Am I the only one streaming Sword Art Online on the entire internet?

"So why did you suddenly start acting cute just now, Sorin?" Eugeo looked at Sorin, who had now returned to normal, with a strange expression and asked in confusion, "Are you trying to appear weak to the enemy? But... I don't think it's necessary. Those guys don't seem very strong."

"But they're incredibly brave, and they'll even teach you to grow up, you know that?"

Sorin still looked shaken, because he had clearly seen that the burly men inside, some with long beards and even some with scars, looked at Eugeo with a strange gaze. Rather than a probing look at an opponent, their eyes were more like the beastly stare of Brother Jie.

“But you’re not wrong. After all, my appearance is rather conspicuous. Being able to show weakness to the enemy to some extent is a good thing.” Solin coughed twice and then added, “After all, you saw it when we entered the city. I strongly suspect that someone is plotting against us. I noticed a guy in a trainee guard uniform sitting inside. I felt something was off about him. Be careful later.”

"Even if you say that... how could I possibly remember who was sitting in that seat?" Eugeo rubbed his head, trying to recall, but he still couldn't remember the person. "You suspect that was..."

"We'll talk about it later. I'll show you in a bit. It's just my intuition, but you know, Eugeo, my intuition is very accurate."

"Solin said seriously. He saw a group of guards walking towards the lounge outside. The one leading them was the old guard he had seen at the registration desk, followed by several young guards who were carrying a large box together.

"Let's go, it looks like we should draw lots."

Sorin straightened his clothes and then walked in that direction. Eugeo hurriedly followed, then went back to the lounge with Sorin and found a seat next to him, sitting down obediently.

"I'm delighted that so many people are willing to contribute to the defense of Zakaria. I wish you all good luck in your matches. Now, I will explain the rules of the draw, and then we will begin the preliminary draw for the sword tournament later." The leader scanned the people in the room, his gaze lingering briefly on Sorin and Eugeo, before gently tapping the box and continuing, "This box contains two kinds of balls, red and blue. Each color has balls numbered from one to twenty-eight, totaling fifty-six. You will each draw one ball from here. The red one is for the East Group, and the blue one is for the West Group. The match order will follow this numerical order. Any questions?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sorin stepped forward and took out a ball from inside. After a slight pause, Eugeo quickly followed Sorin and joined the queue. Soon after, the others also gradually stood up from their seats and formed a line behind Eugeo.

There was a hole about twenty centimeters in diameter in the lid of the wooden box. Solin looked inside and found that he couldn't even see the balls on the top layer clearly. Helplessly, he reached in, intending to randomly pick a ball, but at that moment, a ball suddenly appeared in his hand.

A hint of surprise flashed across his face, but he quickly regained his composure and returned to his previous timid and adorable demeanor.

"It's blue... I hope Eugeo doesn't run into me."

Thinking this, he gripped the small ball tightly and walked forward, looking concernedly in Eugeo's direction. Eugeo, on the other hand, quite decisively reached his hand in, and then something forcefully stuffed a ball into his hand. When he took it out, he found it was a red ball.

"Great, Sorin, it's red!" Eugeo shouted excitedly. "We won't run into each other!"

“This is only the first step to success, and the only one that relies on luck. You need to understand that the preliminary rounds are a single-elimination tournament, meaning there's absolutely no room for error. You must eliminate every enemy that stands in your way,” Solin said seriously. He found a shady spot nearby and sat down, then pointed over here. “Always remember, your physical abilities are no advantage against these big guys. Your advantage lies in the Dugu Nine Swords I taught you, and your extreme desire for victory.”

"Believe in yourself, believe in your sword. Though the enemy may be numerous, one strike will cut them all down. This is the creed of a swordsman. In short... may your martial prowess be restored."

"Yes, I'll do my best. You should too, Solin!"

The Sakarya Sword Tournament, August 6th, 378th year of the Human Calendar

As the clock tower of the Zakaria Church resounded with the midday melody, a thunderous roar of cheers erupted from the audience. Amidst applause and fireworks, the fifty-six contestants marched in two lines from the lounge onto the competition field. Eugeo's team turned right and headed towards the stage on the east side, while Sorin's team turned left and proceeded to the stage on the west side.

After the twenty-eight contestants on each side lined up on their respective stages, they first bowed to Lord Sakaria, who was seated in the VIP section on the south side. This was the usual procedure for every swordsman tournament. The person who looked like the city lord stood up and gave a somewhat lengthy speech, which reminded Sorin of the endless, rambling speeches given by principals and leaders before sports meets in high school.

After the speeches, it was time for the preliminary rounds. In fact, the format of the preliminary rounds was different from what Solin had imagined, probably because he hadn't been paying attention in class. The preliminary rounds weren't the Swiss-system competition he had expected, where contestants from each sector would compete in rounds to determine the top eight. Instead, they would demonstrate designated moves in front of the judges on stage in the order drawn by lot.

This technique actually refers to sword skills, specifically the kind of sword skills written into the system and planned for each school. This includes a series of coherent movements, from the sword's trajectory and footwork to hand gestures, requiring precision, power, and aesthetics.

"Is this supposed to be a swordsmanship tournament? We might as well call it a gymnastics tournament, since it's just a bunch of grown men awkwardly dancing here anyway."

When Solin heard the rule, a pained expression immediately appeared on his face. However, complaining was one thing; if he wanted to get out of the preliminaries, he had to do an awkward dance in public, rather than just standing up and saying, "Come at me all at once, you can't beat me anyway," and then utterly crushing them.

Furthermore, this competition format presents another problem. Almost all the swordsmen here practice the standard Sakalette style of swordsmanship in Zacharia. The judges' scoring criteria are clearly based on the Sakalette style they've studied for so many years, which is a significant disadvantage for Sorin and Eugeo, who use the unorthodox swordsmanship "Nine Swords of Dugu."

During his free time, Sorin was warming up with his rapier. Although he was quite proficient with almost all types of weapons, the rapier that had been with him from the beginning was the one he knew best. He turned to look at the other side, where Eugeo had already been called up.

Eugeo's face turned slightly pale, but he quickly recovered from the tension and his movements, from bowing to drawing his sword, were very smooth without any hesitation.

Each move was demonstrated for about ten seconds, and in the total of one hundred seconds of the demonstration, Eugeo made no mistakes, and his movements were as graceful as a dance. His diligent practice may have yielded results, but the most crucial factor was likely the high level of object control he had gained after accompanying Sorin in defeating the invading monsters. For him now, wielding this standard iron sword was about as difficult as swinging a tree branch.

Eugeo, neither a trainee guard in the town of Zakaria nor a guard from a nearby village, received the loudest applause and cheers yet for his martial arts performance. Although the judges were reluctant to give such a "questionable wanderer" a high score, their scoring was actually constrained by the rule of "scorching fairly based solely on the quality of the performance."

Therefore, they couldn't intentionally give him a low score, and could only give Eugeo an exceptionally high score befitting his performance. After the martial arts demonstration, Eugeo stepped off the stage, wiped the sweat that had somehow trickled down his forehead and cheeks, and gave Sorin, who was waiting on the west side of the stage, a confident smile.

Sorin offered no further response, only offering a slight smile in Eugeo's direction, unaware that the power of that smile had already affected all the other contestants between him and Eugeo. Even the rough-around-the-edges men who had practiced swordsmanship for years couldn't help but feel a flutter of attraction at that moment.

Of course, Solin didn't care much. He sat quietly in his spot and waited for about three minutes before his number was called. He dusted off the hem of his clothes and then strode confidently toward the stage, which was located on a high platform. He glanced at the stage briefly, then turned to the audience and performed a seemingly elegant yet elaborate greeting.

This was a ritual he learned in SAO, the etiquette the dark elves performed with the nobles before martial arts competitions. This elaborate ceremony immediately drew the attention of many judges.

"Is this the child who is suspected to be a descendant of the fairy clan? He is indeed exquisite." A voice said.

"Judging from the proficiency of her etiquette, I think we can remove the word 'suspected'," the city lord replied in a deep voice. "However, when I saw this child, I thought she would be a sword dancer, but I didn't expect her to be a weapon master... She really doesn't look like those masters who have painstakingly cultivated martial arts."

Of course, these discussions had nothing to do with Solin at this moment. He closed his eyes slightly, then quickly drew the rapier from his waist and used his first move—the rapier technique "Cunning Strike".

His swift movements made him almost impossible to catch, and the gust of wind he created as he charged forward even reached the audience twenty meters away. A chorus of screams, a mixture of astonishment and unreadable emotion, erupted from the crowd, leaving some of the VIPs feeling weak in the knees.

In fact, each sword technique was supposed to be demonstrated in ten seconds, but Solin thought that was far too long. So much so that the cunning surprise attack he just performed took less than two seconds in total. While everyone was astonished by Solin's actions, he proved them wrong with his own.

This "cunning surprise attack" was just the beginning.

Then came the second move. The moment he finished "Cunning Strike," he also sheathed his rapier and drew a one-handed sword from his other waist.

This time it was the one-handed sword technique, "Crimson Sword Shadow." Three consecutive spinning slashes with short-range thrusts generated a fierce gust of wind, making the hair of the audience on the other side of the stage shake violently. Similar screams erupted as before, but this time, it was easy to hear that even more people were cheering for this amazing performance.

Thinking about it carefully, it actually makes a lot of sense. After all, everyone before had been repeating the same set of movements in this preliminary martial arts demonstration. Even if every swordsman qualified to participate in this swordsmanship tournament had extremely exquisite skills, after watching several or even dozens of people repeat the same movements, even the most beautiful movements would make people feel drowsy.

What followed was even more dazzling. Solin was determined to fight for his full time before leaving the arena, so the entire stage truly became his personal showcase. The scythe-shaped sword technique "Twin Blades," the dual-dagger sword technique "Sinking Claws," the katana sword technique "Unknown Punishment," the spear technique "Crimson Willows"...

One after another, he performed sword techniques that the audience had never heard of or seen before, using different weapons. At first, the audience would cheer loudly and wave after wave, despite the immense pressure and suffocating wind and waves. But later, when even more magnificent sword techniques emerged one after another, the audience no longer had the strength to cheer for this silver-white figure.

In the end, people couldn't even see Sorin's movements clearly; they could only make out his approximate location through that flash of silver-white. Sorin stopped his movements when he silently counted down the time and felt that it was almost up. The chilling sword wind that had been echoing throughout the arena since he began his first sword technique also stopped.

He sheathed his sword, tidied his weapons, and then gave the audience the same elegant greeting as before, along with a smile, before leisurely walking off the stage. At this moment, the audience roared with even greater fervor than ever before, as if they wanted to shake the clouds above Zakaria down.

"See that? Eugeo, this is a part of my true strength..."

Sorin looked at Eugeo rushing towards him and said calmly. This was indeed not the full extent of his current strength, because all the weapons he possessed could now be used to unleash highly intense awakened sword techniques like the "Extreme Sword Technique: Storm Style" he used in the cave, which was definitely not something suitable for a stage performance.

"I saw it! Sorin is really amazing." Eugeo patted Sorin's shoulder hard, then pulled him to the side of the field. "Terin and Trull are here too. They brought some food. Do you want to fill your stomachs first?"

"Thanks, it looks great... You should have passed by now."

"We passed. Judging from the judges' expressions, they seem to have never seen swordsmanship like this before," Eugeo said smugly, then looked at Sorin and suddenly felt that he didn't seem to have anything to be proud of. "Now we've passed the second round."

“That’s right, so now you only have one hurdle to overcome.” Solin smiled and looked at the stage where the martial arts demonstration was still going on, and said relaxedly, “And that guy I think is problematic has been assigned to my side, so you shouldn’t have to worry about running into him. Good luck, take down all three of the guys you encounter, and then we can move on.”

The Sakarya Sword Tournament, August 7th, 378th year of the Human Calendar

After the martial arts demonstrations concluded, the eight swordsmen from each sector who had qualified through the preliminary rounds would begin their official matches in half an hour—the aforementioned single-elimination tournament. In fact, Sorin still wanted to complain about these childish competition rules—even when both sides used real iron swords, they weren't allowed to damage their opponent's Destiny during the fight; in other words, they couldn't inflict any damage.

According to Solin's guess, the actual way this duel mode would unfold is that both sides keep hitting each other until one side's stagger bar turns red. Although he can't directly see the stagger bar here, he can still roughly guess what it's like.

Time flew by, and Suolin's thoughts were broken by the 2:30 p.m. bell. The orchestra, which occupied a corner of the audience, then played a majestic march, announcing the start of the competition. The two, who had already finished eating, quickly stood up from the folding chairs in the waiting area, exchanged a brief glance, and then walked onto the east and west sides of the stage respectively.

The stage, which had some empty seats during the preliminaries, was now packed with people, and cheers and applause echoed throughout the venue like a howling storm. A guard responsible for miscellaneous tasks brought out a large sign with a piece of paper attached and placed it next to the judges' tent. It was actually the match schedule for the upcoming matches; Eugeo from the East would have his first match in the third game of the first round, and Sorin would also have his third match in the West.

However, more concerned about his opponent than any of that, Sorin realized that the name matched the swordsmen he had previously memorized from the preliminaries. He then discovered that it was the same person he had mentioned to Eugeo before, the one who seemed a bit off.

The matches progressed quickly. Solin managed to watch one in a short time and noticed that almost all the matches consisted of both sides testing each other before rushing into a frantic exchange of blows, with whoever couldn't hold out the first to leave. Although the clanging of weapons and the sounds of metal striking metal made it seem intense, to a professional like Solin, such battles were undeniably boring.

Perhaps it's because this place is too remote, hence the lower skill level. Sorin guessed. The first two matches had ended, and the examiner emerged from the tent, calling out to Sorin and his opponent—a young swordsman named Igum. Igum stared intently at Sorin with wide, yellow eyes, his gaze filled with disdain.

"I bet all you can do is use those fancy, flashy sword techniques. You're a girl, yet you're thinking about wielding swords. Do you think this swordsman tournament is for outsiders like you to play house?" Igum mocked him right off the bat, his expression turning increasingly hostile. "To have such an opponent in the first round, it's really a bit of an unfair victory."

Suolin looked at the arrogant man who was showing off in front of him with a mix of amusement and exasperation. However, he was not the kind of person who thought that wasting words was a waste of effort. At least when he still had the luxury, he did not like to be at a disadvantage in such situations.

"?GCK, if you can't speak properly, then shut up." He calmly drew his rapier and pointed it at Igum, his tone light and refined, yet subtly carrying the power to provoke the other. "You brat, you [horse.jpg] biss, just wait and see, I'll pierce you through the wall in a minute."

"you……"

Although Igum didn't fully understand Sorin's abstract words, he received the implied sarcasm perfectly. He also drew his sword, and his gaze towards Sorin had changed from contempt to utter rage.

"That taunt worked pretty well," Solin thought. Although he hadn't intentionally intended to use tactical taunting, the fact that it achieved its effect was something he was happy to see. This way, his opponent was likely to launch a preemptive attack at the start of the match, and in a swordsmanship competition that was essentially a physical contest, launching a preemptive attack was a significant disadvantage.

Sure enough, as soon as the examiner raised his right hand high, then swung it down forcefully and shouted "Begin!", Igum instantly launched his attack. He quickly rushed to Sorin's side, his sword gripped tightly, carrying his high spirits, and delivered a diagonal downward slash from right to left.

However, this attack seemed rather hasty. Sorin calmly switched his weapon to a scythe, suitable for parrying and counter-attacking, and effortlessly blocked the kasaya slash. He didn't rush to counter-attack afterward, but waited for his opponent's next move.

Just then, he suddenly smelled an unusual scent—it was indeed a scent, because it was the incense sticks he and Eugeo used to burn at night to repel insects when they lived in the stables on the farm.

This is somewhat unusual. This incense stick is not the mosquito coil you see in the real world. It is generally used to paralyze specific venomous insects, and since there are no venomous insects that can harm people in this area, this incense stick is usually only used in stables or other livestock farms.

That's part of the reasoning. The other part is that, as a trainee guard in the town, Igum shouldn't have come into contact with such things unless he recently used incense sticks.

"You were the one who released that bug at the city gate earlier, weren't you?" Solin whispered as he approached him after another defensive maneuver. "Normally, guards shouldn't need to come into contact with the Twisted Thread Vine."

"Do I need to answer a wandering samurai like you? And even if I did, all I did was release a harmless little insect instead of killing it. That doesn't violate any of the Empire's laws or taboo lists."

This is indeed true, because the giant marmot that Sorin discovered earlier doesn't harm humans; it only bites horses. However, if a horse is bitten, it will obviously cause harm to those around it in its frenzied state, just like what Sorin and Eugeo saw before entering the city.

"So... in this world, certain indirect methods don't violate the Taboo Index... wait, something still doesn't feel right."

As Sorin thought about this, he suddenly realized the conflict between the person's behavior and his impression of him: in the village where Eugeo and he had lived, the villagers were extremely cautious, afraid to do anything that might even slightly violate the taboo list, completely confined by a pitiful, thick barrier. But this guy… his guiding principle was "anything not prohibited by law is permissible." This was quite strange.

The Sakarya Sword Tournament, August 8th, 378th year of the Human Calendar

Sorin had previously speculated about the irrationality of this mechanism, but after getting used to it, he gradually accepted it as part of the "game's" design. However, there are exceptions to this design. For example, there's Igum right now.

Since he was able to devise a plan to indirectly attack Sorin and Eugeo by using poisonous insects to attack Malay, it means he was fully aware that his actions could harm humans. Judging from his current behavior, he is most likely using mental suggestion to circumvent any potential violations.

"Why?" Solin's voice suddenly turned cold.

"What do you mean, 'why'?" Igum retorted dismissively. "I'm annoyed. You wanderers who came out of nowhere think you can compete with me, Igum Sakkaret? And you want to join the guard?"

"Of course I wouldn't allow that. When the caravan told me that two brats had set off from the most remote village to participate in the sword tournament, I already decided to take care of you. I didn't expect you to be able to handle that mad horse. You're really something else!"

He deliberately dragged out his words, while his hands continued their relentless attacks on Solin. Solin, however, didn't even consider switching weapons, simply parrying with his sickle sword, his defense impenetrable. After hearing his explanation, Solin understood something.

Judging from his self-identification, he does have a surname. In a medieval world, surnames often signify noble status. Considering the surname "Sakalette," it can be inferred that he is a descendant of the city lord's noble lineage. This might be why he was able to successfully circumvent the Taboo Index through psychological suggestion, Sorin speculated.

"Now that everything has been confirmed, it's time for this farce to end."

Sorin deflected Igum's slash with a single sword stroke, then lightly leaped back to create some distance, drawing his rapier again. He immediately followed with the rapier technique "Deceptive Charge," his unstoppable blade forcefully clashing with Igum's sword, producing a crisp sound. This was Sorin's first proactive attack in the entire match. The spectators watching the fight, seeing this remarkably proactive move, erupted in cheers of surprise and admiration.

However, at this moment, Sorin frowned slightly. He felt that the feedback from his sword was not quite right. After taking a quick look, he discovered that his rapier had a slight chipping on it due to the violent impact.

The opponent's weapons were intact, Sorin was certain of that. However, weapons issued from the same place, even if of different types, shouldn't have such a large difference in material.

Igum had clearly understood this all along. Previously, Sorin had only used his sickle sword for defense, so this advantage hadn't been effective. But now it was different. With Sorin taking the initiative to attack, their weapons would inevitably clash head-on, making the difference in the materials of the swords a crucial factor.

He launched another attack, forcing Sorin into a direct confrontation. After exchanging another blow, Sorin noticed that the cracks on his rapier were now quite noticeable.

"Let me make this clear from the start, this doesn't violate any rules. The tournament rules stipulate that all participants must fight with swords borrowed from the judges. So if a good sword is mixed in with these swords and I happen to borrow it, that doesn't violate any rules, right?"

He said this smugly, which made Solin even more convinced of his guess. But... Solin knew one thing even more clearly: this slight difference was not enough to be a reason for this weakling to defeat him.