Chapter 327 Day 3
Scores of Test of Skill of Fighter Archery Tournament:
Lanthanor: 12 Points
Black Raven Kingdom:8 Points
Kingdom of Arafell:8 Points
Axelor:17 Points
Eldinor: 5 Points
Scores of Test of Skill of Mage Archery Tournament:
Lanthanor: 7 Points
Black Raven Kingdom:3 Points
Kingdom of Arafell:5 Points
Axelor:17 Points
Eldinor: 18 Points
Final Score at the end of the Second Day:
Lanthanor: 43 Points
Black Raven Kingdom:23 Points
Kingdom of Arafell:26 Points
Axelor:70 Points
Eldinor: 38 Points.
Although there was so much gap between Lanthanor and Axelor, Daneel wasn't very worried because he had managed to keep his main trump cards hidden till now.
But tomorrow, tomorrow would be the day when the first of those would be revealed.
Taking out his communication trinket, he sent a message to make sure that everything was all set before retiring for the night.
…
Looking at the final score that was on the display trinket in their room, Norcet sighed as he realized that his home Kingdom might not be the one that would win the whole event.
Of course, as usual, his son was hyped for the day and was ready to bet all his money on Lanthanor once again.
He had won 200 additional Gold Lans with his first bet in the first stage of the mage archery tournament, but he had tucked away these winnings then.
As for the original 50 Gold Lans that had been given by Norcet, those had already been lost because his son had betted on Lanthanor once again in the next stage, where there had been no chance of winning.
Although Norcet had been tempted to give that speech that he had prepared, he had held back because there were still 200 Gold Lans for his son to gamble away.
So far, 100 of those had already been lost due to the other two stages that had taken place.
And, just like before, when they reached the stadium for the third day of the Olympics, Norcet watched as his son walked to the Olympic Bets stall and made another two bets of 50 Gold Lans each on Lanthanor winning the first stages of the wrestling tournament and the duel tournament that were scheduled for the day.
Dusting his hands after completely emptying his pockets, his son walked back to him with that trademark confident smile that had already gotten on the nerves of the mage who had lost quite a sum of money on that first upset.
Now, Norcet realized why it was so irritating.
Mainly, it was because of the fact that as citizens of the Lanthanor Kingdom, they knew that they were supposed to have the same trust in their King, but their minds told them that that would be foolish.
Still, telling himself that it would finally be the time to give that speech soon, Norcet patted his son and both of them walked to their seats where the mage was already waiting for them.
"Did he do it again?", the mage asked quietly as soon as he saw the two of them sit down.
"Yes. 50 each on Lanthanor winning both the stages today. As soon as it's all gone, I'll be telling him what we discussed."
As if looking forward to that, the mage chuckled to himself and looked at the kid who was already starting to shout and cheer the soldiers who had just entered the ground.
"When you're doing so, call me too. I NEED to see it."
Nodding, all three of them focused their attention on the ground, where the third day of the Olympics was about to start.
…
"The rules of the wrestling tournament are simple: use your fists and your body to wrestle your opponent to the ground. There is a time limit of one minute per round, and points are given based on how many times you are able to lay them on their back. The fighting will take place in a circle, and points are also given if you force your opponent out of it. These are the only two ways to obtain points, and the winner is the one with the most points after five rounds. This is a contest of pure, raw strength. But be aware, as power might not be everything. The officials will stop the match if there is a threat to any participant's life, and those who do not stop the fight when the command is given will be disqualified and their score will not be counted. There are also mages on standby who will deploy barriers to protect competitors and heal them instantly in dire situations. All precautions are in place to make sure that no one dies, so we are going to have some very exciting matches where the determination and perseverance of each and every soldier is going to be tested. So, lastly, I just urge you all to not try this at home! Let the third day of the Olympics begin!"
After this speech from Sylvesto came to an end, Faxul and Daneel, who were once again viewing the ground from the official booth of the Black Raven Kingdom, took sips from the wine glasses in front of them.
"23 points. How're you going to close the gap? Is everything still going according to your plan?", asked Faxul, once again seeing the scoreboard.
With a sigh, Daneel answered, "What do you think? And how is your plan going?"
"Oh, just fine. And I think you didn't expect to be lagging behind with such a large margin. So, when is our friend going to make an appearance?"
With this question, Daneel turned to the side to see the smirk on his friend's face.
Well, after all, this particular trump card was something that both of them had developed together.
"Soon."
…
In the ground below, the commander of the contingent of the Kingdom of Arafell shook his head as he saw their low score.
"No sad. Today win. Bash bash bash. Win win win."
Hearing these words that were said in a determined voice from above him, he smiled, knowing that today was their day.
This competition had been designed to test all the important aspects of mages and Fighters. In them, close combat hand-to-hand combat strength was something that was also really crucial to every Fighter.
And in this aspect, there was no one better than the giants.
Instead of teams of 50, this time, only 20 were needed.
And in the contingent of Arafell, he was the only human.
The contest would take place by random draw, with each competitor walking up to a ballot box to pick out their opponent.
Even those who would do the picking were chosen by random, and their name would be removed along with the one they picked so that duplicates weren't picked out.
Everyone had some kind of inkling that the Giants might have an advantage, but they could never have guessed just how much of a factor it was if a competitor stood at at least over 10 feet tall and had such resilience that they wouldn't budge no matter how much force was applied to them.
Indeed, these had been instructions given to the Giants, whose only job was to stand there, crouched, allowing their opponent to do whatever they wanted.
Along with ferocious strength, it was known that Giants also possessed very strong skin that even arrows couldn't pierce through.
Only, many seem to have underestimated just how much they could take without flinching.
Their legendary patience was on full display to everyone, as they only smiled at their opponents no matter how many times they hit them or tried to topple them to gain points.
This would always go on till the end of the match, at which point a few Giants would try to get some points by using their hands to shove someone out of the circle.
Some were fast enough to dodge, but even then, they couldn't gain any points and the matches all ended in a draw.
Because this was meant to be an event where Kingdoms were tested against each other, there was no case where the Giants would have to fight each other, as those from certain Kingdoms could only pick out opponents from the other four kingdoms.
In the event of a draw, the two competitors would have to fight again with others who had also gotten a draw, until finally, there was only one pair of giant and human left who had no more opponents.
The officials were helpless by this point, and even the spectators and the crowds had started to find the expressions of the opponents of the giants funny.
Treating this as a special case, both of these computers were given a bye, but as expected, the human was eliminated soon after.
As for the other humans who competed against each other, they mostly used punches and kicks to push someone out, so in all the cases, it came down to raw power.
The first stage was meant to pick out the top 50 from the hundred who were participating, with those that had lost the most matches being eliminated from the competition.
And, as had become clear from all the matches, the final 50 was dominated by Arafell.