The Kingdom of Liticea: The Sorcerer Prince

Chapter Fifteen: The Fighting Frog

Sir Julius did get a better fight out of Chester Brumfield. Julius had always had a dislike for great-swords. While for him they were easy to dodge they always left his opponents out of reach of his sword. And so rather than skillful swordsmanship it was a seemingly endless cycle of waiting for Sir Chester to swing his sword, advance try to get it a hit and retreat before he could swing it again.

Usually, Sir Julius would be able to take them out after they did their first wild swing, but Chester was quicker and more precise than most other men. If Julius had to guess, Brumfield was much stronger than himself. And so he was able to recover faster and swing faster than most great sword wielders. But rather than give Julius an actual challenge, it only delayed the inevitable. Julius knew he was going to win but it was going to take several minutes to do so. It was like chasing a rabbit down a hole. You could spend hours trying to dig it out but would it be worth it for that little scrap of meat?

Julius always was proud that many people thought he was the best in Liticea. He personally thought that was bogus. There were at least ten other people who could beat him, and someday he would face them and he would beat them. But what then? What would he do after he had beaten the best opponents? Would he find more? they say that no matter how good you are there is always someone better than you. But that ladder has to end somewhere. Julius did not to see it as a ladder, but rather as a stack of blocks. Everyday a new one would be put at the bottom and one would fly off the top. Julius thought about his place in that stack, even just as he disarmed Sir Chester and secured his advancement into the third round. The nightmare of falling off the stack too early haunted him in many nightmares. He did not have anything else to contribute.

Lady Era returned to the Prince's side with her battered son. Bruons had no visible wounds, just wounded pride. He was met with encouragements that he put up a good fight. 

"Feeling nervous, Lord Desmond?" Lord Davey jeered. Desmond Gaule pulled his long wet lips into a grin, showing his surprisingly white and well-placed teeth.

"He's nervous," Yorod Dayvey whispered to Prince Tauron. Sir Julius for the second time amazed the Prince. If Baldrick Gaule was half as good as his father says than it should be a fight to remember.

Sir Baldrick took care of his opponent almost as quickly as Sir Julius. Nakbar Nazeen also disposed of his opponent even faster than he took care of Brunos Heflite. And so the second round came and went.

Jon Maverick spent the match watching it with Jergan, Eliza and the others. He managed to not get himself spayed by Locke, but he still kept his distance from the brute of Horcaster.

Julius and Helg stuck together in that room through the rest of the match, Julius was not keeping his eyes on Sir Baldrick Gaule, but rather on the Userian sellsword. With that pronged spear, the Userian toppled his opponents off their feet and sent them to the ground. They would try to get up, but only find the tip of his spear sticking into their neck.

Nakbar's next opponent would be Sir Boldrik. The winner of that fight would be fighting Sir Julius in the final bout.

When the hour was four past midday, it was the end of the third round of the Tournament of Steel. The final four were Sir Julius Caniber, Sir Stanley Waliser, Sir Boldrik Gaule, and Nakbar Nazeen.

When it was four and a half past midday, the semi-final bout began with Sir Julius against Sir Stanley. Stanley was an able-bodied fighter and a friend of Sir Julius. Both knew who was going to win, but Stanley made sure Julius had to work for it, and work for it hard. They had sparred many times in their years growing up at Blackfield and in the School of Chivalry. Stanley was a formidable swordsman, but he was not near the level of Julius.