Valerian, The Legendary

287 Fighting The Way Up.

Valerian finished dealing with the War Orc and sat on the ground to catch his breath. He was tired. The mental exhaustion from the earlier struggle with the partial soul had not allowed her to recover to his peak, so this was tiring for him.

The young man sighed, and while thinking about the battle, he wondered if he would need to fight more opponents on the way up. None of the dragons urged him to move on as well. The young man understood he could take his time, so he rested, restored his mental strength, and stood up.

Valerian looked at the sun and said, “It is already past noon. To think I spend such a long time.”

His mind was calm, and his body felt less heavy than earlier. Valerian created a shallow layer of battle aura over his skin to reduce the burden from the stinging wind. The young man moved, and his speed was faster than before.

However, this spurt did not last for too long before his steps stagnated again. Finally, after another kilometer, Valerian found him staring at an outline of a beast that was similar to what could be called a tiger. However, the tail of the tiger was different.

At this moment, the tiger was lying on the ground with its eyes closed, but the tail was snaring at the downhill slope. Yet, there was no reaction in the tail, so it could have been possible that the young man was out of the vision range. Just when Valerian decided that he could get past this beast without engaging in a brawl with this beast, the tiger opened its eyes and looked at Valerian. The beast said, “Come here.”

Valerian did not move, and the beast sighed. Then, it said, “Human, I am Artie. I am challenging you to a dual of Kwan with me.”

The silver-headed boy was surprised. He did not know why this beast would challenge him to kwan. It was a broad game where the two people would participate to defeat the king’s token of the opponent. The loser would be punished. (This thing was similar to chess.)

The tokens represented the forces, and some pieces had magical attributes. For example, these tokens could release magical attacks and act like mages. Valerian had played this game, but this could not be considered his forte. He frowned and asked, “Why must I play this game with you?”

.....

Artie replied, “It’s not like you have an option. Either the game or battle it out with me. The latter option has a considerable risk of death. But I will not lie to you. I am offering you this game, so I can get off this mountain on good behavior.”

Valerian pondered for a bit and then nodded. He walked closer to the beast when the snake’s tail flickered and attacked the young man. However, Valerian was more intelligent, and he did not put down his guard. He did not believe the beast or anyone he might face while moving upwards.

His reaction was quick, and he dodged the tail. The place where he was standing had a shallow crater now. Valerian did not intend to waste time asking why the beast attacked him. Since the other party had already initiated a challenge to the death, he decided to follow along and cease back the initiative.

He was not soft parmesan to take everything lying down. Ever since childhood, he hated people who tried to exploit other people for their amusement. Artie did not stand up from his position and continued attacking Valerian with quick jabs of his tail. Constant attacks were barraging Valerian, and he could not close in the distance.

The battle aura would be unable to deal with the gap between the two. Because as soon as Valerian throws a weapon made from battle aura condensation, the gun will start dispersing slowly, affecting the attack potential. Valerian kept dodging the attacks while developing a strategy to deal with the incoming attacks.

...

On the summit, Fortuna said, “Tch, to think this kind of trash can hinder his progress.”

Arma shook his head and said, “He is not hindered, Your Majesty. He is learning.”

Fortuna did not reply but snorted her nostrils. Cupido said, “This guy is amazing, learning everything from all his opponents.”

Sophos nodded and said, “His body is moving much more stably after he experienced a fight with that War Orc. He is using his waist to generate the power and accumulating it all.”

Gale nodded and said, “This guy has the potential to surpass his father and his mother.”

Suddenly, they all heard a strong wind blowing, and Cupido cheered as she said, “Gladis is back.”

A metal gray silhouette landed on the summit gently and bowed his head to Fortuna and Sophos. The two nodded, and Cupido rushed over to snuggle with her brother. Gladis sighed and said, “Cu, grow up.”

Cupido cast him an aggrieved glance and went back to stand in her initial position. The dragon looked at a bubble behind him and found the battle scene between Valerian and Artie going on. He said, “What a waste of time.”

The people did not react. They knew that even if Valerian had saved his life, Gladis would not give a fake compliment. However, what he said next shocked everyone, “Your Majesty, this child is dangerous. So you better stay careful.”

Fortuna replied, “I know how to act cautiously, General Gladis. Thank you for your reminder.”

Sophos looked at the scene and nodded as he said, “Gladis, why do you think it is a waste?”

Gladis looked toward Sophos and said, “Elder, do you not think that if Valerian was given an opponent like me, this fight could have been completely different.”

Sophos shook his head and said, “You overestimate yourself. Did you think he was fighting with the intent to kill you? He was only looking for a way to defeat you, and even then, he almost had your guts spilled on the floor.”

Gladis said, “I know, but I mean that this guy, Artie, plays it dirty and cheap.”

Sophos nodded and said, “Not every opponent is the same. You ought to know that by now. The last time you acted, this naively got you poisoned. Although that point is past us now, you cannot stay the same.”

Sophos did not hold back in scolding the guy. He just recovered, and all that is getting to his head. Arma nodded and said, “Valerian had mercy on you. Do not think you could have defeated him in your top condition. He does not know he can gain strength from the bond with Her Majesty. He is fighting with not one but three handicaps.”

...

While the four guys discussed this battle, Valerian decided how he would win this battle. The young man began weaving his head from right to left, and like it was some pendulum, his gaze followed the incoming tail attack.

Artie was getting frustrated and increased the pace of the attacks because he could not land a single attack on this kid. as this happened, Valerian lowered his center of gravity and quickly moved closer to the beast.

The ten-meter-long tail could not be used to attack at close range, but Valerian knew this beast’s claws. He mumbled, “This chimera is strong but does not have that blood lust. So his attacks cannot deter me.”

He was hypnotizing himself against the alleged claw attacks from the tiger. He was afraid of those menacing claws hidden under all that fur. Valerian wanted to defeat this guy, and he wanted to do it fast.

As soon as Valerian reached the five meters range, his knuckles erupted. The young man did not hold back and instantly covered his knuckles with battle aura. Then his aura fists transformed into a spear. The weapon came out so unexpectedly that the beast was not prepared. So the only defensive action at this moment was to avoid that attack.

The spear was like a staff erupting from Valerian’s fist. The spear tip was sharp and penetrated through the thick snake tail. The chimera was fine, but the snake on the bottom hissed before it lost movement. However, Valerian was not going to back off. As long as the enemy was alive, this battle would not end.

Valerian sensed a shallow blood lust covering his mind. He was angry at the situation. He was walking at the edge of life and death, yet he looked at the enemies on this path with compassion. He was wondering when he become so soft. He roared loudly and closed the gap with the beast.

The space was reduced to a meter and the Chimera opened its mouth to bite Valerian’s shoulder. The next moment, the young man delivered an uppercut on the chin of the beast. Then he side stepped and followed with a punch to the ribs of the beast.

The chimera that used to roam on four legs was now standing in the void from the impact of the two punches. Valerian unleashed a flurry of punches. His body was strong beyond imagination. All that pent-up muscle potential from the forging workshop was let go, and he started fighting his way up.