I'm a farmer, not a hero : Chapter 39

Initially, there were 48 fighters registered for the competition, but due to the unofficial elimination round held by the wealthy merchants, it has been whittled down to 8. Though it's not that they're no longer allowed to compete once they've lost in the unofficial elimination, some just get discouraged knowing that they'll be fighting the same ones that beat them while others could no longer join due to serious injuries they had received.

Although, as the name suggests, the unofficial elimination matches are not tied to the main competition, the dwarven blacksmith organizers are not putting a stop to them despite having full knowledge of it as it's more favorable for them.

Before, with competitors ranging from several dozens to hundreds, the competition would take almost a week to finish but nowadays, it would only take a day or two. This would give the dwarven blacksmiths more time to spend on their craft.

And for two years, they have been making swords for only one person; the reigning champion of the competition, the flame emperor.

"Ya have a ring name lad?" One of the dwarven blacksmith organizers asked the arrogant swordsman.

"Uhh, Lightning Blade!" The arrogant swordsman proudly replied.

"You're really gonna use that?" The farmer, who overheard them, commented.

"Shut up!" The arrogant swordsman responded.

"Wha' 'bout you sir?" The dwarf then asked the arrogant swordsman's enemy, a beastman from the tiger tribe.

"Feral sword." He replied while maintaining his distance from them.

"Ah see, the first match wil' start with the ya' two." The dwarf stated before going to the center of the colosseum to make his announcement.

"La'ies an Ge'tlemen! The swordsmanship compe'tion begins!" The dwarf shouted with a loud voice as the crowd started to cheer.

"Fo' the fi'st match! Ligh'ning Blade!" He shouted before the arrogant swordsman started to walk towards the center of the colosseum.

"Facing 'im, the Feral sword!" He then shouted with the beastman walking ferociously, growling as the crowd went wild.

"Is… Is he gonna be okay?" The young cleric asked with a nervous voice.

"Don't worry about him. He may be a loud mouth but he can handle himself really well." The iron faced mage replied.

"Figh'ers! Are ya ready?" The dwarf turned to the arrogant swordsman, then to the beastman.

"Begin!" He shouted before retreating to the sidelines.

The arrogant swordsman drew his sword, a relatively small one handed sword that is almost a short sword with the blade made from mithril.

"Nyou think that knife can hurt me?" The beastman taunted before drawing his weapon, a large curved blade sword, and started to circle his opponent like a predator does to a prey.

"Nyow that I think about it, nyour ring name is Lightning blade. I'm assuming, nyour technique? like the flame emperor's." The beastman continued.

"You wanna find out?" The arrogant swordsman enters his sword stance as a few jolts of electricity slowly start to emit from his body.

A sudden flash of light emanates from the arrogant swordsman, momentarily blinding everyone in the colosseum. With this, he plans to attack his opponent to end the match swiftly, but it doesn't go as planned.

"Nyou think that by robbing me of my sight, nyou can defeat me?" The beastman roared at the arrogant swordsman as he blocked the attack with his sword.

"Nyou forget… I'm a beastman, my eyes aren't the only ones I use for seeing!" He snarled before trying to grab the arrogant swordsman.

With his quick reflexes, the arrogant swordsman was able to dodge the beastman, even his follow through strikes, and created enough distance for him to be able to regain himself.

"Shit! I can't waste too much mana on this fight!" The arrogant swordsman said to himself.

Aside from non-sword weapons, potions are forbidden in the competition due to a past incident wherein some competitors exploited this by using potions that not only heals injuries and restores mana, but cures fatigue and enhances physical prowess. And while the organizers tried to provide potions to be used during the competition, some of the sponsors of the fighters reacted negatively, speculating that it may lead to their fighter becoming weak due to the difference in physiology, hence they ultimately decided to forbid the use of any potions during the competition.

"In a way, I guess I got lucky fighting a beastman from the tiger tribe instead of from the panther tribe." The arrogant swordsman thought to himself.

Arguably the strongest among the beastman tribes, the tiger tribe fights with brute strength and savagery. Though they are agile, they are not as compared to the panther tribe who specializes in sneak attacks and assassination tactics. Knowing this, the arrogant swordsman was able to manage to keep up with the beastman without using too much of his mana.

"I know I can't dodge forever but if I'm going to attack, it needs to be quick and precise." He thought to himself.

Even though the crowd is throwing boos at him, he knew from their initial exchange that his sword would not hold out if they were to clash even if it's made from mithril.

"How long are nyou gonna keep on running?" The beastman taunted.

"As long as I can!" The arrogant swordsman answered with confidence, as if not afraid to be called out for being a coward, agitating the beastman.

Of course this was the arrogant swordsman's scheme to get the beastman riled up, making him attack more out of sheer frenzy to lower his guard.

There are three ways to win a match;

The first is to disarm your opponent until the referee deems them unable to continue, the second is to force your opponent to surrender, and the last is to kill your opponent.

While the second is ultimately the best option, a beastman from a tiger tribe would rather die than to admit defeat, but killing a fellow fighter is not something the arrogant swordsman is accustomed to, and so, his only option is to disarm his opponent.

"Grr-Stand nyour ground and fight! Are nyou a swordsman or a runner?!" The beastman angrily roared at his opponent.

"Well, you talk too much. Are you a fighter or a jester?" The arrogant swordsman taunted further, enraging the beastman.

The beastman then attacks the arrogant swordsman with such brute force that when the arrogant swordsman dodged, the beastman's sword was planted firmly to the ground. Seeing this as the opportunity he had been waiting for, the arrogant swordsman stabs the beastman on his paw, letting out a growl in pain before letting go of his sword.

Then the crowd immediately goes wild.

"Can ya still fight?" The dwarf shouted, asking the beastman.

After licking his wounded paw several times, he growled angrily, "Of course!", before taking his sword with his left hand.

The arrogant swordsman expected this, and has long prepared to engage. The beastman lets out a flurry of sword slashes. Though he is not using his dominant hand, a warrior from the tiger tribe is capable of using both hands for war.

The arrogant swordsman would continue to dodge every attack, now with ease, and was able to launch a few counter attacks to further wound his opponent. Eventually the beastman fell to his knees, weakened from all the wounds he sustained from the arrogant swordsman's attacks.

"Just kill me." He said while staring at the arrogant swordsman in the eye.

"I don't need your blood on my hands." He replied before turning away to look at the dwarf, who was the referee.

"Since the feral sword can no longer fight, the victory goes to the Lightning blade!" The dwarf shouted as the crowd cheered.

The dwarf, followed by the two fighters, returns to where the competitors are waiting.

"Ya! D'ya have a ring name?" The dwarf asked this towering giant of a man.

"The mad butcher." The man said as he lifted his huge blade, an over sized cleaver, over his shoulder.

"Mad butcher ey? Nice, How 'bout ya?" The dwarf then asked the farmer.

"Uhh, I don't have any." The farmer replied.

"Well think of something, what d'ya want the people to refer ya to?" The dwarf nagged.

"Farmer." The farmer replied.

"Farmer?" The dwarf asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yeah, just a simple farmer." The farmer replied.

"Simple farmer, a'right." The dwarf then proceeds to go to the center of the colosseum.

"And now, for the next match… The Mad butcher!" The dwarf shouted as the people cheered wildly.

"Facing him… Uhh, The simple farmer!" He shouted but the crowd started laughing.

"What's a farmer doing in a swordsmanship competition?"

"I think you're in the wrong place my friend!"

Are you sure you're not supposed to be on farmland?!"

"I can't wait to see these people's reaction once they learn of his true strength." The iron-faced mage silently commented.

"Oi! I'm giving you a chance to surrender…" The mad butcher said to the farmer, but he remained unfazed.

"And what if I don't want to?" The farmer asked.

"Then I'll slice you apart! Limb from limb!" The mad butcher threatened.

"Looking forward to it." The farmer replied.

"Figh'ers! Are ya ready?!"

"Begin!" The dwarf shouted.

The mad butcher slowly walked towards the farmer, lifting the giant cleaver off his shoulder and holding it with two hands in front of him. Carefully, he aims the blade towards the farmer's left arm. Like a real scumbag, he was intentionally moving slowly to savor the moment and threaten the man in front of him.

He lifts the giant cleaver over his head before swiftly bringing it down in front of him.

Klang!

The sound of a metal being hit echoed through the colosseum, followed by the loud sound of something heavy crashing down the land.

With the sheathed sword, the farmer deflected the mad butcher's giant cleaver, causing it to crash beside him, before striking the mad butcher with his still sheathed sword, sending him flying across the colosseum grounds.

The whole colosseum fell silent. The people in the gallery, except for the high-ranking adventurers, couldn't tell what happened as it was too fast for them to see.

"Is that it?" The farmer broke the silence.

With that, the whole crowd goes wild.

The dwarf hurries to check on the mad butcher and, upon seeing him out cold, declares the victor of the fight.

"The victory goes to the simple farmer!"

Now, the people who were laughing at him at the beginning of the fight, are now cheering for him as he returns to where the other competitors are.

"Good job finishing the fight early." The crimson twin fang said to the farmer just as he passed her. Seeing this, the arrogant swordsman couldn't help but be surprised.

"Hey! You didn't tell me you know her?" He said just as the dwarf called the crimson twin fang and another competitor, a demonkin nicknamed the demon blade, for the next match.

"Well, you never asked." The farmer replied.

"Care to explain how that happened?" The arrogant swordsman said.

"It's not like I knew her, it just so happens that we're currently working together." The farmer responded.

"Working together? What do you mean?"

The farmer, starting to get fed up with all the questioning, lets out a sigh before answering.

"I was hired by a wealthy merchant to fight and win the competition, and she's working for the same wealthy merchant though as a bodyguard at first but I guess she entered as well."

"Wait, wait! You mean you got scouted?!" The arrogant swordsman exclaimed.

"What the hell?! How did you get scouted and not me?!" He continued to rant.

"Hmp! Swordsmen these days… all they care about is money." The remaining competitor, clad in full plate armor from head to toe and had been quiet for most of the time, commented with contempt for the two.

"Do you know him?" The farmer asked the arrogant swordsman.

"No, I don't think so… But from the way he speaks, I'd say he once competed." The arrogant swordsman responded.

Just then, the crimson twin fang was able to force her opponent to surrender.

"Okay I give up, I'm not some prideful warrior that will refuse to admit defeat and risk losing my sword and a limb or two." The demonkin said.

"The victory goes to the crimson twin fang!" The dwarf shouts as the crowd cheers for her.

"See what you did?! I didn't get to watch her fight because you kept talking to me!" The arrogant swordsman ranted at the farmer.

Just as the crimson twin fang entered the room, the man in full plate armor started to walk towards the colosseum grounds, even when not asked by the dwarf.

"Now! We have a very special guest for all ya out there…" The dwarf shouted.

"Challenging the current champion, the flame emperor… A former champion, the Juggernaut!"

The juggernaut starts to march to the center as the flame emperor descends from the sky.

"The old champion, against the new! Who will win?!"