The first match of day four was Kari against Rekklant, the highest level finalist, and it ended just as quickly as any other of Kari's matches. Her strategy of simply blanketing the arena in flame was starting to get silly at this point; no-one at rank two seemed to have anything like Xander's barrier arte. While I couldn't get the full output of [Analysis] on all the finalists due to level difference, I was pretty sure I was the only other one here with [Greater Mana Control], so no-one else could resist her manipulation in the same way I had either. I thought that maybe Rekklant would have been able to overwhelm her with pure speed, striking her down before she could ignite the mana, but he'd barely closed half the distance. Kari would likely win six of her seven fights, unless someone thought up some sort of novel strategy.

My match was against the halberd-wielding [Body Mage] that Kari had fought on day one. Although his level was in the low fifties, I didn't need to worry about him breaking out spells of a second affinity; [Analysis] showed me he had no offensive spells, even rank one fire or ice, and that his previous class had been [Life Mage]. From my half remembered browsing of the library, did that result in a [Spirit Mage] complex affinity? Or was this something new?

I felt a twang of sympathy for this fellow mage who also lacked the most common affinities, and while his buffed stats were higher than mine, he couldn't compete with my extra skills and support spells, falling within a minute of the match start.

Day five was my turn to face Rekklant. He had almost twenty levels on me, which had the additional knock-on effect that I couldn't get a full read on him with [Analysis], so I didn't even know what his prior classes were. I hadn't seen him use anything other than straight-forward melee so far, but that may well be because he hadn't needed to do anything else, or in Kari's case, hadn't had time to.

He was armed with a pair of short swords with a bow strapped to his back, as on previous days, and I decided to engage with my usual staff. He could easily see through my long range [Far Reach] attacks, and engaging at close range quickly made it obvious that he overwhelmed me in stats.

I'd often wondered how some fighter-types could evade blows from behind them without ever having seen me use [Far Reach] before, but [Analysis] had informed me of the [Threat Perception] skill. Much like [Trap Perception] and [Monster Perception], and indeed my own [Mana Perception], it was an extrasensory skill, and this one provided input on incoming attacks. Trying to sneak attack someone with [Threat Perception] was a losing proposition.

Despite the stat disadvantage, I scraped a skill advantage by dint of my raised level caps. Between that and keeping [Weft Walk] active, I was able to hold my own, but lacked the means to land an attack. I was also on a time limit; my mana pool may have advanced in leaps and bounds, but it wouldn't last forever. I pondered whether to draw things out and hope his stamina gave way, or to throw in my rank one buffs, and rapidly expend my pool for that extra edge.

While I was busy thinking, Rekklant vanished. I knew [Stealth] when I didn't see it and hurriedly brought up [Mana Perception], jumping away from his previous position before I'd even got a grip on my surroundings. That turned out to be a good move, because by the time my brain started to register what my skill was telling it, I saw him standing right where I'd been.

Then I saw him pull an arrow from his quiver and draw his bow, which wasn't great; unlike [Mana Arrow], regular arrows were invisible to my normal [Mana Perception]. I quickly switched over to active mode. After all my training parrying goblin assassins, I felt my acuity was good enough to risk catching an arrow with [Distortion]. He would certainly be able to dodge the arrow, but if I made a simultaneous attack with [Far Reach], hopefully needing to dodge both would leave him sufficiently off-balance for me to rush in and finish the job. Then I picked up a burst of mana from him, and suddenly there were three arrows coming at me. Dammit, he had [Multi Shot]! Given that [Distortion] could only produce one portal at a time, that was less than ideal.

I was forced to dodge, which left me with no time to activate [Distortion], and I wasn't sure I'd get a second chance; he knew I could see his arrows now. I moved in to attack at close range; even if not off-balance, he was still holding a bow instead of his swords, which I still intended to make the most of.

The moment I moved in, I felt the mana around his bow. He was about to use [Mana Arrow] from point blank range! Fortunately, I was using [Weft Walk] and not [Far Step], but I hadn't come in expecting to have to immediately dodge, and he would be able to fire in the split second it took me to kick off the ground. I'd watched [Mana Arrow] enough to recognise the timing, so I threw up [Distortion] right in front of his bow the moment he fired. Then he used [Multi Shot] again.

I felt like I'd been punched in the chest, and I knew at least one of those arrows had hit me. On the other hand, one of them had clearly hit him too, knocking him out of [Stealth]. I backed away, and was relieved to find that the attack hadn't penetrated my armour. Apparently he could hold back with [Mana Arrow] just like mages could with their offensive spells. The referee called an end to the fight, and after listening to our explanation of what had just happened, declared it a draw, awarding us half a point each.

ding

Skill [Weft Walk] advanced to level 7

Skill [Distortion] advanced to level 11

Skill [Enhanced Stamina Recovery] advanced to level 7

A small crop of skills, but not bad given that I hadn't won. I should have concentrated on dodging once he used [Stealth] and waited for his mana to drain, instead of trying to seize on the opportunity to attack at close range. Then again, what sort of person makes melee range attacks with a bow? It's not just Kari; interesting strategies abound here in the finals.

The next fight was Kari against Alun, and against my expectations, Kari lost. There was no cunning strategy this time; Alun simply tossed a dagger at Kari the moment match start was called. It's quicker to throw something than to draw a bow, even with [Mana Arrow], and he hit her before she managed to ignite the arena. Unlike any of the experienced combatants, Kari lacked the ability to dodge even such a simple throw. There I was, wondering what sort of complicated strategy would be needed to bring her down, and I never stopped to consider taking advantage of the fact she wasn't a delver, and had woefully underdeveloped physical stats compared to anyone else here. Even pure mage delvers needed to learn how to dodge.

On day six, Alun lost to Rekklant, which meant that if I won my fight, I'd take the lead. Given that I hadn't been drawn against Alun, my opponent for the day must be Freya, the only other finalist I hadn't yet fought. It would soon be time to get revenge for last year.

Cluma was standing in the audience today, the rank one group having finished already. She'd placed second, with only the single loss, which was seriously impressive given her age and the way she'd never been in a dungeon. Despite the apparent lack of challenge, she'd grown a lot from the sparring over the past couple of weeks.

Name: Cluma

Species: Beastkin (Catkin)

Class: Scout (Level 1/21)

Class History: [Commoner] [Apprentice Fighter]

Soul Points: 0

Health: 30/30

Stamina: 60/60

Mana: 15/15

Strength: 21

Dexterity: 29

Endurance: 25

Intelligence: 11

Wisdom: 13

Charisma: 11

Rank 1 Artes: [Backstab 4] [Armour Break 3] [Rapid Shot 3] [Piercing Shot 3]

Rank 1 Skills: [Basic Cooking 10] [Weapon Proficiency: Dagger 10] [Inspection 9] [Concealment 10] [Meditation 4] [Enlarged Mana Pool 9] [Hunting 6] [Dismantling 5] [Weapon Proficiency: Bow 4] [Weapon Style: Dual Wielding 5] [Privacy 2]

Rank 2 Skills: [XXXX]

Traits: [XXXX] [XXXX] [XXXX] [Hugger]

Titles: [XXXX]

Huh? She'd only had two traits when I saw her last, and now she had four. And what's with her stamina?! Wait, was that what she meant when she said she'd got 'it' back? And why did she take a scout class, given that there's not really anything to do with it right now? And she just winked at me... Bah, she probably levelled [Privacy] just now, didn't she, so she knows I'm spying. I looked away in embarrassment, seeing her grin out of the corner of my eye.

I wondered what her other traits were. Thanks to her [Privacy], I could only see rank one stuff, and if it had just levelled, I'd no longer be able to see her full status at all. Given the slow levelling speed of [Analysis], there was no way it would grow faster than [Privacy]. Maybe she'd tell me one day.

I was forced to turn my attention back to the tournament when my name was called, and sure enough, Freya was my opponent.

"This isn't going to go the same way as last year," I commented.

Freya didn't respond, just smiling gently. Then the referee signalled the start of the match, and I found a fireball flying at my face. The split second decision to use [Distortion] instead of [Greater Mana Control] saved me from losing there and then, because that wasn't a weakened fireball she'd thrown. She wasn't holding back at all! If it had hit, it would have hurt.

Then I felt the build-up of earth mana beneath me, and dodged to the side, straight into the path of another fireball, as a stalagmite far larger than any I'd seen before burst from the floor of where I'd been standing. The hell? Was Freya trying to actually kill me here? I dealt with the new fireball with [Distortion], flinging it back at Freya. She dodged, but already had a half dozen more half-formed fireballs floating around her. I switched on [Minor Wisdom] and my time affinity spells, adding them to my already active usual buffs, then used [Far Step] to jump in to fight at close range.

Right up next to her, I could throw the full weight of [Greater Mana Control] into disrupting her half-formed fireballs, and I delayed her spell-casting just enough to get in a few swings of my staff. She parried the first, but I had a huge advantage in strength, and she could barely get back into position to parry the second, which completely broke her stance. She desperately moved to defend against the third, which would have given her enough time to launch her spells, but I used [Far Reach] to phase my weapon through her guard. She had no chance of dodging, and took the strike to her side, sending her tumbling across the arena.

The whole fight was over in half a minute, but I found myself panting anyway. That felt more like a dungeon boss battle than a friendly spar!

"Darn," said Freya dispiritedly, still on the floor. "I couldn't win even without holding back."

"What? That's all you're going to say? That was dangerous!"

"Bah, as if someone who soloed the entire Dawnhold dungeon is going to let themselves get hurt by one of my fireballs. If I'd held back, you'd have just torn my spells apart before they could reach you."

True, but how much trust does she have in me for that logic to sneak her past the Law?

ding

Skill [Minor Wisdom] advanced to level 14

Skill [Distortion] advanced to level 12

Skill [Extended Mana Pool] advanced to level 6

Class [Spatial Mage] advanced to level 7

At least the dangerous fight brought some good rewards with it, but I'm surprised the referee didn't complain!

With the day's fights over, I started to make my way out of the training room, only to be tackled to the ground by a surprise flying hug before I'd reached the door. "You were awesome!" said a completely disembodied and oddly echoey voice that I nonetheless recognised as Cluma. So, that answers what her rank two skill was, and why she was still wearing her silence enchanted leather bodysuit. Today's head-pats required the use of [Mana Perception] to find the relevant head.

"You were grinning to yourself the whole time. Was it really that interesting?"

"Of course. I'm rank two now! That'll be me, next year!" She was practically bouncing with excitement. I'm not sure I can really take the blame for Cluma any more; no way is this the result of me killing a few slimes. Being a battle maniac must be in her blood...

"That's nice, but... could you please let me stand up now? Or at least undo [Stealth]? Everyone is staring."

She was back in the audience again the next day. My only remaining opponent was Alun, who had got this far with only the single loss. Kari was on two losses, while Rekklant was on one loss and one draw. If I won or drew here, the whole tournament was mine. If I lost, it was Alun's, with me and Rekklant in joint second, assuming Rekklant won today's match.

In a complete disregard for the proper build-up of suspense, my match was scheduled first. Given that I was so close, I intended to win the whole thing, so I had no intention of holding back today. There wasn't a prize or trophy or anything, and the System wouldn't reward me for it any differently from any other fight, but that didn't stop me from getting competitive. I stood in the arena, and the moment the referee called out the start, I activated all of my buffs. Literally. I even included [Minor Charisma]. With [Weft Walk] supporting my movement, I stepped into melee range. Alun had been a [Scout] previously, and had high dexterity and [Threat Perception], which helped immensely with his dodging, but I fought seriously without a care for my mana and stamina expenditure.

Okay, so maybe 'going all out' and 'doing my best to win' weren't quite synonymous. A more measured approach may have been more sensible, but screw it, this was the final. It needed to be spectacular.

Alun lasted a laudable two minutes before I took him out. I may not have combat artes, but I did have a rank two combat style skill that as a mage I shouldn't really have, and as a result my fights this year had been largely unfair.

ding

Skill [Minor Intelligence] advanced to level 12

Skill [Extended Stamina Pool] advanced to level 5

I laughed at getting a boost for [Minor Intelligence] from that. The tournament had been less rewarding this year than last, but few people had been any challenge. I almost wish I'd been allowed to join in the rank three fights, but that would probably have swung too far the other way, and besides, two class levels in two weeks wasn't anything to complain about. Even Kari had got her last level at some point, and the instant she finished her last fight, she switched class to a level one [Wood Mage].

Once all the other fights were over, I headed back to my room. Never mind a prize, there wasn't anything. I'd expected some sort of closing speech from the guild master, or an official list of results, or something.

At least I got surprise congratulatory hugs from Cluma. Apparently the entire reason she took [Scout] was because she felt that surprise hugs were the best hugs, and to that end, really wanted [Stealth]. That was not particularly sensible logic, in my opinion, but it was very Cluma.