Threads of the Soul

Chapter 434 - 434: Weighed, Measured and found Wanting

The notion that the beetle Knight could actually be jousting against a child was simply ludicrous in his mind. So as soon as the thought appeared, he cast it aside. Instead he thought of more logical conclusions.Perhaps they were like a horse riding jockey, simply a short and skilled rider, or perhaps they had the ability to shrink themselves and were using it to make themselves a smaller target.

That last one seemed the most possible, actually... Not only was it more tactical to be a smaller target, but the thought that he might be facing a child would implant doubt into his mind and make him subconsciously go easy on them.

Oh... This half-pint knight was a truly devious one to have such a wickedly cunning plan. Thankfully, he was not like the other fools who would fall for such a ruse and had easily seen through it.

Those other idiots would actually think they were fighting a child. Truly, intelligence like his was the ultimate weapon.

Across the arena from him, Nixie was perched atop Snowball precariously. Her feet just barely reached the stirrups of his saddle, and that was after she tied them up so they would be shorter.

She had wrapped the reins around her hand, one of the legal ways to keep herself steady, and had her helmet down and covering her face. It was her ultimate disguise, and she was completely proud of herself for coming up with such a genius idea.

A wide, smug grin was plastered across her face as she giggled to herself maniacally. No one suspected a thing.

Nixie tightened her grip around the lance, cracking the handle slightly in her excitement, as the flag finally dropped and they charged towards each other for the first time.

The Beetle Knight kicked his mighty tiger into a charge, grinning to himself about his genius. Not just for his amazing ability to see through the dastardly plan, but having the perfect plan of his own to humiliated this devious knight.

He had the ability to weaken and strengthen things that he touched, more specifically to transfer their strength from one thing to another. He initially had the plan to transfer the strength of his lance into his tiger, so that it would become as brittle as uncooked pasta and break on any kind of blow.

It would make helmet shots much easier and further guarantee his victory. It was a wonderful plan however... his first victory shouldn't just be easy. It should display his prowess and grandeur in the best way possible.

Absolute victory in the first round. So the Beetle Knight did the opposite. He drew some strength from his loyal steed and poured it into his lance, strengthening it so that it became an iron rod in his hand.

With how fast the opposite rider was charging towards him, they would surely be knocked off by their own hubris. Lowering his reinforced lance, the Beetle Knight put his whole body into the thrust, so that it would be brimming with as much power as possible.

As it inched closer to his opponent's chest, he couldn't help but laugh in his head. He was an absolute genius! He was going to become the champion! He was going to get all the girls he could ever want! He was... falling?

The Beetle Knight blinked to himself as he tumbled back through the air, a baffled expression plastering his face as his back slammed against the ground. The crowd erupted into cheers as splinters and shards of shattered wood rained down around him, his opponent bounding by still atop their two headed wolf.

He remained on his back, staring up at the sky in complete and utter disbelief. He kept blinking, hoping to wake up from this horrible dream, but it stayed a reality no matter how much he wished it to change.

'Wh-what happened... I could have sword that I hit them... When did they hit me?... I... I don't understand. I... lost?!'

The knight shook slightly as he replayed the events in his mind over and over. He remembered vividly the other knights lance exploding into splinters before it even came close to hitting him. It never so much as glanced across his dazzling armour.

What had knocked him off... was his own blow. He struck true, just like he had planned and expected. Yet he felt like he was jousting against a wall of pure steel. His opponents body refused to budge no matter how much force he put into his attack, and unfortunately Sir Newton demanded that all that force was reflected back onto him.

He had... beaten himself? His opponent must have used some defensive talent right before impact to reinforce themselves. The explosion of their own lance must have been a distraction, just enough to redirect his attention so he wouldn't notice their trick.

Somehow, they had seen through his plan and used it against him. He couldn't help but laugh to himself. He thought he was so smart... yet this mysterious knight, truly was the ultimate genius.

***

Nixie pulled Snowball to a halt and glanced at the broken lance still clutched in her hand. More specifically, her fingers were buried half way into the hilt and she had to pry them free. Tossing it to the side, she laughed nervously and glanced around to make sure no one saw.

"Whoops, Hehe. I guess I squeezed it a bit too hard and broke it. I thought he would be stronger too but... maybe not. Hopefully some of the others will be stronger. Maybe I should have went for the beast fighting one...

Hehe, who's to say I can't do both?"

Nixie smiled deviously under her helmet, cackling wickedly to herself. However there was one person that was going to ruin all of her machinations.

Trying to act as calm and suave as possible, she glanced up at the box from which Corvus was supposed to be watching. She stared at him for a few seconds, waiting for him to make any kind of move to grab her or put her in time out, or simply any move that made it seem like he disagreed with what she was doing.

But no such movement came. Instead he simply sat there motionless, watching passively. The sight of that made the mischievous smile creep it's way back onto Nixie's face, spreading wider than before. If that passive attitude wasn't actually enthusiastic approval in disguise, then she didn't know what it could be.

Well... she could, but other such possibilities never entered her mind as they weren't good excuses to continue what she was doing. Whether he actually approved or just wasn't paying attention, either way it was Nixie's time to absolutely destroy this competition and take away as much of the gold as possible.

Best of all, if she won she wouldn't be able to be punished and would have to be rewarded. That was just the rules, after all. Once she was done with the Joust, it was the Beast Taming event she was after. More specifically the Beast fighting portion of it, where people would battle their beasts against each other.

It reminded her a lot of some of the shows she had watched through her dad's journal. He had memories full of them. Plus, it just so happened that she managed to get her grubby little paws on a new pet that absolutely loved to fight.

Glancing up at her father's viewing box one more time, Nixie laughed her mischievous little gremlin laugh before ushering her mighty steed Snowball to leave the arena. This tournament was going to be fun~

***

Time passed, as it is known to do, and after nearly two full days of travelling on this strange Alien planet, Corvus and his tag-alongs finally got within range of next available space breach. It hadn't formed entirely just yet, but it was enough for the bracer to pick up on the spacial fluctuations to give them directions.

It was also able to roughly guess how long it would take until it opened properly. A timer that was currently sitting at just under 5 hours and counting.

By this point, the majority of the travel party had become haggard and dishevelled in their appearance. Gone was the pomp and regal air they had once held in their meetings, replaced by exhaustion and hunger. Their fancy and well kept clothing was torn, dirty and worn away.

Those who had worn armour had stripped it off and replaced it with more comfortable clothing.

Even Corvus had torn off his ceremonial armour, or what was left of it, and remained only in the light padded clothing that was supposed to be worn underneath. He made sure to keep his cloak, which still hid his face from view much to the growing irritation of the others, even if the ends of said cloak were completely torn and ruined.

It did, however, give him a sort of rugged survivor look that Astra found surprisingly appealing.

Speaking of, Astra was the only one within their group who was seemingly fine. She didn't bother with hunger or exhaustion in the slightest, her clothes were completely untouched. She didn't need to eat or even breath, simply exist off of the ambient energy in the world and floated over most of the obstacles in their path.

Half the time she didn't even walk at all.

Glancing at Astra, who was hovering in a layed back and seated position, Corvus suppressed a sigh. Along with miss perfect, the American known as Xander, the Russian known as the Captian, and the Chinese man he now knew went under the name of Yuan, all stood beside him.

Corvus gestured to the hill beside them, speaking softly as the other members of their party rested.

"Come on, It's just over this hill. We'll take a look, and hopefully it won't be too bad."