Chapter 26 (2/2)

“How surprising. I didn’t expect that you would fight this well.”

“Of course I would. These opponents are like baby chicks compared to the knights I had to face when I was an orc.”

“Ha, I suppose so.”

“Besides, I have gained the strength of aura. This is nothing.”

Kurotan defeated his third opponent lightly as well. His opponents so far had all been seeded partic.i.p.ants, but he had been able to overwhelm them with his brute strength.

Kurotan had received many small wounds during this process. The Belloche sword style was heavily concentrated on offense, after all.

In order to win the martial tournament, one had to have a certain amount of luck. Only if you did not sustain many injuries would you have to stamina to be able to win the final round.

With two rounds left, Kurotan’s previous two opponents had held on bitterly until their defeat, leaving many wounds on Kurotan’s body.

“It’s all right, I can still fight.”

Kurotan refused to cower even with his body wrapped up in bandages.

“You stupid b.a.s.t.a.r.d, your final opponent won’t be so easy to deal with.”

“I can still win.”

Luke smiled bitterly and took out a gla.s.s bottle from his pocket. The liquid that splashed inside was none other than a healing potion.

“What is that?”

“It’s a healing potion. It was disgustingly expensive.”

“I had a lot last time, is it all right if I have it again?”

“Those were mana potions. This is a healing potion. I bought it especially for you and your victory, so drink up.”

“All right.”

Kurotan chugged the healing potion without hesitation. His eyes widened as soon as he emptied the gla.s.s bottle.

“Wh-What the?”

As soon as he had finished the healing potion, his whole body had begun to itch, after which a wave of rejuvenation spread throughout his body. The wounds under the bandages began to heal rapidly.

Luke unraveled the bandages around Kurotan’s arms. The wounds that he had sustained yesterday were gone without a scar. Kurotan exclaimed at the sight.

“Amazing. Humans sure have interesting things.”

“You guys wors.h.i.+p Maal as well though? You guys don’t have a priest?”

“We don’t have anything like that. We do have shamans, but they cannot heal wounds this rapidly.”

“I suppose, since orcs have a natural healing ability far beyond that of a human’s…”

With Kurotan’s wounds fully healed, they needed to prepare for the final opponent.

“It’s a pity that we can’t train due to all the prying eyes.”

It was something that could not be helped. Kurotan, who had made it up to the top two, was constantly under watch.

Because of the circ.u.mstances, Luke and Kurotan waited for the final match to begin silently.

The host of the martial tournament, Viscount Jabel, had taken an interest in Kurotan.

“Your predictions were correct, Sir Cooper.”

The knight captain, Cooper, straightened his posture.

“Lord, I am absolutely sure that Kurotan can utilize aura.”

Cooper had a.n.a.lyzed all of Kurotan’s battles in the finals in order to a.s.sess Kurotan’s skills.

“He forced his opponents to surrender by crus.h.i.+ng their s.h.i.+elds or breaking their arms. It is simply impossible to produce that level of force without the use of aura.”

“How do you think he was able to train in aura when aura cultivation techniques are incredibly rare and valuable?”

Aura cultivation techniques were hard to obtain even in the Sith Empire unless you were a member of a prestigious n.o.ble house. The Jabel vicsountcy itself was not in possession of a complete aura cultivation technique.

“There are differences between aura cultivation techniques, but most of them require at least ten years of training before one can utilize aura freely. However…”

Cooper frowned. There was something that he had been unable to wrap his head around.

“Kurotan’s achievements in the sword are not very high. It has not been that long since he has learned the sword.”

This was the most puzzling thing to Cooper. Cooper had become an aura expert by combining a training of blood and tears along with arduous hours of cultivating his aura.

An aura expert was usually extremely polished in the sword. Cooper could not help but be suspicious at Kurotan’s obvious lack of experience with the sword, or axe, style.

“The sword style that he executes with his axe is definitely at least mid-level. It is focused on offense, but is still a fairly complete sword style, lord.”

“Either way…”

Viscount Jabel looked at Cooper seriously.

“Do you think that he is a talent worth recruiting?”

“If we forget about the suspicious aspects of his talent, then yes, my lord. Should he not be a spy from a foreign country, we should absolutely try to recruit him.”

“Is that so?”

“However, we must find out the truth behind his less than polished sword style and how he came by an aura cultivation technique.”

“All right.”

Viscount Jabel nodded his head silently.

“As you say, we should investigate a bit more thoroughly before making our decision. Let us concentrate on the final match tomorrow for now.”

“Yes, my lord.”

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