Chapter 186: Chapter 172 – An Unexpected Winner

"When it comes to competitions and tournaments, often the favorites win and take the prize. Yet from time to time, there would always be a dark horse or two appearing from nowhere who then wins the whole thing.

 

The crowd loves that. Depending on how the bets go, we either love or hate them." - Belisarius Borislav, bookkeeper and licensed main operator for gambling on Colosseum matches.

"Huh. Rare to see one of their kind here," commented Aideen when she saw the revealed features of the cloaked combatant. "First time I've seen one of them out of the desert, even."

 

"You've seen one of her kind before?" asked Lucea as the empress squinted her eyes and tried to look closely at the revealed woman. Her kind of lizard therians had particularly good noses, but their eyesight was slightly worse than a human's.

 

The cloaked combatant, whose features had elicited some curious murmurs from the spectating crowds, had features that reminded Aideen of the desert nomad she had the fortune to cross paths with when she crossed the desert on a mission towards the north decades ago.

 

Her features betrayed her gender, feminine curves still noticeable despite her small, lithe, and petite form. Deep brown skin contrasted with her messy head of straw-colored hair. She reminded of the goblins amongst the desert nomads the most, though her build indicated that while she likely had some goblin blood, she likely was mixed in heritage.

 

Some elven heritage seemed likely with her small nose and long, pointed ears, and her overall lithe frame. The way she used the sword was what truly puzzled Aideen, though, since to her knowledge the desert nomads don't even use such weapons, favoring spears and slings.

 

"In the Massad-al-Hadur, yes," said Aideen, using the name the northerners gave to the great desert that spanned between Ptolodecca and the northern kingdoms. "Saw quite a few nomads who looked like her there. She looks mixed, though, and that fighting style reminded me more of Alcidean swordsmanship."

 

"We'll call her over after the tournament, could always ask her then," replied the Empress after she gave the matter some thought. At the moment, the quarterfinal bouts for the rest of the winners were ongoing, but neither of them paid the combatants that much attention. "And maybe a job offer as well, should she prove truly capable."

 

Before long, the quarterfinals were concluded, and after another half hour of interludes to allow the contestants time to rest, the semi-final bouts began to great fanfare and raucous cheers from the eager crowd.

 

The desert woman - now no longer cloaked, just clad in what looked like roughspun tunic and trousers - went on the stage to some cheers, but her opponent garnered even more cheers.

 

Her opponent was a tall, long-haired human man with a well-groomed mustache, who wielded a curved saber in his right hand, and kept his left arm behind his back. Lucea told Aideen that the man was the youngest son of a retired swordmaster, who had served as a tutor for many nobles in his long career, including some human members of the imperial guards.

 

Since said son was handsome in the classical way, Aideen could see why many of the crowd - especially the ladies - cheered for him. While Therians in general had not favored swordsmanship, a little under half of the empire's population was human, so it still attained a degree of popularity regardless.

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Both competitors held their sword at the ready and gave a small bow of respect to one another, and they clashed once the fight started. Despite fighting with a one-handed sword against his opponent's two-hander, the swordmaster's son held his own, as he skillfully parried his opponent's blows.

 

The duel entered a stalemate for a while, as the two contestants exchanged blows only to have it parried, blocked, or avoided by the other. They were nearly equal in terms of skill alone.

 

Almost as if they came to an agreement, both contestants started to use their magic in the fight. The desert woman started to create panes of ice as footholds that allowed her to move more unpredictably. Her opponent, apparently was of the metal affinity, as he sighed and pulled out a trio of daggers from his belt with his left hand.

 

Those daggers flew on their own, controlled by his magic, and struck at the desert woman from difficult angles.

 

Instead of surprise however, a toothy grin blossomed on the woman's face, as six large icicles shaped like spindles formed near her body. Three of them clashed with the flying daggers in mid-air, while the other three struck at her opponent.

 

Compared to the smooth, flowing movements of the flying daggers, the woman's icicles moved in abrupt, jerky movements that made them more unpredictable, and far more difficult to fight against. Her opponent was quickly pushed back under the onslaught, and finally made a mistake and revealed a gap on his side.

 

One of the icicles immediately took advantage of the opening and slammed against his side, though it did so with its flat side rather than the sharp ends, a move made at the last moment. That strike ended the battle as the swordsman yielded the match, knowing all too well that he might have died had that been a serious attack.

 

The desert woman also overwhelmed her final opponent, a mixed-breed therian that looked familiar to Aideen. She had not recognized him until Lucea commented that he was the current Erstgertsog Veros' grandson, though, which made him Artair's great-great-grandnephew or thereabouts.

 

Despite the therian man's overwhelming physique and his skill with the more orthodox axe and shield style he used, the desert woman had gone all out from the start. She used her icicles not only as projectiles to attack her opponent with, but also as footholds to help her maneuver.

 

It was almost like the poor therian had to fight one against seven at the same time. He never stood much of a chance.

 

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