Chapter 23: 12.1

Chapter 12-1: Young Talents (1)

Erwin took a close look to find that the student from Pucil Academy was using some type of martial technique that allowed him to quickly draw the usable matter in the surrounding area to his own weapon, thereby enhancing the power of the weapon. Meanwhile, Jeff Lazaar remained completely unfazed as he looked on with a calm expression, seemingly unbothered by what his opponent was doing. In fact, he was still as relaxed as ever, and he hadn't even gotten into a fighting stance yet.

In the face of Jeff's open contempt, a cold smile appeared on his opponent's face beneath his helmet, and he was determined to make Jeff pay for his arrogance. He could sense more and more energy gathering in his weapon, and it was approaching the limit of what he could control. Thus, with an explosive war cry, he charged forward and swung his giant ax directly toward Jeff's head.

It was clear that while powering up his own weapon, the ax-wielding martial artist had also prepared an advanced agility technique. Despite his burly frame, his suit of heavy armor, and his massive ax, he was still able to move extremely quickly, and that could only have been attributed to an advanced agility technique.

Jeff looked on with a cold expression as the giant ax came swinging toward his face, and all of a sudden, he raised his sword with one hand before flicking it upward. The entire sword came flying out of his hand, then rose up into the air.

The ax-wielding combatant thought that his opponent had made a grave error under pressure by letting go of his sword, and he swung his ax down with even greater force. A loud clang rang out as his giant ax struck the flying Black Blaze sword, and a string of questions immediately arose in his heart.

What's going on? Why am I encountering so much resistance? He isn't even holding onto his sword! How could there be so much power behind it? 

All of the spectators present were also completely bewildered to see this. The ax-wielding combatant had just unleashed an all-out attack, yet his opponent had managed to block it with ease. Not only that, but the ax had been stopped cold in its tracks, despite crashing down with tremendous force just a moment ago. Even if the ax had struck a steel pillar, surely a gash would've been sliced into the pillar, but the black sword remained completely unmoved.

While the ax-wielding combatant was still struggling against Black Blaze, Jeff sprang up into the air off one leg, then waltzed through the air in an elegant manner. He reached out with one hand to grab the hilt of Black Blaze, which was still suspended in mid-air, then spun around with grace and poise to position himself behind his opponent in the blink of an eye. A streak of black light then came flashing down from above in spectacular fashion, piercing directly toward the ax-wielding combatant's back.

Jeff was extremely handsome with a pair of breathtaking blue eyes, and that was already enough for many of the young noblewomen present to fall in love with him at first sight. In addition to that, he was showing everyone that he had looks and power in equal measure, and the elegant maneuver that he had just performed had countless women swooning for him in the spectator stands.

"That was quite an impressive maneuver. Looks like Prince Lazaar's son is quite a skilled fighter." Even Master Piro couldn't help but give his praise at the sight of Jeff's stunning display, and King Cameron nodded in agreement with his assessment.

Due to the fact that the ax-wielding combatant had unleashed an all-out attack, the entirety of his power was focused on his ax. Now that Black Blaze had suddenly been pulled away by Jeff, the ax-wielding combatant was unable to stop his own forward momentum, and he stumbled forward as his ax came crashing down toward the ground. Meanwhile, Jeff's Black Blaze was already hurtling toward his back with vicious power, and he was completely powerless to defend himself.

One of the tournament committee administrators immediately raised a hand upon seeing this, conjuring up a shield behind the ax-wielding combatant. The administrator then raised a hand in Jeff's direction, adjudicating him to be the winner of the match.

Seeing as he had already emerged victorious, Jeff withdrew his sword in a calm manner.

The ax-wielding combatant was extremely dejected. He had thought that he would at least be able to last a while against his opponent, but he had been beaten in just a single exchange. Unfortunately, there was nothing that he could do in the face of this vast disparity in power, so he could only depart in anger and frustration.

The young noble women who were already swooning over Jeff were unable to contain themselves any longer after seeing this, and some of them had already cast aside their usual restrained facades to scream Jeff's name at the top of their lungs.

So this is what he's capable of. Looks like he didn't use anywhere near his full power during that battle outside the Redbud Pavilion. Otherwise, Larwood and the others would've been taken care of in a matter of seconds, Erwin thought to himself. He was naturally also stunned by the power displayed by Lana's brother.

The officials and nobles seated closest to the competition platform naturally had the clearest view of the match, and there was no lack of powerful magicians and martial artists among them. Many of them were in awe of Jeff's exceptional display of power, and some of them had turned toward Prince Lazaar with awe and veneration in their eyes.

As for Prince Lazaar himself, his expression remained calm and tranquil, as if he had already anticipated this outcome, and he merely nodded with a polite smile to acknowledge all of the pairs of awe-struck eyes directed toward him.

Jeff's stunning display was a very good way to kick off the Pillow Sword Tournament, and all of the spectators were very excited to see what the rest of the competitors were capable of.

Erwin was also in awe of Jeff's scintillating sword strike, but his mind was completely preoccupied with the memory of the dark beer spilling out of his mug on that day in the Yanler Pub. The same scene was playing out in his mind over and over again, and as a result, he was unable to pay any attention to the next few matches.

During Sherry's match, Erwin made an effort to pay some attention, and he looked on with his chin resting on his palm.

Looks like he's got some skills! I didn't notice this last time, but he's quite agile, Erwin thought to himself.

Sherry's opponent was a magician, who was growing extremely frustrated as Sherry dodged every spell. Shortly thereafter, the magician cracked under the pressure, allowing Sherry to get close and put an end to the match.

...

All of a sudden, a burst of raucous cheering snapped Erwin out of his train of thought, and he looked up to discover that it was Princess Onean's turn to take the stage.

She had changed into a tight-fitting white dress with intricately crafted golden armor resting atop her shoulders and in front of her chest. The armor had lotus flower designs etched upon it, and it was giving off a faint sheen under the light of the sun. She was holding a silver long staff with a magic gemstone of indeterminate material lodged on top of it. The gemstone was exceptionally bright, so much so that it wasn't outshone by the natural light of the sky at all, and as she made her way onto the competition platform, she resembled a goddess of ice and snow, as pure and pristine as she was cold and forbidding.

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"Princess Onean! Princess Onean!" The entire venue was cheering her on, and there was not even a single cheer ringing out for her opponent.

Erwin couldn't help but feel sorry for Onean's opponent, who had to be under severe psychological pressure.

Not only was her opponent being watched by tens of thousands of spectators, the entire audience was against him. In fact, all of the spectators were only stopping just short of telling him to forfeit the match!

Erwin was looking at Onean's opponent with an amused smile on his face, and he certainly didn't envy their position.

Just as Erwin expected, the complexion of Princess Onean's opponent was deathly pale, and it was clear that he had never fought in front of such a massive audience, particularly when the audience was unanimously against him. His throat was dry, his knees were weak, and he was already sweating profusely. This was the princess, the daughter of the king! In a battle, anything could happen. What if he were to accidentally hurt the princess? Would he be able to go home alive?

Prime Minister Fuller, who had been seated in the referee's chair this entire time, could see the contestant's concerns, and he made his way onto the stage before patting the contestant on the shoulder in encouragement. After that, he turned to the audience and reiterated the motto of the Pillow Sword Tournament, reminding everyone that the tournament was a place for talent to shine, where status was completely irrelevant and only ability mattered. Only then did the commotion subside a little.

Having been encouraged by Fuller, the contestant was able to focus on the match and not be distracted by the voices around him.

Another magic blast was fired, and the match began.

Onean's opponent pulled out a pair of black knives from his waist in a well-rehearsed fashion, then adopted a battle stance. Truth be told, it was inaccurate to refer to his weapons as knives. Instead, they were specially forged crescent-shaped daggers, and there was a faint crimson gleam visible on the surface of the black daggers.

Those don't look like normal weapons used by martial artists, Erwin thought to himself with furrowed brows.

Unlike Erwin, Onean was far more experienced in battle, and she was able to roughly gauge her opponent's strengths and weaknesses just from seeing their weapon and stance alone. She raised her staff, then twirled it with a flick of her wrist, and her silver hair danced around her as a halo spread over the ground beneath her feet. Erwin was looking on intently at Onean's every move, and only now was he able to sense just how powerful her magic was. This was an advanced array of snow and ice, which was not only capable of slowing down all those who entered the array, the snow and ice flying through it were like sharp blades that could inflict frostbite or nasty gashes upon contact.

This was a domain-type spell, and Onean had just cast it with ridiculous ease as Erwin looked on with a stunned expression. In his eyes, Onean had to be a monstrous prodigy on the same level as Lana. In fact, she could be even more formidable.

Onean's opponent looked on as she unleashed the array of snow and ice, and he didn't hesitate as he sprang forward and charged directly into the array, moving so quickly that he could barely even be traced by the naked eye.

He's an assassin! This realization suddenly sprang into Erwin's mind at the sight of the combatant's startling display of speed. He was renouncing all matter that impeded him while quickly absorbing all matter that assisted him in acceleration, and this was the most common strategy employed by martial artists specializing in assassination techniques.

Even though this combatant's speed already far exceeded that of the normal person, he was still forcibly slowed down amid the domain of ice and snow, and Erwin could see that several gashes had already been sliced into his body by the blade-like ice and snow within the array.

Onean was able to clearly discern her opponent's location within her array, and she unleashed one ball of ice and snow after another. The power of the balls of ice and snow were enhanced by the array, making them extremely fearsome projectiles. Thankfully, her opponent was able to evade all of the oncoming projectiles with his exceptional reflexes, but cold sweat was pouring down his face as he looked at the "fireworks" of snow and ice exploding beside him.

Her snowball-throwing technique is quite reminiscent of my own technique, Erwin thought to himself in a shameless manner.

Onean's opponent could feel himself getting slower and slower as he traversed through the array of snow and ice, and he knew that if things were to continue like this, he would eventually be struck by one of the projectiles sooner or later. With that in mind, he knew that he had to end the battle quickly, and with a few rapid lunges, he arrived directly behind Onean before pouncing like a hunting predator.

Onean turned her head slightly to glance at her opponent out of the corners of her eyes, then gave a cold harrumph as she twisted around with golden light flashing in her eyes. A sharp screeching sound suddenly rang out across the entire venue, and everyone discovered that an ice phoenix with ice shards constantly erupting out of its body had emerged from the top of Onean's staff.

In the face of the oncoming ice phoenix, Onean's opponent didn't hesitate in the slightest as he continued to charge forward, proceeding with his all-out attack, displaying no intention to take evasive measures. He raised his black daggers and crossed them in front of his own body as he crashed directly toward the ice phoenix.

The match was about to be decided, and all of the spectators, including Erwin, were looking on with bated breath, waiting for the final outcome.

All of a sudden, two reddish-black lines of light sliced through the wings of the ice phoenix before continuing onward. Erwin had clearly seen that in the instant that Onean's opponent had clashed with her ice phoenix, he had ducked down to slide under the ice phoenix's belly, while raising his daggers high above his own head to slice through the ice phoenix's wings.

All of the spectators drew a collective sharp breath upon seeing this. No one had imagined that Onean's opponent would be able to react so quickly.

The assassin's lethal daggers were almost upon her, but Onean was extremely calm and collected as she quickly chanted an incantation, upon which the ice phoenix, which had been sliced into three parts, began to rapidly revolve and take on a new form. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into three frosty tornadoes that changed directions at Princess Onean's behest, hurtling directly toward her opponent's spine, back, and feet.

However, her opponent didn't even take a single backward glance, and his eyes were fixed solely on the princess. As a student who specialized in assassination techniques, he had been taught countless times by his lecturers that only by cultivating intense and single-minded focus could he achieve the fastest possible speed. 

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