By the time I left the recovery room, evening was already upon me; it had me wondering, those that had fights later in the day, when did they leave the recovery room? Or was there a way for the healers to ensure we didn’t spend too much time there? If that was the case, why did they let me spend nearly the whole day sleeping in an uncomfortable bed? They should have let me go to my very comfy bed in The Competitors’ Inn. I was still feeling sore all over, damn healers.

As usual, when I arrived to the Inn, meal came first. Thankfully, no one was around the dining area that time that bothered chatting me up. I went to my room immediately after, took a long relaxing shower, washed my clothes and dried them as much as I could, and finally settled on my comfy bed. I didn’t think I could sleep any time soon, but I wanted to be reminded why I was letting my body get battered so. It was so comfortable I could spend the whole day there without ever having to leave, and I wouldn’t mind.

And somehow, I fell asleep almost immediately.

…

“Your fight was something,” Paul said after he had had a few mouthfuls of his food. His was bread and, a vegetable stew?

I ignored that as I beamed up at the news he had just delivered. “You came to watch!? Tell me, tell me where I did wrong.”

“You want me to tell you what you did wrong?” he sounded doubtful, even to my untrained ears.

“Yes. There is always room for improvement. Otherwise, I would have won the fight without getting hit at all. I remember getting hit, a lot.”

“Let me see. When the fight began, I wasn’t sure what was happening—”

“Testing,” I helped out.

“Yeah, I heard another spectator say that. I don’t get those, but… anyway, what stood out to me the most is that you seemed to ignore one of her attacks completely.”

“There’s this one that left me deaf and bleeding from the ears at the end of the match. I didn’t even see what she did,” I said, wincing a little when I remembered how unsettling it was to realize that I was actually deaf.

“That’s the one. The victim never really sees it, it’s too fast for that. Especially since she only uses it in close quarters, either to disorient enough to deliver a crippling blow or for her to get out of a sticky situation. The spectators see it just fine. I’ve heard people describe it as getting woozy or a push back.”

“I was already suffering from severe blood loss; it couldn’t get any woozier than that.”

“It’s meant to be additive,” Paul said exasperatedly. Then added, “Anyway, the other thing was your earth throwing Skill. Why didn’t you use it more often? Though it is quite fitting for someone who lacks a weapon to deliver a slashing, piercing or any substantial blunt force attack.”

I was deeply offended by that statement. How could he question my staff’s worth as a weapon? It had gotten me through so far. Well, [Hurtling Projectile] had done most of the work, but…

“My staff is a very effective blunt force dealer.”

“Against unarmored opponents, yes. When you face off against full-plate, like your next opponent, you will see what I’m talking about.”

I already knew what he was talking about, hits to Shota’s breastplate had actually felt more jarring for me, and seemed to do nothing substantial to her. Though, I didn’t think her helmet would have helped, had she had it on by the end of the fight.

And what was that about my next opponent?

“Tell me everything. What are they? Their weapons, protection, and weaknesses. Definitely weaknesses,” I leaned forward in anticipation of what he had to say.

“And strengths. Don’t forget about that too,” Oki said as he joined us.

“Yes, yes, strengths too. But weaknesses first,” I quickly said, to which Paul just laughed. “What? This is the first fight in which I will actually be prepared for.”

“That isn’t always a good thing,” he said, before he began on an hour long lecture about my next opponent.

…

I should have remembered how awful a student I was, listening to people talk wasn’t a strong suit of mine, it was actually one of my worst qualities. Of everything that I was told about my opponent, I barely recalled any of it. But I did remember that he was a moderately armored individual with a sword and a shield, and that he relied on both physical and Mana attacks, recalling his style of fighting was another thing entirely.

I think the main reason I couldn’t remember much information about it was that they used fancy terms to explain what exactly he did in a fight. If I was being honest with myself, I didn’t know much about fighting styles before and that hadn’t changed much ever since arriving at the Realm of Mesily. So, I decided to add that topic on the list of things that I needed to learn as soon as possible, especially if I somehow made it through the Baronies. I still didn’t know how many people would be advancing, but at the very least, the top finisher would, not that I thought that would be me.

As it was, I didn’t think I would be making it past the quarterfinals, I was thoroughly having my ass handed to me. Paul had been wrong, very very wrong, the guy wasn’t moderately armored; he was heavily armored with what I would call full-plate armor on, I had seen enough images online to know. From head to toe, it was all metal. And all around too, I had checked. His helmet was half egg-shaped, with a Y-opening for the eyes cutting through the mouth. There was no unnecessary metal on him though, every piece was as big as it needed to be and nothing more, giving the armor an overall appearance of a sleek design that moved fluidly with the body.

If what he had on was considered moderate armor, I didn’t want to meet someone that the natives considered heavily armored.

And his shield, did he really need it with all that metal on him, was more weapon than shield. Every time I tried to get in close and try my luck at hitting his heavy metal plates with my stick, it would release this force surge that propelled me back for a few meters. And no, that wasn’t a detriment for him. His sword, while looking like the most normal thing as a longsword, somehow managed to extend its attacks with Mana to give him a longer reach than I had with my staff.

All that would have been acceptable if I still had an edge in speed and agility. I didn’t. Other than [Fast Dash], I could never seem to shake him off for a breather. How could someone in heavy armor be moving so nimbly? I cursed my luck as I checked my [Status]. Ten minutes, and I was already half way through my first Health potion, I didn’t even know whether he had taken any of his.

My knees almost buckled as I came to a stop, using the staff as a bracer than the intended weapon it was. It really was doing none of that. If only I had made it a little bit longer, a foot more, perhaps. And if I was adding things, how about a spear point at the front part. Why was metal so damn expensive? I was scared that by the time I gained enough money for something more than just a stick, I would have advanced so much in the [Staffs] Skill that it would be a waste to start learning a new Skill, especially if I was still in The Grand Competition.

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

Maybe it was the inner monologue that was costing me the fight. Highly unlikely, but I needed something to blame that wasn’t my lack of Skill, technique, training or experience.

I quickly brought my staff up to attack position as Gard, my Level 34 opponent, rushed me. I thrust forward, aiming for the ribs, before realizing too late that those kind of attacks were useless against his armor. He still pivoted to the side, using his shield in counterbalance as he knocked my staff out. The momentum created by the staff swinging out pulled me into a swing too. And I went with it, throwing a [Fire Ball] at his face to try and stop him from attacking while I completed the turn.

I was disappointed yet again as I glimpsed the fire just wash over him. Just how many types of shields were possible in this Realm? The thought went through me as I turned with a [Staff Strike], which was nimbly ducked under and the shield rammed in to my hands as I evaded the preceding sword slash. For the second time since the competition began, I lost my staff.

I quickly threw myself into a very unskillful roll as I dived out of yet another slash. Successfully avoiding a near crippling wound led me to more than a few meters from my primary weapon. I thought of drawing my dagger, but gave up on that. If my staff had already been outmatched, what could I expect from a dagger nearly shorter than my own hand.

Gard pressed the attack, and I dodged. The next, and the next, and the one after that, each one coming faster than the last one. I had to turn my own body midair when I saw one of them enhanced swings of his heading for me. But the joy of successfully evading it was doused by the reality that he was slowly but surely taking me away from my staff. Without it, he would be able to get closer than ever before.

I landed with determination, using [Hurtling Projectile] as I tried to manipulate the ground beneath his feet with [Earth Grab]. He maintained his poise, easily keeping his sure footing as he received the [Hurtling Projectile] at an angle with the shield, his technique fluid as he used the gained momentum to fully spin through the hit and get closer to me. I stepped back faster still, reminiscing my wasted [Hurtling Projectile]. I had been saving them for when I actually pinned him down, but I had not managed to come even close to achieving that.

[Wind Gust], [Fire Ball] to create enough of a distraction for a [Fast Dash] bore no fruits. He had already managed to get me once during a [Fast Dash], I didn’t want to try that again with all his attention on me. The only time I seemed to distract him was with [Hurtling Projectile]. I had enough for maybe two of them before I had to take a Mana potion. Would it be enough? I didn’t know, nor did I have the time to think about it.

I quickly rolled again to avoid the oncoming Mana attack, coming up with two [Hurtling Projectile]s, One for the head and another for the legs. They were so close together that he had to evade both, or deal with both, and I had tried my best to make evading a non-option. I was a little disappointed to note that the second one was slightly smaller than the average [Hurtling Projectile].

I began my [Fast Dash] then, with my right hand already in my pocket for a Mana potion. I didn’t have the luxury of waiting to see whether my attack had succeeded, it either would or it wouldn’t, either way, I had to get to my staff and he needed to deal with the projectiles. He could ignore them, and attack me, but that would mean him taking those two head on.

I felt relieve wash over me as I arrived at my staff with no issues. With the Mana potion already downed, I picked up my staff and turned for another go at Gard, only to receive a face full of shield, and a creak from my staff as it somehow got caught in his sword’s path.

I felt my lower jaw rattle, and I knew with certainty that if I checked, some of my front teeth would come loose with just a little help. The force from the shield bash threw me a few meters back, I tried my best to land in a back roll, but I was very uncoordinated, coming out of the roll with too much momentum that I ended up on my back.

I rolled to the side to avoid another shield bash; with me on the ground, it would have been a fight ending strike had it landed. More rolling to avoid stomps and slashes, I swung my staff for his legs as he came closer for another try, forcing him back, and giving me enough room to get back on my feet.

I went on the attack quickly, swinging the staff so fast that I couldn’t see the stick itself, only the circle it formed. I felt pain race through my wrist as they moved faster than I had ever let them, with force to back the [Staff Strike]s added to each swing. Compared to all the other pains I felt all over my body, it was nothing. My staff might not have been powerful enough to cause any significant damage to him, but I knew that with [Staff Strike], it was jarring enough and constantly chipping away at his health. Health!!!

Last I had checked, I was half way through. Checking again, I cursed. Out loud. I was teetering very close to the eight hundred mark, another good hit or two from him, and I might find myself in trouble. I had a Health potion, a Mana and two Stamina potions. And I needed to take Health and Stamina potions as soon as possible.

I quickly threw two [Hurtling Projectile]s and a [Wind Gust] carrying dust. I didn’t bother with [Earth Grab] anymore, going for the Health potion immediately. He had shown himself adept at avoiding the small holes I kept creating for his heels and balls of the feet. As I was about to down the potion, the dust suddenly came my way, with a force behind it. It nearly knocked the potion out of my hand. I quickly downed it as he recovered from a possible hit from one of my [Hurtling Projectile]s.

I went for a Stamina potion but stopped when I saw the beginnings of the enhanced sword slash. Quickly bringing my free hand back to the staff, I tried to let lose another [Hurtling Projectile]. I didn’t know if I even had enough Mana for it and it was a huge gamble. The swing was already done before I could release the projectile. Should have gone with a shield. Or maybe a dodge. I thought to myself as I watched the slash speed my way and connect, completely numbing my right side. And I consequently lost control of the Mana I had been channeling to the projectile, I felt it snap like a thread on a swinging pendulum, and watched helplessly as the projectile began deviating from its course for his torso.

I stumbled as my right leg gave out under me forcing me to use my left hand’s hold on the staff as a clutch to prevent myself from going down completely. I felt a chilling rundown my right arm as feeling returned, and as I went to handle the staff two handed again, I heard it, the sound of metal and earth colliding.

I looked up to find Gard wobbling, trying to get his bearings. Had I hit him somehow? It didn’t matter. He was uncoordinated, and open for attacks. I moved towards him, and nearly fell down, my right leg was still partially numb. I used my right hand on the staff as a clutch and began limping to his direction. My left hand tried another [Hurtling Projectile] but I was out. An [Earth Grab] failed too. I settled for a [Fire Ball] then as what had been around ten meters turned into five, but the only thing that came out was a flimsy thing that disappeared before it went even two meters. I reached to my pocket for the last Mana potion as I saw him begin to get his bearing.

The first thing I threw at him was the most Mana dense [Fire Ball] I could manage. I had expected it to be big and roaring in fury, but it was still the same size. And moved at the same speed too. He tried bringing his shield up, but the [Fire Ball] was a tad faster, or he the slower one. It made it past the shield and impacted the head so hard he did a complete backflip before coming to fall on his back, somehow still conscious but without his shield or sword. Maybe I should have used [Hurtling Projectile].

I went to use my staff, but it felt awkward. I settled for kicking his head with my left boot; the right one didn’t feel like it would pack much of a punch. It took several good kicks before the fight was called.

[+][+][+]

‘[Identify]’

‘

[Species: Human]

[Name: Hartie]

[Sex: Male]

[Level: 30]

Status:

[HP: 3669/4157]

[MP: 2309/4367]

[SP: 862/6437]

Attributes:

[Agility: 37]

[Constitution: 30]

[Endurance: 37]

[Intelligence: 28]

[Strength: 21]

[Vitality: 27]

[Wisdom: 32]

General Skills [3/3]:

[Identify: 1]

[Language Proficiency: 3]

[Mana Manipulation: 8]

Skills:

[Acrobatics: 6]

[Archery: 3]

[Bludgeons: 3]

[Carpentry: 3]

[Daggers: 7]

[Enhance Plant Growth: 3]

[Enhanced Hand: 3]

[Earth Grab: 8]

[Fast Dash: 8]

[Fire Ball: 10]

[Fire Bolt: 8]

[Herbalism: 3]

[Hurtling Projectile: 11]

[Shield: 2]

[Spears: 3]

[Stealth: 2]

[Staff Making: 5]

[Staff Shield: 7]

[Staff Strike: 9]

[Staffs: 13]

[Unarmed Combat: 8]

[Water Ball: 5]

[Water Punch: 8]

[Weeding: 8]

[Whirlpool: 4]

[Wind Gust: 10]

‘