Free Web NovelChapter 485: The Tournament
They didn’t even get to stop by their rooms after getting the cards, or at least some of them didn’t, Lane included. There was no need for them to, since they didn’t have any luggage they needed to drop there or anything - everyone had their belongings in their spatial bags, which they had to bring with them anyway, as they had their equipment and weapons there - thus, they could be immediately taken away in jeeps to wherever they were assigned as guards.
In Lane’s case, it was the tournament site. He was one of the lucky ones who were given a chance to watch the tournament in real life while on the job. Although Lane doubted it had anything to do with ’luck’.
Was it perhaps one last act of mercy his parents were willing to grant him before disposing of him? Ensuring that his last day of life wouldn’t bore him to death before they could eliminate him?
Or could it be that they wanted to show Nyla off to him? In a ’this is what you could have been if you behaved well and came to us with your abilities’ way?
Well, if it was the latter, if they were hoping to make Lane regret breaking away from their control, then they failed miserably. Because Nyla...
Hadn’t improved much since the previous year. Her telekinesis ability might have gotten a bit stronger, although still not strong enough to break into S-rank, but when it came to her other skills...
Leaning against the wall, Lane turned his eyes to his sister, who was fighting monsters with her stupid, heavy longsword. She was doing well. While she wasn’t topping the rankings - there were quite a few S-rankers participating this year who stole the top spots - she had been able to score a lot of points and continued to earn more, as she moved to the central part of the arena, where she had to fight the higher ranking monsters while resisting the (diluted) hypnosis coming from the monsters from the Lapis Lake, hidden in underwater cages.
Still, her performance wasn’t much better than what Lane had seen during the tournament the previous year. It seems that she had hit a plateau.
Lane’s brows slowly lifted, as he watched Nyla stab another monster and pull out her sword.
Yep, definitely a plateau. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
It wasn’t all that surprising, all things considered. The heavy longsword and her fighting style, so closely resembling Miles’, didn’t suit her at all. Just like Lane, her main strength lay in agility, not power. Therefore, she would have been better off with a lighter weapon and a speed-based style... She might have been able to become extremely proficient with the longsword, but she couldn’t break into true mastery.
That’s just how things worked. Not every fighting style was suitable for everyone. And there was nothing wrong with it...
It was just that Nyla insisted on sticking with the one that wasn’t suited for her. Or rather, the Allens most likely forced her to. She was the heiress to the Allen Guild, after all, her public image had to suit her status. That included even things like her fighting style, thus the heavy longsword. It was the weapon that exuded an aura of ’refined authority’, or some other bullshit like that.
With a heavy sigh, Lane averted his eyes from his sister to see how the other participants were faring. At the end of the day, Nyla was a grown woman. She had her reasons for going along with what their parents expected of her, and unless she asked for help, there wasn’t much Lane could do about it. He couldn’t just drag her out of the Allens, no matter how frustrating it was to watch.
The tournament lasted for several hours, until late into the afternoon. In the end, Nyla managed to finish in ninth place. Not too bad, but could have been better.
The Allens were not going to be satisfied with that.
Lane didn’t have time to check on her, though, not even from a distance. Because,
"Hurry up! Make sure that all the monsters are dead! The sooner you finish it, the sooner we can all go home!" the leader of his guard team called, beckoning everyone to enter the arena. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
That’s right. The job of the guards at the stadium wasn’t just to watch over the event, but also to clear all the remaining monsters that the tournament participants didn’t finish off. Only once all the monsters were confirmed to be dead without a shadow of doubt would the cleaning team, made up of lower-ranking Espers, be able to enter to collect the carcasses and prepare the arena for the games scheduled to take place the following day.
Lane’s fingers tightened around the grips of his twin daggers, as he looked ahead. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to stage an accident - distracted guards at the end of their shift, dead monsters scattered everywhere, damaged obstacles obstructing the view... Who was to say that there weren’t any monsters left hiding, ready to attack? After all, the arena hadn’t been announced as ’clear’ just yet, it was precisely their job to confirm it.
Taking a deep breath, Lane stepped forward, grovel crunching under his boots as he walked through the field, his eyes scanning his surroundings, as he moved to every dead monster, stabbing each of them for a good measure. Aside from the monsters that could be hiding, another thing that Lane had to be careful about were the cameras watching from above, registering his every move. If he showed anything surpassing what an A-ranker should be capable of, he would end up exposing his true rank to the Allens...
However.
"Alright! All clear!" The team leader’s voice eventually announced from the speakers. "Our job here is done. You can head back to the Emerald Manor now!"
Lane lifted his eyes, looking at the man watching the arena from above. All around him, the other guards were already walking towards the exit.
That was... it?
