Chapter 287 - 287 The Strongest In The Tournament?

Having given up on trying to find Miguel, Marcus made his way back to the stands to watch the remaining matches.

However, when he arrived, he noticed that Gurrom was currently talking to someone unexpected, but very familiar to Marcus.

"Mraz what are you doing here. I thought as royalty you would have your own private box to watch the tournament in."

Yes, sitting next to Gurrom was Mrazivý, along with her guardian knight and the mage Diana standing behind her.

All of the other competitors had even given them a wide berth since upsetting a princess could be disastrous for any of them.

"Ah Irene you are back. I was actually looking for you, but your friend Gurrom here told me you had gone somewhere for a bit and would be back soon. Anyway, in the meantime I was able to complement and get to know the person that made my new sword." Mrazivý said with a smile on her face.

It looked like she was happy to talk to Gurrom, or maybe she was still elated from her victory earlier today.

Sitting down next to Mrazivý, Marcus could feel a number of curious looks from the other competitors and an icy glare from her guardian knight that still did not like him.

However, this did not deter Marcus who was used to this treatment and said, "So Mraz what did you want to talk to me about."

Shaking her head Mrazivý responded saying, "Not here, could we go somewhere private to talk."

But as Marcus was about to agree the announcer slash referee, loudly said, "And now it is time for our tenth match of the day. The last three went long with one even coming down to time, but will this match between two juggernauts be as fierce?"

The two competitors then stepped into the ring, and one of them was a very large man wear full adamantine armor, along with a huge adamantine shield on his back, and an adamantine flail in his left hand.

The other man had jet black hair and a small body, but Marcus could tell at a glance that he was very strong.

The man only carried a sheathed sword at his side and did not seem to be wearing any apparent armor.

As the two of them stepped up onto the ring, the announcer began their introductions.

"On my right we have the man known as the wall of the south, General Augustus Veral. He is one of the youngest generals in the kingdom, though the oldest competitor at the age of forty-nine. He is known for his unbreakable defense and his years of service protecting our southern border. But on my right is a man who is no less formidable and is the apprentice to the man who has earned the title of Sword Savant, Quillon1"

As the cheers of the crowd swept thought he arena it was pretty obvious that the man called the wall of the south was the more popular of the two.

To the kingdom he was a patriot and they wanted him to win while his opponent was just the apprentice of some guy with a fancy title most of them did not know.

Of course, among those who did not know was Marcus, but he figured that at least one of the two people sitting next to him would know.

"Mrazivý, do you know who this Sword Savant is."

Looking at Marcus in a shocked expression Mrazivý was surprised he had never heard of him.

"I am surprised you do not know of him, but he is said to be one of if not the strongest warrior in the kingdom. Of course, he is not actually a part of the kingdom or any organization for that matter from what I have heard. He simply wanders around to hone his skills with the blade, is what my father said once. I even heard that Knight Commander Darius challenged him to a duel once, but my father refused to tell me the outcome of their battle."

The way Mrazivý talked about him had a type of reverence that Marcus did not quite understand, and there was thing that was still bother him.

"If he just wanders around, how did he get any form of notoriety here."

Mrazivý practically beamed at this and said, "Around fifteen years ago a city in the western part of the kingdom came under attack from a gargantuan monster called a zomok. From what I was told it is a tangle of plants that takes the form of lizard that is over two hundred feet long. It threatened to destroy the entire city, but a single man walked out of the walls, and apparently with one slash of his sword cut the monster in half."

Nodding his head Marcus could understand how that could get people's attention. 

He had only defended one portion of the wall in River Landing and earned a name for himself, and this guy had defended an entire city single handedly, so naturally he had become a bit famous.

"So then what do you know about this guy Quillon who is his apprentice."

At this Mrazivý frowned and said, "I did not even know he had an apprentice until the start of the tournament. But it must be true otherwise he would not have been one of the seeds brought straight to the main tournament."

'Seems even Mrazivý does not know anything about this guy.'

Marcus then tried to ask Gurrom, but he knew even less about the sword savant than Mrazivý, let alone his mysterious apprentice.

It seemed that Marcus had gotten all the information he was going to get, and unfortunately, he was unable to see the level of either of the two competitors since his skill was being blocked.

'Well, I should at least be able to gage their strength once they get started.'

From what Marcus could tell both of these competitors were some of the strongest he had seen and since he was sure to fight one of them later, he wanted to get a good read on their abilities.

However, something astounding happened instead.

As soon as the referee called for the match to start, the guy named Quillon practically disappeared, and in a flash had appeared right in front of General Augustus.

Yet in that same instance the general's shield spilt in half along with a horrible wound going from the right part of his chest up to his shoulder.

It had all happened incredibly fast that very few people had seen what had happened.

In fact, even though Marcus had been fully focused on it, he barely caught a glimpse of Quillon's sword as it cut through the general's shield. armor, and body, before going back into its sheathe.

'An amethros sword.'

Marcus nearly could not believe it, but he was certain that he had seen the flash of the distinctive purple metal that was the strongest in the world.

Blood began gushing out of the general's horrible wound like a fountain and his right shoulder which was now barely attached to his body began falling away.

Thud!

The general, losing blood at an alarming rate and in shock from the damage and blood loss, fell over unconscious.

There was a stunned silence for a moment as everyone in the stadium was in a daze, before the referee caught himself and said, "General Augustus Veral is unconscious and can no longer fight, the winner is Quillon."