Chapter 48: Guild Wars 1
The three senior students explained the classes of various fighters.
Fighters both elementalist and cultivator can be classified in certain classes. This was to distinguish their level of combat.
Once an elementalist gets to the manipulation stage, it is hard for them to be classified so their strength is measured by how strong they are compared to a cultivator of a certain stage.
“So far, we only know 5 stages. The initial stage, the Qi gathering stage, the body tempering stage, the elementary stage, and the foundation building stage.”
“You three are at the initial stage. It’s the stage where cultivators need to start training their bodies to become strong. Through training, controlling your body will become easier, which in turn will help you control your Qi”, Tordin explained
“Teo, Windle, you should already know about Qi through your classes right? Cultivators also need to use Qi to strengthen themselves.”, Rowen said
“The second stage is similar to the gathering stage, except this time you will be gathering world Qi with just your personal Qi. Absorbing Qi is very important to cultivators, and having a strong body is just as important. The stronger the body, the wider your Qi reserves can be, the more Qi you have, the more you can temper your body. These are the main 2 points of the second and third stages.
By infusing Qi into your body, you can slowly temper it to become stronger even without your usual exercise. Of course this doesn’t mean you should skip your training all together. The more you have control over your body the better, so you have to train to control every inch of your body”, She further explained
“What’s the elementary stage?”, Teo asked
“It similar to the movement and manipulation stages. It is basically the stage where you learn how to use your Qi to infuse it into your fists, legs or any part of the body including your weapons and armor”, Rowen answered
Although cultivators can use their Qi like elementalist, they could only use it to strengthen whatever they were in contact with.
“Lastly, the foundation building stage. We are not too sure on what the foundation building stage is, but a senior mentioned it once to us as the next step.”, Tordin said
As they continued to talk about the aspects of cultivators, the day ended and they all went to bed.
Next morning they all woke up early and headed for the dueling arena to get good seats to watch the upcoming matches.
Rowen bought some packed food and drinks as they would spend most of the day in the dueling arena.
They arrived at the arena and got good seats but within 1 hour, all the seats became packed. The event was so large that many spectators went to see it.
After waiting for over an hour, the main participants finally arrived.
Two groups gathered near the arena floor. On one side the purple and white clad group, the Estoc guild. On the opposite side was the red clad group the Flame guild.
Three layers of city guards stood around the arena, surrounding the main stage. With such a big event, the lord of the city, Cardis Mirth, became host of the event.
The crowd roared with anticipation awaiting for the fights to begin.
Teo looked at the other side of the arena and a few special seats were built closer to the stage for a better view. Many people took their seats and Teo noticed a familiar insignia among the seated the special area. It was the insignia of the Rizon clan.
With Teo’s eyes he clearly recognized a few familiar figures, it was Zachery and his group, as well as Daniel and even the headmaster, Elon.
“Welcome everyone to the annual spar between the two strongest guilds in our beloved city of Mirth!”, the master of ceremonies from the Mirth family welcomed and announced the start of the event.
“Fighters, be sure to know your limits! Fists and Swords has no eyes, so if anyone dies from this competition, ensure that there is no bad blood between both your guilds!”
“We of the Flame guild swear on our honor that we will abide by the rules!”, the head of the Flame guild announced
“We of the Estoc guild will also follow the Lord’s rules! HA HA HA HA”, the leader of the Estoc guild also agreed
They looked like well tempered sportsmen but underneath there was indeed deep hatred among them. But although they hated each other, within the city borders, they did not dare fight. The two were the top two guilds within the city, but they could not compare to the might of the Mirth family.
The annual battle between the top two guilds would always occur as a rule within the city. The Mirth family used it to give rewards and glory to the winner on the outside but underneath the surface they used this event to gauge the strength of the two guilds as well as weaken them by forcing them to fight each other.
Of course the two leaders of the guilds were not idiots and could guess this as well, but the rewards and honor was too tempting and it was a chance for them to fight against their hated rivals.They yearly rewards was always astounding and they became more loyal to the rewards each and every year.
“The reward of this year! A sword crafted by the Grandmaster Yula! This sword is forged from blue mithril and is capable of enhancing any elemental power!”, the master of ceremonies announced
The name of Grandmaster Yula had spread across the entire empire and even flowed through the surrounding empires. He was an expert craftsman who had no peers within the empire. A sword forged by him was no doubt a treasure, and having it as a prize meant that a huge amount of money was used to purchase this sword.
Of course to participate in this fight, guilds from the whole city bidded for the spot of top guild. The price for being called the “top guild” was used to purchase the sword. The winner’s faction will be strengthened and the loser will be weaken.
When the crowd heard the name of Grandmaster Yula, they erupted in an uproar! The sword for them was indeed a treasure, even blue mithril by itself was something a normal person could afford.
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Zachery saw the crowd’s reaction and his face showed a hint of disdain. Many of the people who were seated in the special area also had similar looks on their faces, but the general public did not notice their faces as they were seated too far for them to distinguish the former’s facial expressions.
Teo on the other hand saw their faces. He could tell that to these people, this reward was hardly to fuss over.
Blue mithril, compared to the Black Iron sword that Daniel used, was nothing. The sword that they were putting up as a prize was a one of the failed swords created by Grandmaster Yula before he became a Grandmaster. It was a sword that the Mirth family acquired very cheaply and was eventually stored to accumulate dust because they had better swords that they could use.
The crowd continued to be mesmerized by the rewards and the two guild’s fighters also lit up. The highest quality of swords these two guilds had were steel and the majority of them used iron swords. A mithril sword no matter what quality was valuable to them.
“The first match will be a contest of speed! Bring out your fastest competitors!”
The two guilds were very familiar with the proceedings of match. The first round focused on speed, the second round focused on strength, the third round focused on stamina, the fourth round focused on strategy and cooperation and the final round was a match between the two strongest fighter within each respective guilds.
The first side to win 3 rounds will win everything.
A representative from both side walked up the stage. The member from the Flame guild who stepped up was fairly tall and thin while the Estoc guild’s representative was a short fellow.
One had a sword and a small shield, the other had twin daggers.
The atmosphere became tense, and the noise of the crowd dimmed down. The speed round that everyone was familiar of, could sometimes end in a blink of an eye. Everyone concentrated on the two figures, trying hard not to blink, afraid of missing a critical moment of the fight.
“Same rules as last year, incapacitate or force your opponent to surrender. Let the first round begin!”
The two stood 20 meters away from each other. The crowd held their breaths and became so silent that one could hear a pin drop.
Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew over the arena
-BOOM!-
Two loud explosions occurred almost at the exact same time. The spot where the two stood left a large cloud of dust. The audience who could not track the fighter’s movements could only see them disappear within the dust cloud.
-BANG- -BANG- -BANG-
Metal onto metal clashed at each other multiple time. Within the center of the stage, sparks flew as the two battle each other in a test of speed.
Their movements were so fast that an ordinary person could only see a blur of a shadow. One of the blur was tall and red while the other was short and purple.
Those who could see their movements were filled with awe and excitement. Even Teo could not resist seeing the close battle.
The two continued to battle each other, barely dodging the other’s attack by a hair’s width. Soon, first blood was spilled. The reach of the Flame guild’s fighter was too great and eventually cut through the shoulder of his opponent.
The short purple clad fighter retaliated and swiftly threw several concealed projectiles.
-Sqwrelp!-
The sound of flesh being pierced reverberated across the surrounding area. The tall fighter had his legs pierced by one of the several projectiles thrown. They were too close to each other to dodge and his injury was detrimental to his speed.
“I surrender”, the tall fighter from the Flame guild announced.
The injury was light, but if it was critical. Such an injury had a large effect on his speed. If he delayed his surrender even for a minute, his wounds would not be as light. A fighter of his caliber would only need a few seconds to kill the other.
“WINNER OF THE FIRST ROUND! THE ESTOC GUILD!”
The crowd erupted in cheers. The fight had only lasted barely 3 minutes but it was enough to satisfy the crowd.
“Those fighters are very fast. Before I noticed them move, they were already swinging their weapons at each other”, Lia said
“Me too, they are too fast more my eyes”, Windle agreed
“Big sister, what class of fighters are these?”, Teo asked
“Judging by their speed alone, their speed should be well above mine. They are probably at the elementary stage, so they should be class 5 fighters”, Rowen answered
“Ha ha Rowen, you are wrong on your assessment. These two are only at the body tempering stages. Aside from their natural abilities in speed, you should look at what they are wearing. The majority of their clothes have all been enchanted. If i were to take a guess, it’s most likely that they are all enchantments that enhanced their speeds. If you strip all of them off, they should be far slower than you”, Tordin interrupted
“Senior how can you be so sure?”, Windle asked.
“That is because I can sense their Qi, although they are close to being class 5 fighters, their speed would be much faster if they were. A senior once said that class 5 fighters can repress the Qi they gave off, but during the whole fight their Qi did not fluctuate at all”, Tordin gave a grin as he answered.
“Senior sister Gina, what fighter class are you?”, Lia whispered
“Oh, I am at the border of a class 4 fighter, but compared to me, Rowen and Tordin are both full fledge class 4 fighters”, Gina answered without hiding anything
“It must be nice to be an elementalist, Qi control is learned at the very first year”, she sighed.
As an elementalist, Rowen learned of Qi control at the early parts of her school year and although Gina also learned how to control her Qi, it was not precise enough to be considered as a class 4 fighter.
“The next match is a contest of strength! Bring out your respective fighters in a contest of strength!”