Chapter 282 Lizardman Duel
"Wha-!?" The blue-robed boy exclaimed in shock and confusion. "But-- you-- how!?" He couldn't find words to express his confusion.
"What are you talking about?" The leaf boy said in a slightly less confused tone.
"You know what... never mind." The blue-robed kid took a deep breath. 'It seems I was worrying for the wrong reason. My mind and its imaginations are making me stress for no reason. This is no time to be stressed.'
The leaf boy smiled under his hood. "Yes... good." He exclaimed.
Hearing this, the blue-robed kid looked up at him again. "Huh?" He said, a little thrown off.
The leaf boy changed his tone. "Good! Now, you can no longer stress."
"Yeah... I suppose." The blue-robed kid still didn't find his situation fully comfortable, but he had no other choice but to deal with it for now.
'I could have sworn seeing him up there... but it was dark. I got weird vibes from him since the start... but I'll have to chalk all that up to my own mind. Right now, I need to fight.'
After thinking this to himself, he noticed that the leaf boy was gone. He tried to look around the chaotic crowd surrounding the saurian's body but couldn't get a good enough look to identify anyone.
Before long, Lyrian appeared in the crowd fighting the last lizardman. The crowd of students from the dead archer group had joined this one, making it even larger.
Right now, however, no one attacked the beast. Instead, they spaced out over 10 feet or so, allowing enough space for the duel that was taking place.
Lyrian slithered his way through the crowd and saw a kid fighting the lizard in a sword battle.
'Ah... that was the strong, quiet kid that I noticed earlier. He seemed capable. I guess this will be his test.'
*Clang*
After a clash of blades, both opponents jumped back for a moment. The kid dueling the saurian jumped back near the crowd, where Lyrian noted he had short black hair.
"Remember!" The kid shouted while he had the chance, "This is a one versus one, so if I win, I get all the spoils!" He reminded the crowd.
Although they were hesitant to agree, many still nodded their heads to see this spectacle.
After another few clashes of blades, the kid was flung into the air from the powerful tail swipe of the beast.
Gasps of shock sounded as a hush fell over the crowd. Everyone looked in horror as the lizardman readied to stab the falling boy.
"What happens if a beast kills you in here!?" A kid shouted, imagining the worst.
"They don't let you die... but it's close enough to still make you want to cry to mommy."
"Yeah, practice examiners are looking at our every step. In fact, they are somewhere in this cave room with us right now."
Hearing this, Lyrian took a look around out of curiosity. He then diverted his attention back to the fight, gripping his own blade.
As the boy came close to the lizardman's sword, the saurian thrust at him forcefully.
The crowd held their breath as the sword neared the boy... only to be deflected out of nowhere.
This time, a clear figure appeared in mid-air between the kid and the lizardman. As the kid fell to the floor, panting in shock, he was dragged into the crowd by some students.
"Are you alright!?"
"What happened to me!? I thought I was going to die!"
"You were saved!"
"By who?"
As he asked this, no one said a word, simply staring at the next kid who stood before the lizardman.
At that moment, a few kids actually stepped out closer to the battle, but the leaf boy's blade swung up and pointed straight at them out of nowhere.
They halted, looking at the pointy edge of the weapon.
"Woah... who's side are you on, man?"
"Yeah, don't point that thing at us!"
The leaf boy calmly spoke, "This is a one versus one duel that isn't over yet." He looked over to the nearly-killed kid, "I'll fight for you."
The kid who was fighting just a moment ago smiled on hearing this, as a grateful feeling washed over him. "Thank--"
"Except! I will reap all the benefits... as I alone will be the one to kill it."
"--You..." The kid wasn't smiling anymore. The other students also backed up, giving the leaf boy the space to fight.
At that moment, the group from the past swordman saurian also joined this one. Now, the entire group was watching him.
Stepping forward, he faced the lizardman and pointed his blade toward it next.
'Your skills aren't actually too bad.' He thought to himself as the beast abruptly lunged at him.
Lyrian calmly stepped to the side, avoiding the thrust. With a swift series of precise steps, he neared the beast before swinging his sword toward its abdomen.
Noticing this, the lizardman jumped back onto its tail and dodged the slash. It propelled itself forward, again, releasing a barrage of attacks toward Lyrian.
Lyrian wanted to try and outskill the beast but also knew that his own team was moving on as he did, so he decided to end it here quickly.
His body lit up in a green aura and he blitzed forward. Before the saurian could react, he was beside it.
In one clean swing, Lyrian split the creature's Achilles tendon in half, before swiftly darting behind it.
The lizardman fell to its knees, and Lyrian climbed up on its back before delivering the final blow to its spinal cord right behind its neck.
It was an instant kill. The beast would have fallen face-front, but Lyrian grabbed it by the back of the head and pulled it down toward him.
With its knees still bent, the back of its head and its back thumped onto the ground.
Finally, for the first time, the team saw a beast that still had its valuable material attached. Before Lyrian could do anything further, everyone began to walk closer, their eyes blinded by the materials.
*Shing!*
Lyrian's blade suddenly rose up in the air again, facing all of them.
"Not a step closer." He declared in a serious tone.
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