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Today are the semifinals. First I will face a guy named Tempi, and then the queen and Victra will fight.

In the stands today are Azur, Deirdre, Charity, and Julia. From where I am, on one of the edges of the fighting arena, I can see the girls and the little dragon looking on expectantly to see how my fight will go as they chat happily.

Joaquin must have had to fulfill one of his duties as captain of the kingdom guard, and that's probably why he couldn't come.

My opponent is a man of about the same height as me. He has blond hair and an expressionless face. As a weapon, he carries a short sword strapped to his belt, just like me. But that is as far as our resemblance in equipment goes, as he is wearing thin red robes as his only protection. Leather straps of the same color secure these to the body.

Unlike when I faced Charity, I could not see this guy fight in the previous days.

So I don't have the slightest idea what his fighting style will be.

The fact that he has a short sword at his belt is not much of a clue, as I have seen some participants do some crazy things using all kinds of weapons.

Some things were more effective than others, but no less amazing for that.

And if this guy has made it to this stage of the tournament, he sure is something...

He could combine magic with his sword to attack somehow, or simply have an unorthodox combat style. Anyway, I'll find out in a few moments.

While I'm thinking about these things, the people in charge of the tournament give us the signal that we can begin. And the two of us go up to the fighting arena.

As I did when I fought Charity, I waited on guard for him to make the first move so that I could measure his skills. But, after a few minutes, it becomes clear that he's not going to move from his spot.

So, in order to avoid a staring contest, I begin attacking from a distance with mana bullets.

He responds by moving his sword very little, but at incredible speed, just enough to cut the projectiles before they reach him.

Good. If that's how you want to play, let's see how many you can block. And with that thought, I sheath my sword, and start firing with both hands.

Tempi calmly replies by moving his free hand in smooth motions that send the bullets that he misses with his sword into the sky.

It's ridiculous. I've never seen anyone do anything like that... But... what if the projectiles could explode?

After the few seconds I need to prepare it, I throw a mana bomb at him in the hail of bullets.

My opponent seems to have realized it too late, because he changes his stance in a hurry. And, waving his hand in an upward motion, I watch as he releases what appears to be a small torrent of water that, extending a few centimeters from his hand, deflects the entire cluster of projectiles in one fell swoop.

Stolen novel; please report.

So that's how he deflects my bullets… I guess I'll have to fight at close range then.

I run in his direction without stopping, firing with one hand while drawing my sword again with the other, and try to attack him with a downward slash.

But he performs a strange wrapping motion with his sword that somehow turns the force of my attack against me, and sends my arm flying backwards as a result of my own momentum.

Surprised, I have to tighten my grip on the hilt to keep my sword from slipping out of my hand.

My opponent uses that moment of distraction to try to stab my stomach with his sword.

In response, I move my left hand to block and deflect his attack to the side with my arm guard.

But Tempi doesn't stop attacking and, hitting me in the chest with the palm of his free hand, sends me flying back several meters. I land on my back on the arena floor.

Dazed, I stand up at full speed and look in the direction of my opponent, getting into a defensive position.

But my opponent hasn't moved from his place. How strange...

His strength and speed are no big deal, as his blow has barely managed to shake my health bar slightly.

But his technique is clearly far superior to mine... I see what Gideon meant when he told me that strength doesn't mean that much in fencing.

It's going to be tricky, but I've seen what his trick is. Knowing what it is, I'm confident I can avoid falling for it.

I run at him again, but this time I shoot at his legs to try to make him lose concentration on defending his upper body.

The plan seems to work, because Tempi has to make very strange circular movements with his free arm to deflect the projectiles, using his magic to help himself.

So, when I reach a position where I can attack him with my sword, I perform a horizontal slash at full speed aimed at his neck.

I had intended to stop before touching his neck, as the cut could be lethal, but it wasn't needed since... My rival's weapon, which moves as if it had a life of its own, violently deflects my sword backwards before I even come close to grazing his neck.

This time, I expect a counterattack, so I jump back as hard as I can to get some distance.

Tempi looks at me with a smile on his face as he returns to his neutral position, waiting for my next attack.

This is starting to irritate me.

As a result, a reckless plan begins to take shape in my mind as a result of my frustration at not being able to hit my opponent despite the significant difference in our strength and speed.

When I finish planning, I smile, emulating Tempi, and start running in his direction. This time, instead of bothering to shoot him, I'm just approaching him as fast as my legs allow me to run.

Tempi seems surprised to see that I don't change my strategy, but he stands on guard.

When I reach him, I throw a downward slash at him the same way I did with my first attack.

And, just like that time, my sword is deviated by a complex movement of my opponent's blade and shoots backward. But this time I let the hilt slip out of my hand, sending my weapon flying off and landing on one of the edges of the arena.

Just like the other time, Tempi starts to counterattack with a thrust towards my stomach, but this time I don't fight back and concentrate on following through with my plan to the last consequence. This is a bet based on the information I have so far, but...

Shit, this is going to hurt.

A lacerating pain runs through my abdomen, and I feel myself starting to lose consciousness at times as I see how my health bar is decreasing by a third of its entirety. But my willpower keeps me conscious. In the end, this was my idea.

I don't try to defend myself at all. Instead, I use Tempi's closeness and movement to grab his forearm.

He seems very surprised at how the exchange of attacks turned out, but quickly recovers and tries to break free of my grip.

Unfortunately for him, the difference in our strengths is too great. And, applying a little pressure, I hear his arm creak loudly. At which point my rival screams and releases the hilt of his sword, which is still stuck between the muscles of my abdomen.

Still holding his now broken arm, I punch him in the abdomen. The hit, from the sound of the impact, must have broken several ribs.

Upon receiving the blow, Tempi instantly falls unconscious and begins to collapse.

Enduring the pain in my abdomen, I call for the healers to take care of my opponent, while I pull a health potion from my inventory and begin to drink it.

As I withdraw Tempi's sword, a large gush of blood spurts out of my abdomen and bathes the combat arena.

Hmm, I guess I could have thought of something better... But my crazy idea served its purpose, and that's what counts.

With that thought, I turn around and make a pretense of climbing down from the combat arena.

However, the people I called to attend to my opponent seem stubborn and insist that I also follow them to the healing part of the building.

So, in order not to continue wasting time that could be vital to my opponent's condition, I decided to play along and let them take me to one of the beds in the nursing area, even though my wound is already healing.