It was a huge 128 man bracket. It was going to take 2 weeks. That was fine as there were 12 centaurs. There would be 10 matches each day for the first round. Then it would move slower. Molly and the hybrids were spread out throughout the bracket. I pulled them aside. "Make sure you finish things quickly. I don't want you to rush and make mistakes. If you can get the win, do not draw it out. You are not veterans. Some of them are masters of turning the tides on younger, inexperienced fighters." I told them. This was important for the hybrids to hear. Sado-masochism was not going to help them here. It would the opposite. Drawing things out was dangerous. Each of then got through the first 2 rounds. That was a good feat for their first appearance. Unfortunately, they started to meet each other. That was a big shame. Leonardo was then paired up against Brody in the third round. Having a sadist and masochist was a pretty harrowing match. It was a much longer contest. Leonardo was not able to put away Brody. Brody loved the pain. Leonardo had to work to knock him out. It was brutal.
An inverse scenario happened in the round of 16. Cody brutally beat the absolute shit out of Lennox. Molly also lost that round. The veteran knights caught on to her light fighting style. She was very quick, but the speed could only add so much force to those punches and kicks. The hybrids had leather armor. These knights had on iron plating, if not steel. She could only scratch him. Leonardo, Lenard and Cody made it through to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Cody had to face Lenard in the semifinals. Cody barely squeezed by in their match. Having healing magic was the difference maker. There was nothing to be done about it. This also devolved into a huge knockdown brawl. All of the people who watched it were baying for their blood by the end. When the scribes wrote their report on the match, they called a truly demonic fight. Leonardo was also a paladin. There fight made the previous one look like child's play. Both were sadistic and could heal the damage that they sustained. I winced. Women and children were traumatized. I looked away when Cody broke his leg.
Brody, Lenard and Lennox were all with me. I was even richer now than when I arrived in the city. From the start of the tournament, people wanted to see the centaurs in action. They also wanted to display their martial prowess here. Cavalry and jousting knights challenged the centaurs. There were 12 centaurs and 24 challengers. That meant every member of the Brownflank Tribe had 2 opponents each on their night. Every single one of them could be bet on. I bet on the centaurs every time. I was only wrong twice. Having liquid cash was always better than my hoard. As promised, I presented the 2 winners with the gold bar. One knight was a poor knight-errant. It would do him a lot of good. He was too poor to even bet on himself. "Be on the lookout for a noble lord. After a win like this, you would be a good candidate." I encouraged. He took the bar with a smile. The other knight was a veteran jouster that had come out of retirement. The whole area exploded in cheers for him. There was another knight that drawed in a joust against one of the 2 cocky daughters. No payout for Rowley Ivote.
