Chapter 25 (1/2)

Kurotan came out of the smithy a while later, with a brand new look. A st.u.r.dy looking steel helmet, as well as a steel plate armor that fit him perfectly as well as a metal skirt that extended past his thighs. His s.h.i.+ns were covered by greaves, and his hands were protected by metal gauntlets, giving him a half plate armored look.

At his waist were two axes that looked well made even at a glance.

“How wonderful. It’s so comfortable to have such well-fitting armor.”

How could Kurotan, during his time as an orc, have had the luxury of having armor custom fit? Luke smirked at Kurotan, who was beside himself with satisfaction.

“I’ll buy you even better equipment if you win the martial tournament.”

“Hehehe, really? I’ll crush whoever my opponent is.”

“By the way…”

Luke’s face slightly stiffened. He couldn’t help but feel a little embarra.s.sed about ‘modifying’ the truth in front of Kurotan, who despised humans who lie.

“I apologize about earlier. I know you dislike lies, but we needed the money.”

“Don’t worry about it. I believe that anything you do is the correct thing to do.”

“But…”

“When we give trust, we do so wholeheartedly. Besides…”

Kurotan glanced down at his armor once again and smiled widely.

“Didn’t I get a new armor for it?”

Luke smiled bitterly and shook his head. Luke was likely the only human to have earned such blind trust from an orc.

Kurotan, fully armored and equipped, entered a period of harsh training starting that very day.

“We have to fully engrain the skills of the Belloche sword technique into your body before the finals.”

Of course, considering Kurotan’s skills, they wouldn’t have to worry about the preliminary rounds. Only if Kurotan won the final round would he be knighted, so Luke trained Kurotan all day in the Belloche sword style.

As expected of a prestigious sword style, the techniques of the Belloche sword style were very complicated. Kurotan said in curiosity while training.

“It’s curious.”

“What?”

“I would not have been able to memorize such complicated movements previously.”

“Is that so?”

“I wasn’t very smart, so I would forget the things I learned very quickly.”

“It’s probably because you have the brain of a human now. You can’t even begin to compare the processing power of a human brain and an orc’s.”

Luke thought of the original owner of Kurotan’s body, Hal.

“He was a clever b.a.s.t.a.r.d that kept trying to manipulate me, so he definitely used his brain a lot.”

“I think so too. Ever since my soul has entered this body, I do not forget the things that I learn.”

“You know what? You’ve changed a lot since you’ve possessed that body. Now, you think and act almost like a human being.”

“Really?”

The two continued to converse as they practiced the sword.

Luke couldn’t contain his surprise as they continued to train in the Belloche sword style.

It was because the Belloche sword style was more profound than he had expected.

“This is a better sword style than I thought. It’ll be a style to reckon with once we’ve mastered it.”

“We’ll find out when we do.”

After four days of training the skills, the two began sparring. By simulating life or death battles in the spars, Luke and Kurotan were able to further familiarize themselves with the sword style.

“You ready?”

“Yup.”

“Then let’s begin.”

Luke and Kurotan ran at each other, swinging their weapons full force without mercy.

Chw.a.n.g. Chwwaanng. Chw.a.n.g.

Sword and axe clashed midair, producing sparks. People who had been training besides them couldn’t help but look at the two.

“Wha-What?”

“Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds aren’t ordinary warriors.”

Their eyes widened at Luke and Kurotan’s fierce and hair raising spar.

An attack aimed at a weak spot would be deflected or dodged, then a counter attack would begin right away. Just a little slip up of concentration would result in a critical strike.

“Keeuk.”

Luke frowned as he grabbed his side. His chain mail had burst at the seams, ripping even the leather armor he was wearing underneath. He grimaced as he looked at the ruined chain mail.

“It’s like a rag now.”

“Mine as well.”

Kurotan put his hand through a hole in his chain mail.

“Let’s go to the smithy after our training is over. Even our leather armor is raggedy…”

“I have no complaints about that.”

Luke and Kurotan continued their b.l.o.o.d.y sparring until the martial tournament finally began.

People who wished to prove themselves flocked to the martial tournament. The citizens of Jabel all set up shop with food and other items in an attempt to get into their pockets.

Because of the positive effect it had on the territory’s economy, the n.o.ble lords of Sith Empire tried very hard to open martial tournaments as often as possible.

The rules of the preliminary rounds outside of the castle were simple. The knights of the Jabel viscountcy set up six rings, fenced off by metal chains in the middle of a clearing.

In order to partic.i.p.ate in the tournament, one needed to purchase a bronze medal for 10 denarins. Before you entered the ring, you would hand it to the referee, and the winner of the match up would collect all the medals once the match was over.

You needed a total of ten medals in order to move up to the main matches. In other words, one had to win nine times.

Those who lost had to purchase a bronze medal one more time in order to partic.i.p.ate again. The medals cost different prices, depending on the territory, and was used by the stingy n.o.ble lords as an attempt to lower the costs of the martial tournament.

Fortunately, the medals at Jabel viscountcy were rather cheap, as other places could cost fifty denarins. The six rings were surrounded by a large number of knights.

The victor was determined by a simple process. You would lose if you surrendered, or were incapacitated by injury, or died.

No medical aid was offered during the preliminary rounds of martial tournaments. In other words, any injuries had to be taken care of privately and in the case of death, it would be as pointless as a dog’s death.

Those partic.i.p.ating in the preliminary rounds tried their hardest to prepare adequate defensive equipment. A st.u.r.dy armor would significantly reduce the risk of their dying, after all.

Cooper, the knight captain of Jabel viscountcy, looked down at the crowd of partic.i.p.ants that had gathered and frowned.

“The level of the partic.i.p.ants isn’t that high. It seems as though the Kaspar earldom’s martial tournament three months prior was really not that long ago.”

Kaspar earldom was the territory of a high n.o.ble lord, and was rather close in proximity to Jabel viscountcy. Cooper’s face was not a pretty sight as he gazed out at the six rings continuously. To an experienced knight such as Cooper, the scenes that were being played out in the rings were enough to make him yawn.

There were instances where partic.i.p.ants would lose their grip on their sword, and others that would simply run at them and grab the opponent’s collar.

“I suppose it’s to be expected, as the preliminary rounds serve to filter out the n.o.bodies.”

The truth was that very few people won the martial tournament by climbing up the ladder from the preliminary rounds. The winners of the martial tournament were usually those who had a direct pa.s.s to the final line. In other words, the children of n.o.bles or disciples of knights were almost always the winner of martial tournaments.

The partic.i.p.ants of the preliminary rounds truly had a diverse background. A young commoner who had painstakingly trained, delinquents that had polished their skills in the back streets, experienced mercenaries, and even bandits in disguise.

However, none of them were a match for the seeded partic.i.p.ants who had all trained systematically in high level sword styles since they were young.

“A structured and early education is definitely something to be reckoned with.”

Cooper shook his head and turned around at the sight of one partic.i.p.ant roll the ground in a pathetic manner.

“Drago, how’s the situation in the ring over there?”

Cooper frowned when Drago did not respond.

“Do you see anyone of decent skills?”