As the night grew darker, the city was already lit up.

With the sound of a trumpet, a palace man held a sign and walked past his table while shouting: "Citizens, pay attention, important notice, important notice, a grand masquerade ball will be held in the royal palace tonight to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the king's accession to the throne, and the general public is invited to participate enthusiastically." The King welcomes everyone to the palace for this grand carnival! ”

"Hey, this may be an opportunity, I have to go to this masquerade, maybe I will find a chance to get close to the princess." Richard thought to himself.

At the beginning of the day, a grand masquerade ball is being held in the Greek royal palace.

At the gate of the palace, some big-bellied princes and nobles, wealthy businessmen and wealthy men walked into the gate with their bejeweled wives, and groups of ladies and ladies poured in in groups, talking and laughing.

In the palace, the voices are buzzing, the lanterns are blurred, the saxophone is playing a euphemistic and mournful melody, and the dancers are embracing each other and blending into the dance music.

Richard walked into the revolving door, and was immediately hit by the strong rhythm of the music, the crystal lamps on the top of the hall wall went out, leaving the soft colored lights on the wall, and the shining candles were projected on the stage, and the stage resounded with strange and sultry drums, and the sound of primitive music slowly flowed through the hall.

A mixed-race woman dressed in a dance blouse of metal beads and flakes, with silver stars and glittering scales, boldly bare arms and legs, wearing an ultra-small bikini, her skin glittering with oil-based emollients, and her eyes shot a look of arrogance.

The crowd was surging, the applause was thunderous, and the laughter was circling and flying.

It's opened. As if the door of the cave had been opened, a group of people wearing devil's masks danced, including gold leaf masks, silver leaf masks, fur masks, velvet masks, and masks inlaid with strings of precious stones, some of which were decorated with brocade.

A man wearing a gold leaf mask danced over, and Richard danced forward and whispered, "Are you the famous and respected princess?" ”

The gold leaf mask made a man's voice: "Haha, I'm not a princess, you used the wrong adjective, she is not a glamorous and famous, but a lowly**, notorious generation of witches." ”

Richard was bored and jumped to the other side.

Another man in a skull mask danced over, and Richard cautiously leaned forward and whispered, "Miss, can you tell me which one is the princess?" If you do, you'll get a generous tip. ”

The skeleton mask was stunned for a moment, examined his fox mask, and said with a smile: "You are so bold, even the princess's personal maid dares to buy it, you are tired of it, right?" Or do you want to spend the rest of your life in a water dungeon with poisonous snakes, spiders and scorpions? ”

Richard shrank his neck in fright, stuck out his tongue, and quickly jumped to the side.

At this time, a man wearing a lion mask leaned over, and Richard also leaned in, throwing out a sentence introduction: "I know you, you are Sober, right?" ”

The lion mask snickered, "Woo, guess! I'm not Sauber's stupid guy at all, I'm a famous knight. ”

Fox Mask: "Oh, knight? I envy knights the most in my life, but unfortunately I can't be a knight in my life. ”

Lion Mask: "Anything else, friend, anyone can be a knight, as long as you have excellent swordsmanship, extraordinary courage and handsome appearance." ”

Fox Mask: "My swordsmanship is first-class, and I'm also a first-class handsome guy, but I don't have a way." ”

Lion Mask: "Hahahaha, the way is for those who have no ability, an outstanding swordsman like us, there is no need for a way at all, we can meet the princess with only swordsmanship, and maybe we will win the favor of the princess." ”

Fox Mask: "Oh, you mean, with swordsmanship, you can be a princess of Fangze?" ”

Lion Mask: "Of course. You must know that the princess has many lovers, not only among the princes and ministers, but also among the common people, but her criteria for choosing bodyguards or lovers are quite special, in addition to being handsome, swordsmanship is the only criterion. ”

Fox Mask: "Oh, so I still have a chance?" ”

Lion Mask: "Of course. Unless you don't have confidence in yourself. I said, dude, there will be a swordsmanship competition the day after tomorrow, and the first winner will get the position of the princess's personal bodyguard. Do you think, you are all personal bodyguards, so isn't it a matter of course to turn the clouds and rain with the princess? ”

Richard was suddenly moved, he felt that he had to participate in such a sword competition, this was the only chance to get close to the princess.

The question is that swordsmanship must be good and must be able to defeat all competitors, does Richard have confidence in himself?

Richard took the initiative to say: "Let's make friends, my name is Richard, what about your honorific name?" ”

"Oh, Richard? My name is Rodin, and we'll see you in the tournament the day after tomorrow. ”

At this time, the stage host announced, "Tonight's masquerade ball is unique and unprecedented. We have invited the famous flowery soprano Miss Petrovna Lydia to sing the theme song from Verdi's opera "The Masquerade", accompanied by the famous pianist Mr. Vasily. ”

With a tidal wave of applause, the song began, and Lydia sang with emotion.

The music of the ball was stirring up a huge wave, and the dancers were intoxicated and dancing in pairs.

The news that the princess was going to choose a personal bodyguard through a contest spread far and wide, and soon spread all over the streets and alleys of Athens, many knights, noble warriors, strong men, and kendo masters enthusiastically registered, and those martial artists and kendo masters from humble backgrounds also registered, who doesn't want to squeeze into high society through such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and enter the royal family with honor, so as to stay forever.

In just two days, there were more than 1,000 applicants, and elites from all walks of life gathered in the front hall of the palace.

When Princess Helena heard about this situation, she was secretly happy in her heart, so many people came to the competition, and she would definitely be able to choose a personal guard who satisfied her everywhere.

The examiners devised a method of survival of the fittest, that is, four rounds of competition, layer by layer selection, strict screening, and the final winner was elected.

The first round is visual selection, which is collectively tested by the examiners, and the contestants only need to do a few splitting movements, and those who are not standard, unsightly, and not in place will be eliminated immediately.

The second round is a single elimination, and the winner is decided in one game. The two competitors must decide the winner within five minutes, with the winner advancing to the next round and the loser eliminated. If the winner is not won in five minutes, the two are eliminated together.

The third round is a group duel, where all players are divided into two groups and fight each other until the first place in the group is decided;

The fourth round is the final, where the first place in one group plays the first place in the other group, and the match is played in a best-of-three format. The winner of the two sets is the final winner.

Richard participated in the first round of visual inspection, and when he appeared in front of the examiners with his upper body, a small commotion and discussion broke out in the room, and his tall and straight figure and strong and bulging muscles made the examiners' eyes shine. When he did a few very standard kendo stabs and offensive and defensive moves, he won the unanimous praise of the examiners and passed successfully.

At the start of the second round, Richard met a middle-aged kendo master, who obviously had a lot of fencing experience, and his sword was swift and powerful, and he launched a swift attack as soon as he came up.

Richard was unrelenting, sometimes rowing, sometimes attacking, sometimes slashing, sometimes dodging, his movements were calm and skilled, and when fifteen rounds were played, the man was stabbed in the chest, and the referee immediately pulled his hand and declared Richard victorious.

Richard took off his net, wiped his face with sweat, and came to the pantry, where he was drinking when Rodin came over.

"Ah, isn't this my friend Richard? What, did you win? ”

Richard smiled, "Hello, Rodin, I couldn't find you, I thought you had given up." ”

"Give up?

o，

o，

O, I don't have these two words in my dictionary, my life credo is: keep attacking, occupying and conquering! ”

The two shook hands amicably, sat down to chat, wipe sweat, and drink water.

Richard shrugged and said, "Rodin, are you also in the third round?" It seems that you are an outstanding person, your group, it must be you who can go to the end, I hope I don't meet you in the finals. ”

"Hahahaha......" Rodin smiled heartily, "the martial arts arena is like a long road of life, what should come will definitely come, you can't hide, right?" Friend. I don't want to meet you in the finals either, what if I do? Anyway, I won't be soft, what about you, I hope you don't be polite, show your real skills, and we'll fight it out! ”

Richard smiled humbly, "Rodin, I inquired yesterday and know that you are the sword champion of Athens City, and you have never tasted defeat, and when we meet in the finals, maybe I should take the initiative to give up?" ”

"Don't don't, brother, don't give up easily, life is a martial arts arena, and if you lose, you have to lose like a hero."

"Okay, see you in the finals!"

The two shook hands boldly, stood up, and participated in the next game.

After three more rounds of fierce fighting, Richard defeated several famous kendo masters and finally reached the final.

In the other group, Rodin won in the end and also made it to the final.

The time has come to decide the winner.

On the second day, the examiners came to see how the Kendo champion of the city of Athens defeated a foreign immigrant.

Richard stood on the field with a helmet, chest guard, and a glittering golden sword in his hand.

Rodin appeared, dressed in a silver helmet and outfit, which attracted a lot of commotion and applause.

The eyes of the two met in the air, and such a pair of friends had to fight to the death with swords.