NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: The fifteen-year-old champion
Cintra is one of the Northern Kingdoms, located south of Sodden, Riverdell, and the great river Yaruga.
'Cintra' is the capital city of Cintra, located in the northwest of the kingdom, where the Yaruga river meets the North Sea. Once known as the elven city of Xin'trea, 'Cintra' was built on its ruins after the eastern expansion of humans approximately five hundred years ago, and the abandonment of the city by the elves.
Therefore, when the world mentions 'Cintra', it refers more to the capital, and the rest of the country is just 'cities outside Cintra'.
Such a world-famous city naturally has a castle that matches its reputation, as well as a queen who dominates the castle.
Calanthe Fiona Riannon of Cintra, known also as the 'Lioness of Cintra' and 'Ard Rhena', is known for her bravery and beauty.
Her Majesty the Queen, who was 15 years old when she won her first major battle at Hochebuz against Nazair and rose to fame, is not in the castle at the moment, but is on a high platform with many people. Her unique position allows him to have a clear view of everything that is happening in the duel arena.
The sound of weapons clashing regularly passed in front of her. The sound of steel tearing steel pleased Her Majesty the Queen far more than delicate musical instruments.
This is the largest arena in Cintra!
In the center of the empty arena, there were only two fully armed warriors fighting each other. One of them is tall and wears black armor as well as having great swordsmanship.
The other warrior is smaller than the first, the armor on his body did not have a characteristic color, it was only coated with a layer of anti-rust material, showing the color of the steel itself. On his chest only the head of a lion is outlined with gold paint. And his skill with the sword is more free and constantly represses the opponent.
In response to the duel between the two warriors, the host on the sidelines began to explain the competition in a louder voice:
“In the competition just now, Sir Vitoni drew his sword after falling from his horse, hoping to continue the jousting on foot!”
The little warrior swung his sword to counter the opponent's slashes again, and the lion on his chest seemed to roar.
"Come on! Lann! Young Lion of Cintra!" A bearded noble stood up and shouted loudly, and with his movements, most of the wine in the glass spilled onto the heads of the people in front.
The audience in front were not annoyed, they licked their lips and shouted louder:
“End him! Lann, young Lion of Cintra!”
“Young Lion!”
Besides these people who were completely in a frenzy, there were also some nobles and ladies who still maintained some manners and gathered together to discuss silently from time to time.
“He actually completely suppressed his opponent. Lann is truly a worthy warrior.”
“Will Lan take off his helmet when the fight is over? His face, ah~ I really can’t get tired of looking at it..."
“He is only fifteen years old, right? The person opposite is the captain of Her Majesty’s guards. Vitoni has been famous for a long time!”
“Lann is still Her Majesty the Queen’s nephew!”
The two warriors in the field could barely hear everyone's shouts. They had been fighting each other for a quarter of an hour, and the battle was far more intense than the audience saw.
The long swords in the hands of the two collided and separated again. Lann jumped a short distance away, sweat dripping down the gaps in the silver armor and dripping around. The chest covered by the armor rose and fell rapidly.
In the collision just now, Vitoni could clearly feel that Lann's movements had weakened, so he had already switched from offense to defense after that moment, waiting for Lann to reveal a flaw.
Vitoni was not at all panicked. After all, his opponent was just a fifteen-year-old boy. Although he didn't know how he mastered swordsmanship to such an extent, his underdeveloped body couldn't lie.
Lann was breathing heavily while thinking about countermeasures. He didn't want to stop here. Winning the runner-up in the fencing competition as a young boy was indeed a great honor, but he wanted more.
And he didn't panic at all. With his eyes locked on his opponent, Lann silently thought in his mind: 'Panel.'
At a place where no one could see, a translucent black-gray panel was projected in front of Lann.
[Name: Lann Lannister]
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Level: 10
Talent: Elder Blood (Unawakened)
Experience value: 100/1500
Health: 176/200
Mana: not enabled
Inventory: Knight Armor (upper), Knight Armor (lower), Knight Greaves, Knight Gauntlets, Steel Knight Long Sword
Skill column:
[Muscle Memory (5/5)]+
[Strength Training (3/5)]+
Follower slot: none (unavailable)
[Task: Tournament Part 5-Champion]
Quickly opening the skill bar, he took a quick glance at [Remaining Skill Points: 2], and then looked at the large area of gray skills that had not been clicked on the skill tree. Lann gritted his teeth and put all his skill points into [Strength Training], raising the skill level from (3/5) to (5/5).
Instantly, a wave of heat that appeared out of nowhere surged across his body. Lann only felt that the muscles of his whole body were slightly bulging, the sword in his hand was obviously much lighter, and even the fatigue of his body was much less.
At the same time, he felt a pang of pain in his heart. If I had the choice, I would prefer to use these skill points on the 'Signs'!
While comforting himself with the thought that these skills would be necessary sooner or later, Lann quickly took a step forward. His steps were not fast, so the captain of the guard opposite him, who was on the defensive, naturally had time to react and immediately spread his sword to parry the attack.
However, Lann originally did not want to take advantage of the opponent's unpreparedness to attack. He made a few tentative thrusts across his opponent's side, but without any surprise, they were all blocked one by one.
This tentative attack was not very powerful, and just when Vitoni thought that Lann's forces were about to be exhausted, he only saw the young man on the opposite side raise the sword above his head using a desperate movement.
The victory has been decided. The experienced guard captain thought to himself and raised his sword forward with confidence.
Immediately, the harsh sound of metal collision rang in his ears, almost deafening Vitoni, and the force coming from the sword made him take a few steps back, almost losing his center of gravity.
How come? Was this guy playing me before?
The turning point in this kind of battle should not be too obvious. The battle on the field will finally decide the winner. The audience that was tired of shouting stood up again, and some even started jumping for joy, shouting the name of the person they were supporting.
"Lann, come on!"
"Vitoni! Demonstrate the skill you used to kill the Nazair people on the battlefield!"
Lann, who had regained a lot of physical strength through skill upgrades, took advantage of the advantage he gained and chased after the opponent, pushing forward with three sword slashes in a row forcing his opponent to continuously retreat.
Vitoni, who was already tired, could not stand it, and did not have time to readjust his posture. Finally, Lann seized another opportunity and hit the opponent's long sword with a heavy blow. This time, the stainless-steel sword began to tremble continuously, as if it was about to, I can't bear this long-lasting battle.
Vitoni's right hand holding the sword was numb. After all, he couldn't withstand the continuous heavy blows and completely lost strength. The sword flew out of his hand, and he himself sat on the ground. When he looked up again, the boy in silver armor had already put the sword on his neck.
The cheers around the arena suddenly escalated to a new level, and flowers and ribbons were desperately thrown to the center by the excited crowd. No matter who they supported before, now there is only one goal, and that is the champion!
The young man in silver armor slowly stepped back to retract his sword, and pulled off his helmet with force. His dark blond hair was dripping with sweat, and his shining blue eyes looked forward with a smile: "I accept your surrender, Uncle Vitoni."
"You kid..." The black-armored warrior opposite shook his head, grabbed the right hand handed over by Lann and stood up. Then he took the initiative to lead the young man slowly around the arena, raising his hands from time to time in response to the cheers from around him, raising the atmosphere to a higher level.
It seemed that this was the first time he encountered such a scene. The handsome and sharp face of the young man showed shyness for the first time. Seeing this, the screams of the girls around them drowned out the screams of the crowd for a moment.
Queen Calanthe on the high platform was even more excited than the crowd, and her voice was particularly loud:
“I declare that the winner of this tournament has been decided!”
“Hail to our champion! He is the Young Lion of Cintra, my nephew!”
"Lann Lannister Riannon!"
At the same time, the panel in front of Lann suddenly popped up, and the [Task] column was shining. I immediately clicked on the taskbar, and the only task icon of [Tournament Part 5-Champion] suddenly flashed a burst of white light, and at the same time, there was a sound like a holy sigh in my ears.
[The current task has been completed]
[Character level improvement +1]
Lann felt a wave of heat rush through his body, and all his injuries and fatigue were swept away!