『Now, let’s begin the second round of the martial arts tournament! We have a very exciting matchup from the very beginning of the round! The first to show up was the B-Ranked adventurer, Mordred! A seasoned fighter who is skilled with spears and molten iron magic!』

Then Fran stepped onto the stage accompanied by the cheers that were as loud as ever.

(Master, I’ll fight him by myself first)

『Got it. I won’t do anything until Fran asks me to or just before we were about to lose. Urushi is okay with that too, right?』

(Woof!)

The martial arts tournament is a chance for Fran to test her skills after all. Just like last year, I’m not going to help her until the very last minute.

『On the other side, his opponent was the strongest thirteen-year-old who scored an instant victory in the first round! What kind of fight will she show us in this match!? I can’t take my eyes off her! The hero of the Black Cat tribe, Fran!』

Fran and Mordred face each other in the center, smiling fearlessly at each other.

「It’s been a while」

「Yeah. It’s not been that long, but you seem to have gotten a lot stronger」

「You too」

As Fran said, Mordred seemed to have become much stronger as well. It was not so much that he had gained new powers, but rather that he had improved his overall level.

Name: Mordred

Age: 43 years old

Race: Human

Job: Expert Spearman

Status Level: 47/99

HP: 423

MP: 418

STR: 217

VIT: 111

AGI: 237

INT: 218

DEX: 249

Magic: 222

[Skill]

Conceal: Lv5, Chant Shortening: Lv5, Stealth: Lv3, Evasion: Lv3, Flame Magic: Lv2, Martial Arts: Lv2, Danger Detection: Lv4, Fear Resistance: Lv4, Gathering: Lv3, Commanding: Lv4, Shooting: Lv4, Rapid Fire: Lv7, Swimming: Lv2, Petrification Resistance: Lv2, Spear Technique: LvMax, Spear Skill: LvMax, Spear Saint Technique: Lv3, Spear Saint Skill: Lv4, Attribute Sword: Lv5, Heat Resistance: Lv6, Tracking: Lv2, Earth Magic: Lv8, Poison Resistance: Lv5, Fire Magic: LvMax, Magic Detection: Lv5, Paralysis Resistance: Lv1, Molten Iron Magic: Lv6, Trapping: Lv5, Energy Manipulation, Sahagin Killer, Eagle Eye, Direction Sense, Split Thinking, Magic Manipulation.

[Inherent Skill]

Magic Armor

[Title]

Sahagin Killer, The One who Crosses Over the Dead Land, Giant Killer, Pyromancer, The One who Overcomes the Wall of Ordinary People

[Equipment]

Adamantite Alloy Spear, Mithril Alloy Light Armor, Magic Steel Armor, Water Dragon’s Leather Cloak, Shelled Turtle Shoes, Abnormal Condition Resistance Bracelet, Magic Staff Ring, Barrier Stone.

「Well, I can’t keep losing to the younger generation after all. I took a vacation for the first time in a while and went to some magical area」

「Magical Area? Where did you go?」

Mordred was reluctant to answer, but Fran’s eyes lit up when she heard the word “magical area”.

Mordred can’t help but chuckles at Fran.

「Well, I’ll let you know when you defeat me」

「Nn! Okay!」

Fran nodded and became more aroused.

「I’ll definitely win」

「Bring it on」

『Both participants are B ranker! Will the cunningness of the veteran prevail!? Or will the vigor of the youth prevail!? Let’s find out!』

Then the match began.

Both are calm at the start.

Fran begins to use her footwork to move around the stage as she holds me up, while Mordred stands firm and watches Fran’s every move.

I think Fran is going to find an opening and jump in at once. But it was Mordred who made the first move.

「If you’re not coming, then I’ll come to you」

Perhaps he had seen that Fran was in a hurry and was about to make a move, but he stepped forward at the perfect moment to disrupt Fran’s momentum.

「Shi!」

Mordred cleaved his spear horizontally while weaving some feints with his gaze.

The attack was very accurate, but a feint of that level would not fool the Fran now. She was able to deal with it calmly.

She would block Mordred’s horizontal cleave with me and use the momentum to get behind him. That seemed to be what Fran was thinking, but――.

「Eh?」

『Uoh!』

Mordred’s spear bent a bit. It was a spear made of adamantite alloy. So, it would be impossible for it to even be scratched by such a light strike.

『It’s his molten iron magic!』

「!!」

I didn’t see he chanted, so I guess he must have activated it beforehand.

Using the point of contact with me as a support, the bent tip of the spear came at Fran’s head. Fran ducked and dodged as quickly as she could, but Mordred had already moved on to his next move.

「Huft!」

「Muh!」

As soon as the spear, which was wrapped around Fran like a coil, returned to its original hardness, he pulled her towards him as hard as he could. He didn’t just pull with all his might, he also gave the spear a light twist, calculating so that Fran’s stance would come loose slightly.

At the same time, Mordred’s armor transformed like a hedgehog.

If Fran tries to hold on to me, she’ll be skewered by the needles on his armor, and if she lets go of me, she’ll lose her means of attack. Either way, Mordred would have the advantage.

This was probably what he had been aiming for all along. It seems that he had been preparing multiple molten iron magic techniques to make it look like he had been on guard.

It was indeed very clever. We were completely caught off guard.

However, Fran’s ability to respond was not to be outdone.

「Haah!」

「Ghaa!?」

To my surprise, Fran struck Mordred with her free left hand. In addition, she also hit Mordred in the torso in the gap between the needles.

He probably expected to be attacked in the face or other parts of the body, but he doesn’t seem to expect to be hit in the place where Fran could take damage, especially with her bare hands.

Fran’s fist was pierced by multiple needles, and a large amount of blood spurted out. However, Fran did not flinch at all and continued to swing her fist.

Mordred grunted and retreated a few meters. He must have felt that he would be severely injured if he continued to take it and flew back by himself.

He hadn’t let go of his spear, but his stance was out of balance. Noticing this, Fran rushed into him. With this, the one on offense has changed.

Fran shook off her left fist, which was still covered in blood, and splattered a lot of her blood to Mordred’s face.

She used the blood to distract him. However, Mordred calmly dispelled it with his cloak and retreated further away from her.

Fran also stopped chasing and slowed down her steps, as if she hadn’t expected to be able to even surprise him at all.

The distance between the two is about the same as when they started now.

「You’re so reckless」

「You said so but you’re not surprised at all」

「Well, you know, sometimes people use blood as a weapon too」

The surprise attack that Fran had come up with seemed to be not so rare for Mordred.

「But going head-on is not a good idea. Consider this your last match, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got」

「Muh! I won’t let you!」

Mordred pulled something out of the bag on his hip. What he took out was a potion that I had seen before. It must be one of Mordred’s secret tricks that he used when we worked together in the past. It’s his molten iron magic super-strengthening potion.

In this tournament, recovery potions are prohibited, but magic potions are not. I wasn’t quite sure what the difference was, but it seems that what is banned in this tournament are recovery potions in general.

In other words, strengthening drugs and potions are okay. This is probably because there are many people who are versed in using them in warfare.

Well, this tournament is not a sophisticated mock battle to determine who is the strongest, but a competition for adventurers, where anything goes after all.

Fran unleashed a spell to stop him, but it was blocked just before Mordred. It must be the effect of his Barrier Stone. It was a disposable item that put up a barrier, but he must have brought it with him for this occasion.

Mordred, who was well-prepared, quickly drank down the strengthening potion. Immediately after, I can feel Mordred’s magic power had increased several times.