11 Death match round, Miur lose?

One week later, the martial arts tournaments resumed. During this one week, both Miur and Len didn't neglect their training at all. They worked hard to improve themselves while Mays just laze around all days doing nothing.

Today, all contestant who qualified to enter the next round were present at the coliseum. With a total of sixty four contestant left, there would be five round in total for someone to get into the finals.

There were four block in total with sixteen contestant in each blocks. As this was a tournament which were held frequently, there were obvious powerhouses for every tournament. For this year's participant, there were four apparent powerhouses.

Andika Putra, a handsome looking young man with a tall and slender body. He was the pride and hope of Mercenary Guild, their shining star. Every girl within the kingdom fawned over him while every guy envied his luck and achievement.

Even Merle looked up to him. Merle was just the son of the leader of Mercenary Guild branch power. As for this Andika Putra, he was the real prince of Mercenary Guild, treasured by all.

The next person regarded as a powerhouse was Mintrina Merkessa. A young, beautiful yet ice cold girl. She was still on her late teen, nineteen years of age to be exact. Merkessa family was the royalty of Mercia Kingdom.

As the third princess of Mercia Kingdom, she had status beyond compare inside the kingdom. With her exceptional talent in magic, she rose in power within royal palace as she overthrown her brother the prince consort and her second sister. This martial arts tournament was just a stepping stone for her to solidify her position in the kingdom.

The third powerhouse was a weird guy named Slick. He barely said anything. He didn't act like a proper person either. Nobody knew where he came from. The only thing people knew was that he was dreadful.

Back when the people were teleported to the coliseum last time, he killed ten people without hesitation. Yeah, he was that beast guy who chased after Len back in the preliminary round.

The last and most probably the one who had the highest chance to win this tournament was Najibby, the champion from previous tournament. His name was famous throughout Mercia Kingdom.

He was the first champion who won the tournament without getting injured even once. And this year, he was going to get the champion title for the second time for sure.

Of course it was not them who made the ranking themselves. Everything was organized and researched by a certain organization. Working behind the scene, this organization did every sort of underhanded work as long as it would reel in huge money for them. This organization was called White Raven.

At the moment, White Raven was busy with illegal underground betting for this tournament. They were the one who calculated the odds for the bet and probability of an underdog winning the tournament. They even did thorough checklist on every single one of the sixty four current participant.

"After watching the prelim last week, who do you think would win the tournament this year?"

"Hard to tell. There were lots of promising powerhouses. We even picked only best four of them to make public but to tell you the truth these powerhouses numbered around ten at least."

"And that's why our job became more troublesome. How I wish we could just arrange who win and who lose with a coin toss instead."

These people were watching the live event from the coliseum within their room using the transponder pearl. It was an item which showed events at certain place and transfer the visual to the designated pearl in real time.

There were four people currently watching the broadcast. Surprisingly, one of the four present was Lord Arbah who ran away from Kokala city weeks ago. Unbeknown to even his father, he was actually a member of White Raven.

The four powerhouses were distributed into different block to prevent them from fighting each other early on. Masses were told that the matches was totally random which was totally a white lie.

The truth was, the whole tournament were rigged right from the start just to make sure that everything go as planned for White Raven. That was proof enough to say White Raven had snuck into this martial arts tournament's management team long ago.

"I'm in block A. What about you guys?"

Len asked.

"I'm in block B. You Mays?"

Miur replied and asked Mays at the same time. Mays didn't say anything while he raised his hand which had his wooden token gripped in his palm.

"Uh oh… game over for me."

Miur sulked after she saw Mays's token. It was the same as her, block B. She couldn't proceed to semi-finals for sure. Since only the winner of each block could enter semi-finals, she had no chances for sure with Mays being in same block with her.

As Mays saw how depressed Miur became, he suddenly had the urge to laugh. He never wanted to win the tournament anyways. His only reasons for joining was for the fun of it.

"Nah it's okay. Ill forfeit if we have to fight each other."

Mays said it nonchalantly while he patted Miur's head.

"Ww…ww…what did you say Mays?"

Miur was at a loss of word. She knew that Mays would win the fight for sure if he was serious. But again, Mays had no intention on winning in the first place. Mays only joined this tournament on a whim. Unlike him, Miur had aimed for this tournament since god knew how long. It was one of her dream after all.

"Yeah I mean it. I don't really care about this tournament anyways."

With a smile on his face, he added.

Miur's face turned bright and she smiled soon after. She didn't know since when she had fallen for this guy in front of her. After getting saved by him multiple times, she had grown dependent on him.

"Uh, our lady already fallen for him too deep."

Len couldn't help but sighed when he saw what just happened. Truth be told, he did have some feeling for his young lady. He was the brightest man back in RiverMug but compared to Mays he was nothing.

He hoped that his young lady wouldn't do any stupid things just to chase over something impossible later on.

As everyone walked toward their respective block, Mays and Miur walked together toward block B. They walked into a waiting room which was quite spacious. There was even a huge blank area on one side of the wall where you could clearly see the ring for the tournament.

There was also a huge signboard with names written on them inside the room. It was the table for the matches in their block.

Since there were sixteen people in total, one needed to win four fight in order to qualify for semi-finals. Mays's fight was the last in this block as his name was located at the very bottom of the list. As for Miur, her fights was the first.

"Mm… Mintrina Merkessa. This name kind of familiar. Where have I heard it I wonder?"

"How would I know? Ignore it and be glad that your opponent was a girl."

Miur knew that Mays was not from Mercia Kingdom so he would know nothing of people around these parts. She was shocked when she realized that Mays knew who her opponent was.

"A girl? How do you know?"

Mays just smiled as he pointed his finger southwest of the waiting room. At the corner of the room stood one girl with both her eyes closed. There were several guards on her side and behind her was a name signboard with her name written on it fancily. There was also a title attached to that name.

"Princess… princess Mintrina… Woaaaaaaa… its third princess Mintrina!!! No wonder her name sounds familiar."

Miur had heard of the name long ago. This was the genius princess who was the pride of their whole kingdom. Her talent in magic was peerless. In this world where strength rules, magician was regarded as noble existence.

Not even a grand knight could compare to them. As a genius magician, her status was way more exalted than normal one for sure.

As Miur accidentally shouted when she recalled who her opponent was, the princess opened her eyes. Mays who was in the same room with the princess was quite entranced when he looked at the princess.

Her deep blue eyes and turquoise colored long hair were totally top grade. Miur who could be considered a beauty paled in comparison to her. She might not be on par with the spirits Mays summoned, but she was without doubt the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

Deep in his heart, Mays still couldn't accept those spirits of his as normal human beings hence he didn't compare this princess with them. To him at least, this princess was indeed a charming beauty.

"Hi there. Are you my opponents?"

A cold yet enchanting voice reverberated inside the room as the princess started talking. Most of the male contestant stood in awe as they stared at the princess without blinking.

Beautiful girls were rare sight. This princess on the other hands was totally on another level. She was at least comparable to famous female actors back on earth.

"Errr… ye…yes your highness. I suppose I am to fight you in the match."

Miur stuttered as she replied.

"No need to be so nervous. Let us both do our best okay."

"Urm!"

Both Miur and Mays then go to another corner inside the room and sat there. They just observed those people who came inside the room one after another. With how spacious the room was, even if there were more than fifty people coming, there would still be room for more.

Mays noticed that Miur was nervous. Participating in this grand tournament was one reason but another reason was because of her opponent. Her opponent was none other than the exalted princess of the kingdom. How could a normal citizen like her not became nervous due to that?

"Miur, good luck with the match. I'll grant you anything you want if you win."

Mays tried to cheer her up.

"Really? Anything?"

"As long as it's not something difficult for me then yeah."

Miur smiled brightly and giggled soon after. She even gripped her fist tightly as if she planned to win the match at all cost.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not even an hour later, the second round of the tournament officially started. As both Miur's and the princess's name were called, they walked into the ring side by side. The princess walked confidently while Miur fidgeted most of the time.

Mays smirked as he watched the whole things. Right after the two of them entered the ring, the referee immediately announced the start of the match. With the princess's cool attitude, she didn't even move an inch after the match started.

It was totally different from Miur. She leapt forward right away. Obviously, the princess evaded that with elegance. With her brown intertwined staff shoved forward, the princess started drawing magic circles on the air using her other hand and chanted a quick spell.

The ring were suddenly enshrouded by bedazzling light which blinded those watching the fight. Mays on the other hand was totally unaffected. He even recognized what that skill was. It was a level twenty holy magic [Stunning Glow].

"Heh, this girl can use holy magic. Interesting."

Mays commented softly. Even with his low tone, several of the guard who stood with the princess earlier twitched as they heard that comment. They were quite enraged at how Mays addressed their princess without any honorific.

The bright light lasted for five seconds and Miur who was inside the ring was totally blinded by it. The princess didn't waste any time either. She really was quite experienced with battle. Blinding the enemy and finish them right away. That was common sense even in this world.

It didn't take long before the princess finished casting her spell. Despite how lame looking the staff on her was, it had a good effect which was storing low level spell inside it. The princess just needed to chant an additional three verse to cast the spell right away.

"Triple Fireball!"

Three fireball flew directly from the staff toward Miur. Miur who was blinded by the bright light earlier moved sluggishly as she couldn't see clearly. Even so, her reaction was now quite good compared to before. He could even sense the direction where those fireball flew without watching.

Miur managed to evade two out of three fireball thrown by the princess. As for the last one, she tried to fend it off using both her dagger but her effort was fruitless. The fireball didn't even reduced in size after it was slashed by her daggers.

"Ughhh!!"

The fireball engulfed Miur in no time. She screamed in pain as the fireball shrunk in size soon after. It was a low level fireball after all. Its power was just so so. Even so, Miur was still in pain after getting burned like that. If not because of all those food she consumed from Mays last week, she would suffered even more.

As Miur staggered trying to keep standing, the princess had a shocked looked on her face. Those who got hit by her attack usually stayed bedridden for days. Some unlucky one had even suffered more. But today, it was the first time someone had been hit by her fireball yet still able to remain conscious.

"Whoa… You are good. Even royal knights would lose consciousness upon taking one of those fireballs. Where are you from? I'm kind of interested in you now."

The princess was really straight to the point. It really was rare for her to be interested in others. Miur didn't even bother replying as she tightened her grip on the dagger hilt before rushing toward the princess.

Miur screamed inside her mind. The pain she currently experienced was unbearable for her weak mind. The only reason why she still pressed on despite her current condition was Mays. Clinging to the weak promise they made before she entered the ring, she planned on winning at all cost.

She knew Mays wouldn't stay in her life even if she begged. She knew Mays was not someone who would stay at this backwater kingdom. She also knew that her dream would stay a dream no matter what she tried to do.

But still, she couldn't just gave up without trying. She was a headstrong person after all. She could worry about it later if she failed but she totally didn't plan to fail without trying.

Miur desperate strike was totally unsightly. Those watching at the side line saw that all her attack were poorly executed and all of them slashed thin air. Not even once her attack landed on the princess.

"You should stop this. No matter how you try, your blade won't reach me."

Only the princes who was on the ring knew how badly injured Miur was. If she was in the same condition, she might not be able to move her finger.

"I... must… win…"

Miur muttered as she unleashed her final attack. This final attack of hers was unexpectedly fierce. Countless wind blade flew over toward the princess as that dagger shot forward. That attack was actually something Mays recognized, it was [Dagger of the Wind], thief class's first skill.

Blood dripped from the princess's left cheek after the wind blade brushed past her. If only Miur was at her best condition, she might not be able to content against that attack. Too bad Miur only reached that level after she was badly injured.

Miur lost consciousness after she unleashed that attack. She tried her best but her opponent was better than her. Just before Miur's body fallen to the ground, a pair of hand grabbed her and took her away from the ring.

"The winner is….. Third princess Mintrina Merkessa!!"

The referee shouted after he saw Mays who left the ring put down Miur at a corner of the waiting room. Even he himself couldn't follow Mays's movement. Mays was way too fast for normal people. He did exert his speed to the utmost as he was touched by Miur's splendour. People who tried their best despite their shortcoming really shone the brightest.

"That guy was fast!"

"Who is that guy? How come I never heard any rumours about him?"

"Who knows? A traveler maybe."

Some of the participant inside the waiting room started gossiping after Mays barged into the ring without notice. His speed was too remarkable for these people to say anything of it.

After discerning the condition of Miur's body, Mays nodded as he poured a red potion into her mouth. Potions from HeavensTale was way more potent than those in this world. Mays already knew that weeks ago.

Even though using HeavensTale potion would attract attention from people who was in the room, he didn't bother with the small stuff and still decided to do it. That potion was a low level one and of no use to him either way.

"How is she doing?"

The princess who approached Mays from behind suddenly asked. She even noticed that the potion Mays just used was a first tier potions, a red potion. As a princess herself, she once had a chance to use that potion years ago. She never knew the origin of that potion though. The best potioneer in Mercia Kingdom could only produce a third tier potion after all.

In HeavensTale, there were no difference in color for health potion. The only different was the size of the flask containing them, as if it was an indicator for their volume. In this world, there were tiers for potions as they were produced using alchemy.

For potions in this world, there were four tier in total. Green colored potions was the lowest tier or the fourth tier while yellow potions was the third tier. These low tier potions usually produced by combining herbs and unique resources of the earth.

Second tier potions were purple while first tier one was red. Purple potions was harder to produce as they also needed rare materials available only from ferocious monsters while red potions was even rarer. Even the best potioneering country in the continent didn't have the formula to make a red potion.

"She is fine. You can go."

Mays was in no mood to talk to this princess. Even though it was not her intention to hurt Miur this badly, it was still an indisputable fact that Miur was injured by her. The princess could totally sense Mays's hostility toward her.

"What? You hate me for what I just did? Can't be helped, she was my opponent after all."

Princess Mintrina was actually a stuck up person. Her straight and direct personality was in fact her strong point.

"I won't say anything else since she lost the fight fairly. But i do feel like doing exactly the same thing you just did because i feel like it."

''Suit yourself.''

The princess walked away without looking back at Mays even once. The other people inside the waiting room stared at the both of them from afar.

"Next match…. Contestant Draka and contestant Talam. Enter!"

The loud announcement by the referee broke the eerie silence from earlier. Nobody bothered with both Mays and Princess Mintrina as they focused their sight for the next fight on the ring.