egome swung down from the top right side with intense vigor, and Kirito ran up to him to take this blow. *KLANG!* There was a mysterious metallic sound that never happened in the tournament up till now, and the yellow sparks that exploded lit their faces.
These swords that should be causing a knockback continued to remain clashed with each other, trembling slightly. Kirito countered with amazing speed, completely ignoring the fact that he was slower as he moved the sword up, pressuring the opponent. The two swords let out a grinding sound that echoed throughout the silent west block arena.
In this situation, Kirito moved forward, brought his face slowly to the nose bridge of Egome's face that was frowning hard—and muttered,
“You have the smell of Nedge Lezta on you.”
“...So what?”
Egome let out a tone that sounded like the grinding of a metal force. Kirito then continued on in a deeper voice,
“There's only one use for Nedge Lezta. When dried and burnt, the smoke produced will numb venomous insects. For example... a «Large Marsh Horsefly».”
“...”
Egome's narrow eyes widened hard, and at the same time, the observer that was hiding in Kirito's head blinked.
That means that Kirito was moving around amongst the participants in the rest area to look for the person with that Nedge Lezta smell. In that case, the reason would be—
“...This morning, at the West gate of Zakkaria. You're the one who planted that Large Marsh Horsefly... that insect that caused the horse to go wild.”
In response to this sharp question, Egome merely sneered maliciously.
“I have no need to answer to a homeless guy like you. But even so... what I did was just to release an insect that wouldn't harm anyone. I'm not breaking the Imperial Law or the Taboo Index here.”
What the apprentice guard said then was the truth. If the Large Marsh Horsefly could harm humans directly... if it had been an organism that could take Life away, it would have been illegal to bring it to an area humans lived in. However, letting an insect that would only bite a horse would not break any rules at all.
However, things were not that simple. No matter how young children are, they can understand that a Large Horse Marshfly flying around horses would be there to bite horses... to wear out the Lives of the horse. It was imaginable that the horse would then go wild and could hurt the people passing by.
Most of the Human Units who realized this possibility would probably give up on this idea of letting this Large Horse Marshfly go. This was because there was the Taboo function of «Not reducing other people's Lives» work
ing within their bodies. However, even after knowing that this would cause damage to Kirito or Eugeo... No, it was because he actively wanted this that this young man called Egome let the Horsefly go. To them, it was the thought of «I just let go of an insect that won't harm any humans. I have no idea what will happen next», a function that overpowered the thought of following the Taboo Index.
...The blood of nobility.
This young man was giving off the rumored dark side of the nobles. He was completely different from the people at the Wilde farm, a person who believed that «Anything that does not break the rules is acceptable».
“...Why?”
Egome seemed to spit out as he answered Kirito's short question,
“I don't like you. Someone who's homeless like you, who doesn't have a Sacred Task, wants to challenge me? This Egome Zakkalight-sama? You want to join our guards? I won't allow you. I wanted to wreck you when I saw you arrive to take the tournament rules slip last month.”
“...I see, one of the nobles. But even if you have some prestigious background, you're just a lowlife for doing such things. Sorry, can we hurry up and end this now?”
Even after hearing that he was a blood relative of the Zakkaria leader, Kirito did not show any signs of fear as he said. He exerted some strength into the swords that were still clashed with each other, seemingly trying to make the opponent fall. But at that moment,
Egome again grinned, and after that, there was a sharp cracking sound. Kirito showed a slight stiffness. On looking over, while the two swords were clashed, Kirito's blade was the only one that was showing a small yet obvious crack.
Why would only one sword be affected when they're both swords borrowed for the tournament? It frantically opened the «Windows» for both swords, and there was an unexpected message over there.