"Are you sure we should not cast any enchantment spells before we enter the ring?" Marcus asked Mrazivý.
Currently they were standing just outside the entrance to the arena's floor where they would be participating in the Muharib Festival's duo tournament.
Unlike in the tournament held in Borealia, magic was not allowed to be cast during the Muharib Festival matches.
This was because high tier spells were often too unruly to control in a limited area, plus the culture in Aezam was far more heavily focused on close quarters fighting. Unlike Borealia which had an extremely prestigious institution like the Guldur Spire that promoted the advancement of magic, Aezam did not have anything similar. There were very few high-level mages in the country.
Though while magic could not be used during the matches, it was still acceptable to cast long duration spells such as those that increased stats or ones that created long lasting barriers.
Marcus also had several offensive spells he could cast before hand from his iron magic, but most attack spells were instantaneous making them impossible to use during the tournament.
"I do not think that our first opponents warrant using our magic. We should save it for the more difficult matches to catch our adversaries off guard." Mrazivý said, confident in their victory.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThey had received information on who they would be up against in their first match, and while they were pretty strong, it did not seem like their first opponents would be all that tough.
One was a spear wielder that was supposed to be in the upper sixties level wise, while the other dual wielded scimitars and should be in the mid-sixties in terms of level.
Both of them would be strong, but neither of them was higher level than Marcus so it was unlikely that they would match up.
"Okay, I will defer to you here. But if we lose, I won't let you hear the end of it for a decade." Marcus said, a teasing smile on his face.
At this Mrazivý chuckled. Even without using a few buff spells before the match, the two of them had several trump cards that they could use to almost certainly ensure their victory.
Soon, the announcer called for them to enter the arena and Marcus and Mrazivý walked out into the view of over a million spectators here to watch the tournament.
Neither of them received much applause, which made since as they were foreigners participating for the first time.
Their opponents on the other hand received resounding cheers of support. These two had taken part in the last five Muharib Festivals and made a name for themselves as high-level contenders. Certainly, they had never gotten past the top sixteen teams, but they were well known and had plenty of fans.
Once they reached the top of the adamantine stage Marcus and Mrazivý immediately appraised their opponents. Since they were about to do battle there was no need to worry about being polite.
Their opponents did the same but were blocked from seeing Mrazivý's information by the powerful magic item she kept on herself to disrupt the creature appraisal skill, and the information they collected about Marcus was unfortunately very different from the truth.
'Looks like the information we got was close to correct. Both of them must have raised their levels though, since the spear wielder named Casildo had reached level seventy wile the dual scimitar user Fasil is now at level sixty-seven.' Marcus thought reading the information he had received from his appraisal.
Their stats were a bit more than double what someone who never used any boosting items would get simply by leveling up, showing that they certainly must have consumed plenty of natural treasures to raise their stats.
Still, even their best stats were still below Marcus and Mrazivý's worst.
Among their skills, Mrazivý informed Marcus that only Fasil had a unique skill and only one at that. Other than that, they just possessed skills that almost all high-level warriors had without anything that was worrying or unusual.
"We can go with your plan then." Marcus said.
Smiling, Mrazivý could not be happier that Marcus had agreed to her idea.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmQuickly the announcer began detailing who everyone fighting in the match was and which clans they were representing. And in the Casildo's and Fasil's cases their past performances in previous Muharib Festivals.
When the announcer finished his announcements and declared the start of the bout, Marcus turned away from his opponents and started walking towards the edge of the stage.
As part of Mrazivý's plan to show off their skills and impress the Sulb Clan she was going to be fighting in the first match by herself.
Naturally this caught Casildo and Fasil off guard, as they could not believe that Marcus had turned his back on them and was leaving Mrazivý on her own.
"You should keep you eyes on me and not get distracted. Marcus is just going to be a sectator this time, so you only need to worry about me." Mrazivý said, brandishing her top tier adamantine sword.
"How insolent! You are taking us far too lightly!" Casildo yelled, clearly furious about the situation.
Fasil shared this sentiment and glared at Marcus who was just standing at the back of the stage and watching with his arms crossed.
"Are you really just going to let your partner fight us by herself?! Do you have no honor!"
In response, Marcus just shrugged is shoulders and did not engage. He had already agreed to stay out of the fight and was confident that Mrazivý would be fine without him.
"I thought it told you to keep your eyes on me." Mrazivý said with a deadly cold tone.
While Fasil had been directing his focus towards Marcus, Mrazivý had moved right next to Fasil and had her sword placed against his throat.
Neither he nor Casildo had seen Mrazivý move since they were distracted, and a cold sweat began pouring down Fasil's back as he felt the sharp blade slightly cut into his neck.