Chapitre 41: 41
Just the daggers were about to connect, similar to before, Frankie found himself coming up against an invisible wall. This felt incredibly familiar and it gave Frankie quite a shock because this should have been impossible. Arthur was able to stop his earlier sneak attack because he tackled him from the front.
Based on Frankie's observations so far, Arthur could only use his magic down the direction he was facing. The origin for the wall of force came from the man's lips. It was because of this that Frankie opted to fly over the man's head to assault him from the back. That was supposed to be his opening but he seemed to have failed on that front as well.
As Frankie expected, the force that came soon after blasted him away and unfortunately for Frankie, it was much harder to gain balance in mid-air compared to when he was on solid ground. At least if he was on the ground, he could use friction against the ground surface to help lessen the force in Arthur's voice.
However, in mid-air, Frankie could not even find his landing. Arthur's voice sent him careening through the air, his limbs flailing frantically as the man tried to find purchase. He tumbled and flailed like a lost kite consumed by the stormy weather.
It was ironic because Frankie did this, hoping to take advantage of Arthur's presumed weakness but in the end, it was his own weakness that was exposed.
Frankie slammed against the ground with a heavy thud and his face grimaced from the pain. The force in Arthur's voice that blasted him away prevented him from attempting a smooth landing.
The adventurers in attendance had no idea how to explain what they had seen.
"Wait, did he just issue a shout from the back of his head?!"
"Did he have a mouth on the back of his neck or something?"
"How is that even possible?"
They knew what they saw but they could find no valid reasoning for it. Frankie was going for the weak point on the back of Arthur's head but suddenly, a shout elicited from Arthur's back sent Frankie flying. That was something that was anatomically impossible... Unless you had the blessing from the divine and managed to unlock the skill called [Voice Throwing].
Indeed, Arthur had used his latest acquired skill to move his shout to the back of his head. Arthur was indeed surprised when Frankie performed that series of gymnastic and flew to the back of his head but thankfully, the man had been ready and made use of this risk that Frankie took to turn the situation around.
However, the match was not yet over as one of the adventurers commented, "Shush, Frankie still has a chance. The fall at most will just lead him to suffer some scraps and scratches. If he can get back up, there is still a fighting chance left!"
Arthur thanked this person silently for reminding him to end the match. He turned and saw Frankie was indeed trying to get up from the ground.
Naturally, Arthur was not going to let that happen. He had already exhausted all the tricks in his sleeve, if Arthur gave Frankie the chance to recover, there was no telling who might be the ultimate victor. In that case, Arthur would rather end the match while he still had the upper hand.
Arthur opened his lips to chant another round of vocal materialization. Similar to before, the voice did not escape from his lips. He had used the skill, [Voice Throwing] one more time. However, this time he did not move the shout to the back of his head but channel it directly above Frankie.
The wall of force slammed down on the man heavily. Frankie who was in the middle of righting himself was pushed back against the ground. He was so close to the ground that he could see the pebbles that littered the arena.
Frankie tried to move his body but he was unable to resist the force that fell on him. He could barely nudge his fingers much less his body. It was much harder to face a force that came from above rather than one that came head-on because for the former, you would have to compete with the existing force combined with the pull of gravity.
Frankie tried to hold on as long as he could but he knew he was no match for the man. In the end, his resistance gave and he breathed out, "I yield."
Other people might not have heard him over Arthur's scream but Arthur heard him clearly so he ended his shout.
As Arthur's shout petered away, the ramblings started anew.
"Did I hear correctly? Frankie just surrendered?!"
"I think you might be right. Arthur has won!"
"I cannot believe this!"
And with that, the Echo in the arena matured. However, Arthur did not consume it immediately but he walked towards Frankie. He extended the man a hand and Frankie accepted it with a defeated smile.
In all honesty, Arthur had nothing against the guy. If anything, he admired the man's courage for calling out bullshit. On top of that, Arthur also felt sorry for using Frankie to cultivate his Echo. The man technically did nothing wrong other than to stand up for what he believed to be justice. Arthur admired that about Frankie.
Furthermore, Arthur was honest enough to admit that the match was closer than he anticipated. He won due to two main reasons, the element of surprise and his past experience. If Frankie had known about Arthur's Voice Magic beforehand, the outcome of the match might be entirely different. Other than that, if Arthur had not just fought the Red Mother, thus gaining the experience necessary to face off against opponent that relied heavily on speed, Arthur could have lost.
In conclusion, Arthur had nothing but respect for the man.
Frankie gained a good deal of respect for Arthur as well. Arthur was a graceful winner and Frankie found that admirable. He leaned on Arthur's shoulders as he was carried to the side of the arena to recuperate.
The rest of the adventurers quickly came over to inspect on Frankie's injury. The man was fine. He was just exhausted from the battle.
Right then, Lady Morgan who still stood on stage asked, "Well, is there any other objection to Arthur's level D adventurer placement?"
The arena was silent. There was no objection. Thus ended Arthur's journey to acquire an upgrade to his ranking, to become a level D adventurer.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone