Chapter 2324: Victory
Chapter 2324: Victory
Everyone looked at the scene in stunned silence.
The puppet just collapsed out of nowhere. The Elder stepped forward and examined it. The armor is still fine, the wooden puppet didn't have any damage. So, it is not physical. He gave Sam a sharp glance, before he checked the puppet's core.
There it is.
He saw it. The puppet core is devoid of the spirit that was enchanted to it. The spirit disappeared completely. As if it was not there.
The Elder stood up and walked towards Sam's puppet.
"I would like to examine your weapons."
"Please do." Sam obliged. The Elder placed his hands on the armor. Spiritual energy spread out and turned into a runic inscription, covering all the components. His eyes glowed brightly. It must have been his own version on observation ability
He stayed in that state for three minutes and then sighed.
He felt the armor surface and clicked his tongue.
"Winner, Sam."
He announced while still standing there.
"HOW? He must have cheated. There is no damage to the puppet at all."
"Damage is not just physical. There is something beyond that. And judging by your words and tone, would I be wrong to assume, you are questioning the credibility of a judge in the Inter academy tournament?"
The Elder rebuked sharply.
The opponent didn't know what to say and took a step back.
'What the fuck is happening?' He cursed inside his head and turned to look towards the elder of his academy who is among the spectators.
The elder hesitated a bit and asked the judge.
"Can we know the reason?"
The elder looked at Sam and said.
"I am not in a position to reveal that. However, I can stake my reputation on my judgement. Sam's weapon set won fair and square, without any form of underhanded play."
The Elder nodded and just took his student away.
Sam smiled and let his armor back down.
The competition went on.
Manson won the second round as well. Even the Viswa-Karma academy students did. Sam also won the second round in the same way. This fight is also anti-climactic. They didn't understand how Sam is winning.
With all the majestic weapon kit, they couldn't even see how well it works. Even his opponents are indignant about this.
The next round is between Manson and the first Viswa-Karma student, then Sam and the second Viswa-Karma Student. This realization made most people get diverted from Sam's issue. Gambler academy versus the Viswa Karma academy.
That too in the finals of the inter-academy tournaments.
These things did happen before, in some regional tournaments or some low level tournaments, but this is the first time that this happened in such a huge official tournament. No matter what the results are, the first four places are occupied by these two academies. And they have a feeling that Gambler academy wouldn't lose out in this. Sam's set... it has yet to undergo any amount of stress. Much less a dent or a breakage. It didn't even a slight scratch. It is as pristine as it was, when it was assembled.
Even the sheen hasn't faded one bit.
Manson went first.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
The attacks were relentless and the exchange was really well balanced one. However, soon Manson's armor gave in. The spear lodged into the gap and pierced the puppet.
Manson lost, but he wasn't too disappointed. He still has one more fight. After Sam's fight with the second Viswa Karma student, whoever wins goes to finals, while the person who lost will fight with Manson, for the third place.
So, it is not really a bad thing for him. He has a chance to reach the third place and he is still only in the late-stage. He has some time in the second grade and he can improve.
The next match soon began.
Sam's puppet went on to the stage first.
Viswa Karma student hoped that he would be able to win. He bit his nails in nervousness.
*BANG*
Sam's puppet blocked the first attack from the enemy's sword.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
As the sword constantly came, it kept on landed on the edge of the shield.
*CRACK*
With enough attacks, a crack appeared on the sword, while a dent appeared at the edge of the shield. The puppet swung the sword again, in a different direction and Sam's puppet used a different part of the shield to block the attack.
*BANG*
The sword broke. It took too much damage from the previous fights, it is already good enough that Sam's shield has dented, that is the first ever sign of damage.
The enemy puppet dropped the sword and raised its hand to hold the spear on its back, however, the moment it did, it appeared like it slowed down all of a sudden. Its movements became sluggish, leaving a huge opening.
*BANG*
Sam's puppet slashed the long sword from the side.
*SLASH*
It landed on one of the dented and deformed parts of the armor. The sword went through it
directly.
With just a single slash, the armor was cut open along with a huge chunk of the wooden puppet. As soon as that landed, the puppet also collapsed to the ground.
That is it for the semi-finals.
Sam looked at the opponent. He is not disappointed at all. The opponent is just observing his fallen puppet and then at Sam's puppet. He had his fingers rubbing against his chin as he climbed the stage and observed Sam's weapons closely.
"May I?"
He asked Sam. Sam just shrugged. The other party looked at the armor and the sword carefully and it seemed like a revelation dawned on him.
"Is it Soul Steel?" He asked Sam.
Sam nodded and the other party clicked the tongue. He understood what is happening. The soul steel's preciousness doesn't just come from its rarity, but by its ability. Soul Steel has one
of the most dangerous abilities in its natural state.
When someone touches the ore without necessary preparations, they will lose their soul
power. It will consume their soul power bit by bit.
Even if the contact is indirect like with a sword or stick for example.
However, once the ore is refined, more often than not, it loses its ability. That is why only very high level masters work on the soul steel.
Right now, Sam's sword and shield which are made of soul steel are contacting the spirit hidden inside the puppet. Even with that indirect connection, that spirit is being depleted and
the puppet is eventually collapsing.
The opponent sighed in admiration.
When everyone was thinking of creating a great alloy to defend against physical attacks, Sam just went beyond everyone's thinking and used soul steel to target the mental world.
And no one can even say anything about it.
One can only say that he is competent enough and covered all the bases. And they cannot find
fault saying that the puppet's soul is weak. Even if it is a cultivator, their soul strength wouldn't be able to escape.
It might take longer to deal with the cultivators, but they will also fall eventually.
The opponent turned to his friend from the same academy and said.
"You cannot win this. Give up. We can at least leave early."
The judge was a bit stumped by the suggestion. It could be considered extremely
disrespectful. However, his friend shrugged and replied.
"Sure. If you say so."
He immediately withdrew from the competition. Then the opponent still on stage extended
his hand to Sam.
"Great work. I really you joined our academy. I am sure a lot of our instructors would have
appreciated your skill in the craft."
Sam shook his hand and thanked him. The opponent then looked at Manson.
"Would you like to compete for the third place? I hope we can declare it a draw. But if you
insist, I am fine with competing."
Manson frowned and asked.
"Why?" He looked at his own set and then at that guy's. Manson is not really confident, except
for the one spot, where attacked, the rest of the armor is still effective.
The shield is barely damaged and the spear wasn't even used. However, his own set is
damaged much more.
There is a high chance that he will lose.
"I just had some inspiration and would like to go back earlier. So, a draw is not big of a deal."
Manson was stunned. Someone would let go of a rank like this just because of some
inspiration.
He just nodded and agreed. Just like that, the whole competition came to another anti-
climactic end. The elders were a bit dissatisfied, so were the audience, but they can't do much.
Sam walked up to the stage and started removing the set off the puppet.
The judge walked to him and said.
"Your skills are really good. Too bad, the set didn't have a worthy adversary to shine. I really
wish I could see it in its full glory."
Sam didn't mind the compliment that much and smiled.
"Don't worry about it. Just come into the city in a short while. I assure you, the set will be put
to a good use."