The Duel Tournament

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Somewhere in the extensive mountain range south of Caleria, between the territories of numerous nations, there lies the legendary Valley of Honor. Inmidst the desolate wilderness of this sun-plagued vale stands an old monastery, the crow-infested home of a group of flea-infested monks. The monks meditate in this valley, contemplating the original duel which founded this world, the primeval fight between Sword and Shield - and some say that even the spirits of the crows and the fleas travel back in time to witness this duel of duels, ensnared in highest epiphany.

Usually, few people care about his small dell in the middle of nowhere and its strange inhabitants, but sometimes, in erratic intervals, it suddenly becomes the center of interest.





Why?


Because sometimes, the monks of the monastery summon the fighters of all the countries to follow ancient traditions, to gather in the remote valley, to fight in the Spirit of Honor.

Sometimes, they hold the Tournament of Sword and Shield.

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Hundreds of people from far away lands populate the Valley of Honor in these days. In the scrub forest along the road that leads to the tournament ring, giant, colorful camps have been established to house the masses that still pour into the vale, and stressed out monks try their best to organize the influx of people. The brisk activity has scared away most of the animals of the valley, and only the crows have stayed and join in into the babble of voices and countless dialects.
Many people from nations at war meet in these days, but their respective leaders have vowed to respect the sanctuary of the valley - no form of aggression is allowed in this dell outside of the ring.
War rests in these days, and spirits are high.

Many contestants from various nations have entered the tournament for the honor of their lords and for their own glory, and many preliminary matches in the five classes have already been fought to identify the most worthy to enter the Tournament of Sword and Shield.

Right now, a crowd has formed in front of the large billboard at the tournament ring in front of the ancient monastery - the participants of the Tournament have been decided.

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Next to the placard of the DoReMiElf Class, a short notice has been affixed to the billboard. It smells of incense.

Due to notedly unfortunate preliminary rounds with many severe injuries and even a fatality, the DoReMiElf Class will only feature six contestants.
A fight demands victims - all glory to fighting.

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The circular, earthen tournament ring lies in the shadow of the high tower of the monastery in anticipation of the blood that will be spilled upon it while bearded monks swing cupreous censers and mutter their blessings on the ring. The wooden tiers around the ring are filling up with spectators, brilliantly colored banners flutter in the occasional breeze; crows take their seat on the flagpoles.

Today the Tournament of Sword and Shield will finally begin, and the people gather at the ring in tense anticipation.

As the incense monks finally leave, a man enters the ring. He is very tall, muscular and rotund while having strikingly narrow shoulders. Long, dark green robes cover his body and he is wearing large prayer beads around his neck; his bushy beard and eyebrows stand in large contrast to his shiny bald head. It is Jebra, abbot of the Monastery of Sword and Shield.

In silence he circles the ring a few times while spreading dried herbs and small pieces of raw meat on the loamy ground. While the crows feast on the bloody chunks Jebra raises his arms and exclaims: "The ring has been consecrated - may the duels begin!"


The crowd raises a cheer as the abbot leaves and the first duelists enter the ring.



TargetLady Class - Group II
TheNeclord vs. Harukaze


The first duel of the Tournament is a duel between two fighters from the Grasslands. On the right, a young man wieding a huge sword enters the ring. He is wearing traditional Safir garb, his long auburn hair is tied back, his face is cleanly shaven.
His opponent doesn't look like a Grasslander at all: A sabled figure in aristocratic attire, with pale, even grayish skin and ominous red eyes and fingernails. The gray haired man sports a sinister smile while he eyes up the youth at the other side of the ring, and although apparently not armed, he seems very confident, even slightly dismissive.

A middle-aged monk announces the names of the fighters and beats a large golden gong as a sign that the duel may begin. As soon as the gong resounds, TheNeclord starts to mutter incantations in an old language. His hand emits shrieking shockwaves as he summons the powers of his Darkness rune, and a black, semi-transparent mist arises around the body of the ageless caped man. Harukaze anticipates a powerful magic attack and acts fast: He stabs his sword into the ground, dashes forward with awesome speed and punches his opponent in the stomach. The punch makes Neclord stagger, and the pain and the surprise make him lose his concentration for just one second - but that's enough. The spell he was casting rips apart and the Darkness rune flashes up accompanied by a deep, guttural groaning sound, shortly before the powerful disrupted magic causes an explosion of darkness which engulfs the gaunt caster, sending him to the ground.
Harukaze rushes back to his sword, pulls it out of the ground and launches an attack on his bewildered enemy. Neclord manages to rise to his feet and tries his best to defend the attack, suffering only minimal damage.
Now Neclord regains his balance, and driven by furious anger he dashes forward to tear this young, insolent punk apart. The Safir warrior launches an all-out attack himself, and due to his superior speed he is able to sink his blade deep into Neclord's morbid flesh before he can even attack. The devastating blow sends Neclord to the ground again, and an unearthly screech can be heard as the fallen fighter clutches his gaping wound, shortly before he - much to the surprise of the spectators - changes into a swarm of fluttering bats that leaves the duel ring heading for the monastery.







Harukaze wins this duel.

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DoReMiElf Class - Group I
Goldmember vs. Barbarosa Rugner


It is now noon and so the time for the second duel of the first day has come.

On the left side, Goldmember enters the ring. The tall fighter from the Nameless Lands is wrapped in mystery and long, brown robes. He is carrying a long, golden staff, and his face is hidden behind a metal mask, while his cowl and gloves conceal the rest of his body.
From the right comes Barbarosa Rugner, the Mercenary King. The gray haired man with the walrus mustache is clad in golden plate armor and wields a magnificent sword, his long purple cape further contributes to his majestic charisma.
The spectators cheer in expectation of a grand match between these two impressing figures.

As soon as the monk beats the gong Barbarosa Rugner is summoning the destructive power of his Mother Earth rune while the High Sorcerer of Kamaro rushes forward. He holds his staff like a lance, revealing its sharp pointed lower tip, attacking his opponent with full force. The staff pierces the mercenary's plate armor and Goldmember thrusts his weapon deep into his enemy's flesh. The immense pain causes Barbarosa to stop his chanting, and unable to control the forces he unleashed and well knowing that the disturbed powerful magic will result in a mighty backfire he drops his sword and grabs the arm and staff of his opponent, drawing him even nearer towards him while the earth beneath the two fighters breaks apart. Barbarosa stares into the eyes of the cold mask of his enemy and smiles for the short moment before the powerful magic blows up in a huge explosion of energy, stone and sand. The detonation sends the two combatants flying through the air before they crash to the ground.

For a few moments, none of them moves. The spectators remain in anxious silence, before Goldmember slowly rises to his feet, still shaking and severely wounded, while his opponent stays where he is.






Goldmember wins this duel.

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Night has fallen on the first tournament day and the time for the third duel has arrived. The monks have positioned fifty-four torches around the ring, and the flames throw dim light and eerie shadowplay on the fighting ground.



CopperSun Class - Group I
Kuwaizair vs. Wiseman



On the left side, Kuwaizair of Jowston enters the ring. The delicate woman is wearing black garbs and a blue scarf, and she has tied a blue cloth around her waist. Her blond hair is tied up in the back, her blue eyes emit some sort of confusion, as if she were unsure if she's at the correct place at the correct time.
At the other side, a cloaked man enters the ring - he hovers into the ring. He is wearing a strange white mask and his hands shimmer in the darkness as if they were imbued with powerful magic - it is Wiseman, courtmage of the Empire.

As the gong resounds Wiseman shoots forward in a seemingly desperate attempt to strike his opponent. The spectators are surprised that the famous archmage is going into melee, but Kuwaizair seems as if she was expecting as much. She draws her rapier and assumes her defensive stance, and right before Wiseman reaches her she deftly dodges his attack. The cloaked man stumbles and driven by his momentum he crashes onto the ground. Kuwaizair tries to use this chance and attacks Wiseman, but the fallen wizard jumps on his feet, evades the attack with nearly superhuman agility and counters with another desperate attack. This time his fists hit, sending Kuwaizair tumbling backwards. She is able to defend herself in time though before Wiseman launches his next attack - and he seems to stick to his routine. Another risky all-out attack, and once more Kuwaizair is able to dodge, sending the overzealous mage to the ground.
Kuwaizair now grows more confident, seeing the famous wizard in the dust, and brandishing her blade she charges at Wiseman, who launches one more of his heavy attacks as well, and as the two fighters meet both attacks hit their target, inflicting severe damage to both duelists. Kuwaizair, somewhat dazed, tries to strike again, but Wiseman once more evades the attack and lands another desperate blow.

The Jowston fencer, already noticably weakenend, manages to gain some distance and is heavily breathing, while the Imperial mage recharges the magic energy that pervates his hands. Like he did in the whole duel, he then dashes forward for yet another desperate attack. Kuwaizair, somewhat used to them by now, defends and is able to send him flying again. She then rushes forward to the lying mage and punctures his leg with a fast thrust. Her enemy, showing no signs of pain or exhaustion, counterattacks with full force, inflicting heavy damage.
Kuwaizair, now at her limits, assumes her defensive stance, and her enemy is indeed launching one of his strong but predictable attacks again and as a consequence lands in the dust once more, suffering collision damage as he did numerous times before. Almost like an automaton, he doesn't seem to care and sticks with this sort of attack, and Kuwaizair sends him falling again.
The spectators are in awe of the nearly supernatural toughness of the masked man, since most fighters would probably already be knocked out, after suffering this kind of damage again and again. Kuwaizair thinks alike, and attempting to land the final blow on the presumably weakened mage to end this duel, she rushes forward to strike Wiseman down - and rushes right into the fist of her opponent. This blow is finally enough and Kuwaizair drops to the ground for good.
She did end the duel, at least.


Wiseman stands in the ring, in the flackering light of the torches, and is still showing no sign of fatigue. But as he realizes that this match is indeed over, he drops to his knees, breathing heavily, shortly before he teleports out of the ring.





Wiseman wins this duel.

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Day 2.


RuneDragon Class - Group II
Marshmallow vs. Sophita



This morning the spectator ranks are especially crowded, since the Queen of Falena herself will be fighting.
Her opponent is a man with glasses and a very long brown ponytail, wearing a hooded shirt and trousers with lots of pockets. It is Marshmallow of Zexen, known as the Silver Knight (although he certainly does not look like it). He carries a rapier and has attached a steel claw to his right hand.
Then the Queen enters the ring, the legendary Water Owl herself. The beautiful sovereign of Falena is wearing a white warrior's tunic with silver cuffs and blue accents, and her head is adorned by a small silver circlet which rests on her shiny brown hair.

While the Queen is still greeting her cheering fans and citizens by waving her perfectly manicured hands at the spectators, Marshmallow scurries forward with high speed and strikes the Queen with his steel claw, slashing her beautiful tunic in the process. Sophita looks down at her blood and her ruined clothing, gnashing her teeth in anger, and completey enraged she delivers a powerful blow with her silver halberd upon the unlucky culprit. Severely injured, Marshmallow tumbles backwards, tinting the ground red with his profuse bleeding.
But the Silver Knight does not back down so easily and launches another quick-attack. Sophita, busy trying to arrange her clothes, is only able to defend, and while she manages to deflect her enemy's attack, she is still hit by the claw. Now the Queen decides to take the initiative and rushes forward, attacking her enemy with high speed. Marshmallow, further weakend by this attack and already nearly at his limit, counters with a desperate thrust with his rapier, inflicting massive damage.
Fearing another anger-attack from Sophita, Marshmallow withdraws a few steps and assumes his defensive stance. But this time the Queen has herself under better control and raises her right hand, summoning the power of her Water rune. A volley of hail and ice rains down on her opponent, and the razor-sharp icicles virtually maul the fighter from Zexen, before he collapses in a pool of his own blood.






Sophita wins this duel.

[iscalio]

It is high noon, time for a duel, and the spectators have gathered at the ring for the second match of the second day.



TargetLady Class - Group I
Revolving Sphere vs. Shadow Wolf



On the left side, a young man with a calm and confident expression enters the ring. He is carrying numerous blades is wearing a long black cloak with red trims.
The arrival of his opponent is accompanied by the loud cheering of a group of Harmonian troopers - fans from his own platoon. It is Shadow Wolf, the Black Fang of the Howling Voice. Like his enemy, he is clad in a black cloak, and a piece of silver armor can be seen underneath.

As soon as the gong resounds, Shadow Wolf starts casting a spell. His forehead flashes up as he summons the powerful magic of his Thunder rune. His enemy, Urd of Falena, called the Revolving Sphere, rushes forward and stabs the Harmonian with his long dagger. While the blade is not able to penetrate the silver armor and inflicts only minor damage, the attack is enough to disturb the magic Shadow Wolf was casting. While the Guildmaster is still trying to no avail to regain control over the power of the rune, Revolving Sphere is already gaining distance, watching from afar how his opponent is getting grilled by his own lightning.

Since his enemy seems weak after this debacle, Revolving Sphere thinks that he might have enough time to summon powerful magic himself. And indeed, the Harmonian fighter is still lying on the ground as Urd calls the power of his Rage rune, trying to bring a couple of fireballs online. But shortly before he is able to finish his spell, Shadow Wolf suddenly draws a gun out of the folds of his cloak, and a quick shot in Revolving Sphere's shoulder disrupts the magic, causing the chain-casted fireballs to explode in their caster's face.

Shadow Wolf, still twitching from the electrical charges, finally manages to stand up. His opponent, lying at the other side of the ring, disfigured by severe facial burns, is groaning and hardly moving. The fire has destroyed his cloak, revealing weird tattoos on his back and shoulders. Suddenly strange runes in his hands start to emit a faint light, and a red aura encases the Falenian warrior. Revolving Sphere is even able to slowly rise to his feet again, assuming a defensive posture while his runes fuel his body with uncanny energy.
While Shadow Wolf is somewhat curious what kind of power is currently awakening, he decides to take no chances. A lightning bolt from his Thunder rune strikes the glowing man, sending him to the ground again. The red aura volatilizes and Revolving Sphere is knocked out.






Shadow Wolf wins this duel.

[iscalio]

The time for the second night match has come. Like last night, fifty-four torches stand around the ring. But this time, there is another lightsource as well.




CutRabbit Class - Group I
Scarlet assassin vs. Everyone's Grudge


A small lantern enters the ring from the right, carried by a small, green figure. It is a lizardman, but a small one indeed. He is wearing a simple, brown cowl, and besides the lantern he carries a brutal-looking kitchen knife. It is Everyone's Grudge, Lizard Clan turncoat and now Zexen warrior.
His opponent is Id of the Nameless Lands, known as the Scarlet Assassin, a slender man in black clothes and yet another masked fighter in this mask-heavy tournament, wearing a fiery red mask with a pentagramm on his forehead. He is wielding a black blade which emits a sinister aura.

The monk beats the gong, announcing the start of the duel, but both fighters don't seem to care. They are instead keeping their distance, eyeing each other up. Suddenly Everyone's Grudge rushes forward with awesome speed, stabbing his opponent with his knife. Scarlet assassin is overwhelmed by the small creature's velocity and is hit twice before he is able to react, landing a powerful blow with his blade. The small lizard withdraws for a few steps, fearing another strong attack, and his opponent does indeed charge with full force, attempting another desperate strike. But this time Everyone's Grudge is able to dodge the attack. The assassin from the Nameless Lands stumbles past him, and his own momentum causes him to fall to the ground and right into his own blade.
Now the lizard launches another series of quick attacks, hitting twice again, whereas his foe, who has quickly jumped to his feet again after his embarassing fall, continues his all-out offensive, inflicting another deep wound.

The scarlet assassin, exhausted after the desperate attacks of the last rounds, tries to recover his breath and assumes a defensive stance. His opponent meanwhile continues his assault, hitting the assassin with another quick attack. After that, the two combatants resume their exchange of blows of the previous rounds, and while the lizardman is severely wounded by another pair of desperate attacks, he is able to further weaken his foe with numerous fast stabs.

Now Everyone's Grudge, seeing his enemy panting and bleeding from countless small stab wounds, decides to end this fight. He rushes forward for a last attack, an attack with full force. Id, while severely wounded, is able to dodge the attack and the small lizard trips over his own cloak and falls on his lantern. The lantern breaks, and the fire ignites the cowl of the small Zexen warrior, creating a small, screaming, green-red ball of fire which illuminates the darkness. The fire soon extinguishes after having devoured the cowl, leaving a scorched and unconscious lizard.







Scarlet assassin wins this duel.

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The sun rises and greets the third day of the tournament. The ring still vaguely smells of burnt lizard, despite the effort of the incense-burning monks.
One of the two fighters of today's first duel is already present — he and... a barrel.



CutRabbit Class - Group II
Earthquake923 vs. Benit149



The man is wearing a blue overall with pockets filled with various tools, and currently he seems to be polishing the barrel with an oily rag. He is a tall and rather thin man, with short sandy colored hair and a large scar across his forehead. Some slight wrinkles and a gray streak in his hair reveal his age, but he is still in great physical shape. In his country, the Nameless Lands, he is called Earthquake, named after a powerful tremor which hit his homeland at the time of his birth.
Soon his opponent arrives. The slender woman is wearing blue clothes with very low-cut shoulders and black boots and has brown medium-length hair. She is carrying a glaive which she has carelessly slung over her shoulder. It is Benit, First Lady of Addervon.

The two fellow countrymen greet themselves with subtle nods, and as the large gong resounds, they commence attack. Earthquake is swinging a rusty wrench and hits his opponent after being hit by Benit's glaive. He then falls back and assumes a defensive stance, but Benit does not charge. Instead she raises her right hand and skillfully summons the power of her Water rune, sending a frosty hailstorm down on her opponent. Then, expecting a retribution strike, she prepares for an incoming attack, but Earthquake lives up to his name and casts a powerful spell of his Earth rune, sending shock tremors through the whole ring. Benit cannot retain her balance and falls to the ground, taking damage from the sharp rocks which grow out of the ground at Earthquake's command.

Benit quickly jumps to her feet again and runs over the now jagged fighting ground. Earthquake points at her and shouts "SB 90 - attack!", severely confusing his opponent in the process. But she still hits him with her glaive, before she realizes what his weird exclamation meant: The barrel which still stands at the ring's rim suddenly grows metallic arms and legs, stands up and opens its lid. Out of the barrel then shoots a small missile which strikes the completely baffled Benit before exploding in a fiery fireball.

Earthquake then starts to cast a spell again, but Benit is faster. With the aid of her Water rune she summons mighty icy breeze, which encases the gadgeteer, and within few seconds Earthquake is completely icebound.


Silent monks enter the ring shortly thereafter and carry out the block of ice which once was Earthquake.








Benit149 wins this duel.

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The second duel of the third day...




CopperSun Class - Group II
Drummsta vs. Fliktor






... does not take place. A young Highland herald arrives at the ring in his king's stead, and accompanied by the surprised murmur of the spectators he uncoils a scroll and proclaims that his lord, King Fliktor of Highland, foregoes his duel. Important matters came up in L'Renouille, and His Majesty saw himself unable to leave the capital.

The herald then leaves, leaving behind unsatisfied spectators and a certain platinum haired Zexen knight who just qualified for the semi-finals.







Drummsta (sort of) wins this duel.

[iscalio]

The gong has already resounded for the next duel...


TargetLady Class - Group II
Raze vs. Milan Fiori





... but the fight does still not start.
Raze impatiently stands on his side of the ring. He is a young and somewhat slender boy from the Warrior's Village, and he came here for the honor, for his first bit of fame. The eyes below his blue headband flare with ambition and spiritedness, his equally colored cape blows archetypically in the warm afternoon breeze, and he firmly grips his sword and shield.
But in his eyes there is not only ambition, not only spiritedness, not only the pride and joy to be able to fight here in this hallowed ring; there is also indignition: Is this how his opponent is supposed to behave?

His opponent is a large man clad in the plate mail of the Zexen knights, a man with short, brown hair and two giant golden battleaxes. It is the third man in Zexen, knight commander Milan Fiori.
And apparently he's drunk. And he's blatantly flirting with some young girls among the spectators. And he completely ignores Raze, which is what probably displeases the young swordsman most.


Irked, Raze decides not to wait anymore. If Milan acts this inadequately, there is no need for further patience. He raises his right hand with the Lightning rune embedded into it and starts to cast the most powerful spell he knows.
The crackling sounds of the arising magic finally causes Milan Fiori to turn his head, and apparently he is annoyed by the brash youth. He casually raises his hand and with the aid of his Water rune he summons a mighty ice block in an impressively short time span which crashes down upon the young swordsman from the Empire, completely burying the unfortunate youth. Milan then turns to the girls again.










Milan Fiori wins this duel.