Mini Hulk!

When Grant saw the light green humanoid fighting on par with Phoenix, he grew both nervous and excited.

The miniature hulk must be quite fast itself if it was able to track and deflect the attacks of Phoenix.

And based on the fact that it was able to not only deflect Phoenix's attacks but also push the bird away, meant that he was much stronger as well.

Before the fight could go any further though, Grant connected to Phoenix through their bond at a moment where the two weren't actively engaged in an exchange.

[Phoenix pull back a second!]

(But he's so fast and strong! This is so exciting!)

[I'm sorry! I need to see if it is sentient or if it's some kind of mutated monster. If it can't communicate, then I will let you fight it!]

Phoenix's head visibly drooped when it backed away from the mini hulk.

Grant immediately began talking while infusing his voice with mana so that it would be translated by The Path for the other race to understand.

"I apologize for my bond attacking you. He is a bit of a battle junkie.

My name is Grant and we are on a training mission. What is your name and what is your purpose here?"

After a few seconds, the mini hulk made no movements, either to attack or speak. Which made the tension in Grant's body elevated.

He never once took his eyes off the humanoid and was ready to draw his sword at a moments notice.

Grant could sense through his bond with Phoenix that the bird was ready to fight the exact moment it was necessary.

After what felt like an eternity but only amounted to 10 seconds, the humanoid dropped it's arms down to its sides.

Normally, a gesture such as that would have made Grant relax but he had learned from fighting Skit that just because the opponent has seemingly adopted a non-aggressive stance, doesn't mean it won't attack.

As one of Grant's most favorite characters from manga/anime had said once, "Have you ever seen a fierce animal you were sure would never bite? Because I haven't..."

While Grant's vigilance never waned, the humanoid seemed intrigued.

"Who taught you how to fight? You seem like a complete amateur based on your stance but you have some habits that only seasoned warriors exhibit."

Grant let himself relax ever so slightly at those words, it appeared as if the humanoid was ready to talk.

That was a mistake Grant would never make again.

The moment the tension released, the humanoid moved.

Two small daggers that appeared to be made from bone came flying into Grant's peripheral vision from both sides.

In an instinctual move, Grant activated Unbound Stats, poured half his Health stats into Agility and forced his body to move. He tensed every muscle into his body to the extreme and did his best Neo impression.

His movement was barely enough to avoid a lethal strike from the daggers but they still managed to drag across his forehead.

The line was so precise that it looked like someone had tried to cut and remove the top of his scalp with a laser.

Before Grant could even begin to adjust his body orientation though, the mini hulk flipped the daggers in his hands and stabbed downward towards Grant's exposed stomach area.

Grant had no doubt in his mind that the armor he was currently wearing would do absolutely nothing against the daggers.

His attacker was clearly stronger than he was and it was likely that his weapons were also superior in quality.

Before the daggers could make contact with his stomach, a skinny four pronged bird foot came into Grant's view.

The humanoid was forced to cease his attack to block the incoming foot or risk being blasted away.

With the two daggers crossed in front of him, the humanoid was able to stop Phoenix's attack dead in its tracks.

But that was more than enough time for Grant to roll backwards and spring to his feet, drawing his sword in one fluid motion.

By the time he had leapt to his feet, Phoenix had already withdrawn its leg and quickly flashed away from their attacker.

The three of them were standing in a triangular formation when everything settled down. The two parties began to observe each other.

Rather than being angry at the sudden attack, Grant found himself to be quite calm. He was rapidly analyzing the best way to engage their target.

With Phoenix, the burden had been greatly reduced but he still wasn't completely confident that they could win.

Even though they had been able to repel the attacks from the mini hulk, it appeared almost effortless for their attacker to both attack and defend against the two of them.

A small portion of Grant was hoping that they could still communicate and avoid a fight, but he knew that in the future, fights would be frequent and unending.

Communication would most likely only be possible if his opponent was some type of pacifist or he had already beat them into submission without killing them.

Grant immediately used the bond to communicate with Phoenix.

[Looks like we are going to have to fight this guy.

I'll let you take the first crack at the guy and try to fill in any gaps between your attacks to stop him from retaliating.

Lets keep the guy on the back foot and do our best to take him down.

If he doesn't want to talk, then so be it. We'll kill him here and now!]

(Understood.)

Grant could sense the excitement coming from Phoenix and couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. He enjoyed fighting, but his new buddy was a junkie.

Knowing that he would have to go all out, Grant activated Dragon's Roar and prepared for the fight of his life.

The mini hulk seemed to flinch after Dragon's Roar was activated. The greatest thing about Dragon's Roar was that it was % based. Which meant that the stronger the opponent was, the greater the effect of the reduction.

Seasoned warriors would be able to cope with the loss of strength but it still made it easier for Grant to deal with them in a fight if they were closer to his level; which clearly this guy was not.

Clearly the reduction in stats must have caught him by surprise.

"That's quite the skill you have.. how about we talk this out?"

Grant simply scoffed at the question. He would never fall for that trick again.

He nodded his head towards Phoenix, and the bird immediately moved to attack.

For his credit, the mini hulk still seemed nonplussed about the whole situation. Even with his stats reduced and being outnumbered, he remained indifferent.

As he deflected Phoenix's straight on attack, Grant did his best to circle around and attack from behind.

However, his sword had been blocked without the guy even turning around.

Grant quickly withdrew and attempted to find a new direction of attack.

After a few more exchanges where both Grant and Phoenix had been unable to land an attack, Grant decided it was time to change things up.

[Phoenix, after you withdraw from your next attack, don't immediately attack. I will be trying something.]

The bird simply nodded its head before launching another attack and quickly withdrawing.

As Grant approached the humanoid with his own attack, he spoke softly under his breath.

"Frenzy of Time!"