90 Chapter 90 - Trial by Comba (2/2)

After being released, the former gang member leapt towards the sword and grabbed it before backing away.{As long as his friends don't do anything then I can do this.The sword is a bit dull but it'll work as a club.}The kid just sat there with his sword ready and it didn't look like he'd make the first move.

Gren was looking at the gang member's form.He didn't seem to have any proper training.The sword was kept to his side, away from his body.That would be fine if he had a shield but his defense was lacking.The man suddenly charged with his sword arm raised up high; the long sustained yelling was only going to tire him out.

Gren used the armor on his right wrist to redirect the blade's trajectory while jabbing at the side of the man's hip with his sword.The blade only penetrated the skin and muscle but the man didn't seem used to getting hurt.The man swung his sword back towards Gren but wasn't going to hit anything by swinging blindly; Gren stepped back and circled around the man while switching his sword to the other hand.

Gren slowly stepped forward before stabbing forward with the sword repeatedly, causing the man to keep using his injured hip.The man finally had enough of Gren's harassment and lunged forward with a stab of his own.Gren allowed the blade to glance off his armor as he stepped towards him and stabbed the man through his chest.The man's armor was tougher than Gren expected but he still managed to pierce through it and the man's ribs thanks to their combined momentum.

”As I thought, humans are much easier to take down than animals.Training with the knights didn't prepare me for boars.”Gren realized his weakness in the fight against the boar; stabbing it only angered it and didn't slow it down at all.The knights had him experience being stabbed several times so he knew how the opponent would react to it but that was only true for human opponents.”If we have young mercenaries training under us then we'll need to teach them for more than three months.Six months should be the minimum.”

Gren was going to pull the sword out of the man's chest but realized something important.Storing the man's body away to drain the blood from it later, Gren prepared for his second fight.”The former con-man.His type really annoys me.”Gren tossed the dull iron sword back in front of where their prisoners were held.

After the man was released, he tried running but was knocked back by Gallia's large shield.”Pick up the sword and fight.You're not going to be able to run away.”The former con-man was trying to crawl away from Gren in a different direction but there was only a giant hoof waiting there for him.Ahk pushed him back into the ring with her leg.

”Please don't kill me.I have kids to feed.”Gren was surprised to hear that; villains actually said things like that in real life?

”He abandoned all of his kids except the ones he made after joining the bandits.”Mimi spilled the beans about what she learned when peeking into the bandit's mind.”Their mothers were his **** victims and they're not even toddlers yet.They'd be better off with him dead.”

The man was only going to keep running so Gren stopped him with earth magic.His screaming was annoying so Gren drowned him with his water magic.Using magic still counted as Gren killing him in the system so there was no need to waste any physical effort killing this guy with his sword.Drowning took a while so Gren decided to warn the former slave as they waited.”You've got two options.Fight me or I'll roast you to death.I don't want you wasting all of our time.”

Seeing that Gren could use magic and was currently killing a man in such a slow way, the former slave believed that Gren would really do that.The man was unconscious but Gren couldn't store the body.”He's still alive?This is taking too long.”It took nearly six minutes before the man was completely dead and he could store the body away.

”Sorry.Here I am talking about wasting time and I take several minutes to kill some bandit.”Gren got up and stretched.”Don't worry, I'll give you time to stretch so it's fair.”The sword was still in front of the former slave so he didn't have to go far to pick it up.He took Gren's words seriously and cracked his own neck before stretching his arms and legs.

The former slave seemed more determined than the other bandits.He raised his sword and nodded, letting Gren know that he was ready.At least this one was going to fight.{Decent form.Having two hands on such a short sword isn't necessary though.}

The bandit slashed towards Gren but the sword was easy to dodge by sidestepping.He was faster than the former gang member but it was much slower than the knights.He wasn't going to hit with speeds like that.Gren suddenly felt something pulling on the back of his leg and pushing on his chest so started falling backwards.{Ah, I was too focused on the sword.The knights kept warning me about that.}

Gren landed on his back and rolled down the ramp he made with magic before the former slave could hit him with the sword.At the end of his roll, Gren used the earth magic to spring himself up before flattening the ring.The roll made him a little dizzy so he got some distance to help him recover.The man didn't want to give him time to recover and charged forward with the sword.

Gren's reflexes were slightly off and he took a hit on his side.After hitting Gren, the man stepped forward and grabbed Gren's arm that was holding the sword.The man would get his sword at this rate so Gren smashed his own forehead against the former slave's head, causing the both of them intense pain.

Gren was able to recover quickly with his healing spell but his opponent wasn't as lucky.His head had been split open and he didn't seem capable of fighting anymore since he was twitching on the ground.Gren decided to put him out of his misery by decapitating him with a sharpened greataxe from his pocket dimension.He at least tried to fight so he deserved a quick death.

”I knew you could be hard-headed at times but I didn't think you'd be able to do that.The poor guy's skull cracked against your own.”Mimi felt Gren's head to check the spot that he hit the bandit with.”You've got a bit of a bump.You might want to make some ice to put on that.”

”Mimi, stop leaving my armor without letting me sit down first.”Annie was being held up by Nina who just happened to be the person next to her.

”Ah, sorry, I was just wondering what his head was made of.”Mimi crawled back to Annie and entered the hatch.It took less than a minute for Annie to be able to stand straight.”Fusion: complete!”

Mimi's silliness was good at dispelling the mood caused by the executions.After storing away the shelters that he had created, Gren continued the journey towards the Elven fort.The information that Mimi had gathered made the mercenaries worried about what they were going to face.The reports of there being at least thirty archers weren't incorrect; they were just misleading.

The fort had close to one hundred and fifty combatants in it and each of them was trained to be an archer; their bows and armor made of ent wood.If that was it then they would be fine with their large shields but the leader had enchanted arrows and there was a beast tamer on their side.They would need to be careful of explosive arrows and a wolf rider.

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MERCENARY FORCES

Melee:

Zell, Krieger, Dill, Rory, Tokala, Osmond, Buthi, Gallia, Sachi, Ahk, Korra, Luna, Midna, Tahloh, Jasmine, Shenzi, Noir, Choco, Livi.

19 Total

Ranged:

Chase, Nina, Cammie, Erling, Troels, Dhalra, Kuroa, Letta, Annie.

9 Total

Magic/Support:

Suze, Nadia, Nalia, Gren, Mimi.

5 Total

Useless Weight:

Vampire(No Name)

1 Total