Realizing that his beloved spear had been taken, Sekamens abruptly opened his eyes and tried to retrieve it, but it was too late. Yang Yu grabbed the spear and bolted.
Everyone was stunned.
“Is this what you call reliable? This is way too hardcore!”
Yang Yu didn’t care about the others’ reactions. With his defense of around 50, even thinking about it with his backside, he knew he couldn’t withstand an attack with 153 strength. At most, he could last four hits before he’d be down.
“You despicable coward!”
Sekamens, now without his weapon, could only chase after him, but his armor hindered him. Despite his 59 speed, he couldn’t catch up to Yang Yu’s 60 speed.
Out of desperation, he used a short-range sprint to boost his speed, quickly closing the distance between them. He clenched his fist and aimed straight at Yang Yu’s chest.
At that moment, Yang Yu stopped, raised his shield, and took Sekamens’ punch head-on.
The power of 153 strength was no joke. The impact on the shield made Yang Yu’s scalp tingle, instantly reducing his health by a quarter. If Sekamens had used his spear, he could have taken away a third of his health in one strike.
Holding the spear, Yang Yu stepped back a few paces, stabilized himself, and stopped running.
“The difference in strength between us is clear. Even if you use underhanded means to take my spear, I can still defeat you with my bare hands! Surrender now!”
Sekamens, although slightly embarrassed, maintained his composure and confidence.
“You are indeed strong. In a direct confrontation, I would lose. But the weak have their own ways of fighting. They will do everything to win, and underestimating them can lead to failure.”
Stopping his fake panting, Yang Yu looked relaxed and threw the spear back to Sekamens.
“Imagine if it wasn’t me who took your spear, but a group of weak goblins. Without your weapon, facing a horde of goblins, would you still be as composed as now?”
Sekamens thought about Yang Yu’s words, and some terrifying images formed in his mind. His pride forced him to deny it.
“If it were monsters, I wouldn’t be like this. This is a duel; it should be fair and square!”
“A duel? Fair and square?” Yang Yu scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. This was never a fair match. A real duel is based on both sides having similar strength. When the gap is too wide, it’s just one-sided bullying.”
“That’s why I gave you a chance. If you could last three minutes, I would acknowledge you. But who knew you’d use such despicable means… Now, I won’t underestimate you anymore!”
Sekamens’ eyes burned with battle intent, mixed with a lot of anger and resentment.
“Is that so? But…” Yang Yu walked to a tree, extinguishing Sekamens’ fighting spirit. “This battle ended the moment you underestimated me. I thought it would be more difficult, but it was quite the opposite.”
“What? Could it be…”
Sekamens’ eyes widened in disbelief. He glanced at the hesitant Iron Wall and understood.
The task interface showed the challenge was complete. Yang Yu smiled and immediately marked it as done, gaining 3000 experience points and leveling up.
“Just as you thought, I was stalling. This is how we weak ones fight. You lost this time.”
Sekamens’ handsome face twisted in frustration. He couldn’t accept the outcome.
“But since you might not accept this result, I’ll give you a chance now. Use your strongest attack and see if you can defeat me!”
The sudden provocation left Sekamens stunned, not angry, just confused.
“Why are you provoking me even though you’ve won?”
Nothing. I just want to see if I can get the Taunt skill.
Of course, Yang Yu couldn’t say that. He shrugged and continued to provoke.
“I just want to see if you really have the power to knock me down in one blow.”
“Don’t regret it.”
Sekamens gripped his spear tightly, his expression serious. The silver spear shone brightly. Suddenly, he charged, and the spearhead aimed directly at Yang Yu’s chest.
Yang Yu remained calm, kicked the nearby tree hard, and a jelly-like object fell into his palm. He pushed it forward, and the spear collided with the blue object.
“Useless! My attack is piercing damage. A mere slime can’t block it.” Sekamens prepared to stop, but his opponent didn’t show any fear. Instead, he casually chatted.
“Is that so? You have a fatal flaw—you can’t correctly assess your own and others’ abilities.”
The sharp spear didn’t pierce the slime as Sekamens expected. Instead, the slime deflected it.
“What’s with this slime?” Sekamens couldn’t understand how his powerful skill couldn’t penetrate a mere slime.
The spear fell to the ground. Yang Yu patted the dust off himself, as if nothing had happened.
Walking past the dazed Sekamens, he said, “I’m a warrior and a monster tamer. Using monsters in battle is within the rules. No need to apologize. I’m far from your level now, but give me two or three days, and I’ll defeat you. I hope you don’t disappoint me then.”
The slime broke free and slapped Yang Yu, ending his brief moment of triumph.
To avoid the fight, it had climbed the tree to sleep, but Yang Yu kicked it down and used it as a shield, costing it a third of its health. How could it not be angry?
Don’t think our blood pact allows you to do whatever you want. Today, even if the contract backlash kills me, I’ll slap you twice!
“Stop! Stop! Hitting me hurts you too!”
Faced with the slime’s slaps, Yang Yu smiled wryly. He only kicked it because he saw it slacking off. He didn’t expect such a backlash, and his favorability dropped by 10 points.
Suppressing the slime, Yang Yu pretended nothing had happened and cleared his throat, looking at the stunned Bai Jin.
“It’s getting late. This forest is more dangerous than I thought. Bai Jin, gather some herbs and let’s go rest.”
“Yes.”
Coming to her senses, Bai Jin followed Yang Yu, leaving the Silver Wind squad bewildered. After a while, they approached the dejected Sekamens.
Sekamens’ voice trembled, “How many minutes have passed?”
Iron Wall checked his watch nervously, “Exactly five minutes.”
“To think he saw through everything.” Sekamens closed his eyes, a smile forming on his lips, filled with admiration. “It seems I still have a lot to learn.”
……
In a dim room deep in the forest, countless crystal balls stood. Every move in the forest was visible in the balls. A green hand gently tapped the wooden board holding the balls, pondering the images.
After a long time, the tapping stopped.
The images on the crystal balls vanished, reflecting the face of the owner—a green, ugly face with a wicked, determined smile.