Killing was not possible. That meant that Julianus and I would be up against each other in the final round. The winner would take all. I was fine with that. Winning was not a fever dream. It was something that was in my reach. I was going to win the tournament. He was in his full noble, over zealous armor. It would give him a ton of protection. My light armor might as well be tissue paper compared to his. We were introduced to the crowd. I was given a quiver of javelins and a shield. The noble was given the same. I was going to need to get in close. I had a javelin in one hand and my shield in the other. I ran over as fast as I could. He got a couple of throws off. I blocked them with my shield. With us so close together, he was not able to do much when I was jabbing him with the one I had. When he tried to get space between us, I shut it down. If he went right, so did I. When he went to the left, I was there as well. I was fully on him. He could not escape the needling I was giving him. Eventually, it became too much for even his armor to hold up against. He fell at my feet. I had won.
Losing to a nobody was a blow to his ego. I had nothing to prove now. He had everything to prove. He lost to me in a fair 1 on 1 combat. Even Herius Lucceius Tremerus could use the 2 on 2 round as an excuse. He had a bad partner. There was another noble hindering him. Either way, he was not as pissed off as the tournament's runner up, Julianus Minicius Caelestius. He did not even stay for the ceremony where I got my laurels placed on my head and my new warhorse was presented to me. I had no clue what this would do for me. I did not want to be part of the cavalry. I was fine with the infantry. That evening, Lucius Vesnius Protacius called on me. I was sitting at my bunk at the time. I went to see him. He looked at me and saw the laurel was still on my head. He raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to save it?" he asked. I smiled and said "I will have several more. This one means a lot to me. It's my first." He scoffed out loud. "You seem confident." he said mockingly. I just said "I was summoned, my lord." He looked me up and down. "It pleases me that a man in my army won it all."
Indirectly, he could take a ton of credit here. A nobody won. He was a noble. Lucius could be the somebody the story was about. It made sense he would be here. "My lord, I do not have the resources to take care of a such a big warhorse like the one that I've won. If you could give me a fair price, I would not mind selling it to you." I said to him. This was true. I was not even allowed on it with how high her specs were. If I tried to get on her, she would probably buck me off and crush me to death. Even if I outlasted her stamina somehow, she would not listen to me. That was a giant liability on and off the battlefield. He looked excited. "I see. I will have a servant appraise that horse and determine a price. I will pay you tomorrow." he said before leaving the barracks. Having Lucius as an ally would be important. It was important to know all people with power and have them like you. The next day, he did come to me with a price. He was going to give me a promissory note for 10,000 lin. He did not have all the cash, but this was a great female mount. It could also be bred by other warhorses.
