Chapter 615: Events - 615
At the same time as she walked over, Duke Mel sighed inwardly. He had not wanted to come so far for this event, but his daughter had refused to talk to him until she was brought.
Considering they were now fiances, it was not bad that she was attached to him, but he couldn't help but feel he was losing his daughter.
However, remembering what he had heard about Skymender after entering the Imperial Capital, he felt that perhaps it wasn't so bad. At the very least, his daughter would marry someone who had saved a future Duchess. In fact, perhaps it was an opportunity.
Melly was ecstatic to see Skymender and instantly gave him a hug. Val, standing to the side, frowned.
Skymender half heartedly gave her a side hug back before she got off. Looking around, she felt embarrassed. She also noticed Val to the side, whose expression was back to a normal one.
Skymender spoke first. "Melly, this is Val, the future Duchess of Vass."
Melly was surprised and gave a slight bow.
"My name is Melly, daughter of Duke Mel."
Val gave a slight bow herself.
"My name is Val, Skymender introduced me already. Are you the fiancee that I've heard about?"
Melly nodded.
Skymender looked off to the side, feeling awkward. After all, Melly was his fiance, but it was no secret that Val had some feelings for him. He could ignore them, but it didn't make this situation any less awkward.
Melly and Val began to speak. Melly was innocently chatting, finding Val pleasing, while Val was secretly upset and inwardly disliked Melly, not because of her personality or actions, but simply because she was Skymender's fiance.
After a moment, they both turned to Skymender, who spoke.
"Let's continue. Your mother had some people to introduce me to?"
Val nodded. "Yes. Let's go."
Skymender and Val walked forward, with Melly now coming along.
They quickly reached Duchess Vass, who looked at Melly in surprise. "Well hello there."
Melly bowed and introduced herself, though Duchess Vass already knew who she was.
"Skymender, come say hello to Marquess Gutren."
Skymender looked behind her and saw a kind looking middle aged man. Skymender bowed and introduced himself.
"I've heard a lot about you from Duchess Vass. She has a very good impression of you, though that's only natural considering the fact that you saved her daughter."
Skymender smiled and spoke. "I've also heard about you, sir."
Skymender spoke of some of the Marquess's known achievements, information gathered from history books, causing the Marquess to smile.
"I'm glad to be known by at least some of the youth nowadays. If you ever need something, you can always come talk to me."
His words were only said out of politeness, but Skymender thanked him for them nonetheless.
After that, Skymender was introduced to some of the other nobles around.
From Dukes to Marquess's to Earl's to Count's and even to a Baron or two.
Skymender exchanged polite words with each of them, and they as well to him.
Melly and Val seemed to become background figures as Skymender momentarily became the center of attention.
He had planned to excuse himself soon after, but all of them appeared to be interested in him, so he stayed for a while. Before he realized it, the first event was soon to start. Skymender was offered to join all of them at a table, but he politely declined and returned to his aunt's side. Neither Melly nor Val came with him, returning to their family's sides.
The Emperor stood up.
As he did, the remaining chatter fell to absolute silence. He snapped his hand, and hundreds of servants entered the room.
In front of all of the nobles, an arena began to be constructed. Obviously, many parts had been made in advance to speed up its creation, but in the middle of the room, which was still extremely large, an arena slowly appeared. After around 20 minutes, the servants exited the room, leaving behind a well constructed arena.
The Emperor spoke. "Although the most talented among you have already been marked as potential Sword Masters, the talent of those below them, in many categories, may not necessarily be inferior. To showcase these talents to the world, three events will be held today. The first, a competition of technique. The second, a competition of physical strength. The third, a competition of intelligence. Let the first commence."
As the Emperor spoke, Sword Master Deyr stepped onto the arena.
He spoke to the entire room. "Although there are many ways to test technique, in most of the world, swordsmanship is seen as the pinnacle. Therefore, I invite any youth under the age of 18 to spar among each other. Potential Sword Masters not included."
Every year, the first two competitions were the same. A sparring between youths, as well as a lifting competition afterwards.
Usually, people hesitated to get on the arena, but this time, an usually eager participant stepped on the stage.
Skymender's face did not change when he saw him, but he inwardly sighed
Grabbing one of the wooden swords, the young man spoke out. "Skymender of the Sky Barony. I challenge you."
This young man was none other than the person that Skymender had kicked in the stomach.
In the Imperial Capital, besides him saving the daughter of the Duchess, this was the most well known event regarding him.
It was due to this that nobody forgot the arrogance he held inside.
Skymender stood up. There was no chance of him losing. Despite being younger and not having truly practiced the sword, his sister, as always, was a potential Sword Master.
It was hard for others to comprehend the benefits of training with such a person. However, not only had he sparred against a potential Sword Master many times, he had also seen one grow.
Seeing the changes in Skybelle's technique after each sparring session instinctually caused Skymender's Swordsmanship to grow.
Although he was nowhere near the talent of his sister, he was above average, without a doubt.
Chapter 616: A Play - 616
Skymender made his way to the arena and grabbed one of the wooden swords. There were multiple types of wooden swords, as well as different lengths.
Skymender had always used the classic longsword, and he knew his ideal length.
He grabbed it without hesitation and stepped into the arena.
His opponent looked at him seriously from the other side.
Sword Master Deyr watched from the side and spoke. "Let the first battle commence."
Many in the room recognized the boy, as well as Skymender. Murmuring sounded out, speaking of what had happened. The few that had been unaware now learned of Skymender's violence against the noble boy.
The boy ran up to Skymender, nearly twice his age. He swung his sword down, while Skymender leisurely raised his up.
The tip of his sword cleanly brushed against the edge of his, and Skymender moved his wrist, flinging the sword down to the side, completely missing Skymender.
The boy still held the sword, but it was unnecessary to disarm him. Dragging his sword upward, the boy was uppercut by the sword, unable to defend.
He was lifted almost half a foot into the air before falling down, knocked out. Skymender did not show off, but ended the battle quickly.
Many were astonished, but even more found it natural. His sister was a potential Sword Master after all.
Skymender turned around, planning to leave, until he heard a voice. "I challenge Skymender."
Skymender turned around again, and saw a boy no older than twelve coming towards the arena.
Looking around, he saw many other children with bright eyes, looking directly at him. It seemed they had taken him as a target.
The other noble boy was awoken and taken off of the stage, while a new one climbed up.
As the battle began, he charged towards Skymender, letting out a horizontal slash.
Skymender let his sword hang vertically, blocking the attack, then in a similar motion to before, uppercut the boy, knocking him out.
Before he could hit the ground, multiple children spoke at the same time. "I challenge Skymender."
Another one, deemed to have been the first to speak, was sent up.
He slashed horizontally, and Skymender blocked it the same way. He sent an uppercutting attack, but the boy jumped back before he had even swung.
The boy then instantly leaped forward with his sword in a piercing position. Skymender took a step to the side and the boy, who had put too much forward thrust, was unable to smoothly stop himself.
Skymender kicked his leg, causing him to fall over, and pointed the sword at the back of his neck.
Once again, multiple voices sounded out at once.
A horizontal slash, a block, a leap back, a piercing attack, but more controlled. Skymender stepped to the side, but the sword stopped and turned, slashing at him from the side again.
Skymender's sword moved quickly, hitting the opponent's sword hard.
Slightly turning, he adjusted his body and swung his sword at his legs.
The opponent fell to the ground, and Skymender pointed the sword at his back.
Another multitude of voices.
Horizontal slash, block, quick retreat, pierce, dodge, side slash, quick hit away, turning and attacking the leg, blocked by the opponent.
Skymender swung up and uppercutted his opponent with the wooden sword.
Once again, and again, and again.
Nobles watched as their children memorized attack patterns and walked up to the arena.
Finally, after so many battles, only one remained that shouted out.
Horizontal slash, block, quick retreat, pierce, dodge, side slash, quick hit, leg attack, blocked, uppercut attack, dodge, side slash, blocked, neck attack, ducked, leg attack, jumped, slash down, rolled over…
It was as if a play was taking place. Skymender could have switched up his attacks long ago, but he wanted to see how far this farce would go.
After around two minutes of attacking, the boy was knocked out.
Skymender had been challenged by nearly a hundred children older or as old as him.
Some had failed to follow the guidance of those before them, while some had done so and provided a path forward. Slowly, they managed to produce someone who could fight against him for almost two minutes.
Skymender felt as if he was looking at the human will directly in the face, saying that it would never give up.
It was admirable.
Those who had been defeated, instead of being upset, looked happy, as if they had contributed to something greater than themselves.
Most of the people in the room were smiling, even the Emperor had a less stern expression on his face.
Nobody else challenged him, and Skymender stepped down. A few people entered the arena and challenged others.
However, nothing as shocking as Skymender's performance took place.
Some people went up that even Skymender would have struggled to fight against, but they had no interest in what had been happening before.
The next few fights were between rivals or people who hated each other. He even saw some people from the same family fighting with great hatred.
The 1st event soon ended. Another hour long period of freedom began. Once again, a large number of nobles either congregated near the emperor and the kings, or went and spoke to them.
Meanwhile, Skymender was surrounded by children, ages ranging from 7 to 17, who were clearly admiring him. These people were not at the top of intelligence, skill, or strength within their families, but they were all nobles. It was surprising to see the looks of admiration.
From that point on, regardless of what he wanted, a group formed around Skymender.
When he went to eat, the tables were swept. When he sat down, many tables went without chairs, taken by the children.
They asked him questions, and he answered them. He told them about his sister, as well as about some of his other family, such as his eldest brother.
Everything he said seemed to have value in their eyes.
This continued on, nobody else even being able to get close, for an hour, until the second event started.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
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