| “ | Hey, if any of you people out there are live fast die young types, and want to test your courage, step up and fill out the application! My advice to those of you who are feeble, cowards, or have cold feet, don't register. I guarantee you will die. | ” |
|
-Ginger | ||
The Hero Competition is an annual event conducted by empresario Ginger in the Arena section of the Commercial City of Lohan. The rules are simple; poison is illegal, no running away, and win. According to Lavitz, soldiers such as himself are "ineligible" to join. Dart faces five powerful warriors, his friend Haschel also competes, but is defeated by Lloyd before he has the chance to face Dart, and Dart himself is defeated by Lloyd.
The Contestants[]
First Round[]
Gorgaga (ゴルガガ, Gorugaga, "Golgaga") is a large brutish man that has large metal shoulder pauldrons and a fox-skin cap, he has no element. He seems to be devoid of honor as his first move in the tournament is poisoning Dart using a Poison Needle. When Dart yells out foul play Gorgaga merely states that "Winning is winning".
Gorgaga's signature weapon is a large axe, which he wields with both of his claw-like hands. Besides his poison, he seems pretty uncreative in his attacks as he usually just slashes once with his axe. Occasionally he will use magic attacks.
Dart progresses in the competition even if he loses the round, due to Gorgaga's use of poison being against the rules, and for attempting to kill Dart in cold blood, which is prohibited.
Second Round[]
Serfius (セルフィス, Serufisu, "Serfis") is a small but powerful knight that wields a longsword and dons a full suit of plate mail. He has a winged helmet with a large red plume that drapes down the back. According to the director of the tournament, Serfius seems to be quite famous. He is attuned to the fire element, similar to Dart. He starts out the battle with a simple single strike attack.
After he is cut down to half of his health, Serfius proclaims that Dart is powerful just like he expected and that he will show him his "true power". He takes on a red and yellow glow and his defense and offense double. After this, he attacks Dart with a jumping two-hit combo that deals much more damage than normal. Upon his defeat, Serfius claims that Dart is "too powerful" and gives up.
If Dart loses to Serfius, Serfius's chronic illness flares up, requiring him to withdraw from the tournament; he tells Dart they will fight again some day.
Third Round[]
Danton (ダンドン, Dandon, "Dadon") is a very, very large warrior that wears intricate red armor over his entire body. He also has a metallic brown cape made out of chain mail and in battle he wields an equally proportionate black mallet. Danton is attuned to the earth element. His red helmet has a large protruding white spike on the forehead area. Although defensive, Danton's armor drastically reduces his speed and mobility. He makes up for this with a very powerful mallet smack which deals a lot of damage.
One of his tricks is to throw down his mallet and yell "Make my day kiddo, bring it!" as he crosses his arms. Upon attacking him in this state, Danton will exclaim that Dart left himself open and will grab him by the neck and punch him several times. When his health is low, he will use an all-out attack which is a two-strike combo with his mallet that will reduce Dart's HP to 1.
In the case that Dart's HP drop to zero, Danton will stumble and fall over while trying to deal the final blow. Due to his heavy armor he is unable to get back on his feet and Dart is declared the winner of this battle.
Fourth Round[]
Atlow (アトロウ, Atorou) is an extremely powerful and skilled archer that uses a longbow as a his weapon, he came in as the second place winner in the previous tournament. He has reddish-brown hair and is bare-chested, he also is attuned to the darkness element. Atlow wears metal plate legs and has large spikes on his knees, he also has a brown tattered cape and matching gloves. He is quite confident in his arching abilities and has a unique technique.
When he attacks he can see the weak points of his opponent, outlined in light blue hexagons. After using this skill four times in a row, Atlow states that the finisher is coming. He uses the secret technique "5-sense-blocker". Atlow throws three apples into the air, spins around, and shoots an arrow that pierces all three and strikes Dart in the heart. Dart hovers in the air and five hexagons appear on his head, arms, and knees and explode in blue light. This throws Dart back causing extreme damage and the fear status. Atlow will also use healing items on himself when he is low in health. When he is defeated, he states that Dart is a monster and that no one could have survived his attacks.
If Dart loses the fight it will be discovered that Atlow's arrows were tipped with a powerful, illegal poison. He is disqualified and Dart moves on to the final round.
Final Round[]
Lloyd is a platinum-haired swordsman that defeated the master of the Rouge Art, Haschel, with his superior speed. Lloyd has black clothing with swirly white designs and an intricate belt. In battle Lloyd is invincible, all of Dart's attacks are easily evaded and magical items seem to have no effect.
Lloyd attacks with a single sword strike, but he can also use a very complicated six-strike combo that Dart states is inhumanly fast. When using this attack or evading Dart's attack, Lloyd leaves behind several violet after-images. Lloyd seems to outclass Dart in all areas and soon becomes bored. Dart tries one more time to attack the mysterious swordsman and Lloyd counters this with three quick slashes to the chest which critically injures Dart and he gives up. Dart congratulates him and Lloyd says several cryptic lines that had to do with their fate before leaving.
Results[]
- 1st Place: "Lloyd, the platinum-haired swordsman"
- 2nd Place: "Dart, the 'young flame'"
- 3rd Place: "Haschel, master of the Rouge Art"
Gallery[]
- Gorgaga
- Serfius
- Danton
- Atlow
- Lloyd
Triva[]
- The character models of most of these warriors appear again on Disc 3 in Furni to battle and kill the monster Kamuy but they are not the same warriors.
- Assuming a perfect tournament system, approximately thirty-two warriors participate in the Hero Competition.
- Since Haschel finished 3rd, it is likely that he would have faced off against Atlow in a 3rd-place consolation match if Dart beats Atlow, or would have taken 3rd automatically if Atlow got disqualified.
- Even if Dart loses every round, through some technicality he will still advance to the next round.
- If the save-over glitch is used to transform into Dart's dragoon form at the end of the final round, the game will soft-lock when Lloyd performs his counterattack.