Death Frost | Deathsworn #2

Chapter 30 ❆ Emboldened

The results were out for the second round of the tournament, and now the competition entered the second loser's round. They were now going to eliminate some people who'd earned their first losses.

The Temple took the progression of the competition slowly so as to allow the contestants to nurse themselves back to health and recover from injuries. After all, they wanted healthy seedlings that could be nurtured. As a rule of thumb, they wouldn't allow competitors to perform in one day twice.

Considering the current trajectory of the fight, they decided to flip the second loser's round schedule to prioritize fights between contestants who had rested much longer.

Revisions to the schedule were noted and given to competitors in advance—unless an emergency occurred and changes had to made on the spot. Since they were fair and took only the best interests of their potential disciples in mind, no one said anything.

The first fight after mine would be Stone Guardian and Lone Wolf, followed by Weeping Siren and Morning Glory, White Face and Spring Cloud, and finally Defiant Soul against Arrowhead. From these eight contestants, only four would remain.

I got a few cuts and bruises from the fight with Defiant Soul, but there were no severe injuries since we settled the fight quickly. My opponent did not seem too shaken up either, but I could tell he still held some grudge over the whole nipple-twisting business I pulled off earlier.

I loosely observed the fights in the second elimination round, finding it quite entertaining to see the desperation of the other competitors. I could be in the same shoes at some point, so I did not dare be comfortable in my current position either. That didn't mean I couldn't be entertained by others' misfortunes, though.

The only reason why I was watching these fights was in order to observe each candidate and list down my evaluations. This would help me prepare for them in advance. With my current pack of skill and experience, I couldn't depend on my improvement alone. Learning about the enemy would mean I could set some precautions against them in advance.

"Evy, do you have to do this every time?" Eren inquired, looking down at my notes.

"I guess I do this for comfort more than anything else. Otherwise, I get restless," I replied, writing ceaselessly on the page.

"Does that help? Wouldn't it be okay to just observe them once?"

"People aren't static," I said. "You're not the person you were yesterday."

"Mm. I guess that's true."

"Are you nervous?" I asked, turning lightly to her.

"About?"

"You might go out there again today," I said. "You're up against Morning Glory."

She shrugged. "I survived. It wasn't so bad," she told me. "I'll do my best on the next one too, I guess."

Seeing her nonchalant attitude, I raised my brows then turned back to what I was writing. It seemed the girl was not exhibiting her usual depression before the fight...which was quite strange.

I was also curious about what the other member of our trio was doing.

I turned to Maun and found him chipping away on a wooden block. Wooden shavings pooled around and on his feet. He didn't care much about the fight. I suppose he was just with us because he wanted to be there with us. He didn't put the other competitors much in his eyes.

This was like...unintended arrogance. He wasn't necessarily boastful. He just...didn't care.

I sighed. I did not know what to do with these two, to be quite honest. But it wasn't like I had to baby them either. I suppose the best thing to do was to let them be.