In the blink of an eye, seven or eight days have passed since the new year. On January 8th, Marin accompanied Adler to Oderstadt, a small town near Gelsenkirchen, and booked three rooms in the hotel in the town. room and three common rooms for his subordinates.
The reason why Marin came here a week in advance was actually to accompany Adler to inquire about competitors' intelligence. Because, on January 8, many knights who came to participate in the competition to recruit relatives basically rushed to Oddstadt. However, there are only two hotels in the town.
Fortunately, Marin had already sent someone to book the room. Otherwise, it may not be possible to find a place to live. Although, Bochum is not far from Gelsenkirchen, and it's okay to ride a horse. But Marin wanted to see the situation, so, starting from January 8, Marin accompanied Adler to walk around the streets of Oderstadt every day, and inquired about his opponent by the way.
In the 15th century, knights were still very honorable. Usually, as long as a knight arrives in a small town like Oderstadt, there will always be news.
Because, according to the custom, after the knight himself arrives somewhere to live, generally when his entourage goes out to purchase, they will brag to others about his master's great reputation and unrivaled military exploits.
Therefore, as long as you go to the street and ask around in the beer hall, you can get a lot of useful information. Even many knights themselves like to go to beer halls to drink, and brag about their "great achievements" with alcoholics by the way.
Marin guessed right. At this time, the tavern in Oddstadt was full of knights, knight attendants, and people who heard the news and came to watch the excitement.
The Germans of this era may not be as gossipy as the Chinese. However, the martial arts Germans do not want to miss such an exciting scene of knightly contest. Although, due to conditional restrictions, the intensity of the competition was limited. But even so, it still attracted a lot of people to watch.
Even many knights had to live in tents or rent houses because the hotel was full and unable to stay. And those unmarried knights who came to participate in the competition to recruit relatives, like Marin and the others, liked to inquire about other competitors.
Even in the tavern, the knight who drank too much, and other competitors, because they didn't like each other, first had a paragraph of "What are you looking at?", "What are you looking at?", "Try another look!" After the bloody conversation, the fight started...
However, in order to avoid casualties, the old Hamler asked the contestants not to fight in Oderstadt, otherwise they would be disqualified. Therefore, everyone did it with bare hands. Moreover, in order to ensure the "chivalry", the knights are usually singled out, and the attendants do not participate.
Marin suddenly felt a little regretful. If the attendant could participate, he promised to take Kahn, a wild bear, to PK with people. Because, with bare hands, Kahn, who is so powerful, can beat even a knight like Adler who has practiced martial arts since childhood. Only in horse battles can Adler rely on his skilled horse martial arts to overwhelm Kahn. In infantry combat, even with weapons, Adler often lost and was beaten, because Kahn's mace was very ruthless.
For three days in a row, Marin and Adler watched countless fights. The fight between knights, even with bare hands, is quite exciting. Although it is not as good-looking as a martial arts movie, it is still punchy and exciting.
But from Marin's point of view, almost none of the fighting knights he had seen in the past three days was Adler's opponent. And that big man Adler stood there, and no knight was willing to provoke him easily.
However, on the 11th, things changed. Another group of knights came from other places. Among them, there are also strong knights of the same level as Adler.
As a result, the martial arts competition inevitably happened...
On the night of the 11th, in a beer can next to the hotel, Adler was challenged...
The one who challenged Adler was a Saxon knight named Mavis who had just arrived. This person is more than 1.9 meters tall, taller than Adler, and his muscle mass is also faintly better than Adler. The point is, this person is already twenty-eight or nine years old, and it is the peak period of a knight.
Under normal circumstances, a knight needs more than ten years of training to be qualified. The peak of a knight generally begins around the age of twenty-five or six, and begins to decline after the age of thirty-five.
During this period of time, the knights are explosive and skilled in martial arts. Moreover, he has more fighting experience and more cunning than those knights who are around 20 years old.
At an age like Adler's in his early twenties, his martial arts are not bad, but his experience and experience are not as good as those knights in his twenties.
For example, this Mavis is not only physically strong, has high martial arts skills, but also has rich combat experience. In 1491, he also accompanied the Duke of Saxony to help Emperor Maximilian I quell the rebellion in the Flanders region of the Netherlands, and experienced many battles. But in that war, Mavis personally killed more than 20 rebels. The scar on his neck was left by a skilled swordsman in Flender. However, in the end the swordsman died, and Mavis survived.
Moreover, that time, Mavis was wounded to help the Duke of Saxony resist the swordsman who intended to assassinate the Duke. Therefore, because of his meritorious service, he was officially canonized as a knight by the Duke of Saxony, and he had a small knight collar. Before that, Mavis, like Marin, was also a wandering knight without inheritance rights.
Years of fighting and fighting have made Mavis very rich in combat experience. After arriving in the town, he observed carefully in the tavern. As a result, he looked down on those guys who made a lot of trouble, but he cared more about Adler who was playing soy sauce with Marin and watching the fun.
Because Adler is big and mature. Mavis is not sure about Adler's age (mainly because Adler is a little tanned and looks a little too old), and he doesn't know whether Adler has rich combat experience, so he decided to take the initiative to test...
"Hey, that big stupid guy on the other side, I don't like seeing you laughing so cheaply, sir!" Mavis provocatively said.
Adler froze for a moment, then said angrily:
"Bitch you uncle!"
"Hehe, the kid is quite arrogant, don't you agree with us?" Mavis took the initiative to make an appointment.
"Practice your second uncle, practice if you say so? Your onion?" Marin held Adler, who was in a fit, and retorted sharply.
Marin was a little uneasy. Seeing the cheap look of Mavis on the opposite side, he could tell at a glance that this guy was an "old fritter". Although Adler has good martial arts, his experience is really poor. Because, Adler has never left Bochum since he was a child. And the scar on Mavis' neck also made Marin a little afraid. To be able to leave such a big scar on his neck, he must have experienced life and death struggles. And how many people who survived the life-and-death struggle are easy to provoke
However, Adler had a different opinion. He broke away from Marin's hand and said:
"Marin, let me have a fight with him! He is probably also a participant in this competition, we will meet eventually, why not try his skills first..."
Marin was right after thinking about it, so he let go and let Adler and Mavis walk out of the tavern gate...
At the entrance of the tavern, a group of people began to watch and compete. Adler and Mavis, wearing only breastplate armor and bare hands, stood 10 meters apart, with their eyes facing each other...
Mavis is worthy of being an old fritter. As soon as he stood up, he began to mock Adler:
"Hey, that little idiot on the other side, are you also here to participate in the martial arts competition? With your bad looks, you are worthy of Miss Hamler? Well... Maybe, after I marry Miss Hamler, I can consider taking Her maid is betrothed to you... The premise is that you are willing to be my knight attendant... "
"Servant..." Adler was very angry-I am so good at fighting, why should I be a servant
"Well, it's a servant. Don't look at you, you look like a bear, but you are still tender. Have you ever been on the battlefield? Have you killed anyone? You can tell at a glance. My uncle has traveled all over the world and participated in wars. You have a lot to learn from my uncle! So, don't be convinced, you will be assigned to this uncle as a servant!"
"I'm XXXXXX..." Adler was angry. Originally, letting his younger brother Marin overshadow him made him feel a little depressed—because the outside world said that his elder brother was not as good as his younger brother. Now, Mavis looked down on him, saying that he was only worthy of being a knight squire, which just hit his sore spot. So Adler broke out...
Marin felt bad when he heard Mavis mocking Adler so much. Marin can somewhat guess Adler's thoughts.
As the eldest son in the family, being overshadowed by his younger brother (oh no, not one, but many. Because Marin is already a baron, and Adler is not even an official knight), Adler's psychology The pressure is great. Now, Mavis happened to poke at this scar, which inevitably irritated Adler.
Sure enough, Adler rushed up angrily, swung his casserole-sized fist, and slammed it at Mavis's face. However, Mavis is also a master with a lot of fighting experience. So, he didn't panic.
Adler rushed from 10 meters away, and its impact cannot be underestimated. Therefore, Mavis didn't hit head-on. Because he didn't rush up, the impact force was not enough. If it is a head-to-head encounter, Mavis may suffer a loss.
Mavis, who was tall and tall, nimbly dodged to the side, and avoided Adler's collision with a sliding step. Marin's eyes flashed, knowing that Mavis was not easy to mess with. If Mavis foolishly confronted Adler head-on, Marin might not be worried. Because, Adler may not lose much to Mavis. But if Mavis, who is equally strong, uses other methods, the upright Adler will be in trouble.
Sure enough, when Adler rushed over, Mavis did not attack Adler's back. Because, that is not in line with chivalry. It's not that Mavis is really chivalrous, but because there are so many people watching, he has to act like a gentleman. If it was on the battlefield, Mavis would definitely take the opportunity to attack. However, when Adler just turned around, Mavis took advantage of Adler's unsteady footing, stepped forward and yanked Adler's right arm, and lifted his knee up to Adler's crotch …
In fact, such tricks are very base in knightly contests. However, as an old fritter who has been on the battlefield, Mavis is already very thick-skinned. He doesn't care about using dirty tricks. Besides, Adler had restrained himself by not attacking from behind. What's more, his move was actually a false move, it wouldn't really hit Adler's crotch at all, it was just used to scare Adler.
Sure enough, Adler panicked when he saw Mavis making such a shameless move. Because Adler has never seen the world, and when he usually fights with others, they are all friendly exchanges. When meeting the shameless Mavis and resorting to such obscene tricks, he immediately panicked.
In order to avoid being crippled, Adler slammed to the left and shook off Mavis' hand at the same time. However, due to the haste of flashing, some footholds were unstable.
This is what Mavis wanted. Taking advantage of Adler's forced move to the left, Mavis kicked it up with a big kick. Adler hastily raised his feet to kick each other. The right feet of the two sides collided with each other, making a loud noise.
However, Adler's footing is not stable at this time, while Mavis is the opposite. Moreover, Mavis' strength is not inferior to Adler's at all, and even faintly exceeds it. Therefore, with this kick, Adler suffered a lot, and took several steps backwards, almost failing to stand still.
How could the cunning Mavis miss this good opportunity? He quickly stepped forward, swung his fist, and began to smash Adler. Adler hurriedly parried, his momentum completely suppressed.
Moreover, after the two sides had a fist-to-body confrontation, Adler tragically discovered that the guy opposite him was stronger than himself. Coupled with being suppressed in momentum, Adler fell into a hard fight...
Finally, after dozens of rounds passed, taking advantage of Adler's negligence, Mavis first hit Adler's face with his fist, and while Adler was focusing on it, he suddenly kicked Adler with a big foot. Dele's chest kicked Adler away...
Fortunately, Adler was wearing a breastplate. If he hadn't been wearing a breastplate, he would have been kicked by Mavis, a savage bear, and his internal organs might have been displaced...
Marin gasped—what a strong opponent! He began to worry. With this guy around, the possibility of Adler winning the competition and recruiting relatives is basically very small.
Being knocked to the ground means that you have lost the fist fight. Marin hurried forward, helped up Adler, who was dissatisfied and depressed, and returned to the hotel.
Although Marin wanted to gang up on Mavis, if Marin did this, he would definitely be ridiculed. Because, in this era, duels between knights should be fair and sacred. If Marin breaks this rule, he doesn't have to hang out in the noble circle. As for Marin, Kahn, who has the strongest hand-to-hand combat ability, is only a knight servant, not even an apprentice, and has no qualifications to challenge Mavis at all. Therefore, this loss, Marin and Adler can only eat it alive.
But the disadvantages are secondary. This time Adler's participation in the martial arts competition may have little hope of recruiting relatives, which is the biggest thing. In two days, the old Hoffmans will come. It would be embarrassing if Adler lost to Mavis in the competition in front of everyone. Moreover, Adler will also lose the opportunity to "embrace the beauty". Marin didn't expect Adler to win Mavis in the horse battle, because Mavis was a fierce man who could survive after charging on the battlefield. With his boundless strength and proficient martial arts, coupled with his rich practical experience, he must not lose to Adler. Even, those who have been on the battlefield must be able to overwhelm Adler in terms of momentum.
It can be predicted that Mavis' chances of winning are much greater than Adler's. Obviously, Adler thought of this too. So, after returning, Adler became silent. He, who has always been heartless, had a rare sad expression on his face...