Bracckkkk!
Another charge, another knight dropped to the ground like a ragdoll after a full-power hit from Emery's lance. The sound of a lance breaking to pieces, splinters of wood flying off in all directions, coupled with the fallen knight, made the crowds cheer in excitement. Other than to witness the squires' skills, the audience mostly came here for this spectacle.
This was Emery's fourth charge in the jousting tournament. Each time he had to go, the crowd went wild. No matter what he did, he never seemed to disappoint the spectators.
Some of the crowd started to chant his name,
"Lanzelot! Lanzelot! Lanzelot!"
The second jousting round ended with 50 squires competing, after two more charges, the number dropped again to 10 top squires, with Emery being one among them.
When Emery returned to put his horse away and entered back into the Lioness squires' designated area, everyone gave him the welcome fitting of a hero. Of course, that treatment was to be expected. After all, he was the squire who might receive the title of champion in both archery and cavalry.
Everyone seemed happy, except Abe who placed last in the top 50. He threw his metal helmet to the wall in anger, but no one spared him any thought, including Emery.
Emery still had to focus on winning the top 10 round.
Out of the 10 top best cavalry squires, most of the slots were taken by Logress, Norgales and Gangani, the land of the horses. But out of all those great kingdoms, none of them was able to get anywhere close to full marks, unlike Emery who managed to do just that.
Now that the battle was no longer squire versus knight, the remaining candidates became even more nervous. It was to be expected, after all, this time they would take each other down.
"Lanzelot Dulat!"
When the name was called, the spectators turned rowdy and started to chant his name again. Some even stood and called for him.
Emery rode the brown horse with golden hair, 'Jewel', and galloped out from the side of the rail. This time, he was up against a talented Logress squire. Emery remembered the squire had obtained around three points away from full marks in the previous rounds.
The trumpet resounded and the sounds of galloping filled the arena.
Bracccckkk!
The squire tried hard to dodge, but it was in vain and he was still thrown to the ground.
No one could dodge Emery's quick hand movements. Coupled with Jewel's fierce and fast charge, the other squires stood no chance.
"Lanzelot!! Lanzelot!!"
The crowd turned even wilder.
The next opponent Emery had to face was a Gangani rider. Though the squire was one of the decent performers amongst the top 10, perhaps the top fifth or sixth, he seemed to be so intimidated he almost fell off his horse upon hearing Emery's borrowed name.
He lost his will to fight before the tournament even started. In the end, he wasn't able to give his best efforts. He ended up being thrown off his horse just like what Emery did to the previous challengers.
"Who the hell is this young squire?!"
The question was asked by bewildered, interested and enraged nobles and royalty alike. They were shocked and enraged their favorite candidates were all defeated by a squire without a name and the unknown squire kept on racking more and more perfect strikes.
The third opponent came from Norgales and he tried to rile up the crowd by showing off his lance before charging full speed towards Emery. But, just like the opponents before him, he was also thrown off from his horse and fell down.
Fortunately, the jousting tournament was conducted using a special lance made of hollowed pine wood, ensuring no participant was hurt. In addition, the wood could also splinter and break easily to rile up the audience even more.
"Lanzelot! Lanzelot!"
"That young man is insane! He didn't even look before charging and he just keeps on going! He wasn't afraid in the least. What a courageous squire!"
An experienced knight overseeing the match said in wonder.
Emery was unstoppable, through the fourth and fifth charge, he kept on making perfect score after perfect score. Now, he was the undisputed cavalry champion for this year.
"Congratulations, Lanzelot Dulat!"
The unknown young man from a small family in a weak kingdom managed to receive both available titles this year. Of course, such a feat made the commander of the Divine Order notice him.
After the announcement of the winner, Emery was summoned by the knight commander. With a slow trot, he rode towards the royalty balcony, but before he reached the commander, he decided to stop in front of the Lioness princess and gave a slight bow as a mark of respect.
"My princess, I present the honor from today's victory to you."
Those were the exact words said by the black prince before. Of course, such a daring act from a mere squire was enough to cause an uproar on the audience and royal seats alike.
Everyone suddenly remembered what happened before and their whispers started to echo all around the arena.
"What are you doing, Lanzelot?!" The princess asked, unable to even hide her surprise. But her reaction was quickly forgotten for the black prince had stood up from his seat, took his horse and rode towards Emery.
Emery was glad his improvised attempt to rile up the prince worked. At first, he thought this was only enough to embarrass him. But, contrary to his expectations, the silver knight was dumb enough to ran towards him on horseback with clear, unbidden anger. This was a much, much better outcome than what he expected.
The black prince stared at Emery, took out his lance, pointed the lance towards Emery and declared with anger clouding his gaze.
"You, nameless squire! I challenge you to a duel!"
Emery smirked, unable to hide his glee and calmly replied.
"I accept."