Chapter 17 - The tournament Begins pt.2

As the first day of the tournament was single combat elimination, the first round of the tournament ended quickly, leaving Edward speechless at the power of the competitors. At first, he thought that only a combat master would be competent enough to participate in the battles, but Julius had told him that many monster trainers were present.

Even with only a few of them able to win their fights and advance to the next round, this still shocked Edward. It seemed that even as a monster trainer or evolutionist, Edward would still need to learn how to fight.

Out of the fifty competitors who qualified for the next round, thirteen were Spellslingers, fifteen were Armsbearers, and twenty-two were enhancers. The ones that impressed Edward the most were the Armsbearers, as watching a human go blow for blow against monsters was an excellent spectacle.

There were three Armsbearers who caught the attention of all watchers, each of them showing unparalleled strength. The first one was a middle-aged man from the Earth Guild. He wielded a two-handed hammer and wore a full suit of heavy armor.

The second one was a young man from the Darkness Guild. Not only did this young man look like Saurus, but he even dressed in a similar fashion. He constantly vanished from the battlefield, only to reappear and stealthily attack his enemies' weak points.

Yet, the one who drew the most attention was another young man from the Nature Guild. Different from the rest, he didn't use armor or any weapons, battling the enemy's monster with his bare fists. During the fight, an ethereal image of a four-tusked boar constantly enveloped him, granting him not only monstrous strength but also vitality and endurance.

On the other hand, the Spellslingers who shone the most were all from the Ice and Lightning Guilds. They kept casting elemental spells to bombard their enemies, never allowing them any chance to counterattack.

All of the spells looked dangerous, and the spiritual energy they required was enormous. Spellslingers generally tried to finish their fights as quickly as possible, but sometimes this strategy was not feasible, causing them to run out of spiritual energy mid-fight. This was the primary reason why the number of Spellslingers in the top fifty was so few compared to the other two specializations.

The sun was just about to set when Edward left the tournament stadium. He was alone as Julius had stayed behind with his guild companions. He did not go home straight away but roamed around the city for some time.

First, he spent some time in a restaurant. He had not eaten anything since entering the stadium, so he was quite hungry. Later, he walked through the streets, looking at the blacksmiths to find suitable weapons and armor.

Edward finally found a store that he liked and began to look around, inspecting the different weapons and armor sets on display. However, he was still unsure what type of equipment he should get. After some consideration, he decided to head to the counter and ask for the owner's help. "Excuse me, but can you show me the leather armors that you have?"

The owner, a burly old man, gave Edward a fleeting glance before returning his attention to the paper in his hand. "They are all on the walls. You can take a look at them by yourself."

Edward grinned, not expecting the owner to be so grumpy. "I don't really understand anything about armor, so I hoped that you could explain the materials they are made of," he answered calmly as he tried to get help once again.

"The ones on the left are made of iron, and they protect your body," the burly man said, giving Edward an annoyed look. "The armors on the right are all made of leather, and guess what? They also protect your body."

Edward's face twitched in rage as he didn't understand why the man was treating a customer so poorly. "Never mind then…" he turned around and was about to leave when three people entered the store.

Edward instantly recognized two of the men: Saurus, whom he had met in Steffon's store, and the man from the Darkness Guild who had taken part in the tournament earlier that day. The third person was a young girl with shoulder-length hair, who, like the two men accompanying her, was dressed in a gothic fashion, wearing a stark black dress.

The man who had taken part in the tournament immediately walked to the counter, but Saurus gazed at Edward, trying to remember the youth's name.

"You are…." Saurus scratched his head, not seeming to recall the name of the boy.

Edward smiled awkwardly. Even though only a few days had passed since he had met Saurus, he never actually thought that Saurus would remember him. "My name is Edward," he said, extending his hand towards Saurus.

"Ah, yes! Edward! I remember now. How have you been?" Saurus shook his hand firmly.

"Quite good. I just came back from the tournament and decided to take a look around," Edward replied, giving the old owner of the store a fleeting glance before returning his attention to Saurus.

"Oh? So what did you think about Lucien's performance there?" Saurus asked, his eyes gleaming with pride.

"Lucien?" Edward gazed at the man chatting with the store owner with curiosity. "His battle was amazing. Among all the Armsbearers, his fight could easily be placed in the top five."

"Hahahaha, Lucien is our ace in the minor league this year!" Saurus's usual dark and silent atmosphere melted as soon as Edward gave Lucien a few compliments. "If you liked what you saw today, you need to watch the next rounds. They will be even better."

The young girl standing next to Saurus tugged at his sleeve. "Can we go get my weapon? I can't wait any longer."

Saurus nodded and turned back to Edward. "Sorry about that. This is my daughter Lilith. Lilith, meet Edward."

Lilith looked up at Edward with a cold expression, sizing him up with her piercing eyes. "Hello," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Edward nodded in greeting, feeling intimidated by Lilith's intense gaze. He wondered what business they had in the store and why she was in such a hurry.

However, just as he had decided not to pry into their business, Saurus grabbed Edward's shoulder and dragged him along. "Did you also come to get a weapon? I must say you have quite the good eye."

"Uh? I was looking for some equipment, but I'm still not sure what to get…" Edward was curious about what Saurus meant and realized that he could help him. "Do you recommend the equipment from this store?"

"Of course, it may not look like it, but the weapons that Lyn makes are the best in the whole city," Saurus pointed to the counter where Lucien had placed the pair of daggers that he had used in the tournament. "If you want a good weapon, there is no better place."

Edward's eyes shone as he realized that he had almost missed a good purchase. "Only weapons? Are the armors here good?"

"They are good, but not on the level of the weapons here." Saurus grinned as he looked at the burly old man, who was now paying attention to Edward.

"Tsk! Do you two know each other?" The burly man had an annoyed expression on his face as he gazed at Saurus. "If you came to pester me again for some weapon, forget it. I don't do commission work."

"It's too late to commission a new weapon now. The tournament already started." Saurus laughed as he took two daggers out from his spatial ring. "I want them with the sharpest edge possible. If possible, make them cut even diamonds."

"Cut diamonds?" Lyn, the burly man, sneered as he heard those words. "Those daggers can already cut diamonds. It's you who is too weak to deal with that thing."

"Well, make them sharper then." Saurus tightened his fists as he gazed at his weapons. "I'm counting on you in this tournament."

"You should focus on yourself. Maybe if your monsters were a tad stronger, you wouldn't need to depend so much on weapons." Lyn pouted as he grabbed Saurus' and Lucien's weapons. "Your son's weapon will be ready on the tournament day. Yours will take a bit longer."

"Before the tournament, I want them both to be prepared," Saurus stated, turning to face Edward and Lilith. "I'll take a look around and find a weapon for my daughter and this young man too."

Lyn gave Saurus a sneer, clearly irritated. "Just don't bother me any longer…" he grumbled as he continued to read the papers she had been working on.

Still reeling from the discovery that Lucien was Saurus' son, Edward was taken aback by Saurus' offer. "Are you going to help me pick out a weapon?"

"Why not?" Saurus replied, scanning the store before turning to give Lyn a stern gaze. "With such a horrible owner, it will be difficult for you to find a weapon that you like in this store."

With Saurus' help, Lilith and Edward searched for their equipment. After a few minutes, they both found items that piqued their interest.

Lilith went for a two-handed sword, which was quite comical considering her small frame. Edward held back his laughter, knowing that she was undoubtedly powerful, being the daughter of a Guild leader.

In contrast, Edward opted for multiple items, including a set of leather armor, a round shield made of light metal, a one-handed spear, and a curved dagger.

"Isn't this a bit much?" Lilith exclaimed, evidently overwhelmed by the amount of equipment Edward had brought. "Are you joining the army or something?"

"All the things here are so cool that I can't control myself," Edward scratched his head in embarrassment. He had initially only wanted one weapon and armor, but thanks to the sheer excitement he felt as he tested the equipment, he ended up with a lot more. "Besides, even if I don't have a use for them now, they will still be useful in the future, right?"

"The choice of equipment isn't too bad either…" Saurus looked at Edward from head to toe. The boy had basically all the essential equipment of a new soldier. "The spear is an excellent choice. Not only is it a good weapon for newbies, but this spear is even a spiritual item."

"Spiritual item?" Edward looked at the spear with a mixture of desire and shock. He instantly thought back to the necklace that he had brought into Steffon's shop.

"Just a Bronze-ranked item. I'm not sure what monster core was used in the crafting, but it looks like it was a fire elemental core." Saurus grabbed the sword that Lilith had chosen and activated it with his spiritual energy, causing a wave of dark energy to flow out of it. "My daughter's sword and your dagger are also spiritual items, all in the lower stages of Bronze rank."

Edward gazed at the burly old man with newfound respect, never expecting that even the items thrown around the shop could be so good. "What's the elemental type of my dagger?"

Lyn, the owner of the store, looked at the spear and dagger that Edward had chosen and scratched his head, trying to remember what he had used to craft them. "Bring them over here. I need to take a look at them." With the sheer number of items he crafted every month, it was basically impossible for him to remember them all.

After a few seconds of studying the items, Lyn finally remembered them. "Oh? This spear was made with the core of a Red Haired Boar in the soldier realm, and this dagger with the core of a Lightning Claw Panther."

"Lightning Claw Panther?" Lilith showed a bit of interest in the dagger. "Isn't this monster a peak uncommon bloodline? How can this item just be at the lower stage of the bronze rank?"

"It seems that hunters killed it before it could mature." Lyn pouted as he passed the items back to Edward. "The core of a mature Lightning Claw Panther should be able to craft a silver rank item, but those dumbasses go around killing everything they see, if they were a bit smarter they would just capture the cub and sell it on the city, they could make way more money this way."

Edward looked at his equipment with a satisfied smile and quickly paid for them. He was anxious to return home so he could finally test them, especially inside the dream space, where he could train against Whitey.