Seeing Erik's arm was now free from any binding magic, the ginger werebear used his enormous paw-like hand to grasp Erik's smaller version, and they shook on their deal.
Then, he turned to the mbers of his team. "Go stand back a ways," he told them. But while Björn and Nora quickly agreed, Anne was slightly more reluctant. She was finally calming down a little but still looked ready to tear Erik's, and especially Emily's, throats out.
The werelynx growled and panted from barely contained fury, "Don't do this, Boss! Let's just tear that race traitor and his human lovers apart!"
Before the werebear could respond, Nora had already grabbed Anne's left arm and began pulling her away. "Don't be an idiot, girl. I don't like humans either, but this is the best solution. Even if the boss loses, which he won't, we'll still get so of what we want."
Then, Björn grabbed Anne's right arm and agreed with Nora. "I understand your anger, Anne, but this is not the ti."
So Anne was dragged away, kicking and screaming, by her teammates under their leader's concerned gaze.
Normally, Anne was one of their cooler-headed people. Unfortunately, that was only true in matters that didn't include humans. Her hatred of them was significant enough to set her usually cool head to boiling.
While those three moved away, Erik briefly considered telling Emily to kill Olaf if they made a move but quickly discarded that thought. Not only would it sour relations even more, but he also didn't really want to lose Olaf as a fighter.
Besides, Elora could keep an eye on them while he was fighting, and if they made a move, he would retreat into the barrier.
anwhile, Erik had lost his armor and stepped through the barrier, still carrying his hamr. He watched as the trio receded a little into the distance and then turned to the werebear. "You should really start putting aside your hatred for humans and teach them to do the sa."
"Easier said than done," the man answered with a complicated expression. Then he turned to the glassy-eyed Olaf. "And that human of yours isn't exactly helping matters."
Erik smirked in response. "So it would have been better if she was a shapeshifter or vampire? Olaf would still be enslaved, and, factually, nothing would be different. Only your perception would be."
The werebear smiled, a little exasperated, "Logically, you are correct. But, unfortunately, the world runs on perception." Then he shook his head, took off the bodysuit he was wearing, and moved to stand a few ters opposite Erik. "Regardless, this is not the ti for philosophy."
Since Erik's ho was on the village outskirts, they moved the battle to the other side to not damage the graveyard or other houses, turning the space between Elora's barrier and the village's fence into their battlefield.
Erik's opponent turned to him with a serious expression. "I believe we have a duel to get to. But first, we haven't been introduced. My na is Viljar Hafbjorn. Please tell yours."
Hearing that na, Emily's eyes widened as Erik had ntioned his uncle to her before. She imdiately got confused about why Erik was going through all this but naturally kept her mouth shut.
anwhile, Erik couldn't help but smile at hearing his uncle's na. But he wasn't ready to end this just yet. Not before he finally got to beat his uncle in a fight after always looking up to his strength in the past.
So he answered with a sly grin, "You can call silver, for now. My real na, you'll have to beat out of ."
Viljar wasn't exactly happy with that response but accepted it anyway, as he took a fighting stance.
Just like Katya, Viljar had also concluded that his claws were better than any weapon he could get his hands on. This likely ant that one of his Runebound skills allowed him to enhance those claws sohow.
Which proved to be correct.
When Erik took his position on the opposite side and adopted a fighter's pose with hamr in hand, his opponent roared and gained dark-red runes all over his ginger fur. Viljar's claws began to glow in response, suffused with a deep, fiery light that pulsed from within.
The once solid claws morphed and began to resemble flowing magma, each now appearing as if forged from the heart of a volcano, with swirls of red and orange encapsulating their brutal strength. Drips of molten rock seed to cascade from the tips and left a trail of heat haze in the cold northern air.
Elora sounded in Erik's head. "Magma affinity, huh? Make sure to push your icy shell to the limit if you can't avoid him. Also, rember he has another, unknown rune."
Erik nodded seriously in response. This fight would be difficult. Not only was magma affinity powerful, but werebears in and of themselves were one of the most powerful kinds of shapeshifters on Earth.
Erik activated his own runes and gained a layer of crackling lightning and ice over his skin. The lightning increased his speed and reflexes, while the ice provided increased protection.
Now, they stood opposite each other, both ready for battle. Erik had a wide stance with his hamr over his shoulder. On his right was his old ho, encased in a dark green barrier, with Olaf and Emily behind it. In front of him was his uncle Viljar, and a few tens of ters behind the werebear were Nora, Björn, and Anne, spectating.
Erik howled and made the first move by charging his opponent while moving the hamr from his shoulder to a dual grip. An excited grin hung on his lips, and a wild glint showed in his eyes.
Viljar roared and prepared to receive Erik's hamr with arms crossed in front of his chest. To Erik's surprise, the fur on his uncle's arms took on the sa properties as the man's claws, causing his entire body to turn from ginger to dark red and becoming like a walking ball of magma as all the snow around him began to lt.
Viljar seed to have flipped a switch as he went from a calm leader to a man who loved showing his strength. "Co, boy! And be careful you don't burn yourself!" he growled at Erik excitedly.
"Oh my. It's not just his claws; it's the keratin from which claws and fur are created that he can change into magma. How dangerous." Elora's chirpy voice sounded in Erik's head.
Yet, instead of being deterred, Erik's grin only beca more excited. He arrived before Viljar and swung his hamr against his opponent's arms. Yet the dark red magma fur was a strange combination of soft and hard that appeared to absorb the blow easily.
Despite that, Viljar roared from a combination of pain and surprise while skidding back through the now-lted snow puddles.
"You should care for yourself first, old man!" Erik quipped as he recovered from his attack.
Viljar shook his arms as if to regain feeling in them and laughed. "You have quite a bit of strength in that body of yours. Are you sure you're not half-werebear?"
Erik shook his head and responded. "Pretty sure!" Just like his mother Runa, his father Leifur had also been a werewolf. Besides, half-breeds were rare, and most didn't even believe they could really be born.
Instead, his increased strength ca from a combination of being rged with Elora's body and the two powerful bloodlines flowing through his veins.
Imdiately after Erik's response, Viljar now went on the offense. He was like a massive clump of roiling magma in werebear form, bearing down on Erik, who felt dwarfed by another in size for the first ti in a long ti.
But that didn't deter him either, nor did he plan to dodge, despite his speed likely outclassing Viljar's. Instead, under the astonished gazes of Emily, Nora, Björn, and even Anne, Erik moved his hamr to his left hand, balled his right fist, and charged a concussive lightning blast in preparation for Viljar's arrival.
Viljar himself seed to have expected Erik's move and laughed wildly. "You really are like that woman! Now let's see if you have the power to back it up."
Using his powerful montum, Viljar swiped at Erik in a cross formation with his magma claws and t Erik's balled-up fist in the middle.
The mont they t, Erik detonated the concussive lightning blast, forcing Viljar to contend with both Erik's strength and the blast. Lightning crackled, and ice sizzled as the extra thick layer of icy shell on Erik's fist began to lt.
Their confrontation lasted a re fraction of a second before they were both forced to take a step backward. Everyone spectating the fight, except for Erik and Elora, was surprised by the result, as they had expected Erik to be blown back alone.
Outwardly, neither of them appeared to have received much damage from that, but Erik had to use a lot of power to combat the heat from Viljar's claws while Viljar felt a strange and aching pain in those sa claws.
Looking down, he noticed they had blackened a little and showed small fractures before quickly going back to their previous magma-like state, causing him to frown.
Elora noticed the sa thing and quickly relayed this to Erik before they ca up with a hypothesis together. 'I can make use of that later,' he thought.
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