Chapter 109: The People of Valcrest Village
"Sure." Ren agreed right away.
"What are you guys talking about?" Sofia asked curiously.
"We promised to spar after he came back," Darian explained.
Sofia turned to Ren. "You agreed to spar with him? Have you broken through to 2-star?"
"My Beast Transformation is already at 2-star, but my Elemental class is still at 1-star," Ren answered.
"2-star?" Alaric and the others raised their eyebrows in surprise.
"So fast!" Sofia covered her mouth in amazement.
Darian was excited after hearing that. "Does that mean I can go all out?"
"Sure." Ren didn't stop him. "But it won't be easy to defeat me."
"We will see about that." Darian grinned widely. "Let's spar now. I can't wait to test your current strength."
They immediately stepped out of the wooden gazebo.
As Ren and Darian stood facing each other, Elara and the others watched from the sidelines.
After they shifted into their partial transformation, Darian said, "Ren, let's fight at full strength from the beginning."
They had to train the younger generation in fifteen minutes, so they didn't have much free time.
"Sure." After agreeing, blue lightning appeared and enveloped Ren's arms.
Hayden, Alaric, and Sofia were shocked the moment they saw it. He was in his beast form, so he was supposed to be unable to use magic.
"Ren!" Elara's face turned worried.
She knew how dangerous his Lightning Claws skill was, so she was shocked when Ren decided to use it in their spar.
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine." Ren had no intention of hurting Darian.
They were not enemies, so he would only tap Darian and use his lightning to win the battle.
"Is that real lightning?" Darian pointed at Ren's arms.
"Yes," Ren answered. "I combined magic with an innate ability, and this is the result."
"I see." Darian nodded. "Alright. Let's start the spar now."
Sofia stepped forward and acted as a referee. "Are you ready?"
"Yes." Ren and Darian answered in unison.
"Fight!" Sofia jumped backward.
Darian immediately rushed toward Ren.
He transformed his right arm into that of a lynx and swung his claw.
However, his strike only hit the air as Ren could read it easily.
After moving to the side, Ren pressed his right index finger against Darian's right shoulder.
"Hii…" Darian gritted his teeth as lightning struck his entire body.
Since Ren didn't injure him, his lightning didn't slide into his internal organs.
But even so, it was enough to bring him down.
Darian fell to his knees as immense pain flooded his body.
Sofia and the others widened their eyes in shock.
Both of them were already at 2-star, so they thought the battle would last quite a while and be exciting.
Never did they expect that the fight would end so quickly like that.
Ren even only needed to touch Darian to defeat him.
It was as if he were not fighting a powerful shifter, but rather facing a kid.
Since Darian had already lost, Ren removed his index finger from his body. "I won, Instructor Darian."
Darian glanced at the fading lightning on his body before laughing loudly. "Haha!"
He was not angry or disappointed.
Instead, he was happy.
He knew how talented and special Ren was, so losing the spar wasn't something surprising.
He rose to his feet and praised Ren. "You are really a monster, Ren!"
Ren retrieved a health potion from his space ring and gave it to Darian. "Here, drink it."
Darian drank it immediately. "So, what was that skill just now?"
"I named it the Lightning Claws skill," Ren answered. "I created this technique to help me defeat a powerful enemy, like someone above my rank."
"It's an amazing skill, Ren," Sofia stated as she approached them.
"I never thought we could combine magic with innate abilities," Hayden murmured.
"Ren, I admit your Lightning Claws skill is powerful, but it won't be enough to defeat a 3-star awakener." Darian had just taken the hit himself, so he knew exactly how strong that technique really was.
When awakeners broke through to the next rank, their bodies also became stronger. With the strength of his creation skill, it was still not enough to defeat a 3-star awakener.
"Instructor Darian, my skill is meant to strike directly at my opponent's internal organs with lightning," Ren explained calmly. "I held back just now. If I hadn't, you would already be dying."
"Really?" Darian still didn't believe.
"Ren is not lying," Elara spoke abruptly.
Darian and the others instantly shifted their gaze to Elara.
"Have you ever seen him use that skill against someone, Elara?" Alaric asked.
"Yes." Elara nodded. "When all his classes were still at 1-star, he defeated a 2-star shifter."
"2-star shifter?!" They didn't doubt her words as she was an honest girl.
Darian returned his attention to Ren. "Does that mean you can defeat a 3-star awakener now?"
"Not one hundred percent, but I have a high chance of winning the fight." Ren was not lying or bluffing.
With the help of the Lightning Claws skill and the Titan Ring, he would not be at a disadvantage in the fight.
Even if he could not defeat his opponent, he would not have a problem escaping.
"Haha." Darian laughed happily once more.
"If only our younger generation were as strong as him." Alaric looked at Ren with quiet admiration.
"Expecting them to be like him is too much," Hayden commented. "I would already be happy if they could reach even a quarter of his strength."
"Yes! He is a monster after all." Ren was a genius, so Sofia knew it was impossible for their youths to be like him.
Then, they headed to the wooden gazebo to chat.
Shortly after, the younger generation arrived and they started the class.
At the same time, five people were heading to Shadowleaf Village. The one leading them was a grown man with long black hair cut in a bob and brown eyes.
His body was muscular, and a scar ran along the left side of his neck.
The name of the grown man was none other than Branik Thornclaw, a 2-star shifter and the head of Valcrest Village.
Branik brought his people to Shadowleaf Village to formally ask Aveline to marry him. There were two reasons why he didn't give up on chasing her.
First, he wanted to take control of the Shadowleaf Village. Second, Aveline was a gorgeous, mature woman.
He would not waste someone as attractive as her. He believed having her under him would feel like heaven.
This was also the reason why he hadn't used any dirty methods or forced her yet because he wanted her to come to him willingly.
"Village Head, should we threaten her if she rejects your proposal again?" a green-haired man named Garron Blackthorn spoke abruptly.
"No." Branik refused the idea right away. "That's our last option. It will be hard to control her people if we threaten her openly."
"Then, do you have a good plan?" a blue-haired man asked.
He had red eyes and a scar on his left cheek.
His name was Hagan Grimblade.
"I do." Branik didn't want to come back empty-handed this time. "I plan to challenge her village to a five-on-five match. If she loses, she has to become my wife and obey me."
"That's a great idea, Village Chief!" a purple-haired man named Zorin Redfang stated.
"But what if she refuses?" a brown-haired man asked.
His name was Cedric Stonehart.
"Then I will lie to her," Branik responded calmly. "I will tell her I won't bother her anymore if we lose. I'm sure she will agree once she hears that."
"It seems like you have prepared everything beforehand, Village Head," Zorin commented.
"Of course!" Branik answered. "I want to bed her and control her people quickly, so I must come prepared."
"Village Head, can I have Sofia once you marry her?" Hagan was interested in her.
Even though she was not as attractive as Aveline, Sofia was still in the category of a beautiful woman.
"Sure!" Branik agreed right away.
Hagan licked his lips lewdly when he recalled Sofia's sexy body in his mind. "I suddenly can't wait to taste her body."
"What a pervert!" Zorin stated.
"Haha." Branik and the others laughed.
Once they were close to the entrance gate of Shadowleaf Village, they stopped talking about their evil plans.
They also walked elegantly as if they were people from a royal family.
The moment Daniel and Sean saw them, their expression darkened. The duo hated them to the bone, so seeing them made their blood boil.
"It's them again!" Daniel's voice was filled with hatred.
"I'm sure they want to bother our Village Head again." The flames of anger burned in Sean's eyes and it grew bigger when he saw Branik.
They really wanted to chase them away, but they could not do it.
Once Branik and his people were in front of them, he said, "We want to meet your Village Chief. We have something important to discuss with her."
"Come in," Daniel said in an unfriendly tone.
Even though Branik was displeased with Daniel's behavior, he said nothing and simply passed through the gate.
Once they were far from Daniel and Sean, Zorin said, "I really want to beat them to death! How dare they behave rudely to our Village Chief!"
"Should we go back and punch his annoying face?" Hagan was also enraged.
Branik was the head of their village, so acting rudely to him was like insulting the whole village.
"Let them be." Branik stopped them. "It's not the right time to teach them a lesson."
"Hmf! They are lucky!" Hagan and the other listened to Branik.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the Meeting Hall.