Chapter 28: The Events Not Taken Seriously
“Here we are, everyone! The final day of the [Inter-School Fall Tournament], with the most wildest events we have thought up!” The principal yells out.
The crowd cheers in excitement, and he continues with his usual speech to hype them up for the final day. While this happened, I was still deciding what events to join. Just as he said, every event was wild, completely strange and some seemed impossible to complete. Rather than battle events, this seemed to be more like party events;
[Surprise Cooking]
[Food Rush]
[Arcane Show]
[Equipment Crafting]
[Quick Shot]
[Death Run]
[Untouchable]
“For these events, you can join them individually or as a team! They are all unique in their own way, so for adventurers who aren’t as good in close combat, they can show off here! Now, I hope everyone here has a good time, and enjoy the final day of the tournament!” The principal finishes off his speech, and the day begins for the tournament.
I joined four of the events. [Surprise Cooking], [Quick Shot], [Death Run] and [Untouchable]. I wasn’t in the mood to use magic in extravagant ways, I don’t eat very much and I have no idea how to craft any equipment. Therefore, I go with things I’m likely to do better at. I’ve never cooked before, either, but I’ve seen my mother do it along with several other soldiers in my previous life, so it couldn’t be too difficult.
The [Surprise Cooking] event is first, so people that weren’t participating left the grounds immediately. About one-sixth of the adventurers remain, who I assume has the minimum knowledge in cooking, unlike me. I recognize one of them from Thoth’s team, a boy who was dressed in a robe and had a staff. The mage of the group was capable of cooking, which made a little bit of sense. Back then, there were several mages who studied alchemy alongside cooking.
“Okay everyone, in a minute, a huge pile of ingredients will be brought out by other staff members! You are all free to choose whatever you like, and when an ingredient runs out, more will be brought in! That means, no hoarding because it won’t result in anything! Also, you have a time limit of 30 minutes to cook what you like! All of you can cook whatever you’d like, but a random category will be chosen at the end! So don’t just try to cook the most delicious thing you can, maybe it’ll be a contest to the most exotic looking food, or the best dessert! Here comes the staff member, and the event will begin in about a minute!” The rules are explained, and the tournament staff brings in large tables and several ingredients to use.
Several stoves and ovens were brought in as well, and I assume they were magic powered because there were no electrical cables coming from them. Tables, plates and bowls were brought in along with cooking utensils, and there were enough of these for every participant. It was pretty much a small, open aired kitchen that can conveniently be used anywhere. At the center of the arena, was a massive line of tables, full of ingredients. What I’m most amazed about is how fast they were able to set this up, and the amount of ingredients and tools they have.
After the table is set with the ingredients, the bell rings and the event starts. Every participant rushes to the tables in the center and began grabbing at several different ingredients. A few other participants, including me, head towards the nearest kitchen and grab some of the bowls to help with the ingredient collection. I did everything slowly, though, walking to the tables to the ingredients and walking back to the kitchen to drop them off.
After getting a random assortment of things I think will be good for cooking, I turn on the stove by pouring mana into it. There was a small metal sheet on the stove with a hand print on it, similar to the one in the firing range at Jiriko’s armory. Inserting mana into this will activate the device, the mana acting as a replacement for electricity.
I grab a nearby pot and poured water into it, and put it on the stove. After turning the heat on to the max, I turn to the cutting board nearby and place both the vegetables and the meat on it. Cabbages, carrots, pork, beef, chicken, tomatoes, all those stuff. Raising a butcher’s knife, I slam it onto the ingredients and dice them all as fast as I can. After that, I pour everything I just cut right into the pot.
Next, I look at the spices I grabbed from the table. Based from what I’ve seen, adding these makes the food taste better, so it’s fine if I just pour them all in, right? I put random amounts of spices into the pot, before starting to mix it. The water color was a bit strange, and there was a lot of black steam coming out of it, but I continue anyway. After about 5 minutes, I turn off the heat and let it sit there.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but it looked a bit strange. A large portion of the water evaporated, and the contents looked a bit dark. It didn’t turn out as I expected, but I mean, I put all the vegetables, meat and spices in, so it should taste fine. I finished slightly earlier than others, and I watch the other participants finish their cooking. All of them had extravagant looking dishes, some of them seemed more like works of art rather than dishes that are made to be eaten. Comparing to mine, it kind of depressed me, but it doesn’t really affect me that much.
“Okay, time’s up everyone! Everyone has their cooking finished, right? Now, we shall spin the wheel of cooking!” The announcer yells out, and the tournament staff brings in an oversized wheel with 9 evenly divided parts to it. In each one, displayed a different category of taste which was [Sweet], [Bitter], [Sour], [Tasteless], [Delicious], [Healthy], [Spicy], [Beautiful], [Poison].
“For each category, we have a professional critic for them! So which category will it be!? Let’s find out right now!” Three of the staff members spin the large wheel with all their might, and it rotates at a rapid speed. After about 5 seconds of spinning, it starts to slow down, and it eventually stops on a category I definitely lost in. [Beautiful] food.
“What a lovely category! The best looking food here, huh? For this, rather than a food critic, we have an art critic here to judge for this category. Everyone, welcome the [Eyes of Heaven], Guivalyn Rodella!” A man walks in waving to the crowd that’s cheering for him.
Contrary to the reason he’s here, the man didn’t look beautiful at all. An unshaven face, an extremely hairy body, and he was a bit obese. I say a bit, but if I had to guess his weight, it’d be well over 150 kilograms.
Immediately, he began going around and examining the different dishes made by the participants. For some reason, he taste tested them as well, despite the fact that he’s supposed to be judging by looks, not tastes. Eventually, he reaches my dish as the final one, grimacing when he saw mine. Well, it didn’t look very nice, and he’s apparently someone who appreciates art. Obviously I’ll be getting the lowest amount of points.
“1 point. Disgusting color, terrible appearance.” He says.
Despite saying this, he takes the ladle in the pot and lifts it to his mouth, drinking some of it. A second after, his face turns purple, and he falls to his knees. He coughs and wheezes, before starting to roll around on the ground with his hands on his neck.
“What’s going on!? What’s happened to Guivalyn!? Did Aria go for the [Poison] category that no one else tried!? It seems as if the critic’s been poisoned!”
After about 5 seconds of rolling around, Guivalyn’s body went limp. Several staff members rushed out and carried his body away, while the announcer states some very harsh words.
“And there’s the conclusion! Aria has poisoned the food critic, killing him within 5 seconds! For sure, she would’ve won the [Poison] category if that was chosen instead! So for the first time, in an event with Aria, someone else has won besides her! Orima Tatsuki is the winner of the [Surprise Cooking] event!” I wasn’t properly listening at this point, because I was busy sulking near the edge of the arena after reading the two numbers on the ground.
Was my cooking really that bad? I added only good things, though, why did it turn out like that? Two good things make a good product, right? I continue crouching in place until Thoth came to pick me up, trying to cheer me up. She’s such a great friend.
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“Welcome, everyone, to the [Quick Shot] event! As you all can see, a large make-shift firing range has been created in the arena, and an entire armory worth of weapons is laid out. At the end of the firing range, several circular targets are placed there, exactly 75 meters away. In this event, all the participants have to do is just throw these weapons or fire at them with a bow as fast and accurately as they can. The more throws you make that hits, the more points you get. The more accurate the throw is, the more points you get.”
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So basically, fire as many times as you can and try to hit the center of the target every time. Down the range, there’s about ten targets lined up next to each other, and a long fence of stone is placed to mark the area where you have to fire behind. The targets themselves were etherealized, so most likely the projectiles will pass right through them and points will be added on depending on the landing area.
“It will be an elimination event, where every one minute, the 5 people with the lowest amount of points at the end will be disqualified. The only weapons not allowed in this event are guns, but every thing else is fine. Is everyone ready!?” The crowd of people around me yells out in reply, and the announcer immediately starts counting down.
The bell rings and most of the participants go to the area with the bow, while some grabs daggers and hatchets nearby. Just as the announcer said, it was similar to a whole armory just being brought out into the open. The bow would be the best weapon here, but that would be boring.
Honestly, I just wanted to fool around around, so I unsealed 10 of my marks in total, obtaining 10% of my strength. Instead of using daggers and bows, I head towards the area with the largest weapons, and grab two javelins. Walking to the firing zone, where several people are already aiming their bows, I raise one of the javelins in my right hand. I take a step forward, and throw it down the range with all my strength. The javelin flies through like a bullet, and goes straight through the center of one of the targets, immediately getting me 10 points. I quickly raise the second javelin, and throw as hard as I can again, hitting the center of the target for a second time.
When I return to grab more javelins, I see that the ones I just used is back where it previously was. The weapons return automatically upon going through the target, it seems. Did the mages of this era manage to develop [Spatial Magic] even further? I wasn’t aware that spells like this existed, so it interests me greatly. But for now, I want to complete this event as the top marksman.
This time, I grab four halberds, carrying them all on my shoulders as I walk through. People clear the way for me when they see me, not wanting to get close to me with intimidating halberds on my shoulder. I place three of them on the ground, and raise one over my shoulder. Like a javelin, I turn my chest, take a step forward, and throw the halberd with all my might. The angle was a bit weirder this time, but I still managed to get an accurate shot at the target. Then, I throw the other three halberds just like javelins, getting accurate shots left and right.
After that, I begin fooling around with different weapons for fun. This was the reason why I unsealed my marks, to casually lift the heavy weaponry. Throwing longswords like daggers, spinning around with battle axes and releasing them at the targets, swinging flails over my head and destroying the chain with a sword to fire it at the target. I continue my shenanigans for about 20 minutes, and the other ones left were me, a very short girl from Thoth’s team, two bowmen and a man who was very good at throwing daggers and hatchets at high speed.
“…you’re really good with weapons.” The short girl says to me. I lower the claymore I was just about to toss, and turn to nod at her. A smile appears on her face before she asks, “You’re Thoth’s friend, right?”
Again, I nod in reply, but this time, a saddened look appeared on her face for a second. It disappeared quickly, and she turns away to continue firing down the range. If I recall, she had a unique way of combat, using strings and threads for her attacks and spells. For this event, she tied her strings to the handle of daggers and hatchets, and swung them down into the range right at the targets. That ability of hers really impressed me, it was a one-of-a-kind combat style that I’ve never seen or heard of before. She was capable of fighting in long and close ranged combat, a very powerful force to be reckoned with.
Another minute went by, and the final elimination was set. Winning by a landslide with over 800 points, no one even came close to my score. The outcome was fairly obvious from the start, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this event. I haven’t done anything silly like this since the fourth battle of the war in my previous life. Out of boredom, I threw random arsenals of weapons at the enemy. I was trying to see how far I could throw them, and still hit the enemy archers accurately. Ends up with 2,000 strength, I could destroy their castle gates from a little over a mile away with 27 javelins, lances, broadswords and war hammers.
“You cheated by unsealing yourself, didn’t you?” Thoth immediately says to me when she enters the arena.
“…bored.” I reply.
“Bored!? Is that a proper reason to ruin an event by completely going ‘Easy Mode’ to throw weapons like rubber balls!? Wow, I’m just as astonished as I was when I was a [Demon King]. You know, when I heard that you tore down the castle gates of [Ivirnis] like this, I didn’t believe it until I got confirmation from 3 other [Demon Generals].” She tries to lecture me on the spot, but stops immediately because the bell rung, signaling that the next event was going to start.
We both leave the grounds, and stand at the entrance into it. The arena starts shifting, the firing range being sucked into the ground and several structures emerge from the ground. An obstacle course is created, and it was divided into four areas.
“Here comes the most dangerous event for today, which anyone could guess just by hearing it’s name! The [Death Run] is an obstacle course with traps that lead to instant death! There are four stages in total, which gets harder as you progress.
“The first stage is simple, you just have to run straight through the field full of pitfalls and pillars of fire! In the second stage, you have to climb an extremely steep and slippery wall full of holes. Inside of these holes are monstrous insects and arrow traps, so be careful about where you grab! The third stage is a free fall straight down, and on the way down, there’s going to be several bursts of lightning and bullets, which you have to avoid. There will be a landing net that will safely catch you, but if you miss it, you will fall into a pit of spikes! The final stage is a maelstrom of magic and blades flying in the air, as you climb up a tower with a complex path to the top!
“Participants will be going in waves of 20 runners every time, and the times they finish will be recorded. The fastest one is the winner of the event, and those who die will gain nothing. Magic and weapons are allowed for self defense, but any attempt to disable or prevent other participants from getting ahead will have the offender immediately disqualified. Flight magic is restricted, due to obvious reasons. Those are the rules, and I hope the participants will enjoy this deadly race!”
This event sounds really interesting. I’m kind of glad I decided to join it. Sealing back 9 of my marks, I’ll participate in this event normally and see if I can make it through without dying. I doubt that anyone besides Thoth and I will actually make it to the end. In the corner of my vision, I see her stretching her legs, preparing for the run.
Just like the tournament ladder, a green screen appears above the announcer’s booth, with a list of participants. It states when each wave will go, and who will run during a wave. Both Thoth’s name and my own are in the first wave, which excites me. I get to race against my rival immediately, so we’ll have a contest of speed this time. Everyone in the first wave of runners head to the starting line, the race about to start.
“Okay then, Aria, this time, you’re going to be left behind in the dust! I clearly win in a contest of speed, based on our fights!” Thoth says to me with a smirk as we walk to the starting point.
“…the fights you lose?” I retort.
Her face instantly pouts in reaction to this, before she punches my shoulder. Hard.
“Shut up! You just had seven or eight illusions sprinting around, no way I’ll keep up with that! And the second time, you cheated! You better be using only one mark this time, you dirty cheater!” She turns away from me and increase her walking speed, leaving me behind.
What a sore loser. Sometimes I think that she takes these things too seriously.