He immediately became silent. The poor sword clung to Liping like a kitten and got back into sword form.
On the ground, Liping found a flyer. It was an advertisement for a guild competition where fighters from different guilds would battle. Then a loud announcement sounded that bets and entries were open. The crowd went crazy. People started running to place bets and grab seats, practically pulling Liping and Elizabeth along with them.
At the entrance a beastman was standing like an inspector. His magic ticket scanner showed empty, because they did not have tickets. Liping took out the gold pouch to buy some. The beastman revealed that the tickets, which had originally been ten gold coins, were now selling for two hundred. Liping became irritated that this scam culture exists in the magical world too.
Elizabeth had no patience for this nonsense. She hypnotized the beastman. He went from cocky to polite in a second. He not only let them in, he gave them VIP tickets as his personal guests.
As soon as they entered the VIP room, all the big names were already there. Tagore the spellwriter was in a corner. Brian, the drunk blacksmith of the Dwarf Kingdom, whose loud laughter echoed through the room. And the Saga Sisters, Luna and Ana, who were representing the Sword Saint Guild. Ana said she had spotted Elizabeth and Liping immediately, and she got her sister to check them out too.
Elizabeth, as soon as she sat down in her seat, demanded snacks.
Ana and Luna stared at them the way you stare at a puzzle you are trying to solve.
The mood shifted when a goblin named Gob made a grand entrance. Loud, dramatic, enjoying the spotlight. He announced the final participants of the competition. First, Ching of the Sword Saint Guild, star swordsman. Then Gavla of the Giant Bear Guild, a huge man who seemed to crush whatever he hugged. Then Travis, a radically good-looking elf, at the sight of whom half the room got mesmerized. And finally, the Card Guild's mysterious guest, who just by standing there stole the show.
The competition began, and the cheers echoed from the arena.
Travis looked upon the battlefield as if he were the only adult in a room of clueless children. His eyes stopped at Gavla. In Travis's eyes, Gavla fit that definition. Loud, overconfident, and probably about to be his own undoing. He was only here because his guild had once helped the Sword Saint Guild. But in Travis's eyes he was hardly worth anything.
The fight began with Gavla. No plan. Just speed and aggression, charging like a bull.
Travis fired a bunch of arrows. Gavla dodged them easily. He also broke them. But then the arrows began to sprout. The roots twisted, they grew, and a cage formed around everyone. Gavla was stunned and tried to muscle his way out, but the roots had different plans and kept getting tighter. Sticky sap started to ooze, and Gavla got stuck in the glue like a bug.
Travis explained that these are the roots of the gum tree. They shrink on impact and release the sap. He was enjoying the moment.
But then Ching pulled out his sword. One single swing, the roots cut themselves free, and he politely apologized to Travis. Travis got a thrill out of that. He did not care about the plant. He wanted Ching's life as payment.
A swarm of butterflies was sent towards Ching. Ching remained unbothered. He swung the sword again, and Travis's hand was cut off. Travis was shocked and furious. Ching calmly declared that the fight was over.
But despite being injured, Travis was not going to admit defeat. He acknowledged the genius of the Sword Saint Guild, and that they deserve their title, but with a grin he reminded them that he is a genius of the Elf Guild.
Ching lowered his guard and a butterfly exploded. It stumbled him and backed him up. The sword fell to the ground.
Travis spat something onto the ground. A healing lily grew from it. He applied it to his body. A new hand formed. Absolutely real. Travis felt unstoppable. He proudly announced that elves with the blessings of the sacred tree are the strongest.
This confidence did not last long. Gavla appeared, and Travis's ego and body were both buried in the ground. Six feet under.
The crowd went wild. Half cheering, half stunned. Gob declared Travis officially out.
Gavla turned to Ching. He laughed as if victory was already his. His energy was dangerous. Ching could sense it. His instinct was working. He picked up the sword from the ground. Gavla also realized that he had escaped from the roots.
Gavla charged forward to destroy Ching. Ching moved just in time. He countered with the cold slash technique. Some strikes landed. The result was barely scratches, like cutting a rock with a butter knife. And on top of that, Ching's fancy dwarf sword started cracking.
Gavla did not waste the chance. He rushed in. Ching blocked, rolled, but the sword took a serious dent, and Ching was thrown aside. Now there were only instincts, and Gavla's endless attacks.
The crowd was enjoying the fight. Our hero was also enjoying the action, while Ana was busy figuring out how such a high quality weapon had broken so easily.
Luna suggested stopping the fight to protect the guild from embarrassment. Ana did not agree. Her mind was somewhere else. How had the Giant Bear Guild suddenly become so strong? Nothing was adding up. There was a nagging feeling. The Dark Guild will be behind it.
In the arena, amidst the chaos, Ash of the Sword Saint Guild mentioned a grey sword apostle, and that Elder Bali was here for the sword. Elder Bali let the others deal with it themselves.
And sitting here from the Card Guild was that genius who sits in the president's chair, the one who had created the entire profession of card masters. It turned out that he had also been a former member of the Sword Saint Guild. But right now he was sitting there and it looked like one wrong move and he would either blow up or faint.
He is a four-star demon ancestor. But apparently even that is not immune to nerves.
Burs had his own reasons. Basically he had spent his whole life hating the Dark Guild. He had built the Card Guild from scratch just to fight them. He had killed so many apostles that nobody counts them any more. But today it was not anger. It was pure fear. In the VIP seats, Elizabeth and our boy were sitting.
Burs was assuming the natural thing. If their crazy high expectations were not met, there is a plan to kill. On top of the guilt and the tension of the performance there was a different tension, the tension of the card deck and the barley tea that Liping had given him to be properly utilized.
On the battlefield, the fight between Gavla and Ching was getting wild.
Gavla relied on strength and earth magic. The ground turned into a sheet of slate. Ching got stuck in a giant boulder. For a moment Gavla had the upper hand. He knocked on the boulder and mocked him. But then he saw a cut forming and jumped back. His hand had been cut.
Ching graduated to the selfless state technique inside the boulder. It shattered. Gavla wanted to kill Ching, but his own legs were cut off.
Ching offered a last chance. Gavla stubbornly refused. He thought about a last resort. A forbidden drug that his teacher had told him not to touch unless things were really bad. Let's do it. It makes you super powerful for a short time, but with serious side effects.
Ching just stood there in the middle of the magic, as if waiting for a move.
Gavla swallowed the pill. Big dreams. To become the Demon King, to kill Ching. But Ching's plans were different. Before the drug started working, Ching's blade ended the fight. Gavla's head rolled across the arena.
After Gavla's dismissal, Ching is the last fighter left.