Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Swordsman Versus Archer
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"Our village's pride! Go, Hauka!"
"Tarutan! Show that lanky oaf your courage!"
Do-jae moved to the spectator seats set aside for the participants.
The first match between Hauka and Tarutan was about to begin, and he wanted to gauge their skill level.
He was curious to see how the gray elves fought and how they differed from humans.
"Both contestants, please make the Oath of the Forest!"
Standing in the arena, Hauka and Tarutan followed the referee's instructions, placing their hands on their heads and beginning to mutter.
Do-jae later learned that this act, the Oath of the Forest, was a custom common to all elven races—a noble act of pledging to their forest and their god that they would keep their promise.
"The first match will now begin. Start!"
Waaaaah-!
At the referee's signal, an explosive roar erupted from the crowd.
Simultaneously, Hauka and Tarutan rushed at each other, swinging their swords.
Clang-! Kang-!
Their blades met, producing a sharp, metallic sound.
The spectators thrilled at the sight of them clashing with all their might from the very beginning.
"That Tarutan fellow's strength is no joke, is it?"
"Hauka's no pushover either. He's not just tall!"
Both Hauka and Tarutan wielded swords.
Thick, heavy, greatswords at that.
Gray elves, with their superior physical conditioning compared to humans, favored such thick blades.
Screeeech-!
Kang-!
They were evenly matched.
Their swordsmanship was comparable, and they put on a spectacular fight with the light, swift movements characteristic of gray elves.
Do-jae watched with envy, admiring the gray elves' bodies that could move so freely while wielding such heavy swords.
Meanwhile, Hauka and Tarutan continued to trade blows.
Their fierce battle pushed the crowd's excitement and cheers to a fever pitch.
Clang-!
"I… I lost…"
After a close fight that lasted nearly thirty minutes, Hauka declared his surrender.
The prolonged battle of attrition had left both of them exhausted and wounded, but Tarutan's final burst of concentration had slashed Hauka's thigh, causing him to lose his balance and drop his sword.
Tarutan immediately pressed his sword to Hauka's throat. The victor of the first match was Tarutan.
Waaaaah-! Wooooh-!
The crowd roared for the two who had put on a magnificent duel.
When Tarutan extended a hand to help Hauka up, the spectators cheered until their throats were raw.
"Khehehe, ah, youth. The spring of life."
An elderly gray elf had approached and sat down next to Do-jae at some point.
He spoke to Do-jae.
"Isn't this just children's roughhousing? Nothing to see here. Why don't you come have a cup of tea with me instead? I'm curious about the young lady's face."
The old gray elf grinned slyly and tried to pull off Do-jae's robe.
Do-jae swatted his hand away and said.
"I refuse. This match has more to teach than you might think."
"Hiek! A man? Ugh, tsk. So much for that."
Hearing Do-jae's voice, the old gray elf scowled and walked away.
Watching him leave, Do-jae thought that despite being a perverted old man, he couldn't be taken lightly.
The fact that he had advanced to the main tournament with such an aged body, and still appeared so relaxed, gave Do-jae a premonition that he would not be an easy opponent.
***
The second match was Katania's.
Do-jae watched her fight with interest.
"Hah!"
Katania wielded two daggers as if they were extensions of her fingers.
Her fluid, curving swordplay was like a dance, deflecting every sword swing from her opponent.
Her opponent was by no means weaker than the previous two contestants.
In particular, he had bizarrely long arms; if he let them hang loose, his palms could reach his knees.
He used those long arms like whips, attacking with deft skill.
Swish-swish-swish-!
However, Katania's agility far exceeded her opponent's expectations.
Though he attacked with incredible speed, waving his arms as if they had no bones, Katania parried every blow before slipping into his guard, finally pressing her two daggers against his throat and heart.
"The winner of the second match is… Katania!"
Waaaaah-!
The crowd, which had been watching with bated breath, finally erupted in cheers.
If the previous match had been a heart-pounding duel between men, this one was a battle of single, decisive strikes.
The fight had ended in an instant with one spectacular move.
The atmosphere in the arena grew even more heated, and with that fervor, the third match began.
Creeak-.
'Of all people, I have to face him as my first opponent. I'll have nothing to say to Sari.'
Returning to the waiting room, Do-jae looked at a young gray elf sitting far away.
He didn't need to try to know that the elf was extremely nervous.
It was Tuvartan, the warrior from Nightingale Forest that Sari had mentioned.
'A one-on-one against an archer. It's good for me, but it'll be a disadvantage for him.'
Next to Tuvartan lay a greatbow made of steel.
During the second preliminary round, some participants had been eliminated by arrows, all of them Tuvartan's handiwork.
In the chaos of a melee, no weapon was as efficient as a bow for killing enemies.
Even for a skilled fighter, dodging an arrow while focused on an enemy was not easy.
A gray elf, being especially nimble and skilled with a bow, had the ability to shoot even in the middle of a chaotic battle.
But a one-on-one duel was different.
Furthermore, in a designated space with no obstacles, an archer was at an absolute disadvantage against a swordsman.
They couldn't leverage the advantages of a bow at all.
'Still, the fact that he's using a bow must mean he's confident. I'll have to see what he does.'
Waaaah-!
The roar of the crowd could be heard even inside the waiting room.
Soon, the referee, using amplification magic, announced the end of the match, and Tuvartan rose from his seat.
It was time for the fourth match.
The fight between Do-jae and Tuvartan would begin shortly.
***
"Contestants, please step up to the arena."
Following the referee's instruction, Do-jae climbed onto the arena platform.
From the opposite side, Tuvartan also ascended, his bow slung over his back.
"Both contestants, please make the Oath of the Forest, pledging to a fair and just fight."
At the referee's words, Tuvartan went first, raising his hands above his head and making the oath.
He muttered as if chanting a spell, and the words "Nightingale" and "Kuran" could be heard.
Seeing this, Do-jae felt it would be awkward to do nothing, so he mimicked Tuvartan, placing his hands on his head and pretending to mutter.
"Now for the introduction of the fourth match contestants! He's a young warrior who has made it this far. Wielding that greatbow as if it were a toy, he eliminated seventeen participants in the second preliminary round. The master archer of Nightingale Forest! Tuvartan!"
"Wow! Tuvartan is so handsome!"
"Crush him, Tuvartan!"
The referee's introduction was met with fervent cheers from the audience.
Even to Do-jae, Tuvartan was a handsome youth, and he stood out among the brawny warriors who had made it to the main tournament.
"Next is this man of mystery! I myself have yet to see his face! Summoning golems, he advanced to the main tournament with ease and without exerting any effort. The summoner from Nightingale Forest! Lee Do-jae!"
"Lee Do-jae? What kind of name is that?"
"Referee! Take off that guy's robe! We can't see who he is at all!"
The crowd's reaction was cold.
There were no gray elves who would cheer for Do-jae, whose face was hidden and whose name was so peculiar.
Some even jeered or hurled insults.
However, there was one person.
One person cheering for Do-jae with a booming voice.
"Master, win! Master, this Oson Ironhammer is cheering for you!"
Oson was standing on a chair in the front row of the spectator seats, waving his hands.
"What's with that dwarf? How did a dwarf get into the arena?"
"So that's his master? How does he manage his slave?"
The gray elves who saw Oson muttered amongst themselves.
Although Sari rushed over with a troubled expression and led Oson away, the crowd's reaction toward Do-jae grew even colder.
"Thanks, Oson."
Do-jae grinned.
A single word of encouragement changed Do-jae's mood more than a hundred insults could.
Even though he was forced to wear the robe to hide his identity, being booed by tens of thousands of spectators was not a pleasant experience.
But thanks to Oson's support, Do-jae could now face the fourth match in high spirits.
"Alright, the fourth match… begins now!"
***
Waaaaah-!
The fourth match began with the roar of the crowd.
Tuvartan quickly put distance between himself and Do-jae, drawing his bow.
'He said he's from Nightingale Forest? A lie. I'm the only one from my village participating. He must have faked his village registration.'
Tuvartan glared at Do-jae.
He wanted to punish Do-jae for falsely claiming to be from his village.
'That guy uses golems. The moment a golem appears, I'll shatter its core.'
Tuvartan drew an arrow with incredible speed and aimed it at Do-jae.
His specialty was Rapid Fire.
While most gray elves were skilled with the bow, Tuvartan's speed was unparalleled.
'The guy commands a total of four golems. I'll finish it in five shots, one for him too.'
Tuvartan planned to end the match with just five arrows.
He was that confident.
After the humans disappeared and the gray elves began to descend to the lowlands, they came to favor swords over bows.
Accordingly, Tuvartan's father had made him learn the sword, but he had stubbornly insisted on using only the bow.
Because Tuvartan knew.
He knew he had a talent for archery.
As a result, despite his young age, Tuvartan had become a master marksman, his reputation spreading even to other villages.
'Bring them out. I'll destroy them all. It's just your bad luck you were matched against me.'
However, as time passed, Do-jae did not summon any golems.
Instead, what he drew was a black scale.
'A sword? A summoner trying to fight with a sword. What a fool!'
Tuvartan smiled in victory.
Archers were said to be at a disadvantage in close combat, but Tuvartan had worked hard to strengthen his lower body to overcome that weakness.
He could move faster than anyone and shoot arrows at an incredible speed.
'Good, I saved four arrows. Take this!'
Tuvartan released the tautly drawn bowstring.
The arrow, as massive as his bow, was so thick that it made a sound as it cut through the air.
Clang-!
'What?'
The arrow he expected to lodge in Do-jae's shoulder was helplessly deflected by his sword.
'He blocked it that easily?'
Tuvartan couldn't hide his surprise.
He hadn't shot with all his might, not enough to snap the bowstring.
Assuming Do-jae's physical abilities would be low since he was a summoner, he had shot lightly, but that concern proved baseless as the arrow was blocked with ease.
Fwoosh—.
Fwoosh—!
Fwoosh— Fwoosh—!
Tuvartan fired four more arrows in succession.
The speed was astonishing.
It was so fast it was hard to tell if he was shooting one by one; the next arrow was loosed before the first had even reached Do-jae.
However, all four arrows were blocked by Do-jae's sword.
'Is he not a summoner?'
His plan to end the match in five shots was thoroughly thwarted.
That left him with twenty-five arrows.
Once inside the arena, he couldn't get more, so he had to finish it with the remaining twenty-five.
'Damn it…'
Tuvartan retreated from the slowly advancing Do-jae, backing himself to the edge of the arena.