He was a slender man, about six feet tall, I think—I wasn't close enough to be certain of my guess. The only things I could make out clearly from that distance were his black hair streaked with red, slicked back, and, of course, the sword he was brandishing at us. He was taunting us, watching from a path above ours.
"Answer my questions; your answers will decide how this day ends for you"
He was openly threatening us. I was just waiting for his questions; I had neither a weapon nor enough strength for a fight. The sensible thing to do was simply give him the answers he wanted. Too bad my companion didn't think the same way. As soon as I saw him baring his teeth, I knew what was going to happen.
— Oberon began running toward the children, and as if that were a signal, Kaelen leaped onto one of the paths; his target was easy to spot.
That guy didn't seem worried; he showed no expression, observing the situation with a neutral gaze.
He began running in the same direction as Oberon —
"Why did it have to be me?"
He leaped from the top, delivering a downward sword strike; for a moment, I could even see my reflection in his blade.
Kaelen appeared from his right diagonal, trying to grab his head, but the guy quickly deflected his attack toward me to protect himself from Kaelen's strike, and both of them fell onto another path.
— Although the attack wasn't successful, Kaelen was now in a one-on-one with the one in front of him; his claws were already out, and his fangs ready to tear into his opponent's flesh.
The other one was calm; he just sighed, gripping his sword with both hands —
As I moved the children to a safer spot, I also watched the fight below, noticing the design of the sword that guy was carrying. It was unusual; its blade was shaped like waves—two of them, one in the middle and the second at the end—with the blade pointing upward. But what caught my attention most was its color; it was the same color as the gun I'd created back then.
"Are you an anthropomorph?Why do you look like that even though you're so old?"
"Are we friends now that you're asking such questions?"
—sigh—
"I just wanted to give you the chance to extend your life a little longer"
— Kaelen leaped toward his opponent, who was on guard, attacking with his claws like a tiger would. His attacks were swift, and he kept accelerating, but his adversary still had the upper hand in the fight, managing to dodge one of his attacks and landing a blow with his fist on Kaelen's right side.
A blow that Kaelen felt, but which also fueled his rage, causing him to lunge his claws at his opponent once more; yet none landed—his opponent dodged every single one with such ease, barely even breaking a sweat —.
I couldn't leave Kaelen like this; if the fight continued, I was certain he'd lose, and we didn't know our opponent's intentions.
I looked around me, searching for anything that might be useful.
— The fight continued to intensify; one could already see the accumulated superficial wounds on Kaelen's body, and one could also see the fatigue of his opponent; the fight was dragging on too long for both warriors.
This time it was the swordsman who lunged at the beast in human form; his first strike was clumsily dodged, and the second barely parried by her claws, but the barrage of attacks still didn't end. His opponent used the weight and peculiar shape of her sword to build momentum while expending minimal energy—that made her attacks difficult to stop or even deflect.
Kaelen was being overwhelmed by the attacks; his wounds weren't helping. Accustomed to hunting animals, an opponent like this was a first for him—we can't count the man who had appeared in the cave because he killed him with a surprise attack.
He had to adapt quickly if he didn't want to die; for the first time in his life, the cautious young predator named Kaelen had to hunt prey larger than himself.
His opponent's attacks didn't let up, managing to unbalance him enough to give the man the time needed to charge a powerful downward strike to end the fight, but Kaelen, sacrificing his shoulder, managed to deflect the man's attack before spinning around and landing an elbow to his solar plexus, followed by a kick to push him back.
"« If you're never in trouble, you'll never improve », that stupid woman used to drill that phrase into my ears"
— That blow to the solar plexus was strong enough to make it hard for his opponent to breathe, but he wasn't in any better shape; his body was covered in wounds and his right arm was useless—he could barely stay on his feet—.
"Fine, as you wish
— his opponent said with difficulty, because although he was in bad shape, his condition was much better than Kaelen's, and when Kaelen dropped to one knee, it only confirmed his victory —.
"Looks like the game's over for you, anthropomorph"
— He was already walking toward Kaelen, who stood motionless; it was a total victory… until a rock fell on him —.