The second trial.

Unlike the first one, which had only been fully revealed to the non-participants on the day itself, this time the details of the event had already been shared to everyone a few days prior to its commencement, which allowed them to set their expectations much earlier than before.

“While it is important for one to place their belief in other people,” the Elder had announced in his daily address, “the most important thing we need our candidates to have is their belief in themselves. If you cannot believe in yourself, you cannot convince yourself to do what has to be done. That is why, for our second trial… we have decided that it will be a one-on-one combat tournament!”

As soon as he had made the reveal, the Great Hall was abuzz with excitement, with many immediately making their bets and predictions for who among the candidates they supported would win their respective fights. From combat potential to specific skills and talents, the personal rankings began to swirl.

After he had successfully shushed the crowd with the help of his elite circle, the Elder continued, “as you are all aware from the first trial, 4 of the 8 candidates were chosen to continue on. Out of these 4 candidates, we shall see who the strongest among them is, as they fight each other with all the skills they have separately picked up, and of course their beliefs in oneself.”

Rather surprisingly, when it came down to the specific rules and regulations of the tournament, he had this to say to everyone present.

“All the candidates are free to use any non-firearm weapon or innate skill they do so desire, but… what we at the Church are really looking for is their adaptation to the Goddess’ Gift. By this time, all of them have already been exposed to the Gift and known of its true power. It is up to them to know how to properly harness it themselves during the fight. Only then, can they win.”

Once again, the crowd began murmuring to each other about what the Goddess’ Gift was and the reach of its power, but that was still far from the most surprising development of his address.

“Now.”

When he had suddenly paused towards the end of his address, and his face began to darken, they became scared all at once, worrying that he was either sick or unable to continue speaking. However, that was not the case at all.

“…”

Before anyone could comment on the ominous silence, the front doors at the back of the hall opened, and turning their heads behind to look, the crowd could see rows of people marching in with resounding and powerful footsteps that travelled all the way back to the Elder’s podium.

It was not one, it was not two, it was an entire platoon of armored soldiers, all moving in an orderly and fixed formation as they swiftly entered the hall before gathering at the back, their bodies all facing forward towards the staring audience.

“… now,” the Elder finally spoke again after all the soldiers had fully assembled and stood at attention, “for our upcoming trials, the Church is proud to announce that… all of its security matters will be overseen by the special Enforcers hailing from the land of Paradise, who have graced us with their participation in this event! It is not every day that we are able to receive this… great privilege, so I urge everyone to be respectful and courteous whenever you run into them, whether in the hallways or outside! Thank you.”

The usual clapping had followed the ending of his address, but this time, it was much softer and less confident, with some among the crowd unsure of whether they should do it.

The quick and sudden arrival of the Paradise Enforcers had undoubtedly left a strong impression on all of them, and it was only exacerbated by their unsettling appearance and overpowering silence that always followed them wherever they went.

However, despite the aura and overall atmosphere around them that drove people away in fear, it could not be denied that they were incredibly effective in their purpose in providing security as detailed by the Elder.

Every chance they had, they interrogated anyone who was slightly shady, which caused everyone to be more honest and caring towards each other such that they would not be erroneously suspected of any wrongdoing.

They did round-the-clock patrolling around the important venues of the trial, including the tournament arena, so no one except the Elder and his elite circle could step foot in them or plant anything that could sabotage it.

Most important to everyone however was the fact that they could take care of any threat in an instant, and their handling of the intruder break-in that had happened on the very last night before the trial only served to prove their effectiveness in that front.

Needless to say, even though the intrusion had unsettled a lot of Church members, the presence of the Enforcers had ultimately given them relief, if only for the moment, and the second trial was still going to proceed as originally planned.

Without any possible delays or postponements, the one-on-one grand tournament was starting, and the ultimate victor was going to be decided very soon, much to the people’s delight.

**********************

“Simon! Simon! Simon!”

“…”

As he sat in the waiting area just outside the arena, quietly listening to the crowd excitedly chanting his name over and over again, Simon’s head was a complete mess.

He was prepared to win the fight at all costs. He had to follow what the Elder had ordered him to do.

He had already done his thorough research on his opponent from the Wolf Clan, his former teammate from the first trial, and he knew the tricks he had most likely prepared for the fight and how to defend against them.

When all the factors were combined, it meant that he should have not only been ready but also should have had no difficulty getting in the right mindset to beat the entire competition and reach his goal without breaking a sweat.

So, the fact that he was feeling conflicted mere minutes before his own match began was troubling, and more importantly puzzling for him, because he already knew the reason why he was feeling this way.

Why do I care so much about this?

Like a tape that was stuck on rewind, he had spent the last few days thinking back to the Elder’s words; the truth about Sister Renare, and the simple fact that changed what he had always thought about her.

However, it was merely a truth that he had never learnt, and even if it were to slightly affect their relationship for the short term, there was no clear reason why he would feel this strongly over such a small issue.

It certainly was not going to affect his trial results anyway, that was all on him, not her. No matter what she did, that would never change. In fact, he knew all too well that if he dwelled on it too much, that would be the one to affect his performance in the end.

I shouldn’t care, I shouldn’t! This shouldn’t affect me! I… I…

Still, regardless of the pointless arguments he was having inside his head, he only knew one thing: He had to talk to her soon. If he did not, he was sure that his mind would stay in the same cycle of confusion with no way to escape the endless loop.

“Brother Simon.”

And now, here was his chance to do so.

“Hey, Sister Renare,” he replied as she walked in, still wearing the same blank expression that he always knew, “what are you doing here?”

“Nothing much, I’m just checking up on you, see whether you’re ready or not,” she casually replied as she sat down next to him, kicking her legs up and putting her hands on her lap, but she never turned her head to look at him.

“Right…”

According to the Elder, it was a common practice in the past for the mentors of the candidates to give them a little pep talk before the second trial, which was normally always held as a physical fight.

However, all of that tradition or practice did not concern him in the slightest. After all, he knew Renare was already not the best at giving advice to people, despite how hard she seemed to try.

So, he promptly cut to the chase and neglected to give her an answer to her question, but instead followed it up with his own.

“… why didn’t you tell me?”

“What? I don’t understand.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Why didn’t you tell me??” he frustratedly repeated, desperate to resolve his doubts, “the Goddess Initiation, you didn’t tell me you had a perfect score! The trials too! Why did you hide it from me?”

“…”

In response, Renare was quiet, unusually quiet. As far as he knew, she always had an answer or a statement ready to go as soon as she was asked anything, almost as though she had prepared for them beforehand, but this time she seemed to have nothing at all.

However, he had seen her this quiet before. Over the past three years they had known each other, he knew the times she was quiet was when trouble had hit the fan, and she was on the receiving end of it.

Her silence was essentially screaming a guilty conscience, and that was how he knew she was hiding something more, something she did not want to tell him out of possible fear or worry.

“… all this time, all these years,” he continued as he watched her actions grow more flustered despite her emotionless look, “I thought you were trying to help me succeed, you made me think I was strong, but you ended up being much stronger than me, and I didn’t even know!”

“It’s not like that…”

“Isn’t it?” his tone grew more agitated as he began to shout, “you must have failed somewhere in the trials, that’s why you picked me to do it for you, isn’t it? I’m just your second attempt, aren’t I?! Is that all I was to you?”

“… I…”

Even after the chips were down, she still did not seem to want to give a proper explanation to him. Instead, the both of them sat in complete silence, him continuing to glare at her and her trying her best to avoid eye contact with him.

“… Candidate Simon Bailey. Candidate Simon Bailey. Please enter the arena now for your match.”

Eventually, it was broken by the voice of the arena announcer calling out his name, and giving up on waiting for her answer, he sighed and stood up.

“I want to talk about this later,” he remarked as he still kept his eyes on her, “but promise me you’ll be honest when we do.”

“… you know that I will still support you, Brother Simon. No matter what happens,” she finally looked at him and responded as he began to walk away from her.

“…”

Even despite everything, and the fact that he was second guessing anything she said at this point, her words still made him feel slightly better as he walked towards the arena, where the fight was waiting.

… I guess I still want to win after all.

**********************

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first match of the Church of Enlightenment’s Second Trial Tournament!!!”

As he entered the arena, Simon could already hear the loud voice of the announcer, one of the younger elite members of the Church, excitedly narrating to the audience what they were about to see.

“And here he is, the Church prodigy himself, Brother Simon Bailey!!!!”

“Simon! Simon! Simon!”

Blasted by cheers and slightly blinded by the bright lights above him as he stepped out onto the dirt, he shielded his eyes and looked around, taking in the layout of the arena.

Under the trial rules, he had not been allowed to learn of its exact location or even enter it until his match began, to ensure that he did not know as much as the other candidates and to therefore make the match fairer for everyone, especially the non-Church members.

The venue itself was not one that was specially made for the trial either. In fact, it had been a gathering place, formerly used only for emergencies, that had merely been repurposed for it.

Located directly underneath the Great Hall, it had been loosely partitioned out into the different areas of the traditional fighting grounds. The entire floor had been covered with thick layers of dirt brought in from the outside, and the fight itself was separated from the audience by tall metal fences that mainly served as makeshift barricades for them.

As for how he was able to get into the fighting ring by himself, there were two separate lanes located opposite each other for him and his opponent to walk that the audience could not step foot into, and he entered through an open gate that was subsequently closed and tightly guarded by the Paradise soldiers.

“…”

He nonchalantly looked upwards. In the distance, he could see the Elder, the announcer, and the other elite members watching the fight a safe distance away on a brought-in elevated stage, the same as the one that they had used during the first trial.

However, despite the overall crudeness of the design, he felt that the whole thing was constructed well, as far as the Church’s efforts went.

The ring itself was approximately the size of half of a basketball court, not letting the fighters feel cramped at all, and the crowd control was done well with the fierce Enforcers and the numerous emergency exits that were available for the audience to use.

“Well, well, well. Give it up for Brother Simon!”

When he had finally finished his long walk and crossed the boundary of the ring, the announcer cleared his throat and continued the introductions, keeping his bombastic voice on throughout its entirety.

“Now, without further ado, let us bring out the second candidate, and the opponent who will challenge him in this fight. Hailing from the wasteland, and a member of the esteemed Wolf Clan, it’s none other than Fenris Grey!!!”

“AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

As soon as the name was announced, no one chanted it, but several loud howls rang from the audience, and although he could not see them in the assembled crowd, he quickly guessed that they were coming from members of the same clan, here to support one of their own.

I wouldn’t want to upset them, but it is what it is.

“And there he is!!! Give it up for Mister Grey!”

More howls and a smattering of applause, explosively loud but not as concentrated as his was, echoed throughout the arena before abruptly stopping.

“… hhhhhh…”

Before he noticed it, his opponent had already entered the ring. Standing in front, with yellow-pupiled eyes glaring fiercely at him and growling, was the wolf man Fenris himself, now no longer his ally but an enemy he had to defeat.

He felt his breath start to shudder, but he quickly steadied it before it could be noticed by anyone else. In the past few days, he had studied up on the clan and their fighting style, but to see them about to be performed in person was another thing entirely.

There was also no telling how skilled his opponent was at fighting. Perhaps he was even one of the chiefs, and that meant that the fight would be over before he could touch him, given how skilled and combat-oriented that fact would most likely make him out to be.

No, you can’t think like that. If worse comes to worst, I’ll just have to believe in myself and use the Goddess’s strength, he countered in his head before the negative thoughts could fully crowd it.

Even if he was not in contact with the Gift, he could still visualize it in his head from all of the meditation in the First Trial, and since he had actually felt it for himself before the fight, he could imagine its power, strongly flowing and pumping through his body. All he had to do now was to use it.

I’m terribly sorry, Fenris… but I have to prove I am the best!

“Now, we all know the rules,” the announcer declared, “the first person who yields or is incapacitated will be disqualified! Any killing or intentional harming of the spectators will result in a disqualification as well! Candidates, are you both clear on this?”

“Yes,” Simon replied confidently.

“Mm,” Fenris nodded impatiently.

“Very well then. Let the fight… BEGIN!!!”

“Hmph!”

To everyone’s surprise, Fenris did not immediately charge at his opponent as soon as the match began. Instead, he leapt up into the air, nearly clearing the height of the metal fence barricade in a single jump, before looking down at the arena below.

… oh, freaking hell! That fast?

It took Simon a second to figure out what he was going to do, and he quickly scrambled on the ground to protect himself in response to the upcoming action.

This has to be…

[Breath of Winter]

He knew that, for as much as the Wolf Clan preferred hand-to-hand and physical combat, they also had several special abilities that they could utilize on the field in order to weaken their opponents.

This was one of those abilities, a freezing cold wind blown out of their mouths which could cover a small area with frost and ice. If anyone was caught unaware, they would be caught in the gust and frozen in place within a matter of seconds.

Must block it!

As he felt the wind hit him, Simon acted on his strategy as soon as he could. His trial attire did not have any sleeves to help block the wind, so he quickly lowered his head and held his hands over his eyes and nose to prevent them from being frozen shut.

At the same time, he quickly began to run to the edge of the ring as the ground began to turn a crystalline blue. He felt his legs growing slower, and his teeth had begun to chatter as well, but he kept at it until the wind stopped.

As soon as he hit the metal fence, he looked down. To his delight, he saw that the ground that he was standing on had not been frozen over, and although his body still had a layer of frost, he did not feel the same chill, which proved his theory correct.

Can’t harm the spectators, can you?

“Grr…”

With his plan to instantly immobilize his opponent thwarted, Fenris landed on the ground before charging at him, now more eager to fight hand-to-hand. In response, he grinned before raising his fists.

There we go.

“GRRRRAHHHHH!”

Observing how his opponent was protecting his torso, Fenris took advantage of the situation and went down for his legs instead, hoping to bring him down to the ground and finish him from there.

[Paws of the Mountain]

Another ability that had been passed down from the Wolf Clan was a more physical-based one. Using their legs, they were able to concentrate all their available strength into one of them and use it to completely break their target’s limbs and body with a force equivalent to that of a mountain crushing them.

Yet, even as he saw him approaching and the leg coming at him at a great speed, Simon’s grin remained on his face as he swiftly and nonchalantly responded to Fenris’ attack.

“!!”

Even though the ability was indeed powerful, it was still carried out using only a single leg, which meant that all the power, and most importantly weight of the user’s body was accumulated in there. Therefore, it meant that the user’s center of gravity was terribly unbalanced, and even a single miss meant that they could easily fall over like a twig in the wind with their momentum.

In addition…

I can feel it… my belief!

… Simon could feel the power of the Gift in his body, and as he kept up his strong beliefs, some things had begun to change for him. In particular, time had seemed to slow down for him, if only for a short moment, and he could see the leg’s trajectory very clearly.

And so, all he had to do was to drop down to the ground, basically achieving what Fenris wanted to achieve but much earlier and more surprising than what he had planned.

Once the leg passed safely over him and slammed down to the dirt where it made a deep imprint, he quickly recovered and hopped back to his feet, now using the wolfman’s disorientation to strike back.

“Hah!”

“G… grah!!”

Still unbalanced and confused, Fenris attempted to react, but he was too late to stop the clenched fist from hitting him squarely in the face, causing him to reel backwards.

Keep going… keep going!

In an instant, the tables had turned. Still able to see his opponent’s actions in slow motion, Simon effortlessly dodged the wild retaliatory strikes and hit his neck next, a known weak point for both humans and wolves alike.

“Gra… grahhh…” Fenris frothed at the mouth as he continued moving backwards, trying to catch his breath, but he was not going to get a chance to.

I’m really, really sorry for this.

It almost seemed unfair, but it could not be avoided at this point. It was beat or be beaten, and someone had to take the fall for it.

“Hah!”

“Grrr!!!”

After a few more futile back-and-forth attacks, the match was decided.

Panting and wiping off his sweat and blood, Simon looked down with triumph at Fenris, who was kneeling down on the ground and raising his hands up in defeat, his face hidden such that he could not see the expression on it.

“I… yield…”

“…”

The crowd was quiet. There was no more howling. The atmosphere was heavy and palpable. But then, one person shouted, and soon afterwards, the feverish excitement and joy returned to the arena.

“… Simon! Simon! Simon!”

With the grin stuck on his face growing wider, Simon closed his eyes and moved his head upwards, soaking in the cheers and praise with pride and conviction.

“And the winner of the first match is… Brother Simon Bailey! A great congratulations to the winner!!!”

One down, one to go.