Kurotan came out of the smithy a while later, with a brand new look. A sturdy looking steel helmet, as well as a steel plate armor that fit him perfectly as well as a metal skirt that extended past his thighs. His shins were covered by greaves, and his hands were protected by metal gauntlets, giving him a half plate armored look.

At his waist were two axes that looked well made even at a glance.

How wonderful. Its so comfortable to have such well-fitting armor.

How could Kurotan, during his time as an orc, have had the luxury of having armor custom fit? Luke smirked at Kurotan, who was beside himself with satisfaction.

Ill buy you even better equipment if you win the martial tournament.

Hehehe, really? Ill crush whoever my opponent is.

By the way

Lukes face slightly stiffened. He couldnt help but feel a little embarrassed about modifying the truth in front of Kurotan, who despised humans who lie.

I apologize about earlier. I know you dislike lies, but we needed the money.

Dont worry about it. I believe that anything you do is the correct thing to do.

But

When we give trust, we do so wholeheartedly. Besides

Kurotan glanced down at his armor once again and smiled widely.

Didnt I get a new armor for it?

Luke smiled bitterly and shook his head. Luke was likely the only human to have earned such blind trust from an orc.

Kurotan, fully armored and equipped, entered a period of harsh training starting that very day.

We have to fully engrain the skills of the Belloche sword technique into your body before the finals.

Of course, considering Kurotans skills, they wouldnt have to worry about the preliminary rounds. Only if Kurotan won the final round would he be knighted, so Luke trained Kurotan all day in the Belloche sword style.

As expected of a prestigious sword style, the techniques of the Belloche sword style were very complicated. Kurotan said in curiosity while training.

Its curious.

What?

I would not have been able to memorize such complicated movements previously.

Is that so?

I wasnt very smart, so I would forget the things I learned very quickly.

Its probably because you have the brain of a human now. You cant even begin to compare the processing power of a human brain and an orcs.

Luke thought of the original owner of Kurotans body, Hal.

He was a clever bastard that kept trying to manipulate me, so he definitely used his brain a lot.

I think so too. Ever since my soul has entered this body, I do not forget the things that I learn.

You know what? Youve changed a lot since youve possessed that body. Now, you think and act almost like a human being.

Really?

The two continued to converse as they practiced the sword.

Luke couldnt contain his surprise as they continued to train in the Belloche sword style.

It was because the Belloche sword style was more profound than he had expected.

This is a better sword style than I thought. Itll be a style to reckon with once weve mastered it.

Well find out when we do.

After four days of training the skills, the two began sparring. By simulating life or death battles in the spars, Luke and Kurotan were able to further familiarize themselves with the sword style.

You ready?

Yup.

Then lets begin.

Luke and Kurotan ran at each other, swinging their weapons full force without mercy.

Chwang. Chwwaanng. Chwang.

Sword and axe clashed midair, producing sparks. People who had been training besides them couldnt help but look at the two.

Wha-What?

Those bastards arent ordinary warriors.

Their eyes widened at Luke and Kurotans fierce and hair raising spar.

An attack aimed at a weak spot would be deflected or dodged, then a counter attack would begin right away. Just a little slip up of concentration would result in a critical strike.

Keeuk.

Luke frowned as he grabbed his side. His chain mail had burst at the seams, ripping even the leather armor he was wearing underneath. He grimaced as he looked at the ruined chain mail.

Its like a rag now.

Mine as well.

Kurotan put his hand through a hole in his chain mail.

Lets go to the smithy after our training is over. Even our leather armor is raggedy

I have no complaints about that.

Luke and Kurotan continued their bloody sparring until the martial tournament finally began.

People who wished to prove themselves flocked to the martial tournament. The citizens of Jabel all set up shop with food and other items in an attempt to get into their pockets.

Because of the positive effect it had on the territorys economy, the noble lords of Sith Empire tried very hard to open martial tournaments as often as possible.

The rules of the preliminary rounds outside of the castle were simple. The knights of the Jabel viscountcy set up six rings, fenced off by metal chains in the middle of a clearing.

In order to participate in the tournament, one needed to purchase a bronze medal for 10 denarins. Before you entered the ring, you would hand it to the referee, and the winner of the match up would collect all the medals once the match was over.

You needed a total of ten medals in order to move up to the main matches. In other words, one had to win nine times.

Those who lost had to purchase a bronze medal one more time in order to participate again. The medals cost different prices, depending on the territory, and was used by the stingy noble lords as an attempt to lower the costs of the martial tournament.

Fortunately, the medals at Jabel viscountcy were rather cheap, as other places could cost fifty denarins. The six rings were surrounded by a large number of knights.

The victor was determined by a simple process. You would lose if you surrendered, or were incapacitated by injury, or died.

No medical aid was offered during the preliminary rounds of martial tournaments. In other words, any injuries had to be taken care of privately and in the case of death, it would be as pointless as a dogs death.

Those participating in the preliminary rounds tried their hardest to prepare adequate defensive equipment. A sturdy armor would significantly reduce the risk of their dying, after all.

Cooper, the knight captain of Jabel viscountcy, looked down at the crowd of participants that had gathered and frowned.

The level of the participants isnt that high. It seems as though the Kaspar earldoms martial tournament three months prior was really not that long ago.

Kaspar earldom was the territory of a high noble lord, and was rather close in proximity to Jabel viscountcy. Coopers face was not a pretty sight as he gazed out at the six rings continuously. To an experienced knight such as Cooper, the scenes that were being played out in the rings were enough to make him yawn.

There were instances where participants would lose their grip on their sword, and others that would simply run at them and grab the opponents collar.

I suppose its to be expected, as the preliminary rounds serve to filter out the nobodies.

The truth was that very few people won the martial tournament by climbing up the ladder from the preliminary rounds. The winners of the martial tournament were usually those who had a direct pass to the final line. In other words, the children of nobles or disciples of knights were almost always the winner of martial tournaments.

The participants of the preliminary rounds truly had a diverse background. A young commoner who had painstakingly trained, delinquents that had polished their skills in the back streets, experienced mercenaries, and even bandits in disguise.

However, none of them were a match for the seeded participants who had all trained systematically in high level sword styles since they were young.

A structured and early education is definitely something to be reckoned with.

Cooper shook his head and turned around at the sight of one participant roll the ground in a pathetic manner.

Drago, hows the situation in the ring over there?

Cooper frowned when Drago did not respond.

Do you see anyone of decent skills?

Only then did Drago respond.

Ah, I apologize, sir. I didnt respond because I was concentrating. Would you take a look at that participant?

Coopers eyes widened as he listened to Dragos request and looked towards the back ring. A high level duel was taking place at the ring he was now facing.

Who the hell is that bastard? I cant even follow his movements.

Hes on his fourth consecutive win.

Cooper was even more surprised by Dragos words. Four consecutive wins were no light feat. A duel would heavily drain ones stamina, making rest absolutely necessary after even a single match.

Finally, someone of decent skills that we can look forward to. His opponent is rather skilled as well, but he is overwhelming him.

Even though hes using an axe, his movements and attacks are sharp and quick. He definitely has had proper training, sir.

The two knights looked at Kurotan with anticipation.

Kwang. Kwaaang. Kwang!

Kurotans opponent was a mercenary who seemed to be in his mid-thirties. The mercenary was well equipped and even had a shield, but Kurotan was overwhelming him with heavy blows with his axe. The mercenarys face was ugly from tension.

Goddamnit Curse my luck, someone so skilled right at the preliminary rounds?

The mercenary was Hansen, a veteran who had been roaming the mercenary world for nearly twenty years. He had even participated in a territory war once, and defeated a knight on a one on one battle.

He had been filled with confidence by the win, and had decided to participate in a martial tournament in hopes of being knighted.

If its a martial tournament held by a visocountcy, I could win the tournament easily.

However, his dreams had run into a large obstacle right from the get go. He had encountered an opponent far stronger than him in the preliminary rounds.

Kwaang.

Hansen screamed silently, barely blocking the horizontal slash with his shield. The senses that had been sharpened by twenty years as a mercenary were sending him strong signals of danger.

No way. I cant beat him no matter what.

Hansen staggered backwards, throwing away his sword and raising his hand in surrender.

I give up.

A mercenarys greatest asset was his body. He had surrendered as soon as he determined that he had no chances of winning the match. This was the reason Hansen had been able to survive as long as he did.

The referee stopped the match quickly.

Match over. Kurotan wins.

Kurotan clasped his axe onto his back, disappointment evident on his face. The earlier three matches had left him disappointed, as they had been extremely easy matches. Finally, at the fourth match, he had found someone worth a couple of blows, but he had given up soon after the match began. The referee handed two medals to Kurotan.

Will you continue?

Kurotan looked back at Luke. He could have kept fighting, but he needed Lukes permission first. Luke shook his head.

Stop fighting and come down?

Kurotan shook his head and stepped out of the ring with his medals, as the referee read out the names of the next participants.

I could have kept fighting, why did you call me down?

You could have finished the match a lot earlier, why did you drag it out?

Because

Kurotan scratched the back of his head. Lukes point was valid. Kurotan could have finished the match early, but had not done so in order to enjoy the match.

Dont do that from now on. The referees have sharp eyes. You can enjoy plenty of matches later on, as a part of the final line.

Why not?

Whoever the opponent is, you have to go all out. This is the mindset of a knight. As you will soon be knighted, it is a mindset that you have to have at all times from now on.

All right. I will keep it in mind.

Kurotan gestured that he was ready to the referee as soon as the match was over. The referee called out Kurotans name, and the participant that had just won the match frowned heavily as he watched Kurotan walk into the ring.

Goddammit, why is he coming back?

No matter which way he looked at it, he would not be able to win against Kurotan. He gave up.

I give up the match.

Afterwards, Kurotan continued to win his way through matches following Lukes advice, holding nothing back. The matches finished in the blink of an eye.

Begin.

The referee signaled the beginning of the match, and Kurotans opponent glared at Kurotan as his grip on the sword tightened. Kurotan, however, became a blur of movements before his opponent even made a single slash, and the opponents vision went black.

Puuk.

The participant fell to the ground with unfocused eyes as the sound of metal being crushed rang out, a malformed helmet rolling across the ground.

Ku-Kurotan, victor.

The referees voice was shaking as he announced Kurotan as the victor.

Before long, Kurotan had gathered the ten medals he needed in order to move on to the final rounds. He traded in the medals, with the referees signatures on them, to a table organizing the event. The person manning the table handed Kurotan a silver medal, a verification that he was qualified for the final rounds of the tournament.

Good job. However, the final rounds wont be so easy. If you wish to do as well as you did today in the final rounds, you must familiarize yourself even more with Belloche sword style.

Dont worry. Im training with you every night, so it wont take long for me to master it.

Kurotan frowned suddenly.

I am hungry.

Lets go eat at the inn. Ill even order you a meat stew in celebration of your passing the preliminary rounds.

Hehehe, those words are like music to my ears.

Lukes wallet was bulging as they headed back to the inn. There were a lot of people that bet on the results of the preliminary rounds, and Luke had bet everything he had on Kurotan. Kurotan had been an unknown participant, a true dark horse.

There were two pairs of eyes that followed the two men as they walked back to the inn.

What will you do? Should we report this to the lord?

Cooper nodded his head, expression stiff.

It seems well have to. His skills are not ordinary.

His sword style does not seem to be of our Sith Empire.

I think so as well. It doesnt seem like he is that experienced in the sword style either. However

Coopers eyes narrowed.

That Kurotan, he definitely knows how to use aura.

Dragos eyes widened at Coopers conjecture.

How could that be

Its definite. In the last five battles, even I couldnt follow his movements. His movements were impossible with just physical movements.

Drago nodded silently. Cooper was at the level of an aura expert, capable of raising his physical capabilities through the use of aura.

Simple but a profound sword style, as well as an aura expert. Suspicious.

Drago narrowed his eyes as well.

Its possible that he is a spy from a foreign country. It would be easier to travel around the country if you were a knight, after all.

Regardless, we need to keep our eyes on him. Investigate him thoroughly.

Cooper turned his back decisively.

I will report this to the lord. Look over the rest of the preliminary matches, Drago.

Yes, sir.