18 Chapter 18: Rank 2 Mercenary! Rank 1 Leader! [2]

Standing on a stone arena, the area was around 5 metres on each side; as he looked at the beautiful woman across from him, her hair was blonde, dancing lightly in a high ponytail, a black mask covering her lips, with her neon blue eyes watching him silently.

Grendel stood opposite the woman wearing a strange black outfit that seemed like a maid, but the steel armour and leather parts made him second guess his thoughts.

'There are no colours, no openings... Well, I am not a master, but the grunts I fought in the past seemed to be weak or show a weakness... This woman's abs are even more developed than mine!'

"You can come at me whenever you wish, boy~ fufu." Her voice was different to what he expected, a slightly flirtatious and deep voice, but it was quite nice on the ears.

He checked his current status on the Runic Board, even though Grendel knew she was far above him. Somehow wishing he had just poured all the bonus points into Intellect!

[Attributes]

STR: 12

AGL: 20

VIT: 11

WIS: 11

INT: 22

[Free Attribute Points: 0]

⟪Learned New Demon Magic: Demon Bolt⟫

⟪Learned New Skill: Blink Step⟫

⟪Learned New Skill: Power Attack⟫

'Somehow, she's annoying... but simultaneously, I want to beat her ass!'

Watching Grendel, her body was toned and mature; she seemed in her mid-20s, but something about her told him not to let his guard down, looking at the silver spear held by her.

"Whenever? Okay~" As he smirked, the woman frowned.

As Grendel sprinted at her, a green aura erupted outwards, surprising her.

⟪Dash⟫

⟪Lesser Stealth⟫

"Oh? He has a nice mind... But..." Her body began to swirl with a quiet gale, not moving her eyes yet; it seemed he was always in her vision.

Grendel lunged forward, his right arm filled with a beautiful blue light, his spirit magic the fastest to cast but weaker in damage, while his left hand flickered with a crimson flame, slowly building up his attack. 'Her hand is holding the spear tightly.'

Igniting his Mana in an instant, a thunderous shockwave emerged as Grendel used ⟪Demon Bolt⟫, creating a fierce black crackling flame formed into a strange sphere that pulsated evil energy, lunging his left fist towards her abdomen, aiming for her weakness.

Mana enveloped her figure; her left arm blocked his strike, seemingly not worried about his flame, "Hmm, your body has quite the defence, and that spell is quite sinister, too!" As she slammed against his abdomen, he felt a severe shock to his organs before her hand thrust forward with the sharp spear.

⟪Barrier⟫

He was lucky that Mana protected his torso from her spear; although it didn't save all his organs, it saved most of it, causing a thin scratch that blood leaked from as Grendel retreated, her strength greater than his, 'It's my loss in physical strength... speed and anything except magic...'

His eyes focused before lunging forward, using ⟪Air Cutter⟫, flinging them several times as she dodged, with graceful movements, her eyes watching him filled with a delighted smile, "Boy~ you're making me excited!"

*Snap*

A sudden burst of flames exploded from the ground as she stepped forward, causing her body to be burned. In contrast, Grendel stepped back, using ⟪Dash⟫ to get more space, his right arm glowing with a gentle light before his left fingers snapped again, creating a flaming barrier around his body.

There was nowhere to run, so he needed to keep fighting, as he cast both ⟪Firebolt⟫ in his left and ⟪Frost Barrage⟫ in his right hand, watching the huge flame pillar billowing upwards that covered the woman inside before Grendel shot his spells, ⟪Barrier⟫ appearing behind his spells, pushing it through the flames, clashing with her hidden location.

*Bang* *Boom* *Fwoosh*

Grendel could faintly see her figure; although there seemed to be a burnt smell emerging from her body, there wasn't much damage, shocking him, 'Why does it seem like she isn't being damaged, especially with those burns!'

Mana swirled her figure as Grendel realised, 'Ah! Her spear's wind is protecting her!'

Sprinting forward, the burning arena caused a scarred figure as the woman looked surprised by Grendel running forwards, "Boy... No, Grendel. Don't lose focus, do not lower your guard... I am coming."

Immediately after a fierce storm shrouded her, the ground around her cracked, 'Shit... her body... It's 50% wrath, 50% lust!? What did I do!'

⟪Dash⟫

⟪Fire Shield⟫

⟪Barrier⟫

In rapid succession, his right hand began to tremble, a slight tingle of pain from rapid casting, while his left hand began to barrage her with ⟪Firebolt⟫ non-stop, creating an explosive storm as he felt Mana draining, '10%, 30%... My right hand's trembling is getting worse, and her figure... isn't wounded much, my spells are weakening due to her spear's wind...'

Mana built rapidly, Grendel focusing as a terrifying dark aura emitted from her spear, piercing forth, 'Damn...' His right hand trembled severely as his spells weakened greatly, Grendel activating ⟪Barrier⟫ multiple times.

Then she dashed forward; for a moment, he couldn't even see her figure, but the loud boom soon reached his ears, as she only moved and shattered one of his five barrier layers... 'Strong!'

Mana poured into ⟪Barrier⟫ quickly repairing before a terrifying silver blade shot forward; his body activated ⟪Dash⟫, while his left hand unleashed a barrage of thundering flame bullets, exploding, Grendel retreating continuously, 'I can't face her head on!'

Grendel filled his left hand with unstable Mana as he unleashed ⟪Demon Bolt⟫, his spells growing weaker; the mana build-up wasn't quick enough, 'It's no good, my Mana can't recover quickly, and her spear seems to stop me from casting spells with just the aura... Her attacks aren't simple...'

Her body suddenly appeared beside his head, like a teleport, before clicking him and launching a flurry of stabbing attacks; Grendel's chest and arms were sliced open, forced to endure the pain thanks to the skill ⟪Passive Skill: Ignore Pain⟫ 'This will hurt badly after...'

Mana enveloped his body as a blue explosion emerged; her figure didn't react swiftly, immediately suffering from a powerful shock, her figure retreating before Grendel continued, a smirk growing on her lips. "My name is Freya."

A crackle of thunder sounded as Grendel's fingers snapped both hands using Demon magic! Two flaming pillars superimposed on his body as she lunged forward... A magnitude above his first spell, causing her to gasp with pain for the first time.

'Nice idea me! Good work, Flame Barrier... Her wrath shrank!? Lust grew! No! No!' Grendel frowned heavily, using ⟪Blink Step⟫, an explosive wind emerged as Grendel found her behind his position, 'Shit-'

⟪Barrier⟫! ⟪Barrier⟫!

The moment his skill activated, his body was behind her; as she just launched an attack, he used Lionetta Flurry Fist; his hands tensed, and muscles began to bulge as he smashed into her back using both his strength and remaining Mana with a non-elemental flurry of blows, aiming for her critical points, Grendel wanting to put her down immediately before this becomes bad!

Mana began to restore rapidly; her body tried to respond but couldn't; stumbling; Grendel grabbed her hips as he launched three more punches!

Her mind grew dazed as he knocked out most of her brain's blood supply with those impacts before punching her, taking all the impact himself and using ⟪Second Wind⟫ to recover slightly, landing a serious right hook in her throat.

"What a woman... Ha.....haa...." Grendel was breathing heavily, his head painful from the amount of Mana and thinking; his eyes moved instantly from her body.

The next moment a spear penetrated his stomach... blood oozed out as her hands held his cheeks, "Ah... you are so fun~ I will hunt you for real one day! Please grow up fast, little Grendel."

He tried to lift his left hand, placing it against her mouth, the soft red lips exposed after he destroyed her mask; Grendel tried to cast a spell, but her sharp feline teeth bit him, making the small firebolt miss her face, only slightly bleeding from the spell as he failed... His body slowly fell unconscious on the bloodied field...

The battle came to its conclusion.

"I will savour you next time, our future patriarch."

"Oh!? Captain, what a fight!"

"Ludia, how was the princess and that cat?"

"Mmmm, pretty good... But that Boy, he almost had you! Hahahaha!"

"Fuck off! I will take him."

"Oi Oi!? Captain, are you going to use the rights given to us now!? While he is so young... give him 5 years, and the child will be much stronger."

A shorter woman in black armour with brown hair and eyes skipped onto the arena, her body faster than even Freya as she dodged the fist of her captain, turning into a gust of air.

"..."

"Then just some fun..."

"..."

Ludia appeared on the opposite side, her fingers touching Grendels face... "Oh~ he's so hot and talented... the girls will ravage him all night!"

"Captain... You've taken a liking to a male?"

"Got a problem with that, Ludia?"

"No... no... it's just a little strange, haha!"

"For now, it's on the level of a cute little brother, though..."