When Cramton heard some herbs for the queen, he became curious on the types of herbs he had come for. Then a thought crossed his mind, 'If Meron was trusted by the king, then he should be pretty strong. I wonder how strong I have become and how much I fare against the strongest people of the kingdom.'
"I'll only allow you to take them If you beat me in a spar," Cramton said.
He wanted to use Meron to test his limits.
"And please use your full strength."
Meron's left eye twitched in annoyance. He could not believe his luck. Why did he have to encounter this annoying man. He himself knew he was not that strong. The truth must be said, he was not strong. He was the weakest of the B ranks in the kingdom hence he didn't want to fight a monster of a man who just ate THE blue spider lily flower raw and survived.
He could not start imagining how strong this 'monster' has become after eating the flower if he was that strong before.
"Can I not participate. I'm a weak man you know. We can just talk it out," Meron suggested.
"I bet you have been sent for rare herbs. If I'm right, then you will have to beat me to access them."
Meron started to think of alternative options but the all seemed to have a counter. Left with no option, he summoned his greatsword and held it with his two hands. He entered into a fighting position. When Cramton saw this, his smile grew and distorted a little. He was rejoicing inside.
'I can't believe this man has always been a battle maniac,' Mefter thought while nodding his head, 'Seems that the future won't be so boring after all.'
Truth be told, Cramton has always reveled in fighting since he was a kid. Now that he found someone with 'potential,' he was not gonna leave him be, could he. What kind of man would he be if he did that?
Badump, Badump
His heart was pounding like crazy. It was not out of fear, quite the contrary, he was feeling immense ecstasy just imagining the kind of fight he was gonna experience after a long time. He had completely forgot about the humanoid figure that he recently fought.
He held his two tomahawks in each hand and took position opposite Meron. They stared at each other trying to assess the opponent. This whole process took only two seconds. Cramton was the first to advance. Reason? He could hardly contain his anticipation and excitement.
He moved fast, faster than Meron had anticipated. He swung one of his tomahawks down but Meron seemed to have expected that for he blocked splendidly. He didn't give Cramton time to recover for he used the momentum to attack from sideways, but it was also blocked.
"Your reaction time is good bu..." Meron said but was cut off by Cramton.
"Shut up and fight."
Cramton supported his point by doing multiple swing with his two hands. He did some physical attacks in between some of the swings in a fluid motion.
He had observed how monkeys fought each other in the forest. Besides, he had experience from the fights he had when a kid. Coupled with his new body, this was but a trifling thing for him.
Meron was having a hard time keeping up. Even though he wasn't the best out there, he believed he atleast had decent skills and reaction time yet before this man, it was child's play. His pride as an adventurer was broken. This did nothing but make him furious.
Unfortunately, his anger made him lose his battle rationality and precision in his skills. Even though it increased his combat prowess, he had too many open points which Cramton was more than happy to utilize.
After just a few minutes, Meron found himself covered in wounds that bled profusely. This drained his energy fast. When he realized this, he decided to calm his angry mind down. He made his brain cogs turn fast looking for a solution, opening or flaw which he could utilize but there seemed to be none.
The man just moved too fast, coordinated his attacks splendidly, took advantage of openings well and has good reaction time.
"AAHH~ Just how am I supposed to beat this monster?!" Meron screamed in his head.
This was stressing him too much. He decided to the only thing he could do best, stop thinking and just act. It took just a few seconds for all this too happen.
"I give up," Meron said after contemplating for a while.
"Eh?..."Cramton's mind seemed to shut down for a few seconds. Then anger started building up in him.
"You think you can just give up?" the smile he had on his face disappeared, "Go then. You didn't defeat me, so no herbs for you."
Cramton could not understand why he was getting irritated and disappointed with Meron. He has never been like this.
'Haah...I guess he's just not that fun,' he thought.
"Can't we talk please. Let's just solve the situation in a sophisticated way, please," Meron pleaded.
He knew just how important this herbs were to his majesty and the kingdom.
"Oh...? What do you suggest, young man?" Cramton asked with a curious voice.
"..." Veins bulged in Meron's head. His eyes twitched in annoyance. He felt like a mouse being toyed with by a cat.
"Sigh...Lady Luck really didn't face me Today , huh?" he thinks.
"I suggest a trade," Meron suggested.
"A trade?" Cramton asks while tinting his head in confusion.
"Yeah. For those two herbs. I can consult the king on how much he is willing to part with for those herbs. What do you think of it?" Meron states.
"Haha....HAHAHAHA~ You really think the king will be willing to part with his treasures? Just how naive are you? Besides I am kind of a selfish and possessive man. I'm not willing to part with these, not any of them," Cramton stated.
Meron was shocked.
'All hope is lost,' he thought.
He didn't know how to talk sense into these man. He gave up hope. He then decided to return and report this matter to the king.
'Let that bastard king come deal with this maniac. Atleast I tried,' he thought.
Then at that moment, a thought crossed his mind, 'Wait, this man talks as if these herbs are his. Aren't they ownerless?'
"Heh, barbarian, since when are the herbs in this forest yours? As from the medieval days, this forest, with everything inside has remained ownerless. How then are the herbs yours?" Meron asks.
"I don't know," Cramton answers in a nonchalant voice.
"Eh?"
"Since I have arrived here, I've took it upon myself to it as its owner," he elaborated.
That's right. Over the years that Cramton has resided in that forest, he has always been its protector. He protected the trees, herbs and beasts from intruders with malicious intent for the forest. He didn't discriminate between humans, humanoid beasts or monsters, he eliminated them all, although this sometimes left him in sorry state.
He used this fights to hone his battle instincts and skills. He became very versatile when fighting. His actions later garnered the respect of the beasts in the forest. They started aiding him in menial tasks such as transport through the forest and hunting. Though this only happened when a beast was around. He didn't like disturbing them much.
He literally became a wild man and he wouldn't let a random man, eve if he's king, destroy his happiness. That he swore.