Chapter 84: Tournament Debut [4]
As Charlotte followed all the elves’ gazes to the right corner of the sparring arena where Reed and Ash stood in front of each other, Angel suddenly asked.
"Should we stop them, princess? We only have a limited time to practice...and they’re wasting time like this."
"..."
Seeing Charlotte silent, Angel added.
"What if the human gets injured? We won’t be able to find another suitable sub in time..."
Yawning, Charlotte simply replied.
"Angel, almost every human student I’ve talked to seems to fear Ash, calling him some sort of deranged killer."
"..."
"I want to see how strong he is, and anyway, they’re only using wooden weapons."
"3! 2! 1! Fight!"
As the shout echoed throughout the arena, Reed immediately dashed toward Ash with incredible speed, slashing his sword at Ash’s right shoulder.
*CLANG*
Easily, Ash raised his sword and parried the slash, their blades meeting for a short second.
However, as if planned, immediately after, Reed withdrew his sword and took a step back, raising his left foot in the air.
Though invisible to the spectators watching the fight, as Ash looked behind Reed, he saw something.
A long, vivid green python-snake with black dots all around it slithered on a floating branch behind Reed’s body.
As Reed kicked his left leg forward and simultaneously jabbed his sword at Ash’s chest, Ash was forced to side-step to the right, narrowly avoiding the sword.
However, the soles of Reed’s shoes brushed against Ash’s knee.
At that moment, the snake began slowly wrapping itself around the oak branch it was sitting atop, baring its hyper-sharp fangs while gazing at Ash.
Simultaneously, Ash felt a weird feeling of suffocation envelop him, his thoughts slowing and his body growing a tiny bit numb.
It was even harder than usual for him to breathe.
Clicking his tongue, Ash stepped back and slashed his sword at the air before him, creating some distance between him and Reed.
In the next moment, a bright golden line that was invisible to Reed’s eyes appeared, stretching from Ash’s stomach and all the way to the tip of his sword.
Behind Ash, the image of a corpse impaled by multiple arrows and swords was as strong as the day it had formed.
Because in this moment, Ash knew exactly what he wanted and how to achieve that desire.
Not skipping a beat, Ash stepped forward and immediately aimed a pinpoint jab at Reed’s nose.
Seeing the incoming sword, Reed instantly ducked, watching the sword fly right through the air above him.
Then, like a snake slithering on the ground, Reed rolled to the right, landing back on his feet and slashing at Ash’s unprotected left shoulder.
However...seeing a shiny point on Reed’s blade, Ash only smiled.
With his sword’s speed and power, it seemed like a single hit was enough.
Like a boomerang, Ash’s sword came flying backward from its jab in an arc-shaped trajectory.
*CLANG*
The side of Ash’s wooden Dao instantly met Reed’s blade from behind on that exact point.
Like a baseball upon being hit, Reed’s sword flew out of his hands and over Ash’s left shoulder, narrowly missing his head.
*CLANG*
"..."
Holding his sword above the kneeling Reed’s head, Ash simply nodded before taking a step back.
As Reed slowly stood up, all the other elves slowly looked away, dryly coughing and looking at each other.
"Let’s continue practicing..."
"The princess really does have a good eye."
"If a person like him can’t even make the Sunken Pearl’s team..."
Slowly clapping her hands, Charlotte glanced at Angel with a grin.
"Told you!"
Angel simply clicked her tongue.
This person was still an enemy to them, a member of an opposing species.
...
...
...
As Reed and I headed back toward our group, I said, finally breaking the awkward silence.
"If you could have used mana, the match would have been longer."
Reed blankly stared at me.
"Longer? You couldn’t even say a ’different outcome?’ "
Before I could respond, Grayson interrupted and said while guiding us forward.
"We’ll be a 3-1-2 formation. Our three claimers will stay in the back, Reed will be in the middle, and I’ll be top left while Ash is top right."
...
...
...
"ADVANCE!"
Nocking an arrow in her bow, Carissa yelled as she walked forward into the last portion of the unclaimed semi-circle.
Clicking her tongue upon seeing the right side already claimed completely by Ren’s team, Carissa glanced backward.
Lily and Leon fought side-by-side, tearing apart the last desperate attempts by the enemy to reclaim some of their territory.
Their rapier and spear were exact opposites: Lily’s sword gracefully and fluidly flew through the air, dealing serious internal injuries, while Leon’s spear moved like a wrecking ball, sending students flying backward.
*WHOOSH*
*WHOOSH*
*WHOOSH*
Three lightning arrows flew through the air, simultaneously striking the last person separating Carissa from the unclaimed territory.
"#4 Team 2 Eliminated."
The boy’s body instantly vanished from sight as the invisible medics throughout the battlefield determined he was no longer physically fit to continue fighting.
This wasn’t virtual reality, but real fighting where injuries would stay with you.
Standing on the last piece of crimson-red land, Carissa smiled as the three people behind her knelt down, a light-green slowly invading the red.
In the next moment...
"AND...The outcome of TURF WARS is...A UNANIMOUS WIN FOR THE SUNKEN PEARL!"
An explosion of cheers sounded from the thousands of spectators filling up the coliseum’s stands, as ocean-blue confetti fell from the sky like rain.
At this moment in time, it was no understatement to say that the twenty Sunken Pearl students in the coliseum were the most watched people in the world, whether it be through screens or in person.
Her brown hair flying back in the wind, Carissa smiled and dropped her last arrow onto the ground, simply enjoying the moment for a second.
"The first of many..."
Tilting her head, Carissa clicked her tongue and looked backward.
"Just be happy, Leon."
As they left the audience’s eyes and crowded back into the coliseum’s tunnels, an undeniably joyous mood filled the area as everyone high-fived and even hugged each other.
"Should we go celebrate?"
Nodding her head at her teammate’s question, Carissa smiled while drinking some much-needed water.
"Sure, but shouldn’t we, at least, watch the next game?"