The Duel Tournament I

The duel tournament would go as follows. There were two separate sets of brackets where there would be one-on-one fights between people. The winners of each match move up within their respective brackets while those who lost were instantly eliminated. The final winners that would emerge from each bracket would face each other to declare the overall winner. The final winner would be named representative of their year.

The rules were quite simple.

1. Personal weapons were allowed.

2. The match goes on until one person either surrendered or was unable to fight.

It was as simple as that. But there was one thing that was bugging me. What did they mean by unable to fight? How far were they allowed to go before they were stopped? I went over to the administrator nearby.

'Excuse me, sir.' He looked at me, eyes as bland as a piece of bread.

'Yes, what is it, applicant?'

'With the rules, it states that they would go until they were unable to fight, how far would it go until it was stopped?'

'As far as possible until they can no longer bear it. However killing is forbidden, so rest easy.'

'What are the conditions for surrender?' He had a grim expression.

'To simply say the word 'surrender'' It seemed simple enough so I was content with it and sat down in one of the spectator seats of the coliseum.

Two people entered the arena. A boy with a sword and shield and a boy with multiple daggers. That boy had many different daggers ranging from a stiletto to an anelace, other daggers I could identify were a butterfly knife and a tanto, and he even had a butcher knife on him. The boy with a sword and shield had black hair and a well-built body with some decent armour. The other boy on the other hand barely wore any armour and his body was extremely thin and his hair was light grey. Almost like he was malnourished, I had seen him before but I forgot who it was. I had a feeling it would be troublesome.

**

The person standing in front of me had a wide variety of knives around his waist. His eyes were red like the colour of blood. His body was thin and his hair was grey. His face was shallow and his arms and legs looked weak. It's obvious what his weakness is. He seemed like a speed-based fighter that could deliver many light blows but nothing too fatal unless he got to the area around my throat and face. The strategy was simple. I would just hold up my shield and hold out his attacks until he was out of stamina, and then I would go onto the offensive and win! <i>Father, I won't disappoint the family. I'll earn enough money to get us and Caleb out of the slums.</i>

My family was very poor, poor was an understatement. We only ate once every few days and it was soul-crushing. But I awoke a talent in swordsmanship. <i>If I get into the academy I would be able to make enough money to support my family and we can finally get out of the slums and live a normal life!</i>

<i>But this guy, I can see clearly he's weak but why is his aura and composure so frightening? No! It's just a feint! He's trying to trick me!</i> I wouldn't fall for such a trick. I saw the announcer come up onto the elevated platform. I readied my weapon and held my shield high for the oncoming onslaught, I got into a defensive stance and steeled myself.

'Begin!' With that simple word I prepared myself. But the opponent wasn't budging an inch. I could feel his gaze on me though, he was watching me like a hawk. <i>The one to strike first always achieves victory!</i>

I kept my shield up as I charged him with my sword. He quickly pulled out a knife and thrust it toward my shield. As expected it was weak. I then swung my sword but he took another knife and my sword stopped suddenly, I then felt an overwhelming pulling and twisting force. My sword fell out of my hand as I stood there slightly confused.

I then saw the knife he used, he used a parry knife to get my sword away from me, <i>the same as that Mordred Xander person.</i> I regained my senses and kept my shield up, trying to bash him with it until he was far enough away from my sword.

Finally, he went far enough away that I could pick my sword up. As I was picking my sword up I heard my shield make a clang. Something had hit my shield and I saw it on the ground. It was a throwing knife, 'tch!' I heard him click his tongue. At this point, I was back up with my shield and sword. He threw three throwing knives extremely fast at me at different angles. Thing quickly I crouched down and held my shield in front of me to block any incoming knives. One grazed my left shoulder but it was nothing that I couldn't handle.

I kept confident in myself but before I could notice he was already right behind me. He thrust his stiletto hard into me but luckily I was able to move my sword in time to block it. I was knocked off balance though and fell to the ground a few metres away.

My shield was still with me but I realised something dreadful. The shield strap that I needed to use the shield was broken so I couldn't use it anymore. He was walking towards me at a moderate pace, he had a menacing aura around him. I couldn't afford to get complacent, so I held my shield with both hands so I could try using it. It was futile though he was too nimble for me to catch up to him.

He cut my hand and I dropped my shield because of the pain.

'Arghh' I groaned in pain but he didn't stop. He used his stiletto and was able to thrust through my armour. Blood spurted out.

'Please stop, I surren-' The moment I said that a smile grew on his face. He shoved his butterfly knife straight into my mouth. It felt strange at first but I couldn't speak because of it. He then put force into his knife and cut my tongue clean off. I couldn't speak and the pain was unbearable.

'Playtime isn't over.' He talked in a raspy voice, 'We're just getting started.' . Afterwards, he started bashing his stiletto's pommel straight into my back multiple times to paralyze me and it worked. He pulled out his butcher knife and covered it with a red aura that was clearly visible. I couldn't even think due to the pain, how could I even think?

I was paralyzed on the ground, unable to speak. I was powerless before him. He crouch-walked over to my arms and raised his butcher knife, bringing it down right onto my wrist. He would proceed to do the exact same thing with all of my limbs.

On my last limb, I was about to faint. I had a talent called Perseverance but in this situation, I wished I rather did not. He then quickly went over to my face and looked me dead in the eyes. 'Hey you bitch, you better not faint or worse things will happen to you.' He cut a piece of skin on my forehead and it woke me up immediately.

He then chopped off the last limb. Finally, he did the same thing he did with the back of my head, <i>I'm sorry father, I'm sorry big brother please forgive me.</i> I finally fainted. The boy smiled and the referee called the match.

**

Leon Kent. He was a major antagonist in the game who would later work for the demon lord if you hadn't killed him. While he looked weak, he was probably much stronger than me at this current moment. I needed to stop him before anything got worse.

Healers could heal anything if given enough time. But with his injuries, they couldn't be healed for a strange reason. Actually, the reason was that Leon had used black magic when cutting off his limbs and paralysing him, so they couldn't regenerate no matter how much time it took. The most they could do was seal the wounds. It was brutal, he would be paralysed the rest of his life with no limbs either and probably some brain damage too. I had to stop Leon at all costs!

That boy, he could've been able to get into the Academy if he hadn't fought Leon. His form and strength was good, it was such a shame. Leon had snuffed out a talent that would've done good for the world. I needed to stop him before he caused more harm.