Claris declared her words loudly and then charged at Agnius. She was not without training from her time under training, but her strikes and slashes did not overwhelm Agnius; she did not relent. Still, Agnius took her unaware when he kicked her knee, causing her to stumble. He lightly slammed his pommel on her back, but it was enough to send her to the ground.

"You're still fighting like a knight; give up on it; a warrior fights with everything," he said as he gestured for her to rise again.

And raise she did, coming at him with more fury in her attack. She even attempted to tackle him, but a pommel to the shoulder sent her back.

"That's better but still wrong." Agnius came at her this time, his attacks armed for her sword, and they were too heavy for her to parry, so she put all her effort into her defence that was so easily shattered. With the opening, Agnius went for her chest. A strike there would end the match, but he stopped mid-swing.

"Sir Agnius?" She asked

"Claris, what would happen after this fight?"

"My family would disown me for disobeying and participating, and I would have nowhere left to go, but I won't give up; I keep trying to get stronger."

"Good"

The left side of Claris's view went dark, and warmth flowed down her face. She knew what had happened, but using her hand to confirm, she touched her face and brought it to her right side. The red liquid was fresh and flowed from her palm down to her wrist. She started to scream, but Agnius's kick knocked the air out of her, and she tumbled to the ground.

"I'm ending this; dodge it or die."

Claris managed to stand back to her feet, but that didn't stop Agnius; a straight horizontal slash aiming for her neck was coming at her fast; what could she do? She's lost vision in one eye. All the attacks she endured have left her a mess. It took so much to stop herself from falling. If she fell now, all her effort so far would be a waste, "At least sir Agnius's sword would take my head swiftly" She thought sir Agnius was a kind soul, a warrior she was proud to fall to "fight with everything on the line" those words brought her knees back to life just for one action, just to dodge the blade that would take her head.

"Congrats, you're worthy of becoming a warrior," he congratulated her while raising his arm to signal people to come take her off the stage. Although his attack missed her neck, it caught her hair, and her long blonde locks fell to the ground.

The on-lookers were stunned at how a man could do that to a woman. He attacked her with such strength he purposely scarred her face and cut her hair, but no one dared speak; the strongest human and the general of the empire were present. The woman, the foundation of the empire, would not hear of it, of then looking down on a knight just because she's a woman.

And so the uncomfortable silence passed, and the tournament continued. Other expelled knights from house Sapphire came up to challenge Agnius, but he swiftly defeated them all and didn't even offer them the same chance as Claris. At this point, Agnius had fought over 50 matches, and many more were still on their way. The sun was closing to set, and the people had grown bored of Agnius' effortless wins, so Wania stood.

"I am bored of this; you lot can clearly not defeat him; for the sake of your pride, you do not surrender; enough of this; either send your strongest man, or everyone should challenge him together; either way, the next fight is the last."

The nobles didn't want to lose their chance, so they rallied to send everyone to him. He wouldn't last against all of them, but while they argued, someone climbed the stage. Wania's eyes widened before letting out a laugh, and the man who entered was young, fair-skinned, with eyes as blue as the sky and a face of beautiful, well-balanced features. He was dressed in gold armour, a large shield with a diamond outer rim, and a longsword.

"My name is Timothy Sliver Weiss-Leo; I will be your final opponent today."

He took his stance, ready to fight. Agnius looked around, checking the expressions and reactions of the audience, the whispering, the excitement, the rage, the smiles, the worried looks, the insults, and the disgust. Every form of common emotion preludes to scepticism. The man who stood before him was well known. His expression was confident or arrogant; Agnius couldn't tell, and he didn't care. The man stood before him with good form and a good physique. "How do I cut him down?" he thought while taking his stance. Before he could finish, Timothy was already charging at him, hiding behind his shield; he wasn't just closing the distance, he was going for a shield bash to knock Agnius out of the ring.

 

"You're a tough one," said Timothy; he made contact with Agnius and pushed him back a few steps, but it wasn't enough; just barely two feet shy of the edge, Agnius had braced himself by digging his sword into the ground using Timothy's shield as its driving force. Timothy jumped back. A contest of strength would be pointless. He was giving himself room to think, and Agnius was standing by just watching him; the boy showed confidence to the point of arrogance. Maybe to him, this wasn't a battle; it was a test Timothy had amply prepared for. The young boy looked at Agnius, "I can't believe it, I came to the tournament this year to see what other knights were like and find a chance to prove myself before everyone. I didn't expect the general to even be present to talk, let alone about such an opportunity. I could use this; I would prove myself by beating this mercenary and further my standing in the empire using the general as my stepping stone."

 

Timothy smiles and charges at Agnius again, blade first this time. Agnius defends the sword to the side, and Timothy punches with the shield. Agnius dodges backwards to kick the boy away. Not giving him a chance to balance himself, Agnius charges forth and unleashes a barrage of heavy sword strikes blocked by Timothy's shield.