The preliminary round of the Birth Festival, with a total of 182 participants, was a survival match in which free combat would continue until 32 people had been selected.
There was only one rule for defeat.
Do not let your back or knees touch the ground.
So long as that rule was observed, it did not matter whom you fought, whom you allied with, or even whether you resorted to underhanded means.
“Honorable warriors, begin.”
With the queen’s declaration, the preliminary round began.
Amid thunderous cheers, the participants raised the wooden weapons they had each been issued.
However, contrary to what people expected, the opening phase unfolded less as a battle and more as a wary contest to gauge one another’s abilities.
Being the first to move carried risks in many ways.
There was the issue of stamina, of course, but it was also difficult to respond to a sudden ambush.
At that moment, Ravana, the dark elf captain of the royal guard, who had been watching the situation unfold, furrowed his brow as if displeased.
“They’re all nothing but spineless cowards.”
At his voice, silence descended over the arena.
As if answering that silence, Ravana adjusted his grip on his sword.
“In that case, I’ll go first.”
Like a tiger, he plunged into the midst of the participants and swung his sword fiercely.
“Waaah!”
Cheers poured down from the stands.
Countless participants fell before Ravana’s wooden sword like autumn leaves in a gale.
And with that as the signal, the participants began to bare their teeth at one another in earnest.
The same was true for Ian, who was positioned in a corner.
She looked at an unknown dark elf charging toward her and let her wooden sword hang low.
“Huaaap!”
Ian raised her sword to meet the dark elf’s wooden sword as it came crashing down vertically.
Claaack!
Their wooden swords collided with force.
The instant the dark elf’s sword was knocked up into the air, Ian struck the back of his knee.
Thud!
Looking at the fallen dark elf, Ian smacked her lips.
‘Their level isn’t as high as I thought.’
She had not been nervous to begin with, but even so, the exchange just now had ended far too blandly despite the fact that she had not used any skills.
Of course, that was proof of just how much Ian had grown.
Name: IAN
Gender: Female
Level: 23
Stats: Strength 26 | Agility 28+5 | Stamina 20+3 | Magic 16
Proficiencies Held: Basic Swordsmanship (307/1000), Basic Magic (171/1000)
Ian’s current level was 23.
And in her opinion, the dark elf she had just fought was slightly weaker than the search party members she had battled at first.
Considering how much she had grown since then, victory was only natural.
Meanwhile, at that same time, Emily, the level 22 shield warrior who was considered a favorite to win among the humans—
Clang!
—was facing an alliance of three dark elves.
“Why is she so damn solid?”
“There are no openings. Is there no way through?”
“Just keep pressing her for now!”
Despite their relentless chain of attacks, her shield did not budge.
As though she knew exactly where every attack would come from, the arcs they drew were always blocked by the massive shield.
Soon, a wooden spear appeared from behind the shield and shot toward them like a swift snake.
“Guegh!”
The dark elves fell one after another beneath that powerful blow.
Then, to face the other participants rushing toward her, she lifted her shield once again.
As soon as the preliminary round began, Naira and Mugi quickly formed a team.
Naira wielded a wooden sword instead of the bow she normally used, while Mugi indiscriminately cast magic at anyone who approached.
“Mugi, more coming.”
“Yeah. Buy me a little time.”
Thanks to the long time they had spent fighting together, the two moved in perfect coordination and easily repelled everyone who came at them.
However, not everyone was going through the preliminary round as smoothly as they were.
“Why are they all coming after me?”
Diego, the level 20 archer, dodged around here and there while firing arrows.
But while his attention was elsewhere, a wooden sword drove in from his blind spot.
Thwack!
Struck in the neck, he collapsed onto the arena floor.
Rafael, the level 21 mage, also continued to create flames and ice.
But a stray arrow that came from somewhere slammed into his solar plexus.
“Keheuk!”
Hit in a vital point, he spat and lost consciousness.
This tendency appeared often among archers and mages.
Because they had grown accustomed to party play until now, it was difficult for them to bring out their full strength in a situation where no one was protecting them.
In the end, archer and mage players were eliminated in droves.
And the dark elves showed a similar tendency.
However, overwhelming power could overcome any difficulty.
The staff of the strongest mage present struck the ground.
“Fire Wall.”
Damar, the dark elf chief mage.
A wall of flames burned those who rushed toward him.
“Frost Nova.”
At the same time, waves of ice bloomed beneath their feet, sealing their movements.
Unable to withstand the harmony of flame and ice, they sank to their knees.
Ian watched the sight with gleaming eyes.
“Is that… higher-tier magic?”
The spells Damar had cast were ones she had never seen before.
Memorizing the range and destructive power of the magic, she turned her gaze elsewhere.
There stood the person who, on the day she first arrived in Tedumaya, had leveled a spear at her throat: Sankaka, the guard captain.
Every time he took a step forward, the fiercely spinning spear sent participants flying helplessly, and Ian thought to herself.
‘If I’d had to fight him back then, could I have won?’
Sankaka’s martial prowess was impressive enough to make such a thought cross her mind.
As if proving that the talk among the dark elves—that this time, he would surpass Ravana and become champion—had not been empty.
But.
‘That side is incredible too.’
Ravana, the winner of the previous Birth Festival Tournament and the captain of the royal guard who protected the queen from closest by, was no less impressive in martial prowess.
No, perhaps because he was the same type of sword user as her, Ravana’s sword drew her eye even more.
His swordsmanship was not flashy, but it was steadfast and concise.
At a speed difficult to follow properly with the eye, Ian clicked her tongue in admiration.
For that reason, most people did not go near him.
But among them, several were watching for an opportunity, constantly aiming for Ravana.
Of course, they failed time and again.
Among them, however, was someone familiar to Ian.
“Adrian?”
A level 21 warrior with a slender body, well-developed lean muscle, and a massive axe.
While Ravana was taking down one participant, he launched a surprise attack.
“Stampede!”
Adrian’s axe charged toward Ravana’s side.
For the first time, Ravana’s eyes widened.
Kraaaak!
Ravana quickly twisted his sword and barely managed to block Adrian’s axe.
However, it was impossible to perfectly withstand an axe carrying its full force.
Overpowered, Ravana’s body left the ground and flew through the air.
Watching that, Adrian clicked his tongue.
“Wow… damn. He held out against that?”
It had been a blow delivered with all his might, but Ravana, though forced back a great distance, landed without losing the slightest bit of balance.
Of course, that did not mean he had taken no damage.
After rotating the wrist of the hand holding his sword, he smiled bitterly.
“Well, I won’t be able to use this for a while.”
Because he had failed to block it properly, his right wrist was swollen.
At the very least, it was clearly not in any state to swing a sword properly.
Because of that, Adrian did not miss the opening either and closed in on Ravana.
His axe, wrapped in light, danced once more.
“Assault!”
At that moment, Ravana switched his sword to his left hand and blocked Adrian’s axe.
Clack!
This time, Adrian’s eyes widened.
“So you can use your left too, is that it?”
The force he felt was evenly matched.
No, Adrian was certain that Ravana’s level was higher.
The only reason they seemed equal was the difference between axe and sword.
The instant their weapons met, Adrian realized that, apart from that, Ravana was ahead of him in every regard.
‘I have to push him back here.’
At least his opponent could not use his right hand.
Only by pushing him back with all his strength here would he create an opportunity for the next move.
Basic Axe Skill, Sixth Form.
Single Enhancement Art.
“Enrage!”
Adrian’s eyes turned bright red, and at the same time, the muscles across his entire body swelled taut.
Then, Ravana’s voice reached his ears.
“Trying to push me back isn’t a bad call. But you’re putting in too much strength.”
“What?”
At the same time, Ravana and his sword slid along the blade of the axe and drove inside Adrian’s guard.
Having lost its support, Adrian’s axe traced a wide arc and cut through empty air.
Ravana did not miss that opening and immediately drove his sword into Adrian’s side.
Unable to respond to the blow, Adrian’s body bent at a right angle and flew through the air, just as Ravana had before.
“Kuh!”
However, Adrian could not land properly the way Ravana had.
Thud!
In the end, he staggered, and his knee touched the ground.
With that as the final blow, the referee’s voice rang throughout the arena.
“Everyone, stop moving!”
With Adrian’s fall just now, the number of people standing in the arena was exactly 32.
“To the 32 warriors who have passed the preliminary round, congratulations.”
Amid cheers from the spectators that shook the earth, the preliminary round came to an end.
***
After the preliminary round ended, night fell over Tedumaya as well.
It was the time when everyone was resting in order to continue enjoying the festival.
However, the front-line players centered around Emily had rented out a tavern in the shopping district and were talking.
The topic was naturally Ravana, the captain of the royal guard and the boss of Area 4.
Emily reprimanded Adrian.
“Honestly, that was reckless. What were you thinking, fighting him alone?”
“I was curious how strong he was. Though I was surprised because he was much stronger than I expected.”
“That’s… true.”
At the power he had shown in the final moment, not only Adrian but everyone had been shocked.
A clean deflection without using any skill.
That was something neither Ian nor anyone else present could do.
“So, do you think we can win?”
Adrian smiled bitterly.
“If we all gang up on him, maybe. But one-on-one, it’ll probably be hard. If we get stronger than we are now, who knows.”
On top of that, Ravana’s level was 28.
Compared to every player present, his level was far beyond theirs.
So they could not win one-on-one.
Adrian’s reasoning was entirely reasonable.
However, there was not the slightest sign of disappointment on Emily’s face.
“Then it’s not completely impossible.”
“How? Is there some way to raise our levels in a short amount of time here?”
“Of course. Though you, who got eliminated at the very end, wouldn’t know…”
Emily’s gaze turned toward those who had passed the preliminary round.
“When we passed the preliminary round, the system gave us experience points. Everyone got them, right?”
“What?!”
“It was pretty generous, actually. I bet some people leveled up this time. I did too.”
“Uaaaagh! My experience points…”
Seeing the main tournament participants nodding at Emily’s words, Adrian grabbed at his own hair.
If he had known this would happen, he would not have shown off… He regretted it, but the bus had already left.
Emily looked at Adrian with pity and continued.
“So if we keep winning like this and raise our levels, victory won’t be impossible. Of course, we’ll have to make various other efforts as well.”
As everyone nodded, Shaura, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, raised his hand.
“What sort of efforts do you mean?”
“As you all know, Tedumaya is probably an area centered around PVP. There are no monsters here, and a ridiculous festival like this opened right when we arrived. Unfortunately, though, we’ve been playing with a PVE focus until now.”
This was also why archers and mages—Mugi and Naira aside—had been eliminated in droves.
They had more experience fighting monsters than anyone, but when it came to fighting people, they were no different from beginners.
“So in order to clear this area, I think we need to build up PVP experience. And there’s only one way to do that.”
Emily struck her two fists together.
“We fight each other.”
At the declaration that they would have to fight, those gathered there swallowed.
This was a death game where death in the game carried over into reality.
The fact that they would have to point weapons at someone brought about an instinctive revulsion.
However, no one could oppose her words.
Because if they failed to defeat the boss during this Birth Festival Tournament, no one knew when another opportunity would come.
“Fortunately, tomorrow we won’t go straight into the main tournament. We’re being given a day of rest. We have to use this opportunity as much as possible.”
So.
Emily met each person’s eyes in turn and said,
“Everyone, please gather early tomorrow morning.”