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/N: Search (Kodo – “O-Daiko” – HD) on YT and play it from the most replayed part. Play it in the BG if you can, or remember it.

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n“This year! Amidst all the Knights and Wizards, we have something special as the beginning performance of the yearly Martial Tourney. Two young God’s Favored Candidates, two young men with the potential of one day becoming Platinum Knight—Shall fight today!”

nUnder the bright sunlight and soothing breeze, the enormous Guild Peninsula arena filled to the brim with tens of thousands of spectators, roared with thunderous screams of cheers.

n“Let the war drums roll!” The announcer kicked off the month-long tourney by shouting with the help of air magic.

nAs his announcement resonated, the one hundred strategically placed, giant, two-meter wide war drums started reverberating in loud, heavily organized thumps. The men who played it were masters of this art, as they had unique uniforms with light golden, sleeveless robes revealing their muscular arms. The way they beat the drums was like a choreographed dance. Every sound and step they took looked captivating.

nThe drums were so loud that one could hear their echoes all over the Holy Land for many kilometers. Inside the arena, the people’s cheers mixed with it and started the most exciting month in the Holy Land, where Knights and wizards from across the world would come to prove themselves as the top man in their profession.

nThe winning Wizard, Knight, and Wizard-Knight are rewarded with one hundred thousand Gold Graces and recognition from the Holy Father. For the most part, the money was not as important.

nHowever, two young men were going to fight for the starter performances, although they were not officially participating. 𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗹．𝐨𝗿𝗴

nThe Sacred Arms Guild invited them for a hefty sum for being most popular among all the young God’s Favored Candidates in Holy Land.

nThump! Thump! Thump!

nThe drums got faster as the two steel gates at the far ends of the arena opened slowly. The wind turned stronger suddenly and created little dust devils across the field. The suspense was killing the people, and finally, the two figures appeared.

nThe crowd exhilarated in deafening cheers, for they knew that these two young men were destined for greatness and one day may even become the next Pope.

n“Syl-Ves-Tah!” “Syl-Ves-Tah!”

n“Fi-e-Lix!” “Fi-e-Lix!”

nThe two names echoed in the arena, creating the most beautiful setting for the long-awaited duel. The drum rolls seemed to sound along, acting as adrenaline fuel.

nThe two men appeared to be tall in their robust armor. On one side was a black-haired buffed young man about six feet tall with shining silver armor and a longsword in his sheath. On the other side was a six-foot graceful young man with golden-blonde hair and equally golden eyes that lured people to drown in them. He donned golden armor, although it looked dull and worn-out. However, the spear in his hand looked stunning.

nBoth men appeared to have a smile, matching their style. They looked around at the crowd in the arena with hundreds of stair-case chairs. At the luxury box, the Pope and the Sanctum Council members clapped.

nThe two gave a slight bow to the people and each other and slowly took their attack forms. But, there was a lot of distance between them to be covered. Although there was no bell, the drums did their job well.

nThe drum beats slowly diminished with extremely fast thumps as if rain. Then once it completely subsided, the crowd also calmed down, hearts of all beating with excitement and rush, hungry to see who’d survive the initial push.

nBoom! Bam! Bam!

nOnce again, abruptly, the drums sounded extremely loud with three distinct thumps. And that was the signal, as the two mighty knights gust towards each other with inhuman speed, leaving behind a flying trail of dust.

nThe black-haired Knight kept his sword beside his right shoulder, held with both hands. While the golden beacon of light held his spear with one hand—prepared to throw.

nThey came closer… and closer… the hearts of the crowd pumped aloud. The first clash was the most exciting part of the fight.

nWoosh!

nThe golden-haired Knight adjusted his aim and threw the spear while running. The other one had to slow down to anticipate and defend against the comet-like spear, burning in a red flame—looking stunning.

nClank!

nThe Sword Knight stopped the spear, ensuring himself behind the sword—shielded. It contained the burning spear, but disappointing were the results yielded. His acceleration gave enough time for his opponent to reach him, hold back the spear, and make a move.

nThe sword and spear clashed up close, creating sparks as red as a rose. A little stalemate appeared, letting the people scream in excitement. Certainly, bets were being placed amongst the crowd, and even the two fighting knights had made their wager, although it was not allowed.

nThe spear Knight made his move and slid the spear, holding it by the far end, then spun it around, aiming to hit the sword Knight in the leg.

n“Not anymore!” The sword knight roared and used Knight’s technique to initiate a certain move.

nBoom!—he plunged the sword into the hard ground and sent out a shockwave around, disrupting the spear Knight’s momentum.

nThe Spear Knight frowned, preparing for his next move, as apparent by the shining blue light at the tip of his weapon.

nThe war drums kept beating according to the movement in the arena. When there is a stalemate, the drums become lower and faster; when any abrupt move happens, it beats with short thumps, louder!

nFace to face, they started fighting using fists and kicks while deflecting each other’s moves. When the spear went, the sword deflected it; when the sword went, the spear blocked it. The two knights moved with precision, each step as if calculatingly taken.

nThe crowd’s cheers and cries alone had shaken the ground, while the knights had only begun. They jumped tens of feet high and clashed their swords; they fell and still continued to ward as if perfectly synchronized musical chords.

nHowever, one thing stayed the same. The smiles never left their faces.

n“Your armor looks rather dull, Max.”

n“Not everyone has a fat lord father, Felix.”

n“You don’t have a father.”

n“Tsk… touche, that one hurt me, so what do you say we end this choreographed dance and start the real fight, my friend?”

n“This is what I’ve been waiting for, Max. Prepare your ass for me.”

n“Ugh, Felix, you need to work on your catchphrases.”

nSylvester jumped back to make some distance, for this was the point it became a real duel. The fateful battle was to see who would be this tourney’s knightly jewel.

nHe took a calm breath and looked at the spear in hand. ‘I may not know your full extent, but you’re one strong boy.’

n“Meow!”

n“Ah! Chonky, go and be with mum.”

n“I will help Max fight. I trained for years for this.” The white cat, as big as it used to be, proclaimed.

n“Hah, thanks. But don’t sit on my body, and if I tell you, give me a smoke flask.” He ordered, not wanting to hurt the little guy.

n‘Here he comes.’ He braced to absorb Felix’s strike. The guy was taller and more muscular than him, sadly. But that didn’t mean he had too much extra strength.

nThe beautiful sparks flew as their spear and sword clashed with each other. Sylvester was none to take it easy and used the length of his weapon to advantage and twisted the spear to hit its tail on Felix’s ribs.

nBam!

nFelix headbutted Sylvester as both were not wearing helmets since the rules suggested they couldn’t strike weapons above the shoulder, and easy to say Felix’s headbutts were like a striking boulder.

n“God, you’re a brute!” Sylvester backend.

nFelix grinned and rushed forward, his sword shining in blue light and leaving a bright after image to confuse the opponent. “That’s what I trained for since I could walk.”

nSylvester jumped back acrobatically and imbued Solarium in his spear to invoke a particular rune. The problem with most spears was that nearly nobody used them as their primary weapon, as the variety of magical attacks one could make with it was less. A sword, meanwhile, was the best weapon for a knight.

nBut Sylvester had the range advantage. So he used Knightly abilities to make the spear’s tip so hot that it’d cut even ordinary steel like butter. And since his Spear of Infinity was a legendary weapon, it could face higher temperatures.

n‘But I need time to let the tip heat up.’ He gritted his teeth and kept a defensive position.

n“If this was a wizard’s tournament, this fight would have long been over.” He taunted.

nFelix agreed instead. “I know, that’s why I agreed to fight you only if there was a restriction for the knight’s abilities. But seriously, since you can stay standing this long, it seems both our ranks are the same.”

n“Golden Knight?” Sylvester muttered. This was an incredibly high rank among the Knights, as men of these ranks are often commanders. But, being God’s Favored, they could only focus on their wizardly talents.

nHe smirked at Felix. “Then that leaves this battle to what level you are in the Golden Knight rank.”

nAnd sadly, or thankfully, there was no way to gauge what level the other one had.

n‘Just a little more.’ Sylvester focused on his spear’s tip. Felix was rushing towards him with his sword as well, having invoked a move to make magical projections of his sword, as hard as steel. There were three around Felix’s sword, all shining in bright red light.

nSylvester decided he needed to make a dangerous move to give the spear more time. So he braced for impact by digging his feet into the soil.

n“Haaa…!” Felix reached an arm’s length and thrust his sword towards Sylvester, but there were three projections too, making it hard for Sylvester to dodge.

nBut, like a master acrobat, he leaped like an arrow, somersaulted in the middle of the air, and passed from the gaps of the sword projections. It was the most beautiful move the arena had seen yet, and the cheers were evident of that.

nClash!

nHowever, his armor got hit, and the whole right shoulder plate got thrown away. It didn’t scare him, but everything was going as expected.

n‘Thanks, Markus.’ Sylvester muttered as the acrobatic moves were his friend’s teachings. Sadly, Felix could not learn them as he was too buffed.

nTheir break lasted a moment as they once again moved towards the center of the field. Sylvester, however, was now prepared. He waited for Felix to foolishly make another move, being confident that he was a better knight, and he certainly was right.

nBut Sylvester was playing a different game of mind. The whole time he showed himself to be the one taking the blows, boosting Felix’s overconfidence. Now, the time had come to show his last throw.

nThum! Thump!

nAs Sylvester started moving towards Felix, the anticipation of something big echoed. Felix felt something was wrong and prepared to shield against the spear again, using his sword.

nSylvester roared as he launched the spear with the strongest force yet. “Haaa..!”

nThe spear shone under the bright sunlight, turning somewhat invisible to the naked eye, but Felix knew not what this raining steel would imply.

nBoom!—The spear landed in the middle of Felix’s long sword. The dark-haired knight felt the force and drifted a few feet back.

nThe spear, however, was too strong and fiery. It heated the steel and dug into the sword’s blade as if showing God’s fury.

nAs it protruded out to the other side, Felix nearly cursed. “Fu-!”

nBut Sylvester gave him no time to weep for his sword as he appeared right in front and turned his back towards Felix while holding the tail of the spear over his right shoulder. “Get ready to fly, Felix.”

nLike a seesaw, Sylvester used his shoulder as the middle base and the spear as the longboard. Then he pressed it down from his end. In response, the spearhead lifted the sword as it was still planted into the blade.

nFelix tried his best not to let go as he was afraid, for the fight was over once a Knight lost his blade. But Sylvester had the advantage of the momentum and executed his moves carefully, affecting his opponent’s mind like some vicious venom.

n“Haaaa!” Still, he had to exert himself to the fullest to lift Felix, as he didn’t have the tag of being the fat ass anymore.

n“Sh-it…” Felix cursed once his feet left the ground. That was it. It was over.

nSylvester’s eyes reddened as he lifted Felix into the sky and threw him away, tens of meters away. But, the sword stayed planted into the spearhead.

nWhile Felix was launched like an arrow.

nBam!—He fell to the ground, defeated and injured, not in his body but mind. Today, he was humbled by someone who didn’t even take the profession of a Knight seriously. He took a long breath and quickly saw the whole fight play in his head. Knowing Sylvester, it didn’t take him long to realize he was outsmarted, not overpowered.

n“Hehe, I won’t pay for your sword.” Sylvester appeared, extending his hand to his best friend.

nFelix sighed. “You and your dastardly mind games.”

nFelix took it and stood up. He was not ashamed of losing because Sylvester was his opponent. If it was Gabriel or Markus, he would have dug his grave and buried himself.

n“It’s all a necessary experience for you, Felix. There are bound to be people outside—enemies—who will be much smarter than me. As I play ten steps ahead, they’d be a hundred ahead. Now, let’s return. The graduation ceremony is to begin soon.”

nBoth of them gave a gentleman bow with one arm spread aside and the other on each other’s shoulder. The war drums had stopped while the people still cheered. Their fight may not be as beautiful as those of wizards, but they sure made it exciting—awe-inspiring.

nThen the two walked out of the same gates, telling everyone they were good mates.

n“You must be excited for today, Max. You will finally know.”

nSylvester nodded as he took off the armor in the resting room. “Of course, I’m excited to finally know who my father is—was?”

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nSHOW ME YOUR MOVES!

n**669 Stones = Bonus Chapter!**

nAPE TOGETHER STRONG!

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