Cheers rang across the entire colosseum!
Thousands upon thousands of spectators watched as the squires fought, hoping to become knights. Jack was currently fighting Yrik. Brandishing his silver sword, he activated his stealth skill.
Which is necessary now because he had learned that when using stealth in battle, it can help throw off the precision of veterans. Yrik was not phased though, he was still very sharp and focused.
Then Jack activated his mist and ice skill, creating a thick mist. This mist would slowly build clumps of frost growing in the gaps in armour. This was not enough to slow down Yrik; a level 125 skill is nowhere near enough to affect a man at level 166. The was a flash of light, not an attack, but it was useful in the void, even if just barely, but it was highly effective in this mist. Then raising his sword, which glowed with radiance, the light shifted from white to blue, this would hurt.
Yrik could not be defeated with the ice, but he started to feel that the clumps were getting bigger, making the bending of joints harder. Then he attacked in the direction it had seen Jack, since the flash had momentarily revealed him. Then it struck the general area, but no-one was there, no other irregular movement of the mist, except of that made by the swinging of the blade.
He had been baited, just then Jack's sword aimed at where the couter met the rerebrace. That was when Jack felt a jar from the side, as he was hit by a flying sword. Jack tumbled and rolled, getting to his feet, his armour had held, otherwise he would have died.
That was Yrik's special skill, creating multiple swords which he can control. The blue glow on the sword is him moving some of his soul into the sword, to be able to figure out the shape of the object he wanted to recreate.
Jacks' special skill was to be able to deny his identity, making him good for spy missions and recon, but outside social interactions, it had few uses. So, to win this he will have to use his skills accordingly, he had not learned a power yet or decided on which to even pursue.
"It seems he is still lacking the vision."
The vision Yrik is referring to is the vision of absolute victory. This is the foundation of the knights, to be sure of certain victory in every battle. Jack might not win this battle, which should not matter to him, he must embody victory.
Loss is not shameful, merely a growth opportunity, conceit before battle even begins is. Jack is determined to win, but he still has not gained this vision, he still thinks he will lose. This is why Yrik is going to fail him, he's not even being harsh, it's just that most squires like him have to try for multitudes of times, before finally getting it.
This vision is so important that it trumps all strength. That is because on the regular, knights are faced with monstrosities of higher level, unlike the adventurers, they cannot afford to lose, otherwise there will be no-one to stand between the foe and the people meant to be protected. It is not about glory, honour, or valour, it is about fully embracing one's role as a knight.
The reason this is still more important than skill is because this is how the first humans unleashed their seals. Thus, a knight that fails to always carry the vision of prevailing in every battle, will be crushed by power. Power tends to have this effect on people, known as the 'numbness of power.'
This is why Yrik had decided that he'd seen enough, he will be ending this. Jack was still formulating a plan when he suddenly lost consciousness, all this happened instantly.
***
'What was that?' the Knight said as he turned around to face the centre of the disturbance. It was from the direction of the coliseum. The Knight had not seen it; it was elsewhere preparing for its battle.
"So, you felt it too boss."
***
Yrik was still way too weak to use the power he was pursuing; he could barely use it for a few seconds. Every time he tried, he felt a jarring presence assert itself, forcing him to fight harder to hold on, the more he fought, the worse things got. He felt like the presence never really noticed him, but the longer he tried it, the more he felt like he would get noticed.
The property he wanted power over is time. Ambitiously, one could do way more things with it, but all he could manage to do was stop time around a specific area for a few seconds. He had stopped time, struck Jack down and resumed its flow. The fight was over, and thus the time came to make room for the next battle.
The whole thing had lasted a few minutes, and although the being resisting the use of the power for Yrik had not noticed much, the Knight had. It and Mugaw had felt the strange set of non-seconds where the Knight was once again powerless, at the mercy of the user The Knight knew which fight was taking place, as such he knew who it was, it couldn't be Jack of course.
"Yrik! Maybe I should start keeping Daunting slightly active…" there were too many strange powers out there, like the Knight's own, one could not be too safe. The next fight came and went, eventually it was time for Dart to give it a try.
Dart faced down the knight he was matched with. He then summoned two beasts. One was a silver wolf; the other was a grizzly bear. Beast had souls, separating them from animals, this also meant that they could unleash their seals.
The wolf he had summoned was level 73, the bear was level 69, and Dart himself was at level 123, the knight he is facing is at level 147. The wolf would attack directly, and just like in a pack, the others would cut off the path of retreat while they deliver the blows. The grizzly was so strong, each shift it made in direction left cracks on the ancient stone platform.
It kept approaching the knight, Lady Nairn, from the left, but she was nimble, so she could jump remarkably high, and increase the rate of her decent. That is why Dart would try to sneak in a hit from the right during her landings. Their back and forth continued, that was when Nairn's sword flowed smoothly, the wolf dodged the hit and jumped backwards, but as it was landing from the dodge its head was split in two, Nairn had been hiding just how fast she could move – up until now.
Darts face winced, beasts can be stronger that spirits, but spirits come back when defeated, his wolf however is gone. He even felt the slight detachment from its soul; this was a huge blow to his offensive power.
His special skill is beast summoning; beast taming is a skill he learned to compliment the other. This opportunity was not going to be wasted; he sent the grizzly after her while her sword was still cleaving through the wolf. It managed to get a grip on the pauldron covering her right shoulder. The armour did not budge, but the claws set firm in the folds of the armour.
She was in an awkward position, she could not free herself from the hold, but she could not use her sword to free herself either. Dart knew this, but it's not like he could defeat her without both of his beasts, he himself was still insufficient, that did not matter though, he was winning this battle no matter what.
He started with a heavy run, his eyes grew brighter, no skill, just deep concentration in the fight. He had slowed down her sword; it was still slicing the wolf and had immobilised her; she was just too nimble. Now that she had shown that she was faster, he could not let the bear let her go. He was charging with a determined slash stance.
She rose her leg up, kicked the sword down, making it plunge deep into the platform. Dart then jumped over her and before he could even use the advantage of being in her blind spot, she abandoned her sword, and with the free arm, her gauntlet struck straight through the grizzly, killing it there. By the time it hit the floor, she was already facing Dart. This is when she saw it.
She flashed her own smile underneath her helmet. 'The soul is glowing brighter. This kid is still convinced he can win even after he sacrificed his beasts, and all for nothing.'
Then she felt a jarring from behind her, she was being jerked by a level 85 ram. She turned around, grabbed the horns, lifted it up and slammed it to the floor. Dart was already running in to try and kill her while she was distracted. She turned and moved to her sword, sheathing it.
She then walked slowly to him, Dart tried to throw a jab, she just grabbed his arm, looked at the crowd, and lifted his hand into the air, which was followed by silence then immense cheering, and filled Dart with even more confusion. He had sacrificed his arsenal, his ace, and still brimming with radiance, not even doubting himself.
These were battles for becoming a knight, so sacrificing beasts that strong was a lifetime loss, yet he had done all of that for a chance to get a fraction of a second to get her to drop her guard. She had decided then that she was going to give him the go ahead, she had even decided not to kill the ram. She had placed it with just enough force to keep it alive; Dart will be needing it if he wants to tame a few more beasts.
"You mean I actually won?"
She looked down on his raged face and smiled, "You would be knocked on the floor, unconscious if you had disappointed me. I had fun kid, we should spar later if you wanna grow even stronger, without your beasts this time." This old lady then continued to laugh. And just like that the squires were done with their fights.
***
There knighthood ranks are Paige, followed by squire, knight, Commander, Errant, Bachelor, Banneret, Marshal, Seneschal, then finally the Grand Master. Excluding the first two, each rise in rank is done through a challenge to the one holding a rank than one is aiming for. This is how the knight had become a Commander. A Bachelor serves directly under a Banneret, while an Errant are lower in rank to the Bachelor, they are alone and roam the lands accomplishing feats worthy of praise.
This being the main difference between these two ranks, a Commander has to challenge a Banneret to achieve these ranks. This is because to be an Errant, one will have to face dangers alone and needs to be strong enough to handle it. The Bachelor serves directly below a Banneret, as such they like to know their personnel.
This is also the reason today the Knight was not going to be facing off against a knight Banneret, Vice.
The Knight is strong, but it couldn't use its void freely, it did not have its army like Dart. So, in this fight it will be severely disadvantaged. The Knight entered the platform, the crowd was silent, to an extent, and on the other side of this ring was Vice, her helmet was on, her presence as huge as the Knight remembered, and this time, the whisper did not introduce her.
She brandished her black sword, its glint was dimmer, from all the scars of past battles. The fight began, the Knight had anticipated her speed, as such he had immediately teleported away, this did not help as it had to brace itself for the hit to the side. It angled its body so that the sword would slide off.
Then suddenly, Vice got a strange and disturbing feeling nearby, she was not sure where it was coming from. When she realised, she almost dropped her sword, her hands were shaking. Then the sword became even more terrifying, until it rung on the platform as she dropped it.
She was sure that this was no skill, it's exerting a pressure that was too natural, she felt fear for her sword?
'Just what kind of power is this?'
She also felt reluctant to look at the Knight who was teleporting around her. 'So, this must be his power.'
She tried to listen to his footsteps as he landed after each teleportation, but she was even terrified of that too. Next, she tried to get a reflection from her armour, she had thought that she would be afraid of the reflection as well, but there was nothing there. The Knight had gone invisible, 'camouflage skill.' How was she supposed to fight something that was petrifying her, she could not even rely on her senses.
'This power is alarming, the more you try to push through it, the more terrifying it gets.'