This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Derpin0ides on 2025-12-10 21:35:17+00:00.

Yes. Your eyes do not decieve you! I have come back from the dead! And I brought  new chapter with me! XD

I am very sorry for this 'one week delay,' but We should be abl to restart posting.

As always, huge thanks to Sticket and Aured for spell-checking my condensated mind-fog amd whipping it (me) into a readable shape.

I hope you will enjoy the chapter and Some of you actually stayed believing I'll pull through the hiatus.

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Ar

Ar breathed out as he retracted his Bo. He appreciated the exercise against actual targets, but damn, was he not used to the movements. His whole body felt like shit and his mind was already spinning as it analyzed every detail of the encounter.

He looked himself over to try and locate any of those Mana marks they mentioned, wondering how that particular Magic worked.

Most of the marks were located near his wrists and fingers, probably from tearing through that shield wall. There were several ‘cuts’ along his forearms, but found nothing that would be fatal in real combat.

“Now, that was impressive!” A familiar voice came from behind him. Ar turned around to see the Guildmaster approach with a beaming smile.

“How are you feeling?” She asked as she started to circle around him.

“I… will be fine.” Ar smiled as he replied. “Just… Give me… five minutes. To catch some breath.”

“And here I thought your stamina was supposed to be very good!” Yelled the Taurine woman from behind him.

“It is. If I use it… eeh… sparingly. Not in bursts, like this.” Ar laughed and planted the Bo into the sand of the arena.

“Those shields were… nasty. Needed… a lot… to get rid of them.”

“Oh, I don't doubt that.” Ghanna agreed as she came over. “You made that look pretty easy, though.”

“Did I?” Ar asked as he showed her his ‘wounded’ wrists. “How do you… deal with them… normally?”

“Well…” Ghanna thought for a second before answering. “Ideally, you'd want to separate them and have two people face against one shield. One keeps the shield bearer busy, while the other one sneaks around to decapitate them.”

“And… alone?” Ar pushed.

“Alone? I'd leave him be for the moment and get someone to help me get rid of them. Mages are a pretty effective way to deal with them. Just conjure some magic bolts around them and bombard them from multiple directions.”

“That's only an option for an experienced Mage, though.” Zaanta joined in on the conversation. “Regular mages just don't have the Mana reserves to conjure so many attacks at the same time.”

“Sooo… breaking through shields is… not common?”

“No, not really. Most people would just… crash into the shield and get stomped into the ground.” Zaanta confirmed.

“Well…” Ar mused. “To be fair… if they were… as thick as back home… there is not much I could do…”

“How thick of a shield did your people use, Ar?” Zaanta asked, pulling a notebook.

“Well…” Ar thought for a second. “Normal shields about… one to two centimeters thick? Wood with metal or… skin on the front…” He indicated the thickness with his fingers.

“It depends on… the shield's purpose. Fighters use light, thin shields to… deflect strikes. Shield bearers use heavy, thick shields to block thrown spears.”

“Huh… Not so different from ours, then.” Zaanta nodded. “Are you ready for round two now?”

“Can do.” Ar agreed and reached for his Bo. “Let me just… stretch… and get used to my… full size… again.”

“Sure, sure. Just wave at us when you're ready again.” Guildmaster almost laughed before turning around and walking off to the side again.

“Sure…” Ar muttered as he tapped the artifact on his wrist and let himself grow large again. His mind returned to his clash with the shield wall.

‘There must be a better way to deal with that, right? Maybe vaulting over them? But that would only be viable if there are no pikemen…’ Ar thought to himself, as he fidgeted with the Bo in front of the first puppet. The puppet seemed rather small now, barely reaching his waist, which made him wonder how he'd fare against smaller opponents.

He took a moment to watch the Mana figures reform and to let the crowd gather around. He hadn't really paid any attention before, but now that he was able to see from a higher vantage point, he realised that EVERYONE was watching. Not just the Guild members, but there were people in windows above and in the tribunes as well.

‘I better not embarrass myself now…’ Ar thought to himself as he waved to start the trial.

Zaanta

Zaanta watched as Ar prepared for his second trial of the day.

“Do you think he’ll do better this time around?” Ghanna asked from next to her, "He's a much bigger target now and he'll probably move slower, right?"

“I’d reckon he’ll do better,” Zaanta answered, not looking away. “ He now has a longer reach and better angles of attack. Yes, he's larger, but he's still the same mass. Not to mention…”

Ar waved and Naell activated the puppets once again.

“...his legs are longer, so I expect he’ll be even faster now.” Just as Zaanta finished, Ar proved her right as he blitzed to the nearest figurine and straight up stomped it into the ground, dispersing it into the air.

“Case in point.” She smirked as Ghanna’s and Naell’s jaws hit the floor.

Ar, however, didn’t wait for them to compose themselves, and simply continued to advance forward. His next opponent found himself kissing a wooden branch, and subsequently having its head blown off by the force.

“Now I’m really sure he was holding back.” Ghanna muttered as she watched the demonstration. Zaanta just nodded, glad her friend didn’t get the same fate as some of the figurines.

“Just imagining that weird ax smashing against armor…” Zaanta let the thought hang and focused on Ar instead.

He was moving forward, having dealt with the swordsman and dual dagger wielder fairly quickly, and was about to face the pikemen. Ar attempted to use the same technique as before, swinging his Bo to one side, smacking the pikes aside, but miscalculated the distance slightly, leaving some pointed weapons in place, aiming for his shins and thighs.

“Oh fuck.” Ghanna winced, unable to look away. “That would’ve really hurt.”

Zaanta silently agreed. Leg injuries were serious and sometimes even incapacitated competent fighters permanently. Ar seemed to come to a similar conclusion, attempting to jump over the remaining pikes, and partially succeeding, just having one pike hit his ankle.

“He… What? Did he just jump over them?” Ghanna was staring wide-eyed as Ar swung his Bo across the exposed backs of the puppets before hitting the ground with a painful huff. Naell, for his part, stopped pretending the trial was not happening, and stared slack-jawed at the ridiculous scene in front of him.

“I guess we’ll have to bump up his classification…” Zaanta muttered to herself as she watched Ar rise up from the ground and rush at the next line of puppets.

“The Shieldbearers are next…” Naell muttered, his voice trembling with fear and awe.

Zaanta nodded and watched as Ar reached over the top of their shields and used his Bo as a jumping pole, vaulting over the top of the barrier and wreaking havoc from the middle of the formation.

“I think you’ll have to make some changes to the tournament, Naell.” Ghanna said as Ar dispatched the last of the shield bearers and made his way to the last group in the back.

“That… depends.” Naell sighed. “If that… thing… is willing to agree to some… restrictions…”

“For example?” Zaanta asked as Ar dispatched the last puppet and made his way toward them.

“Well, the easiest way to make the tournament fair is to reduce its weight. We have a couple of displacement artifacts in the storage just collecting dust. It should be more of a fair match that way. I could integrate your… champion… into a standard tournament structure as a challenger.”

“And if I… refuse?” Ar asked, startling Naell.

“When did you… You know what? Nevermind…” Naell paused to calm down. “If you won’t accept those restrictions, we’ll probably use you as a boss monster and send several teams at you to figure out how strong you really are…”

Ar stared them down for a minute, before turning his head to Zaanta. “Guild Master?”

“Y- Yes?” Zaanta stuttered, caught off guard.

“I… do not mind… either… option. Which one would… suit The Guild’s image… better?”

That… Zaanta actually had to think about that one. “Well…” Zaanta started pacing to think better. “Seeing you as a boss monster would certainly be interesting. Seeing you fight off hordes of enemies… But that could be seen as us putting up a challenge to the common masses and other Guilds. The first option… won’t give us a clear idea of your strength. But it would show we are willing to support individuals if they have the abilities necessary.” She finished and looked back at Ar with a serious expression. “The first option - the limited one - will look better for the Guild. But we won’t be able to give you an accurate rank in the Guild.”

“Could I travel… still?”Ar asked in return.

“When you do well enough in the tournament.” Zaanta nodded.

“Then, I accept limits.” Ar declared and turned to w...

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