Knight and Wand

Chapter 305: Knight Tournament
The sun was shining on the ancient and magnificent Colosseum. The huge building, which could accommodate tens of thousands of people, was now packed.

The spectator stands surrounding the stadium are stacked one after another, and people dressed in colorful costumes look like a grand sea of ​​flowers.

Accompanied by the passionate sound of trumpets and horns, the knights, wearing full-coverage heavy plate armor and riding on their war horses, stepped into the arena with upright postures amidst the cheers.

The knights' helmets were decorated with ostrich feathers, peacock feathers, wolf tails, and even bizarre carvings that were far more gorgeous than those on the battlefield. Not only did the knights and horses wear armor, but they also wore bright and gorgeous robes with emblems.

The flags they held high in their hands were painted with the emblems of their respective families - spread-winged falcons, roaring lions, galloping wolves, surging waves, dazzling ancient symbols and cloaks dancing in the wind, gorgeous and glorious.

The audience was already in a frenzy without even needing to be provoked. The grand athletic event in the royal capital injected exciting fun into the dull daily life. The shouts that rose and fell echoed over the arena, as if they were going to overturn the entire stadium.

The king's herald, wearing a long robe, a feather hat, and holding a scepter, swallowed the wine to moisten his throat, cheered up, and quickly stepped onto the viewing platform. He cleared his throat towards the purple curtain in front of him that was emitting magical light patterns, and then shouted in a loud voice:

"Another contest of strength and glory is about to begin. Today, the most noble knights of the kingdom will represent the dignity of their families in this arena, with a desire for victory! We will present you with the most glorious and fierce duel! ——"

As soon as the words fell, the knights galloped along the edge of the Colosseum, holding banners in one hand and proudly saluting the nobles, ladies and commoners in the audience with the other.

The sounds of horse hooves, cheers, and shouts intertwined together, ushering in the prelude to yet another showdown.

Such jubilant scenes have been going on for more than ten days since the start of the knight's tournament, but both commoners and nobles are still full of enthusiasm. Thanks to this grand event, there are no spectators in the capital's theater this month.

Even for the upper class, the gorgeously dressed actors on the stage are not as pleasing to the eye and exciting as real fights with swords and guns.

Leon, with his visor removed and wearing a winged helmet, rode his black horse and waved to the audience. His eyes were easily fixed on Olivia, who was holding a bouquet of flowers.

Although there were many beautiful noble ladies beside the girl, the woman leaning against the seat with a long sword was the only one and was particularly easy to recognize.

Leon pretended to imitate the knight who was flirting with some lady in front of him, and bowed to Olivia in a cheesy way on his horse, "I bring you another victory, my beautiful lady."

It's a pity that this greasy voice was drowned out by the boiling voices.

Olivia was amused by his odd expression and waved the flowers in her hand.

The people in this area of ​​the audience seemed to recognize the flag with a black background, grey wings and a red sword, and they shouted Leon's name with particular enthusiasm. It was unclear whether they were gamblers who had placed bets, or simply enjoying the fight between the knights.

Leon even caught a glimpse of a few audience members wearing bachelor's robes from the university. In the past few days, he noticed that they seemed to have attended every show. Every time, Leon could see them shouting with red faces and stretched necks. It seemed that even scholars who were buried in books had the instinctive male fighting impulse in their bones.

In the entire arena, there were probably only four special seats sitting in four directions. The four warlock masters who were monitoring the magic issues in the game were leaning on their long staffs, with calm faces; some of them even yawned.

In the one or two hundred years of their lives, warlocks have witnessed countless tournaments like this, whether held by kings and great lords or by local nobles. No matter how passionate their blood and interest are, they would have long since grown tired of watching them.

Hearing the horn sounding behind him reminding the knights to get ready, Leon smiled at his little wife, put on his armor, and rode back to the arena.

The King's Herald who presided over the tournament waited until the knights of today's competition arrived at their respective competition areas before continuing to yell at the top of his voice through the witchcraft curtain in front of him.

"——From the north where mountain winds and sea winds howl!
The emblem is a werewolf tearing through blizzards. His spear has pierced through countless Norse pirates and killed mountain trolls that hunted babies!
The Iron Man of Buchan, Baron William Huddes! "

A knight wearing a light gray and light blue robe with attached vertical shoulder armor and a frog-shaped heavy helmet, holding a wooden knight's lance with a hammer-shaped blunt head, rode to one end of the stable divided by gorgeous colored cloth.

After the herald finished shouting, his voice suddenly rose several degrees, and he shouted in Leon's direction:
"This side, - from the cursed nightmare forest!
The emblem is a long sword with raised huge wings. Look, the young hero who kills the evil snake, the griffin that breaks the dragon slayer's halberd, and the southern hero who defeats millions of undead!
The Lion of Avalon, Baron Leon Pendragon, who has won five games in a row without losing! ——

Who would you rather throw the flowers to? ‘Iron William’ or ‘Lion Leon’?

The deafening sound almost overshadowed the previous one.

Leon reached out to take the fist-shaped wooden spear with a cap that Corvis brought to him, and rode forward. He was used to the herald's exaggerated boasting, which was like that of a ring host on Earth.

Not to mention the knights with military exploits, even those without any achievements can be no worse than the bards. They can make up a set of impressive-sounding battle records that are in line with their knightly origins in front of tens of thousands of people without blushing or feeling nervous.

After all, no matter which world it is, the audience loves this.

During the preliminary round, Leon heard a herald bragging to his early opponents about killing giants and hunting dragon beasts, which made him very alert.

As a result, when they started fighting, Leon knocked his opponent down in one round, then he found out that his opponent was a watered-down knight with superficial martial arts and shallow skills. He was simply some noble who had too much money and had no place to spend it, so he came to join in the fun.

You know, although after halfway through this competition, the spoils and ransoms obtained by the conference officials and the opponents are very generous, but this is not just a simple celebration of the king throwing money. The financial threshold required for the players to enter the competition is not low.

Unlike the local conferences held in Avalon, the knights had to pay dozens of gold crowns as registration fees just for participating in this royal capital event, not to mention the ransom mortgage for the armor, weapons, and horses they could choose.

When local minor nobles held knight competitions, it might be simply a way for the lord to celebrate by spending money and have fun, but for the king's event, it would be difficult for a knight without some spare money to even qualify to participate.

Considering the number of contestants, the money collected from the knight contestants alone was as high as 70,000 to 80,000 gold crowns, which was enough to cover all expenses including prize money at all levels.

This does not include the cost of spectator tickets. Although not as exaggerated as the registration expenses for the Cavaliers to participate in the competition, the number of spectators is large. The accumulated amount of tens of thousands of spectators is not a small amount, almost equivalent to a small-scale tax.

The king might also be present in the gambling games that are being opened in the off-site casinos.

When you consider the consumption activities generated by the teams brought by knights and nobles from all over the world in the royal capital, the economic benefits brought to Orlando's finances far exceed the competition itself.

It’s a pity that Leon knew such a quick way to make money, but neither he nor most of the lords could imitate it.

With my current reputation, I might be able to hold a large-scale knight gathering.

However, hosting a large-scale event of this scale requires preparing for each item from scratch, whether it is an ultra-large-scale arena, a sufficiently mature organizing team, a set of rules to cope with tens of thousands of people, or a huge prize money to attract participants to willingly pay the entry fee. This is an act of losing money that is difficult for ordinary nobles to achieve even if they spend all their wealth.

Without these preparations, there would be no way to make back the cost or even earn a lot of money from the competition. Only rulers at the level of the king would have sufficient resources and manpower to do this business.

Weighing the assembled competition spear in his hand, which was much lighter than a full-steel spear, Leon rode his horse to the preparation position on the other side of the stable.

The Northern Knight standing opposite him looked at the Baron of Avalon in front of him through his heavy jousting helmet.

Black heavy plate armor, pitch-black heavy horse armor, his burly figure was wrapped with sword-wing emblem patterns, the griffin shoulder carvings shone brightly with gold, and the pair of helmet wings that soared into the sky were as red as blood in the sun.

William looked at the famous Southern Griffin Knight. Compared with the silver-white armor and robes of Earl North, the opponent's black seemed more oppressive and deterrent.

Although he heard that the other party was too young, William still had the illusion that people might have misrepresented Baron Avalon's age.

The Northern Warhorse beneath him was paddling its hooves restlessly, and the faint presence of its natural enemy made the beast feel a little uneasy.

Soon, the heraldsmen serving as the judges ordered the entire row of trumpeters to blow their trumpets vigorously, and the start of the joust interrupted William's slight nervousness.

With a loud shout and kicking their horses, the Northern Knights charged forward.

Leon also felt the galloping of the black horse under him in silence.

The ground rumbled as the two "biological chariots" moved faster and closer. The heavy war beasts raised dust from under their feet, and the robes draped over the horses fluttered.

——Bang! ! !

Amidst the deafening roar, both of the solid wood lances with threaded paint exploded, turning into wooden splinters all over the sky.

At the same time, there was a thunderous cheer from the audience.

William the Iron's blue and white robed body visibly leaned back, and a trace of red paint appeared on his scoring shoulder shield.

The blow nearly knocked him out of the saddle.

He clearly felt that he had stabbed Baron Avalon's breastplate accurately, but the horrific force he endured felt as if he had been stabbed by the other party at the same time and it was doubled. It was extremely strange.

The referees on the sidelines recorded the results of the crossover and tallied the scores for the two knights.

Leon just slightly adjusted his waist to perform the cat spin, and then easily dropped the exploded spear handle in his hand. When he rode past Corvis who was waiting at the end, he caught the second lance raised by Akao.

Pulling the main reins and turning the slowly slowing horse's hooves, this black warhorse that Leon borrowed from Baron Dawson had already developed a tacit understanding and trust with its current owner that far surpassed that of its former owner.

The black warhorse covered with head armor turned proudly and came to the starting point on the side of the previous opponent and stood still.

Leon looked at the iron-boned William in the blue and white robe opposite him, who adjusted his sitting position, changed to a new lance and turned around. Leon was not polite and immediately rode his horse to launch a second round of charge.

Once the jousting begins, there is no halftime break. As long as both sides cross the starting point of the next round of duel, they can attack without stopping. It is normal for a clumsy knight to be knocked off his horse before he can even start running.

However, the opponent this time was obviously not a fake knight. Baron William, nicknamed Iron Bone, raised his spear, shouted loudly, and rushed towards Leon again.

Leon saw through the opponent's attack trajectory, and before the two of them crossed, he dropped his spear and made a feint, aiming it directly at the neck armor of William's heavy frog helmet.

William was startled when he saw the fist-shaped gun tip of Leon thrusting at him from his narrow field of vision. He immediately counterattacked and blocked it with his shield. It is better to be penalized with two points than three points.

However, when the two attacks collided, William felt that he had stabbed nothing. At the same time, neither his neck nor his shield felt any contact with the opponent's spear, but instead a huge force came from his waist.

Amid the crisp sound of the lance's glory exploding, William was involuntarily stabbed and fell prone, forced to pull the reins and roll off the horse.

Cheers rang out, and Leon stepped on the horse lightly to slow down the clattering gallop of the black horse.

He dropped the butt of his gun and raised his hand to greet the excited audience in the arena.

You don't need to calculate carefully to know that if you fall off your horse, get hit on the chest armor, or have your glory explode, the victory or defeat is decided unless the opponent can knock you out on the spot.

William rolled over, stirring up a cloud of dust. He got up from the ground, pounded the ground unwillingly, and yelled at his servants with his blood boiling.

"--sword!"

The servant rushed into the field with a greatsword in his arms and handed the weapon to his master.

Naturally, Leon also heard the roar of his opponent who was still not discouraged.

Turning around, he jumped off his horse, threw away the emblematic shield on his left arm, and gladly accepted the continued challenge from the Northern Knight.

Leon pulled out the competitive sword that Corvis quickly handed to him and strode forward.

Two iron giants holding swords rushed towards each other like a gust of wind.

Leon didn't intend to waste his energy. From the moment they started fighting, he treated her with the same serious attitude as he did with Olivia.

In an instant, the audience who were close could only see the long sword in the black-armored knight's hand, which seemed to flash nine flares under the refraction of the sunlight.

The air wave vibrated, and the warlocks on all sides of the field frowned and peered, making sure there was no trace of magic.

The clanging sound of swords clashing shook William, who was frightened to feel nine sword lights coming at him. Surprised as if he was besieged by several people, he tried to swing the heavy sword with all his strength to break this strange sword skill that seemed like an illusion.

However, the physical blows shook the huge blade of the greatsword, and William's narrow vision was limited, and he was unable to defend against the tricky sword lights coming from all directions.

The shoulder shield was knocked off, a shallow scratch appeared on the arm armor, and his calf hurt, and his whole body was thrown off balance. The Northern Knight fell.

He tried to roll over to avoid the attack, but was pinned to the ground by a knee on his back.

Without giving him time to struggle, the long sword behind him rubbed against his frog helmet and pierced into the sand next to his head.

William heard the young voice.

"I win, sir."

Although William the Iron-Boned was unwilling to regretfully stop at the conference so early, he could only sigh, stop struggling, and let go of the hilt of the sword in his hand that he could not wield.

"Yes, you win, Master Pendragon."

The herald on the viewing platform raised his scepter high: "What a wonderful and glorious duel! Let us congratulate the Lion of Avalon for defeating the sixth powerful knight!!"

Standing up and releasing the suppression on Baron Hades of the North, Leon stretched out his left hand and pulled him up after the other party turned over, earning himself some etiquette points.

Although it has no practical use, it will make the numbers look better.
After accepting the audience's cheers, Leon returned to the rest area in the arena and, with the help of Corvis, removed the thickened tournament plate armor on his body.

Arriving at the backfield, Leon registered with the tournament officials to receive the ransom of the spoils pledged by Baron William Hades.

More than three hundred gold crowns were obtained in this way. The equipment on Baron William was worth a lot of money.

Of course, this amount is only recorded in one's own name now, and the cash will be distributed uniformly after it is accumulated after the competition.

"Leon, we've run out of spare lances again."

On the way to the auditorium, Corvis reported to him.

Leon nodded: "Let's go to the arena warehouse and buy another batch later."

In a tournament of this scale that lasts for a full month, the knights who are eliminated halfway through will not feel the impact yet, but the knights who are capable of making it all the way to the later stages may bring a dozen to twenty or thirty spare lances, which is a lot, but still not enough.

It's not just the standard competitive lances, but also the damage to competition weapons and armor, injuries to war horses, and all kinds of unexpected accidents that require money.

Not surprisingly, the costs of the competition are much higher than normal market prices.

However, knights who are able to continue to consume after fighting naturally have the financial resources to spend a lot of money to repair themselves and then earn glory and bonuses.

After such a circulation, a lot of money and profits flow back into the pockets of the event officials.

Ledwin, or rather the officials under Ledwin, are indeed excellent at making money.

Leon came to the aisle of the auditorium, and before he went up, he saw Olivia walking down.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to continue watching?" Leon asked.

Olivia shook her head. “The groups of knights behind you didn’t play very well.”

"Your vision is becoming more and more picky." Leon said happily, but it is true that if he can't take part in the competition himself, just watching the low-level competition would be as boring as watching two naughty kids fighting.

Holding her hand, Leon took her out of the arena early and walked towards the warehouse where the competition weapons were stored.

Glancing at the girl beside him, Leon asked, "Are you eager to try after watching for so long? Sorry, I didn't let you participate in the two knight competitions."

"It's okay. It's interesting to watch the battles and see many powerful knights. For example, Baron Kailan is really powerful. I don't have the confidence that I can beat him. However, it would be great if I could participate this time," Olivia said, looking at Leon.

"The day before yesterday, I saw the match of the great knight Kantadar who hurt you. His name was 'Valencis Arsen', right? He actually dared to come! Humph. It's a pity that I can't leave, otherwise I would definitely help you teach him a lesson." Olivia tightened her grip on her husband's fingers and said angrily.

She still remembered the heartache when she saw Leon's broken arm, which almost made her heart stop beating.

Leon smiled at his wife's indignation: "Forget it, have some faith in me, maybe I can fight to the end and then confront that guy to take revenge myself."

He also didn't expect that the Peacock Knight, who almost killed him on the battlefield, would come to Orlando to participate in the tournament held by Leadwin.

I heard that he came with the team of King Kaso of Kantadar.

Things are so unpredictable. You know, in the Battle of Usato, the Peacock Knight was an ally of the Duke of Aberle, a rebel in the South, and one of the enemies of the new King Casso.

Now, it seems like he has joined Casso's army again?
I don’t know how many twists and turns there are.

Soon, Leon strolled to a nearby warehouse with Olivia and Corvis, and explained his purpose to the conference's quartermaster.

The twenty or so people from Avalon consumed a large number of competitive lances in the competition, and those shipped from the Baron's territory had long been used up.

Although seven or eight Avalon knights had unfortunately encountered strong enemies and were eliminated from the individual competition, there were still many people who advanced to the next level. The entire Avalon team might need dozens or even hundreds of spears.

Leon naturally couldn't take away such a large number of items on the same day. He had to wait until Lohak and his team finished their game and then send a carriage to transport them.

He did not forget to check the quality of the spare spears with the quartermaster first. This was related to how much money the Avalon team could make at the tournament, so they could not be careless. Who knew if there were any inferior products among the spare equipment supplied to the tournament.

Coming to the huge warehouse that was protected from moisture and sun and filled with all kinds of competition lances and weaponry, the quartermaster held a booklet and looked around as he took inventory. He was a little confused. He remembered that a large amount of stock seemed to have been moved out yesterday to facilitate the purchase of the participating knights. But after he took over the shift, had it all been used up today?

"Lord Pendragon, please follow me and look inside." The quartermaster scratched his head and continued to lead the way.

"Aren't those okay?" Leon pointed curiously at the lances piled nearby.

"Those have already been bought by other adults, and will be transported to surrounding garrisons later." The quartermaster shook his head helplessly.

Leon had no choice but to go deeper into the warehouse with the other party.

The quartermaster looked around, his eyes lit up, he walked over to take a look, and turned back with an earnest attitude: "Yes, this batch seems to be newly shipped, and I heard it is made of high-quality Leviathan poplar. What do you think?"

Seeing the pile of brand new competition lances, Leon had no objection. He walked forward, untied the rope, picked up one and checked it.

Indeed, the material feel and workmanship are good.
Hmm? Is it an illusion? Why does it seem that the quantity is a little heavier than what I bought before?

(End of this chapter)