The next day at noon, we leisurely head to the martial arts tournament.

I'm glad they entered.

Is.

　I'm smiling and so am Lunamaria. But Dad Ronin was not happy.

d*mn it, what's with the order in the preliminary round? Who's an idiot?

They're trying to shorten the duration of the event by holding qualifying rounds.

"Thanks to that I only have to enter in the evening

It's not good for parent-child conflicts.

　Lunamaría with a grin. When you give up, Ronin asks you, "Well, well, whatever," he says.

"If I'm going to move you, you're going to have to win the preliminary round, son.

I know. If you're going to lose, you're going to lose to your father or Mr. Hyphen,

I wish I could have said, "I'll beat you all up there, but, well, you can't beat me.

　Once I regained my good mood, my dad went along with the last adjustment. A quick hand meeting at the venue.

　Then, when the fates would have it, the Arkham Trials qualifier.

Now, what kind of qualifier is this?

　And listen to the words of the presenter who came to the hall. The sorcerer-like man begins to explain.

This preliminary round will decide who will go to the main competition.

　Someone asks, "Do we suddenly qualify in battle?

"Are we going to qualify for a battle all of a sudden?

"No, we will first measure the combat power.

The top of it will play a random match, and if you are the last one standing, you pass.

　Looking around the venue, there are about 30 people. Considering the space available for the game, the foot-slicing line is about the top eight players.

Then we can't afford to play around. We need to get a real high score.

　I see a machine that measures combat power. It's a magical one, and apparently it gives you a number when you apply a physical attack or a magical attack here.

I don't care if it's physical or magical.

　They say you can choose which one you are good at, but I was a hybrid type of warrior, good at physics and magic.

On the contrary, it's difficult.

　And yet choose both.

　If either is OK, then choose them all at once. The teaching of the gods is simple and clear. So you put your magic into the wooden sword of Toneriko and get into a position to release a sword flash.

The sky blade slayer!

　The air razor blade hits the measuring instrument.
　A thumping sound fills the hall. At the roaring sound, everyone in the hall looks back.

"Hey, hey! There's this monster?

"What was that noise, was that an explosive?

"The measuring instrument is dented at ...... and it's made of mithril. ......

　Various voices rang out and everyone looked at the display counters on the measuring instruments. They're wondering how much power an attack like that will have.

　I'm also curious because it determines whether or not you pass or fail. I take a peek at it, but the number written on it is unexpected.


　77

"Huh?　That's it?

　It's a letdown. In fact, the warrior who challenged me in front of me shot up to 108. And it was just a physical attack. His attack was patronizingly crappy.

...... Well, that's about it. I still have a lot of work to do!

　I said that and looked at the judge. I asked him if I could pass.
　He told me that I could probably do it by the skin of my teeth, so I went straight back to the waiting room.


　I passed the first round with flying colors, but the audience's attention was not on Will.
　When the runner-up of the last competition, Gordeau appears, he instantly takes the attention of the audience.
　He raises a large axe and slams it down on the measuring instrument.

　The numbers he gives are
　244
　The venue was .

The audience was buzzing.

This instrument maxes out at 255, so you're way over the limit.

I heard the last winner was 180, so I guess he's better than the winner in terms of power alone: ......

　The participants are astonished. Some even withdraw from the qualifying round because of Gordeau's sheer power.

　Gordeau's steel-like muscles were enough to awe an ordinary warrior.
The room was buzzing, but some of the administrators were buzzing in a different way.

　The next challenger appeared and attacked. The number was twenty-five. It's clear that this is a mechanical anomaly, and the tournament officials are astonished when they examine the machine. They analyze the record (log) and find something outrageous.

...... The previous challenger's numbers are also crazy. His attack has destroyed the machine.



No, no, no, that's not possible. It was already broken at the time of his attack, wasn't it?

It can't be. The only unusual waveforms in the log are his and the last participant.

　What does that mean?　Officials are clamoring for the name of the challenger who hit the extraordinary number with a pale face.

...... registered name Will.

　The record that the boy by that name logged

　Ninety-nine

That means it was unmeasurable.

But the convention officials kept the numbers quiet. I couldn't tell the higher-ups, and I still thought it was some kind of mistake. But they still declared Will to be a passer of the first round and allowed him to participate in the second round, the actual competition.




　Due to the mass exodus of participants, there were surprisingly few participants in the second round. You only had to beat two of them to be matched with Goldor.

Well, no matter how many participants, only one will make it to the finals. With Lunamaria and Dontanuki at stake, we can't lose.

　Once again, you are fired up, but soon it's time for a direct confrontation.

　Will takes down the two participants with a swift attack, and Gordeau takes down his opponent with even greater speed. One of the warriors seems to have been hit hard enough to run into the wall. The place is in an uproar.

...... You are indeed a cruel man. You are that merchant's boy.

　He may not be a born sadist, but his grueling training appears to have desensitized him to the pain of others. He seems to have a troubled personality that cannot feel compassion no matter how far away his abilities are.

"Looks like you need some moxibustion.

　That's what Ronin said, and it may be true.
　But that muscular body is tricky.

　She's clearly the stronger of the two. If it came down to a showdown, we might lose. --And so I was going to try to come up with a plan for the match with Gordeau.