"All of you retreat!" the leader shouted. "Since you are powerful, I will give you the honor of fighting me."
He dismounted from his lion.
Aldred looked at the lion-man with a smile. He wasn't worried that he had to fight a muscular, lion-like man. He had fought countless monsters in his journey. Some were powerful, some were so cruel, and some were gigantic. Which one of them wasn't a creature that could shake an entire city?
Especially that Behemoth monster. Sadly that thing was a Platinum Rank so Aldred couldn't turn it into his undead.
"Do you want to fight me all by yourself?" Aldred asked with a mocking smile. He then summoned his Doom Blade, and a powerful aura burst out from his gear. It was two conflicting energies yet it mixed in harmony against one another.
When the cavalry leader saw Aldred's weapon that was emitting a powerful and sharp aura, his eyes widened in shock and a slight fear.
"What kind of weapon is that? I feel a monstrous-like power within it. This weapon shouldn't be held by anything but God himself."
"Wait, that's a spirit weapon and also a legendary battle gear weapon!"
Aldred raised an eyebrow. "You're smarter than you look."
"Such quality of weapon… who are you?"
"None of your business." Aldred smirked.
The cavalry leader frowned deeply after realizing that the man in front of him was not an ordinary man. Aldred got a high quality weapon whilst the lion-man only held a rare medium quality spear.
But the fear in his eyes and heart disappeared. As a warring race, and a warrior of the leonin pride. He always yearned for a challenging fight. He did not look at this situation lightly, instead, he looked at Aldred as if he was a greater beast that he had to defeat.
Aldred noticed the change of attitude the lion-man experienced. He smiled. This was an interesting world indeed filled with all kinds of unique sentient creatures.
Instead of being scared, the lion-man was eager to fight and prove himself.
"Why are you standing still and staring at me like that? Do you want to fight or not?" Aldred asked.
The lion-man grinned. "I want to fight! I might be at a disadvantage, but a warrior has no excuse to back down from a fight!"
"Hahaha! What if you lose?" Aldred asked.
"So what if I lose? A warrior should fight and die for honor and glory. We leonin are not cowards."
"You guys are very similar to the bugbear."
"Don't compare us to those disgusting lowlives. Unlike them, we have majestic mane and beautiful fur. We are also much smarter than them."
"Do you really not fear me?" Aldred asked.
"I fear you. But, I have always been fighting in fear."
Aldred widened his eyes. He had never heard of such a mindset before. "Always fighting in fear… what a strong statement. You have my respect. Tell me your name."
"The name is Parthos Goldenbelt."
"My name is Aldred. I never fought a leonin before, Parthos. Show me the strength of your race."
"I will show it. After that I will take your weapon as mine."
"Good luck with that."
Parthos roared and his feet kicked the ground. The spear in his hand was held tight.
"Spear Beast Strike!"
A transparent image of a large lion, enveloped Parthos. His strength seemed so powerful, heavy, and unstoppable.
It made Aldred feel that even a hundred shields won't be able to defend against this one attack.
But Aldred was calm because his godly eyes predicted all the trajectory with precise calculations.
In the next instant, Aldred raised his Phantom Doomblade, parrying the attack with a single move.
Parthos widened his eyes in shock as Aldred smiled, looking at his reaction. The parry was so perfect that all the weight and momentum pushed Parthos back a few steps instead of pushing Aldred.
This shocked Parthos even more. It was almost impossible to block his momentum, but this man in front of him not only did that, but also pushed him back as well.
But despite that, Aldred felt a slight tremor on his arm. "Not bad. You have potential Parthos Goldenbelt."
Parthos on the other hand felt like his arms was about to snap. Even his whole body felt great pain after that one clash.
"How is this possible… I know you are stronger than me, but you're still a Gold Rank. Our strength should still be equal."
"Our strength is equal, but a lot of your technique is wrong. Instead of putting all your weight into the thrust, you should keep your feet firm to the ground and use that for leverage. So if I dodge or parry, you can still move around to dodge my counter attack."
"Thank you for the advice."
They both clashed against each other again, and the lion-man followed his advice. He kept his feet firm on the ground, and thrust forward. When Aldred parried the spear to the side, Parthos used the momentum, and his feet for leverage before spinning and struck at Aldred's head from the side.
"That's what I am talking about!" Aldred smiled proudly as if he just taught a student,
Aldred ducked to dodge the spear, but the lion-man quickly moved his spear down. This was possible because his feet were always firm on the ground.
The power on that thrust was also more powerful than normal. Aldred tilted his head to the side. The spear missed his ear, and then Aldred jumped backward.
"What do you think?" Aldred asked.
"I cannot believe this. Just one simple tip will improve my fighting capabilities by multiple levels."
"Strength is useless if you cannot use it properly. Use the right technique, and you can fight against anything."
"Can you tell me more? What is wrong with my technique?"
"You're too direct with your attack. It's too predictable. Some attacks should be fake, some should be real. This way you can confuse the enemy."
"Oh, but don't bother trying it on me. I have good eyes so you cannot fake anything in front of me."
