After a while, Bartrem and all the soldiers returned from the forest. They were battered with dirt, mud, and leaves all over their armor and faces.
"Wow. You guys really tried hard out there," Aldred said.
Bartrem laughed. "We had so much fun. You won't believe how many types of monsters there are in that forest. The other teams almost got eaten by a giant plant because the monster pushed him. Apparently, they learned how to utilize the environment as well."
"The monsters I fought never did that to me."
"You probably killed them before they even got the chance."
Aldred and Bartrem chatted about their experience in the forest. Maverick joined in on the conversation.
"The monsters are wild! I was fighting a weird gigantic lizard until another large monster came rushing at us. I thought we were getting attacked, but the beast attacked the large lizard instead. Let me tell you. Seeing two large beasts fighting was a fantastic experience."
"That's why my father holds some monster gladiators events sometimes," Byron said. "He would do it every year or so, and he would invite the nobles and wealthy men to watch the show."
"Yes," Maverick agreed. "I sometimes go to your father's gladiator show."
Byron laughed. "Alright. Since everyone is back, let me call my men to tell you the score. So Bartrem. You team up with all the soldiers while Maverick you have your own team, and Aldred you are alone."
Six old men suddenly appeared behind Byron. They had a note in their hand, and Byron piled them before reading it aloud.
"Maverick. Your team killed 27 monsters with speed and techniques, but you never use the environment to defeat them. Lack of creativity and utility makes your scores at 470 points."
"Bartrem. You and your team are totaled at 24 members, making it the largest team in this game by numbers alone. But your team has great coordination, teamwork, and timing. Not only that, you masterly use the environment to trap the beast and weakened them. And here it said that you use poisonous plants, put them in meat, and then gave it to the monsters to kill them. Your strategy and tactics defeated a lot of beasts with limited effort and time."
Byron was shocked at the long list, but he continued. "And you even drowned 8 beasts by the lake. Lure land predators far away from their suitable environment, and make them struggle in mud and tight spaces. You use stealth tactics to ambush predators. Baiting more than 8 monsters to fight each other before killing them off, and putting the carcass of these beasts in one area to scare off predators and use this place as a resting spot for your team. This gives you a safe place to retreat whenever the plan goes awry and have saved you many times."
Byron was speechless. "What the hell. Who the fuck are you?"
Even Maverick and Aldred were shocked. The both of them only treated this as a fun game, but Bartrem seemed to think the opposite.
One of the Diamond Ranks stepped in and looked at Bartrem with admiration in his eyes. "Bartrem coordinated his team elegantly, assigning leadership and specific tasks and divided his teams into many categories and types. With everyone knowing what they needed to do, each team, and each soldier executed their task with no complications and most of the plans went well. I have to say that I am impressed by his leadership capability. If he wasn't a Gold Rank, I would beg Lord Yanka to make you the Grand Commander of the Hajheletmik army."
Byron widened his eyes. "Bartrem. You should feel proud. The one that praised you is the former commander of the army and has a lot of battle experience with him."
Bartrem nodded and saluted at the old man.
"Keep up the good work, soldier," The Diamond Rank said with a smile.
"Bartrem. Your score is totaled at 940 points. It's twice as much as Maverick's point. Although I believe you did not play this game seriously enough, Maverick."
Maverick shrugged. He didn't think the game would be this competitive.
Byron took the next note. "This one is for Aldred. You defeated every monsters using precise and concise movements, finding every weakness of the monsters and strike with great timing. Your blade as if alive guided your movement to be as smooth as an uninterrupted stream. Using constant consecutive strikes to overwhelm the beast, and using unique invulnerable ability to surprise the enemy before counter attacking them."
Byron raised an eyebrow. "Invulnerable ability? And he still got points?"
The Diamond Rank stepped forward and told Byron something.
"Oh, this ability comes from his sword. Well, I did make the rule, and that power is not really a game changer or too overpowered anyway, so I will only cut some small points. Continuing the note: You did not use the environment at all, and never considered if the monster might use its surrounding to fight you. It said here that you struggled a few times against monsters who are effective at using the rocks, plants, trees, and other objects in their surrounding to fight you. But you defeated them all purely with your high mastery of the sword art, precise hand coordination, and relentless linked chain combo."
"And your score is." Byron looked at him with a frown. "940 points. The same as Bartrem and his team points."
Everyone was shocked. Those who knew Aldred would never have thought he would be defeated in anything that involves fighting, but this time he did lose for once.
After the statement, the soldiers were in an uproar and they cheered as loud as they could.
"We did it!"
"We got a draw with Aldred!"
They were so happy to get a draw because they didn't even think it was possible to reach his score, and yet they did it. They matched his score in this game.
"Good game," Aldred said with a smile at Bartrem. "You have always been a good leader since the first time I fought by your side in the fort."
From today, Aldred admitted Bartrem and the soldiers' strength, and he would rely on them should he encounter a problem against his enemies.
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