Final Round

The next day, George was matched with another favourite of the Knight Festival: Arthur Jales, first heir of the main noble family that controlled the City Guard and possessed tremendous influence with the Silver Church.

Unfortunately, despite being crowned twice champion and being the son of a Grand Knight, the man was very inferior to John Billing, not to mention George.

[Name - Arthur Jales | Status - Healthy | Knight

Attributes :

Strength - 3.0 | Dexterity - 2.5 | Vitality - 3.0 | Spiritual Force - 0.7]

Although his physical attributes were balanced, his swordsmanship was only of intermediate mastery. The difference between a master swordsman and an intermediate swordsman was like comparing an adult to a child. Not to mention George's superior physical attributes, Arthur had no chance to turn the odds in his favour considering his lack of sword mastery.

*Lionheart Beheading*

After deciding to establish himself in Melvinger City for a while, he now required reputation more than ever. With the funds from the bet, he would be able to quickly dominate the alchemical and medicine market in Melvinger City using his knowledge and alchemical skills.

By opening a medicine hall in Melvinger City, he would be able to accumulate many rare herbs, and experiment on lower-grade alchemical recipes, similarly to what Leylin had done in Everlasting City in his long-term mission when he escaped the dreadful war opposing the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy and Sage Gotham Hut Academy.

What better way to acquire reputation than defeating his opponent in one single strike?

After George's strike, Arthur Jales fell on the ground, eyes and mouth wide open as he realized that George had stopped his strike an inch before it would behead him. His Great Sword had cut through his blade as if it was made of wood.

*CHEER*

Afterwards, George returned to his villa, and continued his routine of practicing the optimized Lionheart Breathing Technique, training the Golden Lion Villa guards and refining spiritual potions.

The fourth and final day of the Melvinger City Knight Festival, George prepared himself for the last duel. This time around, the opponent would not be so easy to beat.

Grik Al Brak Jakar, a tribal warrior with peak knight cultivation who was known as the 'Lion Slayer'.

The man was as black as one could get. He did not even bother to wear an armour, his musculature exposed. Everyone with decent eyes could tell that the strength he could display with his body was surreal. However, George was more wary about his agility. The man not only possessed tremendous stamina, he also possessed the advantage of speed, which he further increased by not wearing protective gear.

Although his spear seemed crude from the surface, George could tell that this light and long-range weapon would prove dreadful in the eyes of an experienced tribal hunter like Grik Al Brak Jakar. Expressionless, Grik possessed tattoos made of a strange mixture of blood and resign, making him stink like a corpse on the battlefield, frightening like an undead monster.

However, after scanning his opponent, George started to look forward to this fight. Due to his superior training methods, George had never had the chance to display the full potential of his swordsmanship. His opponents were inferior to him physically, so basic techniques were completely sufficient to crush his opponents.

Grik al Brak Jakar was different.

The man was a hunter. A born hunter. Life in the desert of death was not easy. In order to survive, you needed to defeat beasts that were born strong, beasts that would stop at nothing for a bite of your flesh. Not only did he need to hunt to survive, he also needed to protect his fellow tribe members.

The life of a tribe warrior was far worse than the life of a normal knight. There was no luxury involved. But harsh conditions create great men. And Grik Al Brak Jakar's body was proof of this saying.

[Name - Grik Al Brak Jakar | Status - Healthy | Knight

Attributes :

Strength - 4.6 | Dexterity - 3.0 | Vitality - 4.3 | Spiritual Force - 0.6]

Although the Starlight Ore was not very expensive, costing roughly 4 magic crystals a pound, it was an extremely rare material. Only alchemists and runic masters would find a use to this catalyst, but if they did, they would often be willing to spend a fortune on it. When George pried information about the source of the starlight ore, it was apparently found by mercenaries who raided an orc settlement and found a small pouch of Starlight Ore powder in the shaman's hidden chest. There were exactly 12 pounds of it, 10 of which would be rewarded to the victor of the Melvinger Knight Festival.

Who would have known that the Mayor's scheme would successfully attract an alchemist into establishing himself into Melvinger City?

George steeled his will, and used his knight secret technique.

*LIONHEART STRENGTH*

After breathing in a rythm, his veins expanded, and oxygen flowed in his muscles with great intensity. He could feel a sharp pain in his heart, as it was being overworked, but it was part of the secondary effects of using this technique. Optimizing it had reduced the risks of a heart attack, although continuous use of this technique would ultimately lead to permanent injuries.

That's why George had set a 4 minutes time limit on using this technique, although his body could tolerate twice this amount theorically. As his vitality rises, his body would be able to hand increasingly longer durations of using the knight secret technique.

[Name - George Lionheart | Status - Healthy | Title: Knight, Rank 2 Acolyte

Attributes :

Strength - 5.46 (4.2) | Dexterity - 3.9 | Vitality - 5.59 (4.3) |

Internal Energy - 6.5 | Spiritual Force - 7.3

Knight Killing Technique: [Lion Beheading - Deals [Strength*2 + 3] degrees of damage]

Knight Secret Technique: [Lionheart Strength - Increase Strength and vitality by 30%]

Perk: Sword Master

Spells: Underworld Hands, Shadow hands]

Now, his stats were exceeding the knight realm. He was a wild beast in human's skin. A monster that transcended the limits of what a normal man could achieve. His opponent seemed to sense the danger, and upon seeing George's state of utmost focus, with a gaze that was steeled to kill, his opponent shouted:

"I RESIGN"

The senses of a hunter were not to be underestimated.

The crowd went wild. Some said that it was staged, that it was a coup to make a fortune.

However, Grik was afraid. He had never seen a human who brought him the same fear that a lion pride's king would bring him. He might be called the 'lion hunter', but the golden lion knight in front of him was a predator, rather than his prey.

The Mayor was smiling deeply, and descended in the arena, personally giving George his prize.

"I congratulate the Golden Lion Knight on his victory against the Lion Hunter Grik! As per the agreement, I am giving him the ten pounds of starlight ore powder in his hands", the Mayor spoke

After shaking George's hands, he left the arena, leaving the crowd as it was. Mixed feelings of confusion, awe and excitement could be felt. However, they would all remember one thing. A new champion had been born in this Melvinger Knight Festival.

George frowned. Shaking hands with the mayor held more than a nice gesture. The Mayor had used this opportunity to give him a small sheet of goat paper, with writings on it.

'Lady Emma is a dark path acolyte. There was evidence of her family sacrificing criminals sentenced to death in order to create magical resources. She has been arrested. Her father opposed us, and has been subjugated as well. Although the process was done in utmost secrecy, I stripped her of her membership in the Melvinger Magical Society. I wanted to let you know first out of respect of your strength and alchemical skills'

This was a terrible setback.