As soon as he connected, he got up and left his alcove. He walked straight to the barracks and looked around, trying to find the patrol team.

He saw a group of four preparing their gear in a corner and guessed it was them.

The group differed from the last time, and he barely recognized their faces from seeing them in the barracks building a few times. He approached them and presented himself.

“Hello, sirs. I am Astaroth. Thank you for letting me join you on your patrol today.” He said, giving a small bow.

“Enough bootlicking, twerp.” One man responded, clear disdain in his voice.

Astaroth was quickly taken aback. Had he ever done something to this man?

He didn’t recall ever talking to him personally at all.

“Pardon?” He replied, a little confused.

“We never agreed to you joining us. Unfortunately for us, the captain has lugged you on our backs. So I don’t want to hear a word from you. Tag along and fight. That’s all you need to do.” The man said, sneering at Astaroth.

Astaroth looked at the man up and down. He had muscles rippling under his tight-fit leather clothes.

His weapons were on his belt; iron knuckles. He looked like a bruiser class.

Astaroth then inspected him.

Konnor Mac’Greygor:

Level: 28

Grade: Common

Race: Ash Elf

Class: Pugilist

Health: 2’100 Mana: 540

Stats:

Str: 46 Agi: 46 Con: 45 Int: 28 Wis: 28

Attack Power (Str + Agi): 460

Natural Defense: 4.5% Armor Defense: 10%

Gear: Leather Armor Set, Iron Knuckles (+15 DMG)

Astaroth frowned.

“What, you scared after seeing my stats, twerp?” Konnor said arrogantly.

“No, sir. Just wondering why you are so aggressive with me.” Astaroth replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“What did you say, shorty?!” The man puffed up.

“Nothing, sir.” Astaroth said, trying to blow the matter away.

Konnor walked to Astaroth and got an inch away from his face. Astaroth could feel the anger oozing off the man.

He looked him straight in the eyes, not wanting to back down.

“Repeat. What. You. Said. Twerp.” The man said to Astaroth, poking Astaroth’s shoulder with his finger at every word.

“Nothing, sir.” Astaroth said, his tone now cold.

The man was getting on his nerves. He had done nothing to him, and yet, he was provoking him blatantly.

“That’s what I thought.” Konnor said, shoving past Astaroth.

“In here, only the strong get to talk.” He added, walking towards the gate of the courtyard.

ƥαṇdαηθνε|

Then something struck him. Did the man not just say ‘only the strong get to talk’?

An idea bloomed in his mind. A grin formed on his face.

“So what you mean to say is, I only need to beat you to have your respect?” Astaroth said loudly, not even turning around.

It had the effect he wanted because he heard the man’s steps stop abruptly.

Konnor turned around and looked at Astaroth mockingly.

“Like that would ever happen, runt. I would beat you in seconds.” Konnor scoffed.

“Only dogs bark, sir.” Astaroth taunted him, turning to face him with a mocking smile.

“You!” Konnor screamed.

The man then grabbed his iron knuckles from his belt and put them on.

From the side, Chris was watching raptly. When he saw Konnor grab his weapons, he got up to intervene, but then he saw Kloud stroll past him, so he sat back down.

Just as Konnor was about to lunge at Astaroth, Kloud grabbed his shoulder.

“You better not be thinking of beating a recruit up for standing up to you. You know the rules.” Kloud told the man coldly, looking him in the eye.

Konnor spat on the ground.

“Fine! You! You better be more than talk!” He screamed, pointing at Astaroth.

“I officially challenge you to a duel!” He added, smiling from ear to ear.

“You don’t have to accept his challenge, lad. But be ready to lose all credibility and respect if you don’t.” Kloud said, now looking at Astaroth.

“I never intended to back out, teacher.” Astaroth replied, still looking at Konnor mockingly.

Both men walked to the center of the courtyard, where Kloud and Astaroth had been sparring a few days prior. They looked at each other, hate in one pair of eyes, and mocking in the other.

“To make this fair for you, runt, I won’t be using any skills. I wouldn’t want to kill you.” Konnor said, grinning maniacally.

“You’re still barking.” Astaroth blandly replied.

“You! I will beat you in ten seconds and be over with it.” Konnor growled.

Kloud walked to the middle of the courtyard with them.

“Do both of you agree to this duel?” He asked, looking at both men.

“Yes!” Both replied, simultaneously.

He then looked specifically at Konnor.

“You said you won’t use skills. I expect you to honor and enforce that.” He said, giving Konnor a hard stare.

Konnor snorted.

“Like I would ever need that to beat that runt.” He said to Kloud, angrily.

Kloud only nodded and walked away from the sparring zone. He walked back beside Chris and leaned on the wall.

Chris looked at him, frowning slightly.

“Shouldn’t we stop this farce from going any further?” He asked Kloud, slightly worried for the kid.

“No. The lad wants to prove himself. This is a splendid chance to do so.” Kloud responded, not turning his head.

“Of course, should there be any danger to anyone’s life, I will intervene.” He added.

“Hmm.” Chris said, looking at the sparring area.

Both men in the sparring area were staring at each other, gauging the other, waiting for the other to do the first move. The tension in the air was incredible.

All the warriors had come out of the barracks to see the duel. It was a rare occurrence in the village since everyone had known each other for a long time.

Astaroth was the only newcomer, which also made him a mystery for most.

“All right. Who wants to take bets?!” A voice sounded from one side.

It was Korin. He looked at everyone present, a coin pouch in his hand.

“I will put fifty gold coins on the rookie.” He added, a smile on his face.

All the surrounding warriors started buzzing about. To them, those fifty gold coins were free money.

The rookie couldn’t win, in their opinion. So they all started betting.

Only a few people bet on Astaroth, only because they liked risk and that if the rookie won, they would make bank.

The pot quickly piled up, and as more people bet, almost all the bets went for Konnor. It quickly reached one thousand gold coins.

“I’ll bet five hundred gold coins on the lad.” Kloud said, walking up to Korin.

The people around gasped, but then they internally rejoiced. If Konnor won, they would make so much money!

“So will I.” Came Chris’ voice soon after.

At that point, the people who had bet on Konnor had money signs in their eyes.