An eye for talent
“The first match of round of 32 will be fought between Jin Mu of the Mu clan and Alicia Don of the Poison Frogs guild.
Killing and maiming is strictly prohibited and so is the use of auxiliary objects apart from your primary weapon.
The match ends when either side is incapacitated or surrenders.” The match referee said as Leo nodded his head and clutched his sword with both hands, pointing it towards his opponent.
His stance was unusual with many obvious flaws as the judges and the more experienced warrior’s in the crowd frowned at his immature display of swordsmanship.
” Tch, the first seeded individual this time around is weaker than I expected, when he picked the sword I was hoping that he would be an expert, however, it looks like he doesn’t even understand the basics of swordsmanship.
Having a longer weapon means that you can fight while exposing a lower surface area which is why swordsmen fight while being either northpaw or southpaw.
Not only is he standing straight, but he’s also clutching his sword with both hands which can only be useful for chopping wood or splitting someone’s head, however, in a speed based battle it’s arguably the worst stance to choose.
I don’t know what he’s thinking-” said one of the spectators who used a sword as a primary weapon and the people seated around him agreed with his opinion.
” He’s much weaker than Alicia, he will be devoured alive, the black sheep of Mu family will not move on to round of 16″ said one of the judges as everyone except the alliance leader seemed to be convinced that Leo would lose.
” Just wait and watch, maybe this lad will surprise you” the alliance leader Dem Paltrow said as a soft smile spread on his face.
“Contestants ready? Fight!” signaled the referee once both fighters had assumed their fighting stance as immediately Alicia moved up on Leo.
*SWOOSH*
Leo swung his sword in a vertical slash with all his might as the approaching Alicia was forced to block it using one of the daggers in her left arm as she proceeded to use her momentum and turn under the sword to get closer to Leo.
*CLANG*
Leo’s bone sword collided with Alicia’s metal dagger making a distinct clanking sound.
Because of his lower level and stats, although Leo was using both his arms and putting the strength of his entire back behind the strike, he wasn’t able to force the dagger out of Alicia’s hands as she proceeded to move closer to Leo’s body using her existing momentum and extended her free right hand towards Leo’s neck, hoping to end the fight fast by immobilizing him.
It appeared as a done deal as well as there seemed to be no hope for Leo to maneuver out of that move, however, at the last possible second, Leo ducked causing Alicia to miss her mark.
*Stumble*
Unfortunately, after thrusting her dagger into nothing but air while being off balance, Alicia stumbled a bit which awkwardly allowing Leo to lift her atop his back when he stood back up.
” Let me go, you creep!” Alicia screamed as she could feel her soft mounds bumping against Leo’s hard shoulders, as upon her shout, Leo immediately offloaded, giving her a horrendous backdrop onto the floor.
*THUD*
She landed flat on her back, feeling winded and disoriented as by the time she gathered herself, she found herself staring down the pointy end of Leo’s sword as somehow she had lost this match.
” The winner of this match, first seed Jin Mu” the referee declared as everyone in the crowd and the judges felt baffled at what they just witnessed.
” Oye, oye, oye, what the fuck was that match?” One spectator asked the other, as the usually stoic and emotionless assassin’s lost their cool when spectating Leo Skyshards unbelievable luck at work.
“This has to be a coincidence right? There’s no way he planned this right?” Asked a spectator to the sword master who seemed unsure of what to say?
From start to finish, Leo had nothing but utmost calm expressions on his face as he even shook hands with his opponent after his victory.
He did not seem surprised that he won and keeping true to his character as the biggest big shot he pretended like it was all a part of his plan when it clearly was not.
The judges gave him an 8 while giving his opponent a 6 for the match as Leo walked out of the arena after politely bowing to the judges.
Out of everyone, the people that were the most happy that Leo won were Lin Mu and the Alliance Leader who had a hearty laugh about how Leo won.
On one hand the other judges began to doubt if their eye for picking talent was inferior compared to the Alliance leader and on the other Lin Mu being the second ranked seed increased the popularity of the Mu clan by severalfold.
Just like Leo, she too won her match in under twenty seconds, however, unlike him she did not use luck as a factor.
Thoroughly dominating through dagger mastery, speed and strength, she proved to everyone that the Mu clan was more than just a clan of seductive beauties and received a high score of 9 from the judges for her dominating performance.
Miraculously, both Jin and Lin Mu had made their way to top16, raising the prestige of the Mu clan several fold amongst the Assassin Alliance.