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Chapter 72: 012: Victory Festival
Victory Festival, the most widespread and significant festival in the Mortal World of the Seven Kingdoms and the entire Ancient Ruins territory.
The history of this festival can be traced back to about a thousand years ago. It is said that during that time, the Mortal World was ruled by cruel and evil Black Wizards, and the entire region was filled with slaughter, blood, death, and endless chaos.
During that period, humans were as lowly as livestock, susceptible to relentless killings at any time and place, living a life where they could not guarantee the next day, overshadowed by the cloud of death at every moment.
This period was also known as the Chaotic Era.
How did the Chaotic Era begin? How long did it last? No one knows for sure now. A thousand years ago, perhaps due to the excessive chaos, no reliable historical records were left.
People do not remember how the Chaotic Era began, but they do remember how it ended. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
It was a day nearly a thousand years ago when the White Wizard came to this land and led all the heroes of humanity to rebel against the brutal Black Wizards, ultimately defeating them and ending the Chaotic Era, thus inaugurating the peaceful and tranquil Order Era we know today.
That day was February 13th.
To forever remember that significant moment in history and the heroes of that time, people named this day Victory Day. Every year on this day, all human kingdoms in this land grandly celebrate it. This is the origin of the Victory Festival.
Victory Festival in the Tulip Domain.
The celebration location is near the Forest.
On the left-hand side of this area is a long table made by joining over a dozen wooden tables, laid with soft and delicious white bread, freshly gathered honey, roasted rabbit, onion soup, apples, and various other delicacies.
On the right-hand side near the Forest, a separate area is fenced off with wooden fences, where several targets are set up. The archery contest is an indispensable activity in the celebration.
Next to the archery field on the left-hand side is another area fenced with wooden railings. This is the martial arts arena, where the spectacular swordsmanship duels of the Apprentice Knights and Knights are always the most welcomed events at the celebration.
At this moment, the formal celebration contests haven’t started, but two youngsters are already engaging in a match in the arena. Unsurprisingly, a crowd surrounds the place tightly, and girls with flower crowns have their eyes sparkling like stars.
"Who do you think will win? Will it be Mr. Lynch or young master Jamie?"
"Ah! This is truly a century-old conundrum. After all, both of them are equally handsome, I really... I really can’t answer."
The public’s enthusiasm is not only due to the swordsmanship contest itself but primarily because of the identities of the two contestants — one is the eldest son of the Baron, heir to the Tulip Domain, young master Jamie, and the other is Mr. Lynch, who recently arrived at the Tulip Domain.
Because the Wizards established rules prohibiting the casual disclosure of Wizards’ existence to ordinary people, Baron Claire also did not explain Lynch’s identity to the subjects, only externally announcing him as an esteemed guest from Wind Extinguishing City —
It is human nature to refuse to be ordinary. When mortals learn that Wizards and Magic truly exist in the world, they rarely continue to live their stable lives as before, instead divining ways to find Wizards, acquire Magic, and hence achieve overnight wealth and change their fate.
This is something the Wizards, who hope to see the normal operation of human society, do not wish to see. Therefore, Wizards deliberately hide their existence from mortals, letting them only exist in the history, myths, and legends of the Mortal World.
Coming back to the contest.
His noble and mysterious identity, handsome image, and exceptional martial skills destined Lynch not to be an obscure figure here.
In fact, since his arrival at the Tulip Domain, discussions about him never ceased. Seeing him step onto the stage now, the venue erupted with excitement, with nearly all the unmarried young ladies of the Tulip Domain gathered by the fence.
Their eyebrows showed affection, their eyes glittered, and the admiration on their faces was apparent to anyone.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
In the field, the sound of interlocking metals resonated continuously. Sparks flew as the two Cross Swords collided, with Lynch and Jamie engaging in a back-and-forth battle.
After dozens of rounds, Lynch seized a flaw revealed by Jamie, launching several consecutive aggressive attacks with his Cross Sword, making Jamie’s Cross Sword momentarily unstable. Lynch took advantage of the opening, made a final upward swing with a backhand, and knocked Jamie’s Cross Sword away.
"Wow!"
"The victor has been decided; young master Jamie actually lost!"
"Amazing!"
Spontaneous cheers burst from the crowd, with applause resounding enthusiastically.
Jamie walked over to pick up his Cross Sword, saying enviously to Lynch: "Lynch, you guy... really gave me a shock. In all my years, this is the first time I’ve been defeated in swordsmanship by someone my age."
Jamie was assigned as a swordsmanship instructor for Lynch by Claire. As a renowned prodigy Knight in the Saladin Kingdom, he has the perfect capability for teaching.
He is not yet 20 and only slightly older than Lynch, with a more congenial nature, so after some interaction, they did not maintain a teacher-student relationship between Wizard and mortal, but rather befriended one another like regular friends.
Lynch chuckled, "Unexpected opponents appear at unexpected times; a defeat pushes you not to become complacent. Keep striving; the title of Great Knight is beckoning you."
In truth, Lynch knew Jamie intentionally lost to him. As a Transcendent, it’s impossible to achieve genuine equality with mortals here, and Barron Claire’s initial intention of appointing Jamie as a swordsmanship coach was to forge a connection.
Jamie shrugged, wiped the sweat off his face with a white handkerchief, then pulled out a small mirror, tidying his hair while saying: "Forget about being an ascetic; it would be such a waste to spend this prime of youth and such a handsome face on Knight Training, wouldn’t it?"
He paused, then urged Lynch: "And you, don’t lock yourself in Cultivation all day. Look around the field; so many passionate and beautiful girls are waiting. Do you not plan on doing anything?"
Handsome, young, powerful, noble — each is incredibly attractive to women, and having them all combined in one person makes the allure irresistible. Given the openness here, if Lynch wanted, he could have company overnight tonight.
Lynch replied, "That’s why you lost to me."
Jamie shrugged indifferently, "As a loser, I feel pretty good."
"Roar!"
At that moment, suddenly, a ferocious roar erupted from not far away.
A brown bear was charging out of the woods.
"Bear... It’s a bear!"
"Oh heavens! Everyone, get away!"
It was an adult brown bear, roughly estimated to be over three meters tall and possibly weighing in tons.
As it charged out of the Forest, it resembled a heavy freight train rushing forward, instantly smashing and destroying the tables laden with food.
Its terrifying presence dared no one to approach, and people screamed and fled in all directions, throwing the entire venue into chaos.
"Lily, get away from there!"
"Ah!"
The brown bear, rampaging its way, reached a five or six-year-old girl. The girl, unable to run away, was so frightened she fell to the ground, while the giant bear had already raised itself, ready to strike at the girl with its pair of icy claws.
The girl’s mother let out a scream, fainting on the spot.
Seeing a disaster about to occur, suddenly a figure flashed through the crowd and appeared in front of the young girl.
"Snap!"
The anticipated tragedy did not happen; Lynch’s hands grabbed forward and, like two pincers, firmly grasped the brown bear’s pair of paws, effectively stopping the terrifying beast.
Then, Lynch took a deep breath, exerted force with his hands, and directly lifted the huge brown bear weighing over a ton, throwing it over ten meters away. It landed heavily on the grass with a whoosh.
"Oh my god!"
"What happened? That bear... that bear was thrown out, heavens!"
"Is he even human..."
The crowd was stunned.
The crisis hadn’t ended yet; the brown bear, scrambling up again, bared its fangs and growled at Lynch, poised to fight desperately at any moment.
Jamie picked up a Sheep Horn Bow from the side, drawing the bow and setting the string, with shining Silver Fighting Spirit gradually infusing the arrow.
Just as he was about to resolve the beast with a shot, a thick hand suddenly pressed down on the Longbow, stopping Jamie.
Baron Claire had walked over at some point.
He said indifferently, "Let it go. It is a pregnant mother bear, perhaps disturbed by our celebrations here."
James was astonished, as everyone knew Baron Claire’s famed hunt began with hunting bears.
"Yes, Father."
Nonetheless, he heeded the command and lowered the Longbow, for his reputation was already widespread enough without needing a bear to enhance it further.
The brown bear, maintaining a standoff with Lynch for some time, ultimately recognized who held the upper hand here and dared not advance. After growling angrily twice, it turned and ran northward, soon disappearing into the depths of the Forest.
With that, the small commotion ended, and a legendary story spread far and wide.
"Lynch! Lynch!"
"Bear Thrower Lynch! Bear Thrower Lynch!"
The people called out Lynch’s name loudly, bestowing him with an honorary title.
...
This little episode did not bring much impact on the celebration. People quickly reorganized the venue, and the celebration resumed in a joyful atmosphere, lasting until the end.
Two weeks passed after Victory Festival, and Lynch’s Elemental Voidification finally made noticeable progress.
Elemental Voidification lv1: 6/1500.
Elemental Voidification,
finally reached the beginner level!
