138 -) Untethered Thralls
Wasti had liked Woya for a long time. Actually, there were many beastkin men who dreamed of marrying both Woya and Wyn, although Woya's suitors were more abundant. It was only natural, as both were beautiful girls, which was the most important thing a beastkin man would expect from his wife.
For Wasti, Woya was just an ideal wife. She was beautiful, cute, good at cooking and house chores, but most importantly, she was always cheerful. He dreamed of coming home after an arduous hunt or long working hours to be welcomed by such a good woman.
Since he was the most prominent man among his peers, he naturally thought that he would be the one to choose whoever person among his peers he wanted. However, Woya showed little interest in romance with the people around her. Wyn was similar, but he knew that she would someday want to marry someone.
As for Woya, despite the image she exuded, she wasn’t looking for a partner at all. That was at least what he thought. He tried to woo her at every possible chance he got, but she showed little to no reaction. The moment he started to consider her as completely uninterested in the marriage, he heard what she thought about it.
He was not wrong. She was indeed the pure and innocent girl he thought. She indeed would be a good and loving wife, but she was filled with absurd and improbable stories. She compared every partner candidate she met with those flawless heroes she heard about. So she naturally found the dreams more fantastic.
Wasti was having a hard time finding a way to overcome this challenge, but before even testing his new ideas, he lost even the chance. She was sold into slavery because of her father’s debt. He felt like he had lost his pride, but he did not pursue this much either. In the end, life was hard, and as a wolfkin living in a country filled with discrimination, he had grown used to hardship.
He forced himself to forget everything about her and decided to look ahead. He even got close to Wush after a while. He continued to go hunting with his friends, got stronger even if it was a little more, and even used his spare time to help his father at his work. Life seemed to be getting back on track. Then, after more than a year, he heard about her again.
“Thwack! Thump!” Woya and Wasti’s swords clashed again and again. Woya was mostly on the defensive, but she wasn’t losing her ground or losing in strength. She was just attacking when Wasti expected the least. “Clack! Crack!” The sound of those clashes seemed more intense when Wasti tried to block Woya's precise attacks.
Wasti was amazed and dumbfounded at the scene. Everyone else was the same except Woya, Wyn, and Elaris. They were the only ones who knew what Woya was capable of. She was effortlessly parrying the attacks of Wasti, dodging from time to time and rarely blocking. When she attacked, the sword was moving as if it were alive. Everyone’s eyes were wide open so as not to miss these moments.
As time passed, Wasti’s amazement filled its place with rage. How could the fragile girl, just a year ago, try to go against him, who was trying to increase his strength for years? Those were his thoughts. But contrary to his intensifying emotions, Woya’s gaze was cold and calculating.
He was sure that the girl was the same as before as soon as he saw her. When she opened the door, Wine hugged her, crying; she was acting like the same good girl despite the hardships she might have experienced as a slave. She looked the same, so Wasti just thought that he could still have a chance. However, what he was seeing now in front of him woke him up. She was not the same clueless girl anymore.
She was reading every detail and moved accordingly. Since her Swordmaster job was a tier higher than Wasti’s Beast Warrior job, her strength and agility were nearly on par with his, while her control and insight over the sword were much higher. In fact, the only reason Wasti could even block Woya’s sharp attacks was thanks to his high Sense stat.
As the fight continued, the swords were battered, and they got used to each other’s styles. Woya had more advantage in that regard since she did not attack properly, but Wasti could understand that she had much better control than him. However, the most critical determining factor was stamina.
Wasti was attacking like a madman, suiting his job. Woya was more passive. She moved when and as needed. So it was clear to everyone that Wasti was getting exhausted while Woya was still completely fine. Wasti was also aware of that, so he was about to take it seriously.
He did not like it since it made him dizzy and hurt every time he used it, but he had no other choice. As soon as he was determined, he muttered something, then his attacks became faster, and he started to evade Woya’s attacks more easily.
Woya noticed this and knew what it was thanks to her spars with Wyn. She was also waiting for this moment to use her skills. It became harder for her to respond and attack as she waited. So, she muttered just like Wasti, but unknowingly to anyone, she said something else. So her attacks also became faster, much faster than when Wasti’s attack speeded up. And unlike how Wasti and Wyn looked troubled by something after they became faster, Woya did not feel anything like that, thanks to her job’s intelligence bonus. At most, she felt a bit mentally tired.
She knew that she could not use the same skill again unless she was ready for the sharp pain that would come after that. So she decided to finish it in the time frame. She started to attack right after every attack Wasti launched.
She dodged Wasti’s wide swing and hit his leg. She parried the attack Wasti brought down from above with all his strength and weight and hit his arms. Wasti grimaced at every landed hit, and his attacks became more reckless. That led to him getting more hits in return.
The fight turned out just like the previous one. Wasti’s whole body started to be filled with bruises. At first, he just got reckless, but then he could not even afford that anymore. So when he launched another desperate crash above Woya, she did not even need to parry and just dodged. After that, even before the attack could hit the ground, Woya hit the right wrist of Wasti with all her strength.
That strike made Wasti lose his grip, and his sword dropped. He did not move after that. He did not even try to get back his sword. He just stood still, his head lowered, and rubbed his right wrist with his left hand. After all, Woya’s sword was pressed against his throat. So there is no need to continue.
“... Ugh! I lost.” He said after grimacing again.
As soon as she heard that, Woya removed the sword from his throat. “That was a good match.” She said emotionlessly, unlike her usual self. “I learned a lot. Thank you.” She said and bowed.
The reason that she did not attack much at first was to learn from this match as much as possible. It seems like she was influenced by her master. Han would also do the same even if he could win much more easily. Unless there were some lessons he could learn from it, he would mostly try to prolong the fight.
“... You became so strong, sis.” Wyn came beside Woya and said after placing her hand on Woya’s shoulder. “The master would be proud.” She said with a smile, which also made Woya smile happily.
“Big sister Woya, Wyn!” Elaris called them from behind as she also approached them. “You both looked too cool. Hehe,” She said with a cute chuckle.
“Listen, guys.” Then Wyn turned toward Wush, locked eyes with her for a few seconds, and then looked to everyone around. “We are still slaves. So it is only natural to be looked down upon. However, please refrain from talking badly about our master.” She looked determined and continued. “I am sure these two fights proved our strength and place. So there should not need to be further arguments.”
“How presumptuous!” Wush said with fury. “As you said, you are just a slave. So what if you are a bit stronger? How can you talk to us like that?” She spewed with contempt. Then smirked and said, “What would your dear master think if he were to see you causing a problem like this? I am sure you will be in big trouble.”
“Thanks for worrying about us, Wush. But you don’t need to.” This time, Woya answered instead of Wyn. “The master would be happy to see that we are not bowing down to anyone except him.”
“How ridiculous!” Wush retorted. “You are clearly slaves who are lower than a citizen. How can you act like you are equal to us?” She looked like she could not understand how Woya and Wyn could act like this. “Can’t your master teach you your places?”
“Hahaha.” To her remark, Wyn could just laugh as Woya also smiled. “You are right. We are slaves, so we should be at a lower status—at least lower than our masters,” she said, looking bored for some reason. “As for the likes of you, the master ordered us to hold our ground no matter what. We are his property, so every harm we suffer would be indirectly insulting to him.” She put her hands on her waist before continuing as if about to conclude what she was saying. “What I mean is that you are no superior to me, not because I am a slave and you are not; it is because my master is in that higher position.”
Everyone could see from this exchange how much the girls hold in high esteem their master. They became angry not to insult their own, but to insult their masters. They also talked only to defend and elevate their master, not caring about themselves.
“Wasti, Wern.” Wyn then turned to Wasti and then Wern before calling their names. “We and a merchant caravan came here for trade and another reason.” She started to explain their reason for visiting the town. “My master has a big establishment called Questers Guild. He wants to establish another branch in Lupinkel. It can be summarized as an establishment that hires talented people with all kinds of specialties and pays them based on their merits.” She then raised her hand toward them as if she were making an offer. “You both are very skilled warriors. So how about working for my master?”
It was clear now that not only did they take care of all their unfinished business in their hometown, they even proved their worth with both their skills and the opportunities they provided to those around them.