"I don't know what I'm still doing here," codenad Four muttered leisurely. "By this point, I'm sure they'd leave no Dragonborn left for to hunt."
Grieve chuckled, cackling at the youngster's arrogance.
"Must be nice to be so young," Grieve said naturally. "Barely out of the womb yet confident and proud to face anything in life. Such things are quite envious, at least, I think so…"
"You've been talking a lot. Are you their leader or sothing?" Four asked, rudely pointing at the hooded 'man' in front of him.
"You can say that."
"Well, I hope you'll at least give a good exercise. I would hate for my trip to be wasted on bums. In terms of ranking, how do you think you would fare against those Dragonborns?"
Grieve raised his head and tilted it, seriously considering the question posed to him by the burly man. "The weakest out of them all, I think. They are quite talented youngsters after all."
Four sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Good enough for . I'll just finish this quickly so that I can go back faster."
He reached down and raised a large heavy sword from the ground. The very blade itself was even wider and taller than most humans, making for a very intimidating weaponry.
The heavy sword was made out of a tal and Damascus steel alloy that emphasized power and weight, creating the most devastating weapon available in anyone's hands. Its heaviness prevented Four from even using a normal horse and carriage, for they would break in half trying to carry his sword.
Yet, thanks to his muscular physique, Four was able to wield the heavy sword as if it was as light as a feather. He tossed it in the air and caught it with one hand, showing off his strength to the intimidated Red Mankeys hiding behind the trees.
"Show it to ," Four said casually, to which Grieve did not answer.
Four raised the heavy sword and swung it wide, creating a heavy wind that ruffled dead leaves, branches, and the quiet forestry around them.
A mont later, tens of trees fell crashing onto the ground, with the sounds of splintering woods echoing in the forest.
Upon closer inspection, It was cut from the thickest parts of its base with a clean incision, which seed to have been done by a surgical knife.
Four swung his heavy sword around haphazardly like a stick, showing the ease in which he wielded the hefty weapon.
Though, this intimidation tactic didn't seem to have worked on the hooded figure opposite him.
"I know you have it, show it to ," Four demanded. "My brother Five would not have lost against that Dragonborn if you guys were not in possession of a Mithril Relic. That is the only way he would have been defeated."
Grieve looked up at Four and raised his hand.
He showed a glove with a glowing ring on its middle finger. A bluish-green aura radiated from the ring, showing its intense magical properties.
Four eyed the ring with seriousness. He could feel the power from it.
"Good, good. It's good that you know to imdiately wield your greatest weapon against . It's the only way you'll survive."
Four took out a glowing gem of his own from his necklace. This was another Mithril Relic, despite it being substantially smaller and weaker than the one wielded by Grieve.
He inserted this relic gem on the end of his heavy sword's hilt, imbuing it with the power of Water and Air mana, combining into an icy frost.
"Ahh…if that Mithril relic of yours proves better than mine, then I shall take it as my spoils after your defeat."
"Very well," Grieve nodded, accepting the conditions of the duel. The excited feeling knocking out from his ribbed chest told him that this was not the first ti he had felt this before. It felt like he was coming back into familiar territory, like coming back ho.
Grieve walked forward with his hands on his robe.
"Going weapon-less?" Four asked incredulously. "Bold but I respect it. I just hope you don't regret it."
Four used [Frostbite of the Mammoth], turning his heavy sword into a curving elephant's trunk that swooped down towards Grieve.
The heavy sword struck the ground with speed and force, creating an explosion of dirt and soil before a seismic earthquake shook the entire forest awake. Birds and bats flew away in fear, while critters ran away in droves.
Four's smile lessened as he saw the heavy sword impaled on the ground, but without its target.
Grieve stood just a few inches away with his gloved hand on the heavy sword's blade, seemingly pushing it away.
"Grah!" Four scread, taking back his great sword and swinging it around himself, creating montum before using it to smash Grieve's head to the ground.
But the flat blade of his sword hit nothing but the disturbed soil. Grieve was 'luckily' a few inches further away from the sword's grasp.
Annoyed, Four shouted "[Frozen Weight of the Hilt], swinging his heavy sword towards Grieve.
The edge of his blade created a crescent-shaped ice slash that shot towards the hooded Grieve. It was as heavy as the sword itself yet coming at speeds almost twice as fast as his swing.
This ti, Four was able to see how Grieve smoothly stepped away from the slash with efficient footwork and timing.
The crescent ice slash cleaved through five trees before crashing onto a small mound of rock in the ground and infecting it with frozen ice magic.
"Show how you fight!" Four shouted, sending a flurry of crescent slashes towards Grieve.
Yet, the hooded figure simply avoided the dangerous obstacles through footwork, seemingly disappearing from sight at the very last second and reappearing just as the slash shot past him.
"If you aren't going to fight , then I'll fight these monkeys!"
Four sent out a single crescent slash towards a group of Red Mankeys hiding behind a tree. It was coming towards them at speeds they couldn't even react to.
Just as they were about to be hit, Grieve suddenly appeared in front of them and took the crescent slash head on, swinging his hand and deflecting the ice up towards the sky.
"You broke the conditions of our duel," Grieve muttered, disappointed. "And for that, you will have to pay dearly."
Grieve raised his hand and showed the glove containing the Mithril Artifact ring. Using his other hand, he twisted the golden band before slowly pulling the ring out of his finger.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing? Are you forfeiting our fight?!" Four shouted.
Grieve shook his head. "No, insolent one. I am simply giving you what you wish for."
As he took the ring out of his finger, a bluish-green aura suddenly exploded out of his very body, disintegrating the hooded cloth around him.
Four felt his instincts jump, telling to back away imdiately. His eyes widened as the robe began to show what was hidden underneath. He began to realize who…or what…he had been fighting against this entire ti.
"You see, this is no ordinary Mithril Artifact. Unlike the ones used by the Dragonborns, my ring does not give magical powers. In fact, it limits it."
As the ring left Grieve's finger, the full power of his 9-star cultivation erupted uncontrollably. The grass underneath his feet decayed in less than a second as it got exposed to his overflowing necrotic energy.
Four stood there, shaking, as he looked at the undead general skeleton in front of him.
Fear took the strength out of his body, feeling weakness in his arms and fingers, making him drop the heavy sword into the ground.
"The ga is over, young one. I simply hope you get a second chance in life like ."
Then, Four saw the whole world turning sideways.
As he looked around, he saw his own body on the side, standing still, missing its head.
Slowly, his consciousness faded into nothingness, never to return again.
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