Chapter 53- Preliminaries (part 1)

The tournament held two parts, the preliminaries and the tournament itself. The preliminaries were held outdoors, with all contestants being divided in several groups of two. These groups would fight until a winner emerged, they would then be transported to another arena to fight their next opponent until the individual won ten times in a row, which would qualify them to participate in the actual event.

In the tournament, any player that would touch the outside ring would be automatically counted as being knocked out, as such, lose the bout. Players could also forfeit if they considered their match as too strong to handle.

The tournament featured 'Second Chronicle's' strongest fighters, as well as gaming enthusiast. Beside the luxurious skill book that was awarded to the top three rankers, the winner of the tournament would receive a considerable amount of fame. Which brought many influential figures to participate in the event, Zaros being one of them. In order to show his guild prowess, most, if not every elite member of his guild joined with him and Lexx wasn't the exception.

"D-do you think things will go the same way it did the last time? I've become much stronger since then. If I recall, you choose the beginner's class, right? What can that useless class do to me, a swordsman."

"No point in exchanging words, we should communicate through our swords. Am I right, Mr. Swordsman?"

"Hphm~, as you wish."

Lexx had in hand a ring-pommeled sword made out of iron. The sword had a certain aura to it, one that Mylo couldn't completely figure out. the blade was straight with a fitting made out of ornate which had snake like features. The handle had a ring-style pommel made of silver, the ring wasn't straight, it had a snake like construct that indicated that the head of the snake held unto its tail.

"That's quite a unique sword you have in hand"

"Glad you noticed it, this sword is called a Hwandudaedo, also known as a korean straight sword. This was a drop from a field boss located inside the Unknown territory. I was quite surprise to find out that many weapon inside the game where heavily inspired by our real world history. It seems like the AI made use of our world long chronicle and fictional fantasy stories to create the items inside the game. Quite fascinating isn't?

It seems like the rapier you are holding onto, which is quite popular in the western Europe, isn't ordinary as well seeing as how you still held into it even after our last encounter."

"You are quite knowledgeable about weaponry, but does that knowledge help you in combat? HA!"

Mylo lunged forward at Lexx, his rapier in a straight thrust position directing it's aim at his chest. Lexx was standing tall with both feet closed together, his left arm touching his rib cage and his right hand holding into his sword in a upward position near his face.

With a swift side step, Lexx managed to easily evade Mylo's charge. Unable to stop the momentum of his lunge, Mylo passes right next to him. Being in front of him, defenseless, Lexx uses this opportunity to deal a heavy blow to his opponent. His upward sword quickly fell downward, slicing Mylo shoulder area.

"Snake Bite!"

[You have been dealt 430 damage]

[You have been poisoned, you will lose 1% of your maximum HP every second for 10 seconds]

[You have lost 26hp due to poison]

[You have lost 26hp due to poison]

[...]

"I told you, things will not end up being the same as last time. After that humiliation, guild master Zaros provided me with a world renowned sword master as my teacher. Ever since that day, I took lessons from him everyday. I may still be lacking, but its only upwards from here on out."

Martial artists are individuals that constantly practice their techniques and form for the sake of combat growth. Mylo knew how effective this discipline was within the game. A person who studied any type of martial arts were offered innumerable physical advantages against a gamer who never practiced any form of combat sport. Fitness improved one's muscle strength, concentration, bone durability and self-discipline. Seeing as how easily he has been dealt with and from someone who just recently started to learn swordsmanship, infuriated him. With so many passive skills, his lack of form was evident. He regretted never learning any type of martial arts in his past life, as it would have been quite useful right now. Yet, even after being hurt so easily, he did not feel like he was going to lose.

'All I have to do is maim your dominant arm, what is a swordsman without his arm. Last time, I did not have the 'Thorns' skill at my disposal and your underlings never experienced its effect. As such, you have no idea that I can disable your limb.' He though to himself.

Mylo quickly regained his posture. This time he did not rush aimlessly, he slowly moved around his opponent while holding his buckler around his upper chest.

"Haha! Do you really think that that small shield will protect you?"

A horizontal swing came towards Mylo, he quickly directed his buckler towards the swinging sword in order to block the obvious straight attack. But to his surprise the sword started to swirl, easily slipping past the round shaped shield, hitting him in the ribcage instead.

"Slithering Strike!"

[You have been dealt 560 damage]

"W-What?"

"Haha! How do you like my swordsmanship! This is getting quite boring, you should take this a bit more seriously. You still haven't used a single active skills, aren't you taking things too lightly?"

'If I could I would, you bastard. I can't let him know that I don't have any active skills, his currently wary of one. If he knew I didn't have any active abilities, he would disregard everything and just use all his skills on me. I need to think of a way to lend my first attack on his arm, what can I do? THINK!'

***