Chapter 17 - Top 16

The second day will be held on the city plaza which had 4 sparing arena and space for spectators with a VIP stand for the nobles who are watching with all the vendors and stalls moved to the main streets.

Two rounds will be held on the second day where 8 contestants will be eliminated on the 1st round and 4 contestants on the 2nd round.

Which means Theo would have to fight and win 2 rounds to make it to the semi finals.

Arriving in his Indra attire donning a mask, Theo looked at the board which listed his first opponent and of the other contestants and their names.

He could recognise a few names which he learnt during his conversations with the customers from his inn such as Haluk, a young spearman in his 20s who is famous for being a fighting maniac looking to challenge every strong person he encounter or could find, he hasn't lost any so far with a few being ties, being the most popular participant expected to win in the contest and Mavick, the vice leader of a veteran mercenary group who is dual swords wielder.

His first opponent looks to be a knight from one of the noble families from the capital. Some nobles would send their best knight to win the competition hoping to gain fame and show others the strength of their family.

Heading to the arena his fight would be held in, he found his opponent and checked his stats to get a better idea of his strength. His Danger level looks slightly higher than that of an average knight but still far from Theo.

The announcer who is also the referee was then heard through the amplifier,

"On the right side, a dark horse of unknown origin with a masks that has become a symbol of fear for many contenders. Although seemingly young, the young swordsman isn't to be underestimated. Indra!!!!!!."

"On the left side, a knight serving under Marquis Lidson. One of the few who won all 10 rounds yesterday. Sir Elton!!!!!"

Heading up the stage, Sir Elton greeted Theo which is practised among knights and nobleman before a fight, "Sir Elton Anderson of Lidson." with a slight bow hands cupped together. As Theo would train with Sir John and the knights back in the county, he returned the greeting "Indra" with the same sequence as a form of habit.

This caught the eyes of many nobles that was in the VIP stand as this confirmed that the mysterious Indra is definitely from a noble family trained by knights as his action was smooth and seemed like a habit returning the greeting.

Right at the announcers signal, Theo unsheathed his sword and jumped at Sir Elton which was parried. The duel went back and forth with Theo attacking, Sir Elton blocking then Sir Elton attacking with Theo blocking. The exchange went on as both side test the waters not giving any openings.

It seemed like both sides were tied at the moment however a few skilled knights and nobles could notice Sir Elton struggling. As Theo was slowly increasing his pace, Sir Elton was finding it more and more difficult to keep up with the exchange.

Theo suddenly caught an opening and tipped his sword as he was swinging it which forced the knight to let go of his sword. Theo then took the opportunity to give his opponent a kick from the back making the knight kneel and placed his sword on his neck.

Sir Elton sighed admitting his defeat before turning back at Indra with an awkward smile but saw two red pupils looking back at him with an oppressive gaze like he could easily take his life away. With the black mask, it made it look even more frightening causing Sir Elton to sweat buckets.

'How could such a young man give off such an aura like he had been though many battlefields, killing for decades?' Sir Elton thought. It surprised him more than the skills his opponent showed.

During the fight, Theo had subconsciously returned to the state of mind when he was a mercenary where he had killed many and was close to death in his missions from assassinations, attacking a gun trafficking warlords in the Amazon, etc.

He didn't realise that he had unintentionally scared the knight when he was looking at his defeated opponent.

He wasn't even focused on Sir Elton after winning the fight as he was focusing on the system notification that just popped up.

Ding!

[Swordsmanship skill upgraded to lvl 5, rewarding 5,000 Points]

Having not practised his swordsmanship in a while the constant sparing had helped him in increasing his Proficiency in swordsmanship much to Theo's delight.

The crowd cheered when the winner was announced.

Theo then went to observe the other matches before the 2nd round begins.

Hayato won his match and proceeded into the Top 8 as well.

Theo then went to check his opponent for his match later. He didn't recognise the name of his opponent and continued reading the list.

He found that Hayato will be fighting Haluk for his next match.

Now that he was become a lvl 5 swordsman comparable to a swordsmaster, Theo was confident in winning the competition. He is now considered a half swordsmaster.

By having produce an aura could he officially be a swordsmaster so it would be more difficult for Theo to upgrade the skill as he would need to produce an aura in addition to his Proficiency before he could.

For a swordsmaster, their mastery could be compare by the length and quality of the aura produced on the sword.

As his match would be held at the same time as the others, he couldn't observe the other contestant and waited for his name to be called out.

Having become the crowd favourite, as soon as Theo's alias was called out half of the spectators could be heard chanting his name.

"Indra! Indra! Indra!"

As his swordsmanship mastery has increased, Theo faced his opponent with ease. To avoid too much suspicion, he took his time before incapaciting his opponent forcing him to surrender after hearing the other matches ending.

With that, Theo got off the stage and looked at the other matches. As expected, Hayato lost to Haluk missing his chance of winning. The other contestants making it to the top 4 were Mavick the veteran mercenary and another knight who served under a duke.

It was still quite early after the top 4 were confirmed.

Theo decided to have dinner and some drinks at his inn.