Micky got up. “So I guess I’m in last place. Now it’s my time to rise to the top by facing all 99 challengers and eventually becoming supreme amongst my generation! I will then...”

“Sorry to burst your delusional bubble but your not last. There are several westrals that are tied for [Dead] last, a [Farmer Boy] that came in here with a pitchfork and even that kid that hadn’t even classed yet that are all under you. Of course that farmer boy can trounce you, but [Support] is judged differently and also given a bonus to their position. Afterall the healer in sixth place wouldn’t be there if they judged solely on talent.” interjected Prin with a monologue of her own.

“So the one that defeated me went on to become sixth? Fitting!” Said Micky.

“Nope, she is placed in the low thirties though.” Prin gave Micky’s ego another strike, and it was a one two knockout.

Meanwhile, going back a little bit.

Prin walked up to her first challenge. She was a little bit nervous but this wasn’t her first duel. So she just channeled that nervous energy into preparing for another battle. She was already as limbered up as she could go. So she got up to the arena, just a patch of dirt that was indistinguishable with the other patches of dirt. Her first challenger was a kid even younger then Micky. She could see that he was going to be no challenge.

This didn’t mean she didn’t take him seriously, however. Even a cornered rat could bite the cat, so she wasn’t going to play with him even if she appeared to. Of course she wouldn’t, while deception is something that came naturally to a bandit she also wasn’t going to bother when she didn’t need to. Besides, being serious could be a deception of its own.

She got in position and prepared for the fight. The kid nervously grabbed his throwing spear. The instructor, a gnome, gave the ready signal. Then she signaled for the battle to start. Prin charged the kid, the kid nervously tossed his spear. This was stupid, it was his only weapon. The kid used a skill to retrieve the spear instantly but it was already over, Prin had her sword to his throat.

The battle was announced as her victory and she moved onto the next round. Prin gave the kid a fistbump and walked away. Then she went over to Micky to see what trouble the kid was up to.

His match was already started, but it was drawing a crowd. A healer and a [Pink Mage] weren’t something you see fighting every day, let alone fighting each other. Prin bet money that people would pay money to laugh at this.

Micky swung his staff at the healer and didn’t stop. This seemed to fluster the fledgling healer since she thought it was going to be a ranged fight, or at least he was going to send in his pet and support. But she quickly got the hang of it, her skill at dodging wasn’t terrible and she could easily dodge a slime and a kid with a stick.

The audience was holding back their laughter, unbeknownst to the two combatants. The only reason why they themselves were holding back was because the judge, and teacher, was glaring them down every time they looked like they were about to burst out laughing.

The fight was soon over once the healer got the rhythm, she maliciously shot a bolt to Micky’s face once she realized the audience was laughing at her for this. When she knocked Micky out she seemed surprised. Prin knew it was mostly on purpose, but she supposed she did not expect Micky to tank it to the face like a champ, or how effective it would be.

Micky was quickly taken away. He was then fed a health potion and healed by the guild master. While this treatment was the same what came next was not. She… he then placed Micky’s head on her, it’s, lap. Prin figured that Micky was safe enough for her to have her next bought and went away. That nagging feeling that her [Oath] was telling her she was leaving him in a dangerous situation with the guild master? She consequently ignored that.

Her next battle was going to be a winner of a match. So they would be in the top 50 regardless. She was still confident that she could win, but she also knew that it wouldn’t be complete fresh meat like the last one. They were already organizing the losers tourney but this was just to entertain those that thought they should have placed better. The instructors had already seen what they needed to see in the first round.

Prin walked up to her next match. It was a burley manling. Not quite human but some human counterpart. There were too many mixed bloods and magic variants over the years, so the words manling came about for all the little offshoots.

He wielded a two handed axe and was wearing thick leather. Prin was ready and the battle began. She first launched one of her throwing spears at him. He quickly dodged but this messed up his momentum when he stopped his charge. Prin slowly edged closer but kept ready to throw another spear. The manling was ready this time and stayed in a defensive stance.

They circled for a bit, Prin ready to attack at range, the manling ready to take the initiative back should she fail. Then Prin relaxed, the manling tried to charge and she threw a spear at him. He whipped his face and backed away, but not before Prin took a quick swipe at him. And then stalemate started right back up again. The manling gave the teacher a look and the teacher just shrugged, it was her lunch she just wasted. Prin just gave them both a cheeky smile.

The teacher realized that this fight could in theory go on for eternity, or at least till nightfall and it was time to sleep. So she said “Alright you two, if you don’t start fighting before I count to five I’ll count it as a draw.”

With that the two of them got back to fighting. At first they started the dance again, until the teacher started counting. Then the fighter charged and Prin launched spears. The warrior got into close range before Prin could finish throwing them all so she took up her sword and clashed with his axe.

The axe and the sword met and held each other. Then Prin tried to push the sword down the handle of the axe while keeping the axe away from her face. The fighter quickly retreated, but not before Prin swept out his feet. She then stepped on his other foot and he quickly tripped. She pulled out a spear from her back and brought it down. With the axe still blocking the sword the instructor quickly claimed her victory.

While it was usually the bandits that fought dirty she had to give that one to Micky. Or course she would never tell him that. She helped the axe warrior up to his feet and prepared for her next bought. She looked at her reserves.

Table: Pools

Vitality:

98%

Energy:

Mana: 142 / 163

Stam: 64%

Still had some left in the tank. She was ready to go another round, though she would need to take all the rest she got. So she sat down over by Micky.

Micky woke up quickly enough, events happened and now he was watching Prin in her next match.

Prin walked up to the next arena, it was a different teacher this time. The giant was presiding over the match this time. As the matches were getting fewer and fewer the teachers were now actually paying attention.

Prin started to get nervous from all the stares. A bandit was not supposed to receive this much attention. You’re not a bandit anymore Princess Montihue! Your a knight or Micky Anderson, get used to it! She psyched herself up.

Her next opponent was a blade sage. A type of magical blade dancer. She knew that this one would be trouble the moment she stepped onto the arena. However she was being watched by her [Sworn Master] she could not lose! This pressure was not helping the situation.

She gripped her sword and focused. The teacher signaled ready and start. She did something she wouldn’t normally do, she charged. She tossed a spear in the middle of her charge and attacked were they dodged. But he effortlessly dodged her again. When her back was turned to her he kicked but she dodged and rolled away.

He swung a sword at her back but she was already away before it connected, and now they were back to where they started, mostly. The blade sage circled her as she circled him. The teacher cleared her throat. As if that was the signal (Which it was) the fight started over again. Prin used her swords better range to make wide sweeping attacks. The Blade sage would dodge these attacks but before he could make an attack of his own she would shoulder check him, or make a kick or an elbow. Then they would be back at the start again staring each other down.

Even though Prin had the initiative she was also clearly the one that was taking the most damage. While she would occasionaly get a push or a shove in this didn’t harm the blade sage at all. Meanwhile, Prin was accumulating cuts and scraps. While the blade sage never actually got a good solid swing in he would be able to get the occasional cut or slash as he dodged passed.

Prin charged in once more, she secured a defensive swing, and slipped on a pebble. When her nerves made her jumpy and she jumped back, she instead did a split. The blade sage placed a blade to her throat and that was that. The fight was over. The blade sage offered her a hand up which she waved off with a wince. “I’m just going to lay here a moment if you don’t mind.”

The teacher said “Not too long, the next match needs to start soon.” Even though she was directing the participants over to a nearby patch of dirt, that looked just like the other patch of dirt they had been using as an arena.

Prin laid down on her side. She didn’t think that her loss was underserved even though it had been by a fluke. She had actually just lost twice, once in luck and the other in skill. She might have won had they continued but she knew that he should have won. So when she got her legs back under her she got up without complaint. The blade sage gave her a nod and she gave one back.

“That was totally unfair! You could have won this whole thing! You should have as my… uh, partner. I demand a rematch!”