TL: Yuki
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When I climbed up the stairs to the audience area, I found mom waiting for me.
「I found a good seat to watch, I think it was around that area, there, that place should be good enough 」
She must have been searching the audience area until she found a good place, I thanked mom then continued on the stairs and we went for the recommended seats that she found.
「I also have been looking forward to this」
Mom is now feeling way much better than before and also her adventurer"s blood seems to have awakened.
Looking at the pocket watch that mom lent me, I confirmed that the first batch is about to start, but there sure are a lot of vacant seats and only handful of people could be found in the audience area.
「Why many vacant, watching don"t like?」
When she heard me muttered such thing, mom tilted her head.
「It"s because it"s only in the qualifying match, people don"t really keep their eyes out for the qualifying matches」
「I see」
While we were having a conversation, the challengers came up the from the entrance gate of the arena and climbed up the ring shaped stage which looks like a huge disk.
There were muscular people and some that carry huge weapons like a big battle axe on their backs, and there were also slim types who carry a rapiers or daggers on their waist. There were also female swordsmen who were wearing bikini armor and show a lot of exposure.
The total number of partic.i.p.ants is 12 people, and also the battle style is battle royal.
「Hmm, for this first round it will probably be that person」
「Well yeah, I guess it will be Cliff the B Rank guy that has the advantage here」
I am listening to the voices of the people near our seat, and it was the voice of an uncle that clearly heard. I wonder if these uncles have a mania for adventurers.
「B Rank, who?」
I look at his back and asked, the uncle who didn"t really get bothered by it pointed on a person on stage to answer me.
「The first in priority would probably be Cliff, that sword fighter wearing a green cloak」
「Green… , Oh, I see」
His age is in the late 20"s, and his body size is not too buffed, not too thin and not too tall, and not too skinny. There was a sword hanging in his waist in a scabbard with strange shapes but I don"t know if there"s anything special about it. It was a blonde swordsman with blue eyes which is making him stand out.
「B Rank is the ranking of adventurers」
When I was staring at Cliff, the uncle-san answered my inquiry. Adventurers have ranks, and seems like they go from F to A (I"m referring to the normal alphabet in my brain without permission to make it easier to understand). F Rank would be considered as beginners that are just starting, while the B Ranks would be upper veteran cla.s.s, and A Ranks would be considered top notch and would even have t.i.tles along with their achievements. And of course the height of their rank would also reflect their combat ability.
「Why say that this round is not interesting, because everyone is an adventurer and are pretty much people that are based here」
「If the knights were included, then there might be changes in the results, but with this current lineup the end results would be very obvious」
「What about him?」
As the two uncles were talking, I pointed at a man whose body is filled to the brim with muscles and was really giving off quite an impact when I first saw him. I was thinking that he seems strong that he has enough strength to fight using two battle axes with one axe in each hand and despite being battle axes, and they look small in comparison to his muscular arms and can even be called muscle armor.
「It"s pointless, that"s Gonzales a D Rank. His attack power is certainly high, but the problem lies on his skill which could only be used in fighting lower rank monsters or ones with low intelligence, but if it"s against adventurers, what would need more is how to properly deliver an attack than just brute strength」
「On a side note, that guy, despite his physic, you won"t even imagine him being popular with children. He is actually quite a gentle person and likes children a lot… Well, it has nothing to do with fighting though」
「I see」
Even if he doesn"t win he will still be popular is it, so it"s something like that.
「Then, this fight, only Cliff?」
「Well, that"s how it is. If you want to focus on someone then it should be Cliff, It probably be fun since you would also see how they fight one-VS-many」
「Got It」
The Game finally began and every adventurer were now clashing with each other.
The adventurer named Cliff, who was a famous bet, was now fighting with four adventurers the time as the game started. Despite the disadvantage in numbers, he easily parries the attacks calmly and sends kicks as counter to those that fight him. Not only that but attacks with the sword were also delivered, and slowly the numbers of partic.i.p.ants dwindled.
Even though Gonzales was also a bit showy with his double battle axe, he was easily disabled with his arms cut after his attack was blocked by a sword and reacted with 《Seriosly!! What is with that attack!? 》 but after being judged as defeated, his hands were successfully returned as if nothing had happened to it.
I don"t really know how far restoration magic has developed in this world and if it"s a common setting since this is like a fantasy world and I was thinking like, 《Maybe, it can be reconnected if it was immediate restoration》 or if 《If it was completely disconnected for some time it won"t be effective.》.
However, such happening was really a surprise for me along with this festival, and I was secretly getting more hyped up.
After some time thinking things, the battle area was already turned into a fighting frenzy… It didn"t end up like the one I expected, but the result was just as the adventurer mania uncles said, and the one who will probably win the preliminary was Cliff.
There were still too people left on stage, one is Cliff and the other one is a teen girl who looks closely like a boy and whose attacks are being blocked making it look like a close battle. But maybe this is just Cliff-san going easy on her maybe showing something like 《This is for showing what it"s like to be in real combat》 and when Cliff-san shifts to offensive, the match would probably end.
「That girl sure has a good form, but the roughness from her movements really stand out too…」
Is what mom muttered next to me as she watches the bout, it"s a first time for me seeing mom like this, and so I realized that mom probably was quite a prominent adventurer during her time.
「It is certainly just as what she said」
「Right? Well, that adventurer was also probably aware of it so it was easy to predict」
Just as the Uncle finished his talk, Cliff-san just like all the others he defeated finally ends the match and finishing this round.
Also in the second match, the pair of uncles also muttered that they were local adventurers, but since I"m not from around here, it is kind of fun for me. But for the others who have known the results, it"s just boring for them.
「Come to think of it, I didn"t get a glimpsed of any magician」
「That"s to be expected, especially if you"re a specialist, fighting in cramped s.p.a.ce like this would definitely hinder them. Well if you are an adventurer that could use magic, it wouldn"t be that much because those who have superior talent in magic won"t even be adventurers because of their high demand 」
「Well at least the first match didn"t include one of such, and if there was one that had mixed in, Cliff would have probably been given a hard time」
「Another thing to consider is the consumable items they need to use which is quite expensive considering how much the amount they would consume throughout the tournament. Magic Items would also be considered luxury items even for high ranking adventurers」
「Hmm」
The Uncle nods at mother"s explanation, and thinking about it, that would certainly fit the image of a magician or magic warrior. So I"m quite convinced regarding the lack of magicians, and adding to that, warriors that can use magic are extremely rare.
When we were about to end our chat, the second set have been completed. The one who stood among them was a blond with a mix of white on his hair who charismatically raising one arms doing a victory pose.
「That person is Ceres, a C-Rank adventurer. Because there is n.o.body that is around his level in this match, it would be considered as a victory by luck」
「Looking at it closely, you could say that this is just bonus bout right before the main events. Ceres has certainly improved, but growth during a tournament would be really tough」
And as usual the evaluation was also bland this time. It"s not really a spectacular battle so we just continued chatting, but despite that I am still observing the fights by sending side glances. And I could certainly understand why they say it like that.
After the second set ended, the third round partic.i.p.ant came up the ring.
I don"t really know anyone so I"m just waiting for the two old Uncle"s commentaries which are both adventurer maniacs.
And I wait for that, I noticed a person clad in red armor.
「Is someone like that joining OK?」
「Hmm, oh, yes it"s alright. A few of the knights also partic.i.p.ate in the tournament every year」
「Is that so?」
「Or more like they consider this a continuation of their training. Well, it would be really troublesome if everyone joined after all. And so this time, it seems like they have chosen a proper partic.i.p.ant 」
「Hnn~ I see」
「By the way, since a while ago, the one who have been winning this tournament was the Knight Commander himself, and with him partic.i.p.ating this time, many have already concluded the in the end he would win」
Would that really be good for a knight commander to do, and will he be entering as a seeded person or climb up too? Since I"m at the 8th set, I wonder if I would see him in the next matches. And there are also some others out there.
「This group is hard」
「Uu, I can"t predict」
See.
「Why do you thing so mom?」
「Well… I don"t really have confidence in this one, but that woman with black hair and the person whose face is covered in a black robe seems pretty dubious」
「Oh, that certainly is true Nee-san」
「Even so, I have already seen a lot of B Ranks since before, that one could probably be from a lower Rank」
「I see」
While looking at the person that caught their eyes, mom and the uncles continued talking.
Then on another side, I found a woman who was wearing a dougi style clothing, and she gives off the feeling and image of a 《Ronin》 no it that absolutely. That person has a bundled black hair wearing something that resembles a hakama and paired with a long curved sword and a short curved one on her waist.
There was also a strong air surrounding her making the other partic.i.p.ants pale in comparison to her.
The other one was probably a man covered in a black robe that reaches until the knee and covering him from his head.
I am a bit curious as to why his knees were slightly bent or more like the posture of his stance is low. If it was me who think about how I should express his figure, it would be more of an a.s.sa.s.sin than a mage.
The Knight Partic.i.p.ant was also considerably strong, is what they say, and the two adventurer maniacs was again confirming that this game would be certainly unpredictable.
While the surroundings was engulfed in an unusually tense air that has never been felt before, the signal to start the match resounded.
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