Chapter 16 Taunt

Discovering that his beloved Long Spear had left his grasp, Sekamens's eyes snapped open, desiring to reclaim the spear, but it was too late. Yang Yu had already lifted the Long Spear and bolted.

Everyone was left dumbfounded.

Is this what you call reliable? Isn't this a bit too hardcore?

Yang Yu didn't care about the stares of others. With a Defense around 50, he knew well enough that he couldn't hold against an Attack of 153 Strength. At most, in four hits, he'd be down.

"Despicable coward!"

With his weapon seized, Sekamens could only dash after Yang Yu, but hindered by the Armor on his body, his Speed of 59 couldn't catch up to Yang Yu's Speed of 60.

Left with no choice, he used the Skill "Short Range Sprint" to boost his Speed in one breath, rapidly closing the distance between them, and aimed a punch straight at Yang Yu's chest.

Just then, Yang Yu stopped in his tracks and lifted his Shield to block Sekamens's punch.

The might of 153 Strength was no false claim; the heavy impact through the Shield made Yang Yu's scalp tingle, his Blood Volume was slashed by a quarter in an instant. If Sekamens had used his Long Spear, Yang Yu estimated he could have lost a third of his blood in one blow.

Hugging the Long Spear and backing away several steps, Yang Yu steadied himself, panting heavily, no longer running.

"The power disparity between us is just so. Even if you resort to despicable means to take my Long Spear, with just my bare hands, I can still defeat you! Give it up!"

Sekamens regained his composure with ease, and despite a slight loss of composure, he was still in control.

"You're indeed strong. If we clash head-on, I'm bound to lose. But the weak have their own way of fighting, wrecking their brains for a victory. Underestimate them, and you're bound to trip up."

Yang Yu stopped pretending to be out of breath, his face relaxed, and he tossed the Long Spear back to Sekamens.

"Imagine, if the person who had just taken your spear wasn't me, but a group of weak goblins. Weaponless, facing a pile of goblins, would you still be as composed as you are now?"

Taking back the Long Spear, Sekamens thought over Yang Yu's words, and dreadful images formed in his mind, sending a shudder through his heart, his pride urging him to deny it.

"If I were dealing with monsters, I wouldn't have been caught off guard like this. This is a duel; it should be fought with honor!"

"A duel? Honor?" Yang Yu chuckled, "Don't joke around. From the beginning, this was never a fair match. A true duel is based on the premise of both parties having comparable strength. When the gap is too huge, it's just a one-sided beating."

"That's why I gave you a chance. If you could have lasted three minutes, I would have acknowledged you. But who knew you would resort to such despicable tactics... Now, I won't underestimate you anymore!"

Firelike combat spirit shone in Sekamens's eyes, fraught with considerable hatred and anger.

"Is that so? But..." Yang Yu walked over to a tree, dousing Sekamens's combat spirit, "this fight ended the moment you underestimated me. Initially, I thought it would be tougher than anticipated, but it turned out to be the exact opposite."

"What? Could it be..."

Sekamens's eyes widened in disbelief, glancing over to the hesitant Iron Wall about to speak up, he realized the result.

The task interface indicated the challenge was complete. With a knowing smile, Yang Yu immediately clicked to complete, and another 3,000 Experience made him level up.

"Just as you guessed, chatting with you was just a means to waste time. That's the fighting way of weaklings like me. You lost this time."

A trace of frustration twisted Sekamens's handsome face; he couldn't accept this outcome.

"However, since you might not accept this result, I'll give you a chance now. Unleash your strongest Attack, try if you can defeat me!"

The sudden Taunt froze Sekamens in place, with no anger, only confusion.

"Why, even though you've already won, do you keep provoking me time and again?"

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No big deal, I just wanted to see if I could get the "Taunt" skill.

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Yang Yu obviously couldn't say this aloud, so he simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to provoke,

"Just want to see if you really have the strength to take me down in one hit."

"You'd better not regret it."

Gripping his Long Spear tightly, Sekamens's eyes became serious as he assumed a stance, the silver-white spear shimmering with brilliant white light. Suddenly, he pushed off with his calf, charging in a phase rush, and the silver-white spearhead aimed straight at Yang Yu's chest.

Yang Yu remained calm and composed, kicking a nearby tree forcefully. A jelly-like object dripped down from the branches and landed precisely in the palm of his hand, which he then pushed forward, causing a collision between the Long Spear and the blue object.

"It's useless! My Attack pierces through damage, and this weak Slime can't possibly block it," Sekamens was prepared to pull back his might, stopping at a touch, but his opponent in front of him didn't show the slightest fear and instead chatted at ease,

"Really? Forgot to tell you, you have a fatal flaw, you failed to assess your own and others' Strength correctly."

The sharp Long Spear did not pierce through the Slime's fragile body as Sekamens had thought it would but was instead repelled by the Slime.

"What on earth is the deal with that Slime?" No matter how hard Sekamens racked his brain, he couldn't understand why his powerful skill was unable to penetrate a mere Slime.

As the Long Spear hit the ground, Yang Yu dusted off the dirt on himself, holding He Meng as if nothing had happened.

He walked past the dumbfounded Sekamens, "I'm a warrior, but also a Monster Tamer. Using demons in combat is within the rules. No need to apologize—right now, I'm nowhere near your level, but given another two or three days, defeating you will be no problem. Hopefully, by then, you won't disappoint me."

He Meng wriggled free of his grasp and jumped up to give Yang Yu a slap, disrupting his cool for a mere three seconds.

Originally, it had climbed onto the tree to avoid being dragged into the fight, settling down for a quiet nap. However, it hadn't expected to be kicked off the tree trunk and used as a human shield by Yang Yu, losing a third of its Blood Volume in one go.

How could it not be angry?

Don't think that just because there is a Blood Contract between us, you can do as you please. Today, even if I lose blood due to the contract backlash, I will still slap you twice!

"Ah, stop hitting! Stop! If you hit me, you'll lose blood too!"

Faced with He Meng's slaps, Yang Yu could only smile wryly. He had only resorted to such a tactic after seeing He Meng slacking off in the tree branches, but he hadn't expected He Meng to be so disgruntled. His Favorability dropped sharply by 10 points.

Suppressing He Meng, Yang Yu pretended as if nothing had happened and cleared his throat lightly, turning to the distracted Bai Jin,

"It's getting late. This forest is more dangerous than we anticipated. Bai Jin, let's gather the herbs and head back to rest."

"Understood."

Snapping out of it, Bai Jin replied and followed Yang Yu's steps, leaving the members of the Silver Wind Team in disarray amidst the wind. After a while, the three approached the disbelieving Sekamens.

"How many minutes has it been since everything started just now?" asked Sekamens, his voice quivering.

Iron Wall checked his pocket watch with unease and answered, "Exactly five minutes."

"To see through it to such an extent?" Sekamens closed his eyes, a smile curling on his lips. There was no anger or disdain, only admiration. "It seems there is still much for me to learn."

...

Deep in the forest, in a dimly lit room, Crystal Balls of different sizes stood tall, capturing every move in the forest. A green hand gently tapped on the plank that held the Crystal Balls, seemingly pondering over the images just transmitted by the Crystal Balls.

After a long while, the tapping fingers came to a rest.

The image in the Crystal Ball faded, reflecting the face of the user. That sly and utterly villainous triumphant smirk spread across the ugly emerald face.

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