The fight continued until it was the tenth one. Four Patientia Academy students advanced, and the rest were Temperantia Academy students. As expected, skills and experience really shone when they were in a one vs one fight.
It was Oliver's turn, and I could see Karin got excited and shouted from the spectator seat. Oliver was using a shield and short sword, a combination often used by a kingdom knight.
His opponent was someone from Temperantia Academy, someone trained to be a real knight. It was a boy with a huge body and muscle mass. The choice of his weapon was similar to Oliver's.
From what the announcer said, that boy's name was Bill.
That made me wonder whether he was Jill's brother or something, but apparently not. This boy was the third son of a Baron with a small fief, while Jill was a Viscount's first son from earlier. As for their family name, I couldn't really care less.
"Who do you think will win?" Alesia asked curiously as her gaze was on the arena. She stopped drinking wine after her first glass. Unexpectedly, she still understood not to drink excessively in such an event. "I can't judge just by looking at them. And my <Appraisal> Lv isn't high enough to be used past this glass."
'So she only has at most Lv 4 <Appraisal>. Lv 5 and Lv 6 are when the skill changes, and <Appraisal> can be used past a glass at that Lv.' I nodded gently in understanding and looked at both participants in the arena.
I didn't answer immediately.
If we judge from the body's proportion, the student from Temperantia Academy was better. He probably had high STR and VIT. That was a good status distribution for someone who wanted to become a knight who used a sword and shield.
However, I had appraised Oliver secretly before. When I did that, his status came out like this.
Name: Oliver Coppertree
Race: Human
Lv: 17
Sins: 0
Virtues: 236
Status:
HP: 100/100 (MAX 100)
MP: 17/17 (MAX 100)
STR: 18 (MAX 100)
VIT: 17 (MAX 100)
AGI: 19 (MAX 100)
DEX: 19 (MAX 100)
INT: 16 (MAX 100)
LUC: 60 (MAX 100)
Skills:
[Lv 2 Swordsmanship] [Lv 2 Shield Mastery] [Lv 1 Earth Magic] [Lv 1 Body Enhancement]
Titles:
[Viscount Coppertree's Heir]
His status was spread between every statistic. He was an all-rounder, similar to me. Not only that, he was Level 17, while when I appraised his opponent, the student from Temperantia Academy was only Level 15. His STR and VIT were 20, though, while his AGI, DEX, and INT were only 13 to 15.
Oliver could still lose if he lowered his guard. So he needed to be careful.
"Alright!"
The announcer who stood on the platform screamed loudly with intense energy.
"The last battle to advance to the top 10 will be started shortly. Are both participants ready?!"
"Yes," Oliver answered with energy and raised his shield.
He rotated his body slightly so the shield covered what lay behind it, even his sword that he held with his right hand.
At that moment, Bill also replied with a slight nod and raised his shield. His posture was better than Oliver's due to his body being bigger. He looked a bit menacing.
With both participants ready, the announcer shouted.
"Start!"
Both of them didn't move. They observed each other to find the opening. Wrong move from one of them.
At this time, I rested my head on my hand.
"You asked who would win, right?" I smirked.
Alesia nodded at my question without pulling her gaze from the arena. She clearly wanted Oliver to win and advance as he was the only one from the Royal Academy who passed the preliminary.
"At first, I was unsure because both have their own specialty." I started.
At this moment, Oliver moved forward slowly, still holding his shield. But he put it close to his body and walked like a crab.
"Oliver has higher stats overall, and he was 2 Levels higher than his opponent. However, Bill's STR and VIT are higher than his. So it depends on the situation."
"Situation? As to how the participant approaches the other?"
"Yes." I nodded, confirming what she had said.
In the arena, Oliver was now only 2 meters from Bill. This distance was perfect to attack if the other party had no shield.
"STR and AGI are important in battle between people who only bring weapons. Of course, weapon skills such as <Swordsmanship> or <Spearmanship> will definitely affect the duel. They will have more skills the higher their Lv. However…"
In the battle between two people with shields, there was one that would greatly affect the outcome.
"<Shield Bash!>"
"<Shield Bash>"
Both of them used the same skill at once. Their shields let out a faint blue glow and shot forward. The spectators got excited as the shields hit each other.
Bam!
A loud sound resounded from the arena, and the light flashed. Because the shields were made from metal, a spark flew.
No one was able to see anything for a second, but that didn't affect me much. And because Alesia was still waiting for me to finish my word and this was the perfect chance to explain it, I continued my previous explanation.
"The winner will be decided by whoever has higher Lv in their <Shield Mastery>."
In the arena, Bill got knocked back slightly and lost his distance. His hand that held the shield should be numb from the Lv 2 <Shield Bash> Oliver delivered.
Oliver's lips curled into a smile seeing a chance to end this fight. He raised his sword and swung it down, activating another skill.
"<Sword Slash!>"
The sword left a trail of blue light as it cleaved down Bill's shoulder.
"Kuh!"
The student from Temperantia Academy stepped back to dodge and managed to avoid it. However, he didn't escape unharmed. His broken balance made him fall to the ground with a loud thud.
Stepping forward, Oliver sent another attack using his sword. It was a simple thrust aimed at Bill's chest.
Swoosh!
The big guy couldn't escape this one and closed his eyes.
"Stop!" Bill shouted before the sword stabbed his body. "I surrender!"
Unable to force it to stop, Oliver could only redirect the thrust toward the ground beside Bill's body. The battle lasted only a minute at most, but his breath was rough. Using two skills at once for someone with low MP was a bit hard. That drained most of his stamina.
"Huff… Huff…" Leaning against his sword, Oliver tried to stabilize her breathing. Then he stepped away from his opponent and offered his hand to help him stand up. "You're strong." He praised Bill with a smile.
Bill smiled back and took Oliver's hand.
"No, you're strong. I was confident with my STR but was still knocked back."
"Hahaha, that's only because of the knockback effect from having my <Shield Mastery> Lv 2. I managed to raise it before the tournament." Oliver explained.
"I see…" Bill nodded in understanding. "That was a good fight. Good luck in your next fight."
"Yeah."
Both of them left the arena without any enmity. Rather, they looked satisfied no matter the result.
Watching them leave, I stood up and stretched my hand upward. After a few minutes of rest, it would be my turn again.
"Student Arthur."
Before I left, Alesia suddenly called out to me. I stopped and turned around, looking at her curiously.
"Is there something that matters?"
"Teach student Oliver some tricks if you meet him." She said with a grin on his face. "It seems you're not only skilled in fighting but also analyzing it too."
"I will do it if I have the chance," I replied with a smile and left the balcony room.
