Chương 127: Challenging

I vaulted over the fence outside the lists, then landed in a crouch. Most people here hadn't seen me fight with a spear, so my style wouldn't be a dead giveaway, but I figured I'd switch it up a little bit just in case. The thegn in purple faced me, drawing a short, one-handed sword and readying his shield. I took a fighting stance then asked, "What is your name, sir?" It took all my effort not to say something like Not sure I caught your name there, and tried to talk like I'd heard the other thegns doing.

Even if it was stiff, it could be passed off as a new out-country thegn just doing his best to copy the speech of others.

"I am Sir Leoheard of Masonhill." I bowed my head.

"And I am—""I caught your name, bumpkin. Now, shall I teach you a lesson?" Leoheard glanced at his friend, who he'd been training with earlier. The friend laughed, then leaned against a wooden post, arms crossed. They were both Silvers. At least a hundred points of Presence, and three hundred and fifty points elsewhere. But this fight would be short, negating his Presence advantage—besides, I had no plan on using Arts, anyway. A gravity-based Art would be way too suspicious. As for the general stats?

Well, I could still work around it. My stats were higher than they should've been for my tier, meaning he'd underestimate me. The thegn darted to the side, moving far faster than a regular human could. His armour didn't slow him at all, and his cloak whipped behind him, fluttering like a flag in a high wind. I held up my shield to block the strike I knew was coming, but the impact of his sword still made me stagger. He stabbed straight at the shield.

As I regained my footing, the wooden shield wobbled, vibrating, sending tremors down my arm. I stayed in my stance, watching for any weaknesses. I didn't have Anchor here to call them out for me. Leoheard's friend laughed, and I grimaced. Leoheard himself gave his sword a cocky flourish, then cast me a grin. I half expected him to throw away his helmet or his shield, but I wouldn't get that lucky. He hadn't even used a resonance Skill yet—or whatever the equivalent wicca had was.

I knew they had an equivalent that did the same thing, but I didn't know exactly what it was called. First, I concentrated on my Focus. Leoheard didn't know my Focus was as high as it was, and I could use that to my advantage to keep up with his speed—so long as I anticipated his strikes. To help concentrate my Focus, I triggered my Art high up in the air. It created a gust of wind, temporarily distracting Leoheard, but it wasn't obvious that it even came from me.

More than just Focus, though, I envisioned what Leoheard would do. First, I had to lull him into a false sense of security without losing. That meant I needed to know where he'd attack and how he'd do it. I centered him in the center of my vision, then concentrated on what I knew about him so far. He didn't have nearly as much practice as I did. Thegns did more than just train to be soldiers, and Leoheard hadn't spent every afternoon for the past few months learning to fight with a spear.

Nor had he been to many battles. How did I know? His stance, the way he leaned forward eagerly, the way he held his sword and flourished it how he did.

"Come on, attack!" Leaheard snarled. I wouldn't take the bait. I brought my feet closer together, trying to make myself seem more feeble. Then I settled into a low guard, holding the tip of my spear low and pointing it toward the ground. Take the bait, I thought. We'll see how smart you really are. Leoheard rushed in, aiming high, going for my exposed shoulders. Was he actually going to fall for one of the first tricks in the book?

Or was it just that he thought so lowly of me that, in his mind, it couldn't possibly be a trap? Either way, instead of turning the fight to my advantage, I blocked the strike again, just barely raising my shield in time. This way, he'd really start underestimating me. Sure, I could've taken the initiative to attack, and I could've triggered the trap, but that was no guarantee. He'd still protect himself, and his physical stats were better.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. While regular Path-walkers didn't measure anything in points, their attributes were similar at the same stages. There was a reason they went with a trial-joust instead of just duels. The goal was to unseat the Gold-tier Ealdorman. To be a Gold, you needed seven hundred regular attributes and two hundred presence. Twice as much as a Silver.

Lord Ceonwin, being on average twice as strong as the average Silver, had a low chance of losing a duel. But a joust was different. It required skill, but it was far easier for a Silver to defeat a Gold. That would work in my advantage in the future, but not right now. I needed to use every trick I had to pull off a victory right now, considering what I was up against. Someone with more than double my Presence and regular attributes. He activated an Art, finally.

The air around his body rippled, and I recognized it as a general wicca Art. Like what Lord Ceonwin typically deployed. But where I knew Lord Ceonwin had more powerful Arts locked away, in case he needed them… I wasn't too sure about Leoheard. The man bashed with his shield, using his enhanced strength to knock me back. I took the blow, letting it spin me, and anticipated the stab that would come next. I whirled my spear into position, making it look like I intercepted the sword swipe by nothing but luck.

Before I could finish my plan, I needed to get rid of Leoheard's shield. When he thrust with it again, I stretched my spear out, making it look like a desperate attack, then triggered a resonance Skill. His shield was normal. Just average. My spearhead pierced through with ease, shattering the wood like it was paper. Leoheard stopped before the spear hit his body, then tried to twist his shield and disarm me. I'd already pulled back, though, freeing my weapon. I was almost ready.

Attacking again, Leoheard used the same technique, the exact same attack pattern. I only survived the first time because of luck—at least, that was what I wanted him to think. So I let him knock me to the ground. Swinging his sword, he tried to pummel me. Since he was using a resonance Skill, his blows would cut through the wood of my shield. I only had one shield, so this had to count. I dodged his swings, letting his sword hit the ground. After a few strikes, I waited for him to get into a bad position.

In the meantime, I reset my gravity Art in the air, continuing to use the baked-in [Eye For Framing] to help me anticipate what was going to happen next. Shouting, and growing more frustrated by the minute, Leoheard wound up, then delivered a heavy but imperfect swipe, aiming to bash apart my shield. Air rippled around the blade of his sword, enhancing its cutting ability. Flipping a switch in my brain, I transitioned from 'purposely weak Levi' to my normal soldier mentality.

I rolled aside, trapped his wrist with the shaft of my spear, then pressed down on the flat of his sword with my shield. Before he could back away and escape, I kicked his shield as hard as I could, aiming for the damaged segment—where I'd pierced through earlier, weakening it. Leoheard tried to be firm and block my kick, but my foot smashed right through the wood, shattering it into shards and sending the man staggering back. As he tried to cast away the shattered remains of his shield, I pressed my attack.

I wouldn't have long, and I had to make my burst of competence mean something before my opponent accounted for it. I went on the offensive, constantly driving jabs at his chest. The goal wasn't to kill him, just to get him to surrender. He was faster than me, and he deflected what he could, but I knew where to attack to exploit his short sword's weaknesses. When he gave a desperate counter-attack, I blocked it with my shield, handily deflecting it, before aiming my finishing blow at his neck.

Desperate, he gripped my spearhead with his gloved hand, but the sharp edges sliced through his glove. As soon as he gripped it, I twisted to the side, moving too far too fast, and he shouted in pain, forced to let go. In order to get around his back faster, I placed an Art just right, pulling sideways on my own body, launching myself to the side faster than he could turn, then I wrapped my spear around his neck and pulled tight.

I cancelled my Art as soon as it began so no one would notice, so it just looked like I'd pulled off a burst of speed. Leoheard tried to reverse his grip on his sword and stab me. With one hand, it wasn't easy, and he ended up dropping the blade. A more experienced swordsman would've pulled it off, but Leoheard wasn't one. Unlike the thegns I'd met before, like Sir Aldhelm and Sir Sidal, Leoheard must've been located far from the front lines, and had probably never been called up to fight. At least, not yet.

Instead of trying to stab me, he just tried to elbow me. I pulled tighter around his neck and hissed, "Give up, sir, or I'll choke you unconscious." He gasped, "It must be a trick! That speed! That—""Maybe you'll learn a lesson," I whispered.

"Not to underestimate those weaker than you. Yield."

"No! Not to a Steel! Just a Steel!" Effectively a Titanium. I didn't say that aloud. After a few more seconds of thrashing, Sir Leoheard dropped to the ground, unconscious. I turned to face his friend, almost expecting a challenge, but the other thegn bowed his head and said, "Well fought, Sir Ricdine." Whether he actually believed it or not, giving his earlier laughter, was a different question, but I wasn't looking for another fight.

"Indeed," said the worker at the entrance booth, who held the rulebook.

"Sir Ricdine shall take Sir Leoheard's place in the tournament. Your first joust is in a week, just before sundown. Do not be late."