137 -) Vindication
“...” After Wyn’s remark, no one said a word. The silence hung in the air for a few seconds as the newly rising sun illuminated the area.
“... Huuuhh!” The one who broke the silence with her sigh was again Wyn. After watching the stern faces of the male warriors and the twisted face of Wush, she decided to deal with this issue. “Let’s do it this way.” She tried to solve this. “Wern, I know you wanted to impress me all the time in the past by acting, though. I know the words would not work for someone like you. As for you, Wasti…” She said without mincing her words, then turned toward Wasti, “... Woya is not the girl you saw as someone who needed protection in the past.” She then smirked and proposed a solution, “Let Woya and me show you all what we have become.”
Ten meters or so away from Woya and Wyn’s parents’ home, a group of youngsters formed a circle as a girl and a man were facing each other. The man was holding a spear without a head, while the girl was holding two wooden swords in their hands.
“Are you sure about this, Wyn?” The man said with concern. Even though the girl in front of him wounded his pride as a warrior, he was still fond of her, so he did not want to harm her. “You know that I have been a spearman for a long time. I am sure that it won’t be long till I reach the level of a spearmaster.” The man tried to convince her. “Please apologize. I have no grudge against you?”
“Is that so?” Wyn answered bluntly. “You speak as if it is certain that you would win, Wern.”
“Isn’t that clear?” Wern asked as if it was only natural. “We are not children anymore, so we don’t have to do this.”
“...” Wyn did not say anything but just looked at him and readied her stance.
“... Huuh.” Seeing that it was impossible for him to pass this without a fight, Wern exhaled and also readied his spear. “Then, here I come.”
In the tense gazes of people watching, the fight began. The only ones who weren't looking worried were Wasti, who was seriously watching, Wush, who was certain that Wern would win, and Woya, who knew Wyn well.
Wern bent his back, stepped his left foot in front, pulled back his spear with both hands, then lunged forward. Wyn waited until she was in Wern’s range of attack, then she raised her right leg and tilted her body to the left as Wern thrusted his spear.
The spear narrowly missed Wyn, then Wern swung his spear toward the direction Wyn moved, toward his right. Wyn was still rotating her body, so she just continued to turn her body, and the spear brushed lightly against her shoulder armor.
When the spear was swung, Wern’s left side became wide open. Wyn rushed toward Wern as soon as her body rotation was finished. Since the main focus of the spear was Wern’s right hand, Wyn swung her left sword to Wern’s right arm while Wern blocked it with the shaft of the spear.
That prevented him from being able to respond, even if it would be hard, as the impact between Wyn’s sword and his spear pushed his right arm further back. As the opening became wider and Wyn was now closer to him, Wyn swung her sword in her right hand from below upward.
She was focused on Wern’s left arm, and since a spear is used primarily with both hands, Wern instinctively tried to protect his left arm. It would be hard to block that attack as Wern was in a disadvantaged position. So he rushed and focused all his strength to block that attack. He wanted to make use of the spear’s long range as he tried to step back and raised his left foot and backstepped.
Unfortunately for him, Wyn's sword did not meet with his arm, but it hit his left knee, so he lost his footing and could not step on his left foot. He unintentionally knelt on one knee.
Of course, Wyn would not stop the pursuit. So he rolled on the ground while barely blocking the swing of Wyn’s left sword. He rolled and then immediately stood up. Wyn did not pursue. She did not need to. Wern was now drenched in sweat, and he could not use his left leg properly as he limped on his right leg.
“Aghhh!” He groaned but kept his eyes on Wyn.
“...” While Wyn collected her breath calmly, everyone else looked dazed as no one knew how to respond. “W-woah.” Someone was amazed with a mutter. “... Whoa!” Then nearly everyone exclaimed in excitement. That was brief, but a fierce exchange. Wasti’s eyes widened as he did not expect a one-sided confrontation. As for Wush, she looked dumbfounded.
Wyn did not wait long, then slowly walked toward Wern. When she was just a few inches away from Wern’s spear’s range, she readied her stance, then dashed toward him after muttering to herself. No one heard what she said, nor most of them even noticed it, but she used a skill named Beast Instinct.
That skill increases the agility and sense stats of the user. Additionally, since Wyn is not a Beast Warrior but a Beast Champion at level 10, the effect is much greater. Her speed was faster, so she could notice Wern’s movement more clearly, which made Wern unable to respond properly.
Wern desperately tried to defend himself while Wyn looked for an opening and used every one of them as soon as she found one. Wern looked exhausted and in pain as many places on his body were hit. Wyn did not receive any physical damage and was not yet tired, but her brow was knit as if she had a headache.
It was natural. As a wolfkin, she had 40 mana reserves, and she used 20 of that in her skill. Since her wisdom stat was also 4, lower than the default, this 20 mana increased further because of that. Fortunately, it was just a slight ache.
It was just a dozen seconds, but many clashes were exchanged. Wern was aware that if they were using real weapons instead of wooden ones, he would already lose. That weakened his resolve even more. In the end, he desperately swung his spear from right to left to increase his area of attack, but Wyn dodged it by leaning forward. Then she just passed under the attack and moved toward Wern’s right while his spear was still on his left. She placed her sword that was in her right hand on Wern’s nape, and the two of them stopped moving.
“... Whoa… That was awesome.” Someone said, “That was fun.” Said another one. “Clap, Clap, Clap!” The people watching started to shout and clap their hands with excitement.
“Clack-clack,” Wern dropped his spear and said. “... I lost.” He looked haggard, but still stood.
“It was a good fight,” Wyn calmly said. “You have improved.” Then she praised Wern with a genuine smile.
“... Huh!” Wern was surprised by the unexpected praise and chuckled. “You were so much faster and stronger than before. It is not possible for a beastman warrior to be this strong. How do you do that?” He asked with curiosity. It was only natural for a beastman to want to be stronger.
“... Because I am not a Beast Warrior.” She said after looking at Wern's serious face.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Wern asked in surprise.
“Intelligence card, Open!” She opened her intelligence card, pointed toward it, and said, “Look for yourself.”
“... W-what?” Wern looked directly at the label where Wyn’s job is written. As soon as he read what was written, his eyes were wide open. He turned toward Wyn and then turned the intelligence card over and over before reading it aloud, “I-it says that you are a Beast Champion.” He then turned to Wyn again and asked, “Is this really true? How did you manage to get it?”
“It is all thanks to the master.” She said proudly. “I don’t know exactly either, but he was the one who did something. I am sure of it.” She smiled as she claimed that it was made by her master confidently.
“... Is that so?” After hearing her explanation, Wern lost his excitement and said while dropping his head.
Wyn did not say anything else. She just moved toward Wasti. Before reaching close to him, she stopped and pointed her finger at him. “Wasti, it is now your turn.” She said confidently.
“... Are you joking?” Wasti looked a bit offended. “You are much stronger than I expected, but you just fought an intense fight. At least, wait until you recover your full strength.” He said as if trying to protect his pride.
“I don’t think that you have that much leeway, but don’t worry.” She said mockingly. Then continued, “Your opponent will be Woya.”
“... Woya?” Wasti looked surprised as he turned toward Woya and asked. “Are you looking down on me? Even if she became stronger like you, she was not even a warrior just two years ago. Are you trying to trick me with the fact that I would not harm her? Or…” He seemed to find it insulting that Woya was proposed as his opponent. “... are you really looking down on me?”
“...” Wyn did not say anything, but it was Woya who started to walk toward the center of the circle with a serious face. When she stood, she turned toward Wasti and said, “There is no need to continue arguing. I don’t care if you insult me, but I can’t allow anyone to talk badly behind my master.” She said, frowning. “Wasti, please come and see for yourself. What the master taught us and made us into, so you can leave pursuing an impossible dream.” Woya said as she hinted that she knew that Wasti had feelings for her.
As she said, everyone understood that Wasti should stop pursuing Woya if he were to lose. She is already a slave, so it would not matter anyway, but it also made it more resolute for both Wasti and Woya. Aside from that, everyone was surprised to see Woya all serious and overbearing since she was always a cute and peaceful girl. Seeing her demeanor also made Wasti understand that she was serious, so he stopped questioning and also came into the middle of the circle.
Wasti and Woya both held long wooden swords with both hands. They took their positions and lunged at each other at the same time.