The Legend of the Meta-Defying Smith Who Saved the Kingdom

The crowd roared for a solid few minutes, and then the announcer declared a thirty minute wait for bets to be placed on the match, and all the betting windows were swarmed, with the announcer periodically announcing the odds.

Two to one for Pablo. Three to one for Pablo.

The Aspirant Knight strode back to his waiting room, where he whispered to the Steward who then dashed off.

James emptied his pouch onto the table in the room, sorting through his tools. Flashbangs, explosive orbs, and a spare Safety amulet were all he had. Most of his enchantments were woven into his own armor, given that he lacked any combat skills to support offensive weaponry beyond his hammers.

Suero looked over and smiled, and clapped a gauntleted hand onto James' own pauldron. "Calm yourself, Smith. I won't need any cowardly tricks—er, I mean, I won't need to use any of your own protective tools in my fight with that rat."

James wasn't offended. He'd use every cowardly trick to survive. Being alive beat fighting honorably any day, for him.

"Are you sure, m'lord? Why not take a flashbang, just in case? At least take the amulet—"

"I'll be fine, James. I am a Knight, after all. I do know how to fight." He clenched his fist with a soft clink of metal. "Your armor and weapons are simply incredible."

"But!"

"James." Suero took off his helmet and grinned at his retainer. "Do you know the sum of my levels today? It is thirty-five, sixteen of which are in my Knight Class.

James paled. "Sir, I heard that Pablo's sum was in the forties, and he has two combat Classes!"

Not only was a difference in sums of twenty-five insurmountable, he likely had synergistic boosts and Skills.

"Yes, he does. A Knight Class at level twenty-three, and a Battlemage Class at twenty. He's grown by leaps and bounds over the last winter. A shame that he dies here today; he was a valuable asset to the Order."

Suero spoke with perfect confidence.

"But!"

The Steward burst back into the room. Suero turned to his first retainer.

"What are the odds?"

"Eight to one, my lord. I missed out on nine; the odds started swinging back."

"Very good."

"My lord, please—"

Suero cut him off with a raised hand. "Do not worry about the Duel. I'm perfectly prepare for that. Instead, prepare for the aftermath. We need to be ready to seize any chance that arises after I slay this cur."

Sebastian swallowed thickly, then bowed.

"Yes, m'lord."

James' mind raced, but he lacked information.

What was he going to do if Suero died?

Would Pablo try to kidnap him? Try to kill him?

Could he escape to the Izguardia manor before they caught him?

He had no idea what would happen.

It was only the Aspirant Knight who was perfectly confident as he strode forth into the arena when called, with the Great War Hammer casually resting on his shoulder.

At the edge of the ring, he activated the [Heavy Blow] enchantment while seeming to casually drop it, as though he didn't think he would need it.

BOOM!

A jolt shot through the entire stone Colosseum, shaking dust from the rafters and causing those standing to stumble. A crater formed beneath the hammer head, and the haft stood up as though declaring its presence.

"What the…"

"Wait, just how heavy is that thing?"

"Look at the size of that crater…"

"I thought that Knight wasn't that strong…"

Uncertainty spread throughout the crowd.

Pablo was undeterred.

He stomped into the ring wielding his signature Black Steel Greatsword. It was a huge chunk of metal with a wickedly sharp edge. Whereas White Iron is the best type of Iron for bearing enchantments, Black Iron is the best for channeling magic spells.

Other than his Greatsword, the rest of his armor was standard issue, and bore a number of scrapes and cheaply repaired dents, the visible sign of his battles over the winter slaying hundreds and thousands of monsters.

He brandished his Greatsword. "I will restore my honor and slay this cunning snake!" he screamed.

Suero merely readied his heater shield and drew his longsword.

"Ready…" the announcer said, "begin!"

Pablo dashed forward, impossibly fast.

He had Class boosts to his Strength, Endurance, Speed, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Dexterity.

An optimal offensive build, making full use of Class synergy.

He closed the gap in seconds and struck with all his might.

[Cleave]

The vile snake managed to side-step at the last possible second, and his sword cleaved a deep furrow into the stone floor of the arena. Suero lunged, and barely managed a glancing blow on Pablo's arm before Pablo stepped back away out of Suero's range.

The blow had been slight, but Suero had landed the first hit, and it was more impactful than Pablo could have guessed.

[Sap]

[Keen Edge]

His armor was deeply scored. The snake must have spent every last cent he had on that sword, for it to be so sharp as to cut through steel and then be so heavily enchanted. Weariness spread through Pablo's body, which he banished with his [Second Wind] Skill.

With nineteen levels in [Second Wind], even the most underhanded of tricks couldn't possibly drain his stamina, already reinforced heavily by his Endurance.

Besides which, he knew that Suero lacked an Endurance boost himself. Everyone did; the fool was seen running laps every single day trying to earn the [Persistence] Skill.

Pablo swung his sword again and again, pressing on the other knight. The misses grew nearer and nearer, and now Suero was forced to block using his shield.

Surprisingly, the shield held up against the punishing blows. As did the knight's arm. Lesser men's arms would have broken under the sheer mass of his Greatsword's blows, even through a shield.

Suero managed to knock the Greatsword aside with a skillful [Technique: Parry] and landed another shallow counter with his longsword.

[Sap]

More weariness, once again recovered with his Skill.

Fine. Pablo would bring his full might to bear against this cowardly trickster.

He leapt back with [Backstep], gaining distance and time to [Channel Fire].

Fwoosh!

Flames ignited along the entire length of his sword, incredibly hot.

The fire was a sign of his contempt for the other Knight. Fire magic was a notoriously bad fit for empowering weapons, as many monsters resist fire.

But the heat would damage enchantments.

For the materialistic, they would react unconsciously to protect their expensive enchanted weapons from the heat.

This would create an opening for him to behead his foe.

[Cleave]

To his surprise, the other knight stepped in, to catch the strike on his shield.

Fool, he'd cut straight through that flimsy—

But the shield held. And strangely, his channeled flames weakened to mere wisps of flame as they approached and came in contact with the shield, and his mighty strike was parried.

[Sap]

But Pablo was prepared. His foot lashed out, striking Suero's wrist, and kicking the longsword from his grasp.

[Disarm]

[Second Wind]

He knew how this would play out. The other knight would back up, create distance, and try to recover his sword. With how strong the [Sap] enchantment was, surely—

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But that wasn't what Suero did. Instead, he drew his dagger and closed the distance, inside his Greatsword's range, and slashed incredibly quickly, such that the tip of his blade was moving too fast to see.

[Haste]

[Technique: Rapid Strike]

[Sap][Sap][Sap][Sap][Sap][Sap][Sap][Sap]

Pablo gasped. His Greatsword felt heavy in his hands. His armor weighed him down.

[Second Wind]

[Kick]

Using his Greatsword as a counterbalance, he put all his strength into kicking Suero away. Suero took the kick on his chest, and went flying back a dozen yards before landing flat on his back.

But Pablo couldn't pursue him immediately. His lungs burned and ached for air.

[Second Wind]

And before he could catch his breath, the other knight somehow rolled and got to his feet faster than should be possible, wearing heavy armor. He moved as though his armor was weightless. And it seemed as though the kick hadn't affected him at all, other than sending him to the other side of the arena.

Pablo's hearted pounded in his ears. He roared his fury, overwhelming even the shouting of the crowd of spectators, and stopped channeling fire.

[Rage]

[Channel Lightning]

A collective gasp echoed through the Colosseum. Lightning affinity was rare, and lightning magic was never seen in the Tournament of Duels. It was simply too strong; even a glancing blow would cause paralysis, and taking a Lightning strike directly almost always caused instant death.

Bolts of lightning discharged from the sparking Greatsword into the floor of the arena, making everything else seem dim by comparison.

A faint crimson aura emanated from the challenging knight, enhancing his already monstrous strength even further.

On the other side of the arena, Suero felt calm. Jovial, even.

His gear was incredible.

The effects weren't as flashy as Pablo's channeled magic and oversized Greatsword, but they exceeded them by at least an order of magnitude.

It had taken him weeks to grow accustomed to his armor, because it felt like it weighed almost nothing at all.

The [Feather] enchantments were superb, so effective that they required barely any of his mana to activate the enchantments.

The passive enchantments were even better. [Solidity] and [Impact Resistance] on his shield required no magic power, and defended against the Greatsword even better than a massive Greatshield would, which enabled him to even attempt to [Parry], which succeeded!

He assessed the channeled lightning coolly. The [Magic Dampening] on his shield had nearly extinguished the other knight's channeled flames entirely; and his Enchanter had enchanted [Magic Dampening] many times more strongly into his Cuirass, Faulds, and Codpiece, assuring him that the three-piece set would extend to the rest of his body.

Editor's Note: the Titanium alloy the Smith likely used to forge the Knight's armor is also notoriously resistant to Lightning naturally, unlike more common metals used in armor.

Suero shifted his weight back and forth between his left and right foot. He sheathed his dagger and took his mace in hand.

Time to have some fun.

He activated his enchantments.

[Haste]

[Fleetfoot]

[Feather]

[Might]

Speed and Strength coursed through the Knight, and he dashed in towards the enraged Battlemage, impossibly fast. It was as though the air itself was parting for him, and pushing him along with a tailwind. He was weightless, and every step pushed him harder than he could have imagined possible two months ago.

He hurtled into the other knight's range, and Pablo swung his sparking Greatsword with multiple Skills.

[Perfect Strike]

[Slash]

[Cleave]

[Heavy Strike]

[Critical Hit]

[Channel Lightning]

[Overcharge]

[Killing Blow]

[Magic Blast]

The fabric of reality hummed as the Greatsword hurtled toward Suero's neck.

[Technique: Parr—

He couldn't get his shield up in time. The Greatsword cleared the top of his shield, impossibly fast, and struck his enchanted gorget.

[Magic Dampening]

[Solidity]

[Impact Resistance]

Enchantments activated, and Oversmithed Titanium held firm.

[Last Stand]

[Damage Resistance]

[Strike Resistance]

Social Climber Class Skill [Tough] has been acquired.

The Aspirant Knight's Vitality held, and he survived what should have been a killing blow thrice over.

The Lightning instantly faded to nothing, the blast completely suppressed by his [Magic Dampening] equipment.

The Greatsword came to a complete stop, all momentum halted by the gorget around the knight's neck.

But Pablo had no time to even perceive the situation because Suero was still moving with all the speed of a gale.

[Counter]

[Retaliation]

[Technique: Blunt Strike]

[Heavy Blow]

[Sap]

And unlike the Aspirant Knight's armor, Pablo's was just normal, standard-issue steel knight's armor.

Crunch

The sound echoed through the now utterly silent Colosseum.

Everyone's breath was still held from seeing the Greatsword come to a complete stop on the knight's neck.

Steel crumpled like paper and ribs broke. Weariness assailed Pablo, and he stumbled back, Greatsword dragging and scraping on the arena floor.

Suero himself stepped back, and rubbed thoughtfully at the gorget around his neck. There was just the faintest scratch in the metal.

"Finally…" he muttered. Finally he had one of the attribute boosting skills. Not the one he wanted, but he would take it.

He stepped forward, almost casually, as Pablo continued backing away, clutching his side and glaring at him hatefully.

"I owe you thanks, dishonorable cur!" Suero shouted so that everyone could hear him throughout the Colosseum. "I just acquired the [Tough] Skill!"

There was a collective gasp. Not only was the Skill incredibly rare and valuable, but it was confirmation that Suero had taken the blow fully and survived it.

Pablo's most powerful strike had been withstood.

Cheers rang out.

Crimson aura burst forth even more strongly from the wounded knight, and he grasped his Greatsword in both hands.

His roar was deafening, easily overpowering the cheers of the crowd.

He swung his Greatsword, just as fast as before…

But the Aspirant Knight danced around his strikes with contemptuous ease. No longer attempting to parry, instead he side-stepped and batted the enraged knight around with his mace, like a cat playing with a wounded mouse.

He didn't even bother using [Heavy Blow].

[Counter][Sap]

[Counter][Sap]

[Counter][Sap]

[Counter][Sap]

[Second Wind] couldn't keep up with the strain from continually striking and continually being struck with [Sap], and soon Pablo fell to his knees, and the Greatsword fell from his shaking hands, near the edge of the arena.

Near where the haft of the Great War Hammer stood vertically, ready to be grasped.

The Aspirant Knight casually hung his mace from his belt, next to his dagger, and flexing the [Might] enchantment, picked up the Great War Hammer with one hand and rested it on his shoulder. He struck a pose, and looked down his nose at the panting, sweat-soaked knight who had been a thorn in his side for nearly a decade.

"Knight Pablo, formerly of House Sanchez," he yelled so that all could hear his jab at the weary knight's disgrace. "I commend you for, at least, finally coming at me directly, rather than by attacking my retainers and spreading false rumors about me!"

He turned his back on his opponent contemptuously, and directly addressed the crowd.

"When I left the capital, it was to serve the Kingdom! I was not fleeing any sort of disgrace: I had risen in the ranks of the Knight's Order as high as I could, and found myself resting on my laurels!"

He turned a full circle, allowing all to see him standing proud.

"I lacked satisfaction! And so I volunteered for a post in the frontier, to ensure the safety of even the most far-flung reaches of our glorious Kingdom!"

He raised a fist, and the crowd cheered. "Glory to Iberteria!" they shouted.

"Glory to Iberteria!" Suero echoed, monitoring Pablo through his [Threat Awareness].

"Glory indeed!" he continued, "and while I was out patrolling the wilderness, rooting out threats and investigating mysteries, I found treasure! I recovered a Lost Artifact! Maybe you've heard of it?" He cupped hand around where his helmet covered his ear.

The crowd was going wild. "The Bag of Holding! The Bag of Holding!" they screamed.

"That's right!" He raised both hands and spread them wide, holding the massive hammer like it weighed nothing. "I recovered the lost Bag of Holding, and I returned it to the Royal Family! Lost for over sixty years, and I found it in two!"

The Colosseum trembled from the crowd's fervor, and throughout the city people paused and turned towards the giant stadium, wondering what on earth was going on in there.

James was swept up in the excitement, having been unable to follow most of what happened during the fight, while Sebastian was trying to calm his pounding heart at seeing his lord nearly decapitated before his very eyes.

"But!" Suero paused, and spun again, as though looking everyone in the eye individually. "While I was out, pursuing glory for our Kingdom, this cur—" he pointed back at the knight still kneeling on the ground, "was doing nothing but lording his position over others! Spreading vile and false rumors about his fellow Knights! And when I returned, triumphant and victorious—" he paused to let the cheering die down slightly, "this dog abused his position in the most noble House Sanchez and attempted to slay one of my retainers in the street! Because he knew that if he faced me head on, the results would be what you have seen today!"

The Colosseum vibrated with the screams of the audience.

"House Sanchez cast him out! As was right and just! And yet today he claims I violated his honor! Well, by Trial of Arms, I declare that he is without honor, and I hereby declare that my own honor prevails."

The crowd fell utterly silent.

The Aspirant Knight took his Great War Hammer in a two handed stance.

The disgraced Knight Pablo said something nobody but Suero heard.

[Hammer Strike]

[Heavy Blow]

BOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!

The Colosseum shook.

The Arena floor shattered.

A cloud of dirt and dust exploded from the point of impact.

The very foundations of the entire city of Cordova trembled.

The dust blew away in the wind, revealing a massive crater and the Aspirant Knight walking away from it, back towards his retainers in their waiting room.

The crowd exploded with cheering, completely drowning out the announcer's attempts to declare Suero the victor.