*Throw* *Throw* *Throw*
*Dodge* *Dodge* *Clang*
Tch, she is too fast for me to hit. One throw for her to dodge, another one to aim at where she lands, and another one to actually hit her. However, her agility and reflexes completely negates my attack. She dodge the first one by sidestepping, she somehow shifts her gravity and effectively turns in the air to dodge the second stone, and she shifts her body to make the third stone hit her armour, most noticeably the thick metal shoulder pads.
If I want to exhaust her stamina, I need to continuously barrage her with projectiles. I don't need them to hit, I don't even need to throw that many, I just need to aim it in a way that I can force her to move in the direction I want. The problem with all of this is that she moves too fast.
The moment I even raise the stone, she already moves out of the way. If I try to hit her in the air, she can still dodge once midair, and she also has two daggers to intercept the projectiles. She also intercepts the stones with the handle of her weapons, so I can't damage them by doing this. If I want to actually hit her, I need to throw at least 4-5 stones while she is in midair. I am now starting to feel the 'slowness' of this body in comparison to her.
"Are you sure, you don't want to just stop this? It will be easier for both of us!"
"Shut up! If you want this to end sooner then surrender everything you own to me, right this instant!"
"If you want these pieces of wood so much then look around you, they are all over the ground!"
"Don't waste my time any longer. If you don't have anything else to say, I'll finish you off right now!"
*Charge*
Ah, she is trying to finish this faster now. I thought something would happen if I delayed our fight. At least a stray monster appearing would be helpful for me.
*Throw* *Throw*
*Dodge* *thunk*
The worst part is the terrain. There aren't that many but there are still trees around us. She is using them to hide from me, and with my weapon being a spear, I can't swing wide without hitting these trees. I can't even use the tree to protect my back because she uses them to disappear from my sight. If I can't see her then I won't be able to react to her movements.
It can't be helped, I can only hope I can catch her off guard.
*Slash* *Slash* *Screech!*
Hot, hot, that blade is sharp but it seems that my shell has enough defensive strength to take it. It did split but I see no blood, and except the burning pain of a slash, I don't feel any pain. I'm sure I can push my defensive strength further with training.
However, I now have my opening. Don't look shocked like that when your attack fails.
--------------3rd person POV---------------------
As the rabbitkin is marvelling at her failure to even draw blood. The turtlekin directed a stab at her from above.
*Stab* *Dodge*
After the momentary shock, she quickly collects herself and dodges the spear stab from above by moving her head out of the way.
*Punch*
However, as the spear missed her head, the turtlekin let go of the pointy stick as he put his entire body into falling onto the rabbit. Using that weight as the base, he put all his strength on the punch, which landed straight at her torso.
"Gah!"
Angered by the blow, the rabbitkin swiftly landed on her back and rammed a kick straight onto the turtlekin's stomach.
*Thunk*
A dull sound rang in both parties' ears, as both of them halted in shock.
The turtlekin took advantage of the pause as he slammed his fist to the ground. The rabbitkin, noticing the strange move by the turtlekin, moved away to protect herself.
[Earth Hold]
At the moment of impact, the turtlekin's fist broke through the ground as cracks appeared all around.
"Tch! A shaman?"
Seeing the crawling threat heading towards her, the rabbitkin surveyed the area for possible escape routes. Seeing that the attack was spreading over the whole area, she put forth all her strength into escaping in a straight line away from the turtlekin.
*Crack* *Crack* *Crack*
At the epicentre of the crackwave, the turtlekin focused the blast towards the running rabbitkin. The cracks were spreading relatively fast with him as the centre but as he focused most of the cracks towards the rabbitkin, the crack spreading behind and beside him halted to a stop. The cracks heading towards the rabbitkin sped up and overtook her easily.
"Not good!"
*Step* *Crack* *Step* *Crack* *Step* *Crack*
As the crack caught up to her, every step she took was accompanied by the collapse of her step. She raced through the cracks, each step faster than the last to escape. However, she eventually fell through the cracks.
"Gah! Damn! Don't think this is enough to stop me!!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------
That should be enough to hold her. She specialises in speed, so she shouldn't have enough strength to break the ground.
This magic basically shakes the land around me to open up craters but as it shakes apart, it also shakes itself close. She should be stuck in between the cracks.
Her whole body should be stuck between the ground. Even with those strong legs of hers, she can't force herself out.
"Let me out!!"
"So this is where you are. This is pretty far from your start point. You are nothing but fast, at the very least. Do you surrender?"
"Fine, I lost. However, the moment you become weaker than me, I will take everything you have! Go and build up your business, I will take it all at the end!"
Hmm? That was easier than I thought. Anyway, let's shackle her first and go to the nearest town to prepare a contract.
Ah, wait a minute. Does the contract in this continent even work?
The contract at the central island is enforced by the sea monsters, and the guardians left by the hero. Forget betrayal, you will be dead the moment you break the contract, though it's only if you make the contract in the presence of the guardians.
The contract on the dwarf continent is enforced by the army. A lot of the people living on the continent are crafters, merchants, or miners. That could be true for other continents too but in the dwarf continent, you put everything in your path. You put effort in your field in a way that no one changes jobs. Once you set forth on your desired path, you stay there until the end. This means that the whole continent is particular about betrayal, since it would render all their effort into nothing. The laws of the elders are also harsh in punishing those who breach contracts to further reinforce this mindset.
Even when I was interviewed by the enchanter, when I first entered civilization, the enchanter was very much annoyed because I disturbed her work. However, she still fulfilled her duty. The merchants are the same with pursuing profit but they have less qualms about betrayal, I think. They are in a position where they use other's work to prosper, so I think they may be the exception.
I won't get anywhere worrying about it like this. I can just go with the original plan and tie her up, so we can formalise the contract of employment at the nearest town. I know her capabilities and I already fought with her. It's easier to get a hold of her character rather than starting from scratch with strangers.
The only problem now is that I don't have any rope to tie her with. I guess I can harden the rock to make it like those blocky stockades they used to have. Also, to make it so that she won't be able to run, I'll make it bigger to give it extra weight.
[Rock Prison(Stockade)]
"Ugh, what is this?"
"I don't want you to escape. I also don't want you to take this chance to attack me. I'll have you stay like that until we reach the town. I'll prepare a contract then and you can decide whether or not you want to be my first employee for my rise to fame!"
"Get these annoying things off me! You think I would escape after being defeated in combat!? You think I have no pride, no honour as a warrior!?? You think I am some kind of ratkin in disguise!?!?"
"I don't know you. How would I know about any of that?"
"Huuuuhhh!?!? Do you not even know the law her majest-... Wait, you're a turtlekin."
"It's a little late to notice that now."
"No, I mean you said you were part of a merchant group before. You came out of the forest looking like that too. Did you 'slow down'? How many years did you 'slow down'?"
Slow down? I know I'm a turtlekin but I don't think she is referring to a turtle's natural slowness. She mentioned years, so this 'slow down' must be hibernation. Do turtles even hibernate? I know some animals in places with winter, or very cold climates can hibernate but I don't know any turtles that live in those areas.
"I don't know. I was a bit shocked at what happened, so I took some time to think."
"Think!!? Tch, this is the problem with you turtles. You practically slept under a rock for a long time. Alright, restrain me if it makes you feel relaxed. I'll slowly explain the new laws as we get to the town."
New law? It seems that there have been new changes in this continent. I don't want to take chances, so I will go with the current plan and restrain her until we get to the town.
"I really will feel relaxed. Now, I'm a little bit lost. Which way is the nearest town?"
"Tch, I can't believe I was defeated by a person like you. That way!"
Now I know where civilization is. It's towards the direction which is directly away from the descendants of the heroes. I now have a clear heading instead of wandering about, and possibly a source of current information, along with the excuse of why I don't know a lot of things.
She doesn't look like the type to lie. She seems more like a 'might makes right' type. I am sure she really will take me down when she has the chance. However, as long as I am stronger than her, she will be a good subordinate.
I'll have to quickly strengthen myself, defensively of course. I can't beat her in an honest fight, I can't improve my magic too because of the strange environment here. The magic that I used took more than double the amount of mana than usual, my mana is recovering very slowly too.
It looks like I have to be adept at a defensive fighting style. I wonder if I can pay someone to teach me?
