Mythshaper

Chapter 153 B2 41: Day Three I

It was particularly sunny on the third day of the prefectural contest. Bustling crowds began pouring into the Colosseum the moment the entrances opened, eager to see today's bouts, as the entire day was reserved for duels and fencing matches. By the time I got in, the stands were all jam-packed.A team of stoneshapers had already worked their magic, erecting eight duelling rings in the rectangular hippodrome. Before I went about the duels to enter the second round, I searched through all the notice boards and finally came across the one where the merits of the crafting competition were listed.

As soon as my eyes fell on the top of the list, my expression soured.

Tera Albenius - 19.5 points

Arilyn Arcis O'Ryon - 19 points

Jovana Eiris - 17.5 points

Marcus Colhe - 17 points

Elsbeth Morwyn Solvyn - 16 points

Mar'e Pariae - 16 points

Ebar Gilon - 15.5 points

. . .

Orin Gavile - 13.5 Points

Despite the one-and-a-half-point gap to third place, I felt infuriated by the half point I had missed, which ceded the top position to Tera. Even if her formation was structurally better, I had thought I would at least match her numbers. How exceptional must her schematics have been that she beat me by half a mark even though her fabricator lacked an oscillation layer.

"Half a mark is as good as half a margin," a voice chortled from beside me, "don't you think so, Mr Second Place?"

I turned to find Tera's gloating face, her lips exulting in her triumph.

A retort came to my tongue off the boot, but I resisted, only saying, "I'll give you an answer after the contest ends."

I wished I could end it there, but no, we had to wait to collect our fabricators. Keeping my silence, I watched more artisans from the crafting competition come for the list. Most departed with dispirited shoulders, while the few remaining, even those who had managed to pass the first round, did not seem particularly delighted with their results.

What misconceptions they had about their talent and their competition were laid bare on the merit list. Unlike a combat class, artisans work mostly in isolation. Unless they were part of a larger group like Dragonforge, Anvil, or some other crafting guild, young artisans rarely had the chance to compare their skills with peers.

I could not deny that one test alone could not determine every aspect of an artisan, but it gave a large stride in determining where everyone stood on the path.

"Beth, you passed," Tera said, walking briskly to hug a petite young woman. "I told you, you'd do just fine. Now look at it, fifth place. I bet you won't do as well in the duels."

The fifth-place Elsbeth Solvyn had barely collected herself when she turned towards her and chuckled. "I don't know if you're congratulating or insulting me."

"Why? In duels, Top 8 is still a respectable place."

"Mhm," she let out a self-deprecating laugh, "I fear my father will agree with you on this."

Her expression suggested her father would do more than agree.

"Regardless, thank you," she said with a radiant smile, her earlier lamentation evaporating in the wind. "Honestly, I believe I've gotten a better result than I could have hoped for. But enough about me, I see you took the first place as you had claimed."

"It's merely the first round. There are ways to go."

"Then I will withhold the congratulations for now."

Then, without waiting to collect her fabricator, Elsbeth made her way out. "See you later, Tera."

"Wait," Tera shouted after her. "Aren't you going to get your fabricators back?"

"Later," Elsbeth said, waving her palm. "I have some duels to prepare for."

"Um, good luck."

"To place fifth in the whole prefecture without having access to enchanting essence," I muttered as the departing figure rounded a corner, "it's quite remarkable, isn't it?"

"It's something," Tera muttered absent-mindedly. "If she were a pure enchanter, she could have given me some real competition."

I hummed in agreement, ignoring the slight jab at my expense. Having a higher mental faculty certainly helped, as did having an abundance of Will. However, there was still an unimaginable gulf between engraving with foreign essence and using your own essence.

Taking myself as an example, I was sure I would do fine if I took Fractal Sight out off the equation, but I feared my result would not be any better than hers if I removed enchantment essence.

"Don't you have duels to prepare for too?" Tera asked, eyeing me.

A quick peek at my wristwatch said there was still at least a quarter of an hour I could wait. After that, I would have to hope I would not be called in the first batch of duelists if they took that much longer to deliver our articles.

Thankfully, Master Luc came in just a couple of minutes later with an attendant pushing a trolley filled with our delivery.

"Alright, everyone, line up according to your rank. This won't take long."

Only the top sixteen were given the opportunity to get their fabricators back. The rest had to pay a fee of twenty gold Leafs, the cost of the materials, to acquire their craft.

"May I ask where I failed to miss half the mark, sir?" Tera asked with the utmost courtesy. She did not even glance at the fabricator the attendant handed her.

Master Luc cast her a glance. "Only Aurine and the Oracle know," he said. "I gave you full marks, so you have to ask her."

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He handed me my disc before asking, "You have something to ask, Journeyman Arilyn? Unlike Tera here, I did cut half a mark from you."

"Where have I erred, sir?" I asked tentatively.

"You haven't erred anywhere per se. The rune formation is perfect, beyond any fault. It's just that its efficiency fell short by half a mark compared to Tera's."

"I see," I said, though I duly noticed that Administrator Aurine had given both Tera and me the same mark.

"If nothing else, you're dismissed."

As I headed along the inner pathway lit with fluorescent lights, my eyes tracked Tera, who took the other route that led her out of the colosseum. It seemed she did not have any games to participate in today.

After deliberating for a moment, I flew towards her.

"Wait, can I get a look at your fabricator?"

She turned with a brilliant smile of hers, albeit a sardonic one.

"Why?" she asked. "Are you perhaps going to steal my schematics?"

"What? No. I can easily design a similar schematic just looking at the form of your fabricator."

The platinum-haired girl snickered, clearly not believing me.

I groaned internally, finding nothing to explain myself. Without Fractal Sight, perhaps it would have been difficult without tinkering with the actual formation. But even with all the protection in place, a few gazes with Fractal Sight would allow me to imitate the formation essentially one to one.

As for designing something from scratch, it would take a bit of effort and time, nothing too outstanding.

"Fine. You can take it."

I sighed in relief, but evidently Tera was not finished.

"In exchange, give me yours."

That was an easy exchange to make. I handed her the stack of discs unceremoniously.

"You must really be unconvinced of your loss, huh?" she said, stowing my fabricator away in her blessed stone, which I reckoned was her necklace, though there were a couple of other ornaments with purple gemstones on her. "I'll return them to you during lunch. Don't be late. I have booked a table at Aurum Osmanthus."

A frown crept onto my brow. With Mum not reminding me, I thought the plan for lunch together was off the table. Well, I was not one to decline good food. The name alone suggested it would be some fancy restaurant with lavish dishes.

So far into the competition, I had been refraining from eating anything spicy or difficult for my stomach, fearing it might have a detrimental effect on my ability to perform in the competitions.

I knew I was being paranoid for no reason. With so many points in Adaptive Physicality and Fortitude, it would take pure poison to put me on bed rest. But for the contest, I did not want to take any chances.

A rebelling stomach could just as well turn my focus upside down, though I had not had such issues in ages. It was only four-and-a-half days more. I could endure tasteless, hard breadcrumbs, much less Mum's healthy dishes.

Being free of all her tasks with a baby in her stomach, she was cooking up something fresh and healthy three times daily.

My uncanny caution was also why I had not fully committed to advancing last night, barely paving the way halfway there to leave the other half for today.

Though she did not admit it, I knew for certain Mum approved fully.

There were merely four bouts for me to fight today, so the willpower drain would likely be only a fraction compared to the crafting competition. Yes, aura did act like an extension of the Will, but the toll was much lighter. As they say, destroying something is always easier than building it from scratch.

Whistling my way to the Noble class dugout, I secluded myself in a corner, inspecting the rune formation in the plates one by one as the duels finally began.

Cassius came to greet me once before departing for his duel. Just then, I thought I glimpsed a familiar face in the crammed dugout, but the figure of the scrawny swindler faded among the mass of young boys and girls.

I was sure I could track him down if I put my mind to it, but something else held my gaze.

Regrettably, I had to pull my attention from the fabricator, as my first bout was about to begin.

Nobody was surrendering easily today.

My foe greeted promptly, "William Bullman, Decurion of the seventeenth regiment of the seventh Legion."

Immediately, information on one named William Bullman came to mind. He was a speedster who had come straight from the legionary ranks to participate in the tournament. Not only that, he had borrowed a couple of instruments, one defensive and one offensive, from the legion.

Looking at his equipped armour and blade, it seemed true.

And I thought I would only meet scrubs after my display against Melina.

"Arilyn of Karmel." I took my stance, eyeing my opponent.

Well, it was better this way. I had not got to practise my sword much the other day.

As soon as the whistle was blown, William vanished. His figure blurred through the wind, lunging and thrusting his duelling cane at my right eye at the astonishing pace of a speedster.

With a whoosh of air, I took a step back and appeared a dozen paces away, my opponent's duelling cane meeting only an afterimage.

The speedster was not easily dissuaded. He chased after my form, his blade moving in a tyrannical arc, as though compensating for the clumsy implementation of his aura.

William's entire effort seemed to be spent on his movement, reaching the swiftest speed he possibly could while barely maintaining his aura through the blade.

Even still, a noble-class weapon could cleave through human flesh as easily as a hot knife through butter. While my hide was tougher than most humans, the blade William was holding was a class above as well, capable of straightening aura and grinding it through a resonance of sharpness.

But above the blade, I feared the referee. It would not be too difficult for a speedster to brush his blade or his aura.

Ultimately, I could only rely on sword sense, which made evading his flurry of swings half as easy, while the other half was due to my levitation boots.

"Cheater!" swore William, as if he were not carrying a couple of prestigious pieces of his own.

I hid a smile.

With rune imprint, I might not be able to match his speed, but I could compete easily with sword sense showing the way. But I did not reveal that ability just yet.

Even with aura alone, I believed I could win the duel. Perhaps not in a clear-cut fashion, but wasn't that what I was looking for?

I had sparred with Priam many times. Excluding a select few, his swiftness had always tested my physical limits. Their speeds were quite identical. Perhaps William beat him by a small margin, but that should not pose a threat of defeat.

Master Kaius had alluded to something fascinating after delivering the unnamed sword. There was more to being a True Swordsman than merely having sword sense and an otherworldly sword aura.

My control of both was still rather clumsy, but it showed the path towards the realm of True Swordsmanship.

To temper my blade, I had to disregard everything else but the blade itself.

As I evaded all the swings, the boots matching his speed, my opponent charged relentlessly. His entire body and blade swung as a whole, though not in any profound way, my father was capable of. Each strike merely carried the full momentum his body could muster.

It took a stupid amount of nerve to push your body through such intrepid movement when none of your attacks was landing true.

Honestly, it was a little endearing.

It was like Eran saying, if I make it fast and strong enough, I'll win.

Setting aside the levitation boots, I met him head-on.

Without sword sense, perhaps it would have been one lackadaisical stab at something unnecessary. Despite his speed, the red strings of attacks were always straightforward, with his strategy being the same: if the sword is fast enough, nobody can stand in its way.

Unfortunately, while it was swift, the straightforwardness gave me adequate time to evade, dodge, and duck under all his swings.

My movement could not match his, but with that lacklustre swordsmanship, William was giving me all the time I needed to prepare for the perfect moment to move away.

Even when he tried to feint his blade, my sword parried it away, neither of us winning a single point so far.

"You were saying something," I said, my eyes narrowed as I tracked his movement.

William ground his jaw and stepped back, sweat beading on his temples.

Instead of readjusting his strategy, the youth doubled down on his style, still channelling his gift to its limits, striking at a berserking pace.

Let's see who is faster, you or my sword aura.