The World Dragon's Heir - Chapter 658: Watch The Match

Chapter 658: Watch The Match

Dominic and the Advisors managed to make it to the arena just as the first round of eliminations was ending, and the show was about to take a break, so that all of the Knights would be in top form for the final matches.

These next three matches would determine the podium finishers, with their points for the overall tournament deciding who would compete for the top spot.

“Who do we have left?” Dominic whispered as he took his seat.

“We will have Sir Charles against Sir Morton of Bostoveria, Prince Damien of Mitfield against Sir Korath of his own Royal Paladins, and Sir Nallon of Shersdonia against Sir Martin of the Natural Sons.” Alexis replied.

“Nice, we have one local left, and two Cygnian Knights in the match.”

Alexis nodded. “It’s better than I had expected, given the level of the competition. I didn’t think that there were going to be any of our local boys left, but we’ve still got one among the professionals.”

Dominic filled a fresh pitcher of wine, while the King watched with excitement hidden in his expression. He was definitely going to have to get someone to level up one of those wine creation spell gems.

An extravagance for sure, but getting it to level five or six would make significantly better than average wine without getting extreme on the cost of enhancement.

If only it was easier to get mages to memorize the spell.

But who wanted to spend months learning to make wine, when the mages were not domestic servants? Just getting the spell gem was fine for most people. It made decent and drinkable liquor. Only the most dedicated or wealthy would even consider bringing it higher.

Or Dominic, apparently. But he had an advantage in that magical spell book of his.

“You know, we’re going to have to double training rotations after this week. Everyone has been loading up on so much concession food from the vendors that they’re not going to fit into their uniforms if this keeps up.” Dominic noted as the hawkers made another pass up the stands.

The King smiled. “It’s a good problem to have in the middle of the wet season. And to think that I was worried about you starving the first year.”

Alexis laughed at her father’s mocking tone. “I don’t think that was ever going to be an issue. With the skills we brought to the Duchy, it was just a matter of getting our goods to market so we could survive.

But now, Wistover is definitely thriving, and even the Barons under us are doing remarkably well.”

The King smiled back at her. “Indeed. Far beyond anything that I could have imagined. Seeing how far the Duchy has come puts my mind at ease.

Now, you’re not only a Princess, and a Paladin. But also a Duchess and a Governess. At this point, you might have more titles than any of your other sisters.”

“I’m certain that I can obtain a few more titles as we go. Though, they might have to be ceremonial, or the staff is going to rebel at the workload.”

Her brothers laughed at Alexis’ sour tone. She was never one that shied away from work, but as much as she loved reading, she distinctly preferred reading fantasy and romance novels to bureaucratic reports and daily military strategy updates.

Unless the military strategy updates meant that she got to go into battle.

The trumpets sounded, and the first pair of Knights set up for their match.

“Presenting Sir Nallon of Shersdonia, and Sir Martin of Wistover.” The announcer called as the pair took their spots.

Surprisingly, Sir Nallon still had a very strong support block in the stands, despite facing off against a local Knight. Dominic took that as a good sign that the man had impressed everyone with his performance, and the pair saluted each other before the flag dropped and they were tilting lances.

Unfortunately for Sir Martin, luck was not with him today.

The lance skipped off his shield, but hit him just inboard of centre on his chest plate, and knocked him straight backwards, out of his stirrups and onto the grass.

“After one lance, victory by unhorsing! Sir Nallon of Shersdonia!”

Sir Nallon circled back on his side of the lane, so that the trolls and the medical team could help Sir Martin back to his feet.

The Knight was awake, sore but without having taken any truly egregious wounds.

Other than to his pride.

Sir Martin gave a weak wave to the crowd as he departed the arena, and Sir Nallon returned to the stables to check on his equipment, should he be in position to joust again.

Only two of the three finalists would be jousting, and while an unhorsing was ten points, it was also the first lance of the match, and most of his bouts had been fairly lopsided. That didn’t help him when it came to the finals, as it was actually beneficial to have gone to extra lances.

If an opponent withdrew, you were granted five points per round remaining, as if you had broken a lance, but Sir Charles had managed to milk every one of his matches, and Sir Korath had gone an extra three lances, if he should happen to win his final match.

“Next up, Prince Damien of Mitfield, against Sir Korath of the Mitfield Royal Paladins.”

This one was bound to be a good match, Dominic knew.

The pair had faced each other many times, they trained together, lived together and travelled together. If anyone knew the tricks and hidden techniques of the other, it was them.

So, when they charged and both lances broke, nobody was surprised.

However, after the fifth lance, when neither had failed to break a lance, things were beginning to get intense.

As it was the finals, they wouldn’t run another joust in the middle. They would just give the pair ten minutes to catch their breath, and then they would continue until someone missed a lance.