Curse 11: From Noble to Humble

I went back to the stadium field with Peri.

After returning, there were a couple of fights seemingly underway.

I missed half of it, but Peri told me that it wasn't anything too important to see. It was just a couple of people who were duking it out.

Some of their techniques were "okay" to see, but they didn't have any thought behind them, my red-haired friend mentioned.

And if that was the case, then that meant that these people didn't think of their magic as a part of them and just simply as things that they wielded. Of course, this was all in theory. I'd have to see for myself.

The prince raised both of his hands in the air.

"Alright! The next matchup will be Tristis Messor Vs Lloyd Miles the second!"

I looked at the purple-haired guy who was named Lloyd. He folded his arms and chuckled at me. "Get ready to lose, woman!" Lloyd mocked me and started to walk towards the middle of the field.

"I don't know how gender has anything to do with fighting, but whatever." Peri lowered his brows halfway when he heard that comment. Peri turned serious and pointed at me. "But be careful, Tristis. Just because he has an ego doesn't mean you should take him lightly."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not sure what type of magic he'll be using." I nodded.

I placed my hand under my chin. "But for some reason, I don't feel all that worried. And I believe that I finally figured out how to use my curse to my advantage, too."

"... You better not mean dying on purpose to gain a petty point from those royals!" Peri firmly stated.

"... I got another way to use my curse to my advantage!" I beamed brightly at Peri.

"Tristis, I swear if you try to kill yourself out there, I'll make you pay myself!" Peri barked at me.

I laughed and playfully tapped Peri's back.

"Ehehe! I'm joking, I'm joking! Wish me luck, little Peri~!" I skipped away happily after teasing Peri a little. I halted and tossed my bag at Peri. And, to no surprise to me, Peri swiftly caught it with one hand, no effort at all. "Oh! Be a dear and hold my bag, too!"

"Of all of the...!" Peri grunted and scoffed after giving up on yelling at me.

I giggled and hurried along to the middle of the field.

Hehe! So adorable!

***

"Okay, knights! Here are this match's rules! You both can use magic to create an advantageous state! However, you cannot kill your opponent; otherwise, you'll be banned from entering the kingdom forever and will be arrested!" The prince announced.

He looked at me.

"Weapons are also allowed to be used for this match!"

He then looked back at Lloyd.

"Whoever is out of range will lose the duel!"

The prince raised his index finger. "Do the two duelists understand thy rules?"

Lloyd nodded and summoned a heavy axe.

I guess I could use a weapon...

But what weapon should I use?

Let's think. He got an axe that could be used for power. But I won't underestimate him and think that he'd be slow either.

A bow? No, that won't work.

It's got to be either a sword or a smaller object to balance out my body weight.

Ah!

I'd use a short sword!

I looked back and waved at Peri. "Hey, Peri! Could you hand me my mirror for a moment?"

"H-huh?" Peri blinked and pointed at himself. He then scratched his neck and took out my mirror from my bag. He was going to toss it, so I panicked. "J-just a moment! Just look for 'Wises of the wise' and do the code '41-16'!"

"What nonsense are we seeing?!" Lloyd spoke in disgust.

"Now, now." The prince spoke to try to calm my opponent down.

"Okay then..." Peri flicked open my mirror. "Just need to find that contact... ah, here."

Peri's index finger started typing the code on my mirror.

"... And enter." Peri tapped the mirror one last time.

Boom!

And as if on cue, a beam of light landed right next to me. A dust cloud of smoke formed as if it were an effect for a talent show. It wasn't long before I saw a shadow of the person I had been looking forward to for a while. Despite it being for an important matter.

The person coughed inside the dust cloud before removing it with a snap of her fingers. And the person turned out to be the old lady! She had her classic brown cloak, hoodie over her face.

"Oh boy! This place REALLY needs some dusting!" the old lady coughed once more and sniffed.

She snapped her fingers once more, and her whole body had sparkles all over.

"Grandma!" I lifted my hands in the air.

"Are you trying to butter me up, kid?... Course, it's working." The old lady commented.

The old lady snapped her fingers, and a short sword appeared.

"Here's code '404' with a slice of code '411'. Very durable, very useful, and can be summoned from now on." The old lady handed the items.

"Thank you, Grandma!" I hugged her tightly.

"Are you trying to get me to feel happy for delivering such a last-minute thing without paying me any money?... Good job, kid. You figured out my weakness. I'll pay the tab like usual." The old lady hugged me back, followed by gently patting my white hair.

The old lady let go and stepped back.

"Call me again when you need me. I'm busy these days, but I always have time for you, my dear. Chow!"

With a snap, the old lady turned into dust.

I waved goodbye despite her being gone.

I really do view her as my grandma, though. I should probably text her that later!

"Nonsense! Is that even allowed?!" Lloyd complained.

"... Sure. The maiden can do that since the match hasn't started yet!" The prince shrugged with a small smile.

"Isn't that bending the rules, Your Highness?!" Lloyd frowned at the prince.

"Most definitely! But she hasn't broken any major rule! Her boyfriend did it, so technically, the young maiden hasn't done anything wrong." The prince laughed afterwards.

"I'm still not her boyfriend!" Peri shouted from the other side of the field.

Hehe! You're so silly, Peri!

I looked at the weapon the old lady had provided and another additional thing as well. And I saw the signature of Wizz Inc.!

It looked like a wrist bracelet that was shining silver. Not to mention, there was a jewel in the middle of the glass that held it inside.

I bet that's for maintaining mana.

So I made sure to touch the glass, and the jewel stopped glowing and darkened. From bright white to dark.

I then admired the design of the short sword.

The blade's edge was beautiful, the handle felt warm and firm. The color of the brown handle really made it pop. Truly, the sword could handle my mana! And since weapons were allowed, I made sure to touch the glass in the middle of the handle.

I put on the bracelet and swung the short sword forward gently.

Light, simple to use, and could probably handle my intense mana. Good.

"Are you ready?" The prince asked me.

"Yeah!" I nodded.

"Finally!" Lloyd rolled his eyes and bent his knees, resting his heavy axe on his right shoulder.

I was thinking of taking a stance, but standing and pointing my sword at him should be fine.

"Ready... Begin!" The prince swiped both of his hands down.

Ba-dump!

My heart raced. The world darkened for a moment, but returned to normal.

I blinked and then nodded firmly.

"So that's his style," I said curiously.

It seemed my power activated on its own just by thinking about it.

Though I wasn't really certain.

Leap!

Lloyd was already next to me.

Clash!

He swung his axe to the right. I blocked without any worry and still had curiosity about my new power.

Is it really activated? I could've seen that coming from miles...

My blade was sparking, almost like it was a light show. I pushed Lloyd back gently and stepped back lightly. He chased and swung to the left this time. I counter-blocked by swinging my short sword from the bottom.

Lloyd backed up and then pointed his index finger at me.

Sizzle!

Purple flames appeared from his index finger and caused a giant roar.

The flames were eating everything within their path. But they were mainly aimed at me.

Nice coverage. I won't be able to escape from any angle, I praised Lloyd.

He really knows his stuff.

I simply lifted the short sword in the middle of the purple flame.

Fwoosshh!!!

I cut the flame clean in half. Making sure it didn't go further, I cut the air, and the flames disappeared into tiny particles. Almost like a firework show for kids. The air was now full of purple-like stars that were showing their beauty.

"What?!" Lloyd ground his teeth in anger.

I lifted my short sword and stared at it.

"I messed up," I said out loud.

"What was that?!" Lloyd formed an angry fist.

I showed Lloyd the pointed edge of my sword. "The short sword wasn't meant to thrust through some powerful flames. I cut it since you were aiming to give me burns that make things difficult to carry on the duel."

I smiled at Lloyd.

"But that was some beautiful magic, Lloyd! I could tell that type of magic was from a bloodline of powerful nobles!"

"Don't toy with me, bitch!" Lloyd had veins forming.

He leaped once more and backed up his axe.

And as before, he reached me before anyone could notice.

Clash!

I blocked the downward attack by using the sword backhand style. Lloyd clicked his tongue and backed up his weapon again.

"Ah," I blinked, curiosity never leaving me.

BASH!

Lloyd slammed the axe hard on the ground. I could see a man-made hole that was bigger than my whole body. I lightly jumped backwards, still holding my own short sword backhand style.

Leap!

I swiftly backed in there and used my brown boots to kick a rock in front of me.

Whoosh!

Lloyd dodged it and left his weapon behind. I backed up a little and brought back my hand that had my short sword.

Lloyd pointed at me, and his axe glowed purple. It quickly came out of the ground and headed straight for my face.

I dodged to the side and let the axe hit its mark.

I heard something coming behind me and lifted my free palm to stop it.

Boom!

A shockwave occurred when I caught something that was very powerful and very smart. Lloyd used his fist to try to sneak one in to make me lose balance. I glanced at him with a small smile. "Smart. Using your weapon as a feint! You had been trained well!"

Bam!

Lloyd tried to kick me, but I used one of my legs to stop it.

I smiled at the sight at first since it seemed like Lloyd had what it takes to back up his claim, but then I realized my mistake...

"Whhaaa!! The dress!!!" I screamed with tears in my eyes.

It was all dirty from the impact of the kick!

Peri's dress that he gave me is ruined!

"What the hell's your deal, woman!" Lloyd yelled at me.

Dodge!

I dodged it with ease and looked at him with anger. "What do you think?! My dress is dirty!"

"Who cares about that—"

I instinctively grabbed onto his shirt and backed up my fist.

Wham!

I smashed him into the ground hard and caused an even bigger hole than the one he made. When I came to, I realized that I might've overdone it.

"... Oops." I slowly bent my knees and looked inside the dark hole. "Uhh... you're alive in there? Please say something, or you'll make me look really bad. Uh... hello?"

Uh... oh.

I... I hope I didn't kill him by mistake—

Boom!

Lloyd leaped out of the hole, his shirt torn, showing his white vest, pants still intact, but one of his shoes was missing.

He landed and backed away from me.

"Alright! I didn't kill him!" I jumped for joy.

"You... what are you?" Lloyd slowly held his chest.

I blinked at him.

"That power... It's pissing me off! Yet... yes!" Lloyd formed both of his fists. "... Finally! No wonder that guy who fought your friend went all out on him! You guys might be poor, but your strength is admirable! I take back my words from before!"

"Huh?" I blinked once more, dumbfounded.

"... Yes! Now this is what the kingdom needs! I was tired of seeing the same song and dance all the time with my noble friends and rivals! Finally!" Lloyd held his head. He slowly looked at me with his eyes glowing. "You're just like 'him'. No, all three of of them!"

"Who... are you talking about here?" I scratched the back of my hand.

"The prince and the noble who had the magic to rival the strongest knight, Jinx Helper!" Lloyd shouted.

"Jinx?" I raised my brows.

"The strongest knight, Jinx, the prince that's standing in front of us, the noble that had long brown hair! Those are our proud knights who are supposed to restore the legendary items that brought a curse to a child from long ago!"

"... Legendary items that brought the curse?" I whispered.

"But enough! Time to continue our legendary battle!" Lloyd laughed wholeheartedly and made his axe appear in front of him.

Dash!

He was even faster than before. Faster than the mohawk, even faster than Peri when he held back.

However!

Clash!

When the blade of the axe came at me from the left, I twirled the short sword and held it backhand style once more. Sparks appeared from every movement we made.

But that wasn't important right now.

I turned serious and spoke my mind.

"Hold on. Are you telling me that the items are related to the cursed child from the old days?" I asked in a lower tone.

"So the book says. Every knight that passes gets access to the library of truth that is inside of the giant castle!"

My left eye twitched.

"Are you sure? Are you certain that's the case?" My voice got lower.

"You'll have to beat and find out yourself—!"

"I see," I said in a cold voice.

But simply smiled at Lloyd brightly, with my eyes closed, my head tilted slightly.

"Thank you! You've been very helpful!" I giggled, making my voice lighter.

"Huh—"

WHAM!

I did an overhead eagle kick into Lloyd's hand that was holding the heavy axe.

"Arghhh!!!" Lloyd screamed in pain.

SLAM!

I did a very hard roundhouse kick and slammed him into the same empty area where the mohawk once slept. I glanced at the sight and saw a cloud of smoke around him. Looking closer, he was still breathing, but out for the count.

I exhaled deeply and looked at the prince sweetly.

"That's it, right?!" I beamed a smile at the prince.

"Hehe! Interesting!" The prince commented. He then gestured with his hand at me. "And that's the duel! The winner is the maiden! Tristis Messor!"

I heard mutters from around me.

Not that I cared about that right now. I looked at the axe and slowly grabbed hold of it. It was heavy, sure, but I casually lifted it and stared at it.

"Ah. I knew it!"

Crush!

I destroyed the weapon into a million pieces.

"This weapon had so much borrowed mana from that same noble with the brown hair," I whispered.

That meant he cheated.

His skill as a knight was great, mana was wonderful, too. But the weapon had someone else's mana. I wouldn't mind if it was his, but using someone else's mana got me a bit annoyed.

The world flickered once more, making me jolt.

"Hmm?" I looked around.

I placed my hand under my chin.

So it did activate.

... Yeah, there's a lot I don't know about my curse. Perhaps being in that library of truth will help me seek the answers I need.

But strange. Why does that place... sound so familiar to me?