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Chapter 128

“The alchemist and forging tournaments have already passed. If you’re still here, then it’s likely you’ve been waiting to see the martial tournament. Although young alchemists and blacksmiths are important to the continuation of Stormberg, martial talent is important to the continuation of our province. This is a world where you must evolve or be left behind. Those who excel today will be those who lead our tomorrow. Let us see what our youth is made out of!”

As he finished his announcement, there was a small scattering of applause, but most people seemed to be more concerned about gossiping. As to what the gossiping was, it was more about who had the best chance of winning.

“You’d think Lady Capala would pick the winner of the alchemy competition.” One person discussed. “Dennis Capala has already won. He’s Grandmaster Bai’s best student.”

“Isn’t he related to her? He’s her cousin, right?”

“You’re thinking like a mortal. When has genetic fidelity ever mattered to nobility? The more inbred their children are, usually the better they can pass on powerful mutations. That’s why they all refer to each other as cousins because they’re all so interbred that everyone is at least a 2^nd or 3^rd cousin to everyone else.”

“Well, that was a crazy match. I thought someone from the Stride family would win. After all, they’re an alchemist family. Jordan Stride looked like he was going to win, but Dennis Capala pulled ahead last second.”

“Do you think Dennis Capala won fairly?”

“What are you saying?”

“It’s obvious Jordan let him win. Their houses must have agreed in the background. Perhaps, Dennis Capala was allowed to win the alchemy tournament, and in exchange, Jordan Stride will get something from him.”

“What? Are you saying the competition is rigged?”

“Do you believe it isn’t? Aren’t you being a bit naïve? Jordan Stride is also competing in the martial competition. I’d say he has the best chance at winning.”

“A secondary evolutionist? Training two disciplines, martial and alchemy, is not as easy as it looks. That’s why everyone assumes he lost the alchemy competition. It’ll be the same reason he loses the martial. I don’t believe your conspiracy theory.”

“Gah, whatever, then who do you think will when?”

“Well, the Lou family are all knights. Wouldn’t Lot Lou be the most likely to win? No one knows how strong he is since he’s returned from his five-year training journey in the mountains, but I’d bet on him.”

“What do think of Huntington then?”

“Huntington Frankford? Is he here? I thought he was in the capital courting the young misses of the Domini family.”

“He just registered a short time ago. He brought her with him. I think he wants to show her his martial prowess.”

“Hmm… after being in the city, his evolutionary status could be anywhere. This will be an interesting tournament for sure.”

It was a somewhat surreal experience hearing many of the conversations on evolutionary pathways. I even heard words like convergent evolution and analogous traits being discussed like they were common terms when talking about paragons. Many discussions were being held, however, three names seemed to come up the most. Huntington Frankford, Lot Lou, and Jordan Stride were considered the strongest contestants for the top three and by extension winning Lady Capala’s hand in marriage.

Seeing that his speech was being ignored by the crowds, the magistrate didn’t seem to be annoyed. Instead, he pulled out what appeared to be a bell and struck it with a paddle in his hand. The resulting sound rang out causing pressure to settle down on everyone. It felt like my ears were about to pop, and the heat seemed to increase. A few of the paragons in the special seats frowned, but that silence was soon achieved.

“Shall we begin? There are three stages and about a hundred contestants. Your name will appear on the display above at random. Come up to the stage within ten seconds or you will forfeit the match. You need only compete once per round. If you lose three matches, you will be removed. Begin!”

He wasted no more time. A moment later, two names appeared above each of the stages. It happened so suddenly that the contestants only could stare dumbfounded.

“Five seconds left to forfeit!” He cried out, a rather pleased look on his face.

Those whose names were declared instantly all raced to their respective stages, moving at the speed only a paragon could. The last person barely managed to get his feet on the stage before the ten seconds was reached.

“Well?” The magistrate smiled and crossed his arms as if to say that had everyone has been listening to his prior ramblings, they would have been more prepared. “We’re waiting.”

At least one of the six contestants currently on the stage seemed to finally understand things, and so he launched an attack at the other. He barely managed to get his arms up before he was kicked directly in the chest. He ended up stumbling back off the stage.

“Loss!” The magistrate called.

“H-hey! That’s not fair!” The boy on the ground cried out.

“Hmph! The second you stepped on stage you should have been prepared to fight. You can only blame yourself.” The magistrate snorted. “Do you think your enemies would give you the time to orientate yourself and announce when they’ll kick?”

The boy looked away angrily. Naturally, the magistrate’s words made sense, and arguing with him more would only make a fool out of himself. Besides, he had two more chances, so it wasn’t like he was out of the race yet. When the winner left the stage, a new pair of names appeared. This time, the contestants were paying better attention and two people came up onto the stage. By this point, the other matches were underway, but those competing were low-level evolved, so their fights were rather dull and quickly over.

More and more matches passed as each name was called up. Eventually, a more interesting fight was called as Lot Lou was called up. The other name was Brandon Capala, which immediately caused people to start talking. The person had previously been hiding himself in a cloak, but when his name showed up, he threw the cloak aside and came up onto the stage.

His appearance seemed to cause a great deal of commotion in the crowds as people started talking excitedly.

“Brandon Capala! Isn’t that Dennis’s brother?”

“He’s Abigail’s uncle’s second oldest son. Dennis is the youngest, but Brandon didn’t go into alchemy. Instead, he focused on the martial path. Some say he found a powerful mentor and his strength can’t be ignored.”

“To think, we’d see a match between two powerhouses in the first round. How interesting.”

“Sir Lou,” Brandon spoke as soon as he reached the stage. “I hear you follow the martial path as well. They say you’re quite powerful. If you step down, I can give you a bottle of evolutionary pathway pills.”

His words immediately caused discontent mumbles to emerge from the crowds. Lot Lou frowned as well.

“Those pills can speed up evolution. A bottle typically contains nine, and for those under Prestiged, it’s nearly a guaranteed evolution after taking the full regiment. Such a bottle can save years of evolving.” One of the contestants spoke out in shock.

“Is this allowed?” Someone asked loudly enough that everyone could hear it.

“While bribing an opponent is considered a bit shameless, on the stage, victory can be obtained any way the parties want. As long as one steps down or is rendered incapacitated, the match is decided.” The magistrate spoke up.

That meant that Brandon’s bribe was allowed. “Well, what do you say? My only interest is the hand of Lady Capala. I have no desire to fight you.”

Lot Lou’s expression turned ugly. “You dare look down on the Lou family like this? We’re not so poor as to give our pride for such a shameless trade. Pull out your weapon!”

He immediately pulled out his sword, but he didn’t lunge at Brandon, giving him a chance to ready himself.

Brandon put up the bottle of pills and let out a sigh. “I meant no offense. You should have considered this offer as a kindness.”

“A kindness?”

“You have no chance against me.” Brandon shrugged.

“Conceded! Hmph, we’ll see who wins.”

Brandon lifted his sword, but he kept in his scabbard. It looked like he had no intention of drawing it. Lot Lou frowned as he noticed this, seeing it as a further insult. He raised his blade and lunged at Brandon. He moved so fast that the wind screamed as he sliced through the air.

Brandon stood still as Lot Lou swung. Everyone looked intently as it looked like Brandon had put up no defenses. What exactly was he doing? Just before the blade struck, he finally moved. His scabbard blocked Lot’s blade. In a single swift motion, Lot spun and attacked again, but Brandon moved too quickly for most to see. His scabbard slammed into Lot’s stomach, and there was a crack as Lot’s ribs broke.

Lot Lou gritted his teeth, stumbling back several steps. He tried to raise his blade again, but Brandon knocked it away with his scabbard with disdain.

“Y-you…” Lot mumbled.

“He’s a champion.” Destiny’s father declared.

He evolved into the fourth realm before the age of twenty-five. Such a thing was nearly unheard of in this province. It was no wonder he had no desire to fight Lot Lou. Lot was only a Flawless. It was pretty much bullying. He could roll over most of the evolved opponents, but Brandon belonged in another class. Unless there was another champion hidden among the contestants, Brandon would win the tournament without a doubt!

“You should have taken my offer.” Brandon waved his scabbard one more time, sending Lot flying off the stage.