Transmigrated as a Ghost

"Are you sure?" Marcus asked, looking at the golden talon with far more interest now.

"Yeah, my dragon eyes tell me that it belongs to a phoenix, and not a young one. The bird that talon came from should be at least around as strong as we are. That is not the type of material that even we can come across easily." Mrazivý said, emphasizing how impressive the talon was.

"Okay. Let's line up then. If we can win it by simply paying five gold coins, that will be the biggest steal of our lives."

With their course of action set, both of them headed over to the long line and waited their turns.

While they waited, they watched the first person give the challenge a try.

This man had a large build and looked pretty strong, but when Marcus appraised him, he found that the man was only level fifteen. This was slightly above average, but it was not really impressive in anyway.

The man's preferred weapon was an ax, though his skill level for the weapon was only at one.

"Rarghhh!" The man screamed as he swung his ax.

His blade easily sunk into the pillar of soft clay and cut through, but when the man pulled back for another swing his ax was now covered with clay and the added resistance slowed him down.

By the time his five seconds were up he had only managed to cut through the pillar seven times. A complete failure that prevented him from winning any prize.

Holding his head low, the man returned the steel ax that was being supplied by the ones running the event and stepped off the stage.

A few people jeered at him for his less than spectacular showing, while some of his friends tried to comfort him.

'I see, that is how this works. Only those that are of a certain level and are skilled with bladed weapons even have a chance. The average citizen is not even going to get close to winning any of the prizes. The people running this event are certainly going to make plenty of money.' Marcus thought seeing ow difficult this event was for most people.

He figured that a trained fighter around level twenty-five or higher might be able to get the lowest level prize, while the higher tiered prizes would only be obtainable by those over level thirty.

Going down the line Marcus identified around ten people he figured might be able to win the lowest tier prize and three that might get the next tier up.

Of the over a hundred people already lined up to participate the event was clearly going to be in the black. If he did not include himself and Mrazivý.

There was no doubt that the two of them were anomalies. Normally people of their caliber would never even wander into the area where this game was being hosted. Let alone decide to participate. Among those that Marcus had appraised the next strongest after them was a middle-aged woman who was level thirty-seven.

"So, how do you think they got ahold of something as rare as a phoenix's talon?" Marcus asked Mrazivý quietly while they waited in line.

"If we are to believe them, they found it in the desert. I suppose that it is possible Though it must be a bit old. When we asked her, Gwyneira told us that the last time a phoenix was watching over this nation was twenty year ago, before disappearing." Mrazivý responded.

She also said it was possible that they bought it from someone who believed it to a roc's talon, or that it had been stolen. Of course, all they could do was speculate.

"Perhaps, I should spy on them later to find out." Marcus suggested.

"That might actually be a good idea. After we win it, they are likely to talk about it among themselves. If it originally belonged to someone important, it would be best for us to know." Mrazivý agreed.

After that they continued to make small talk while waiting and commenting on the performances of the other contestants.

Most of the people that tried their hands at cutting the soft clay pillars failed without getting close, and only a few managed to even make it to twenty cuts in five seconds.

Once over fifty people had tired only four had won, and only one of those winners had reached the second tier prize.

"Payment for entry please." A young, quite attractive woman said to Marcus and Mrazivý as they moved up the line.

Standing behind this woman were four scary looking bodyguards that were there to protect her and the large sum of money that had been collected.

"Here." Marcus said, handing over ten Aezam gold coins.

"Thank you for participating in our event. Now what weapons might you two be proficient with." The girl asked with a bright smile.

"I use a sword." Mrazivý said.

"I use a scythe." Marcus said.

Hearing the weapon that Marcus was proficient with, the girl frowned and informed him that they did not have any scythes.

"I will take a glaive then." Marcus said with a sigh.

For this competition everyone was being provided with a steel weapon in order to promote fairness. Though, really it was just to add a constrain to people that were powerful. If someone could use a mithril weapon than they would have a much easier time reaching the higher tier prizes than with a steel weapon. The people holding the event could care less about fairness and simply wanted to make money.

"You going to be oaky with that? It may also be a polearm, but it is pretty different from your usual weapon." Mrazivý said, wearing a concerned expression.

"I probably will not be able to take the top prize with this thing. If I move fast enough to cut through the pillar two hundred times in only five seconds I will likely break this weapon before finishing. I will have to leave wining the talon to you." Marcus said with a stiff expression.

If he was using a scythe he was confident that his high skill level would allow him to compete the necessary forty cuts per second even if it was made out a steel, but the glaive was simply just not a weapon he was used to wielding. If it was of a higher quality, he felt he could get away with swinging it around at extreme speeds recklessly, but the weapons being provided were actually pretty shoddy pieces of work. They remined Marcus of what he was making when he just got started creating weapons.

Thankfully Mrazivý had managed to get a sword which was the type of weapon she was most proficient with, and she had enough confidence for the both of them.

Soon it was Marcus' turn, and with the steel glaive in hand he walked up onto the stage where the two meter tall, quarter meter thick soft clay pillar was waiting for him.

"Oh, it looks like our next contestant is not a native of our great nation, but our first foreigner to participate." The man running the event said to the crowd that was watching.

He then asked Marcus a few questions about himself, but he answered them curtly and gave off a prickly aura to get things moving quickly.

'Here goes.' Marcus thought just before his five seconds started.

A loud slicing sound then resounded through the area and drowned out the loud crowd as Marcus made his first cut. His speed was unlike any of those that went before him previously.

His arms moved faster than anyone around other than Mrazivý could keep up with and he continued to slice through the pillar at a breathtaking speed.

When the magic tool timer finished counting down, Marcus abruptly stopped his movements and glared at the pillar.

'I knew I would not be able to do it, but it is still frustrating.' Marcus thought.

He had managed to get in one hundred eighty-seven near equal sized cuts on the pillar before the time had ended.

Unfortunately, as he expected, the weapon as the biggest constraint.

The glaive he had been using was now warped and he had left noticeable handprints in its handle. Had he tired to go any faster the weapon would not have held up to his power.

Yet while Marcus was not satisfied with his results everyone else watching was stunned and staring in disbelief.

"Aren't you going to count how many cuts I made." Marcus said to the staff on stage who staring at him in a daze.

"Ah yes. Let me get to that." The man running the event said.

Quickly he counted the cuts Marcus had inflicted on the pillar and had an incredibly fearful look the entire time.

When he finally reached the end, he let out a sigh of relief, since Marcus just fell short of taking the grand prize.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new record by far. This gentleman her managed to get one hundred eighty-seven cuts clean through the pillar in only five seconds. An astounding number that gives him the privilege to be the first to choose from our tier one prizes. Sadly, he was thirteen cuts short from claiming the roc talon." The announcer said.

"Now which of these valuable items would you like."

Looking over the prizes he could choose from, Marcus was not all that impressed.

Most of them were simply valuable pieces of gold jewelry and not something he cared about at all.

"I'll take this." Marcus said, picking up a brass bracer that had an earth elemental crystal embedded in it.

It was one of the few magical items being offered and had a simple enhancement in it that allowed it to conjure a shield of sand in front of the wearer.

The reason Marcus had chosen it was simply for the fact that the enchantment was something he had not seen before, even if it was fairly simple.

His prize in hand Marcus returned to the audience where Amira was waiting.

Several people tried to come up to him to talk, but he was far more interested in watching Mrazivý take her attempt and sent out a small wave of intimation that sent the crowd panicking away from him.

Now there was a about a three-meter radius around him, Amira, and her guards. She and her guards had been excluded from Marcus' intimidation and could only look in awe at the level of crowd control he could exert.

Within just a couple of minutes of Marcus finishing Mrazivý had taken her place at the center of the stage and was preparing to take her turn.

The announcer tried to get her to talk about herself, but unlike Marcus, who at least answered a few questions with brief answers Mrazivý stayed completely silent. Her entire focus was on the clay pillar in front of her.

Then, the moment that the countdown began her sword moved sharply and expertly.

Unlike Marcus' display she did not waste a single motion as she was using a weapon, she was proficient in.

In fact, before the timer reached five seconds she had already stopped. Having cut the pillar into four hundred equal pieces in four seconds.

'I figured she would not have any trouble. It really makes a big difference wielding a weapon you are familiar with.' Marcus thought, looking at Mrazivý's sword which was still in perfect condition.

Unlike the glaive he had used she did not warp her blade at all, showing just how immensely skilled she was.

For several seconds there was silence before the crowd launched into a loud uproar.

They could not accurately count how many cuts Mrazivý had dealt to the pillar but it was clear she had just performed an exceptional feat.

The people running the event were staring at her pillar with their mouths agape. Never did they think that anyone would be able to deliver two hundred cuts entirely through the clay pillar in only five seconds with the cheap weapons they had provided.