"I lost." Dylan said as he knelt on the floor panting in exhaustion.
Aatrox saw that he had not given him any serious injuries, but still bent down beside him and asked. "Are you okay?"
Dylan looked at the little cut on his arm and sighed. "Man, couldn't you take it easy?" He said before he let out a little laugh.
Aatrox, listening to his little laughter, relaxed and stretched out his hand to help him get up as he responded. "I'm sorry, it's been a long time since I've had so much fun in a battle that I ended up forgetting and started to fight following only my heart."
Dylan hearing that felt a little proud. Through his battle, he had seen that Benjamin was very skillful, for him to make a guy like that fight by just following his heart, it was something worthy of being happy. "It's okay, I'm kidding." He said as he held the hand Aatrox had stretched out to him.
James and Jude who were coming towards them worried, relaxed after seeing them hand in hand with a smile on their faces. At least no one was mad at anyone. "What a battle, guys. It's been a long time since I've seen such a beautiful show." James said with a smile as he passed his arms around Dylan's shoulder.
"Really. Just watching your battle made my blood run so fast that I need to battle with someone else too. What do you think, James?" Jude looked at James as he stretched out.
"I'm always ready." James responded with his eyes on fire, dying to battle too.
But to their disappointment, a voice came to interrupt. "Well guys, I guess you can leave this battle to another time since we'll have something to solve now, which to my surprise involves your new friend." A man apparently in his 50s said with a smile coming toward the boys, accompanied by three other men who appeared to be the same age.
One of these men was an acquaintance of Aatrox. When Aatrox was going to ask August what it was about, James, Jude, and Dylan said in unison. "I pay my respects to the patriarch."
When Aatrox heard them calling these men that, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. It seems that within the world of cultivation, people still preserve the tradition of always greeting the patriarch of the family. "Hello, August." Aatrox responded back to his usual distant face.
"Hey, Ben. I was coming to call you to meet some of my friends, but when we saw that you were about to start a battle, we could not fail to watch. It really was a spectacle." August said with a smile while clearly showing his surprise.
"Hello boy, you know how to make an old man's heart race. During your battle, I swore that my son would lose an arm after that last attack, but to my surprise, you managed to cancel that beautiful sword skill of yours in just a few fractions of a second. Very good." A man with a toned body over 2 meters (6.5 feet) tall told Aatrox with a worried look at Dylan.
"I'm still too weak, I don't deserve those compliments." Aatrox said it was natural. The boys felt a little bad because he considered himself weak. Since if he who was stronger than them, was weak, what were they, who was weaker than him? But no one could complain since he was being humble.
"Hahaha, you spoke well, August. This kid has got something special. Even possessing this strength at such a tender age, he does not have an inflated ego. Very good, pleasure meeting you boy, I am the father of Jude, Jaden Flores, patriarch of the Flores family." The man with the most scholarly gaze said as he stretched out his hand to Aatrox to shake.
Aatrox realizing that these were probably the parents of his new friends, he smiled with a nice little smile and answered as he shook his outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Flores."
Since Aatrox came to this world, he began to lose the arrogance he had. He would not yet accept that no one should do or wish him harm, but he would also not treat those who treated him well badly. You should never hit a smiling face. It was a phrase he had heard in his old world, but thanks to the Decay sword, Aatrox didn't care about the meaning and beat everyone without discrimination.
The men who were accompanying August were Jaden Flores, Jude's father, Martin Halls, Dylan's father, and lastly Eric Ward, James' father. All were patriarchs of powerful families in their own regions. 'For him to be close to so many powerful patriarchs, what will be his strength or influence?' He thought.
"So, guys, now that the performances have been done, let's go, we still have something to work out." Eric said as he went out with his friends since their goal of probing the boy August had said had been completed.
When no one else could see where they were, the four of them stopped and started talking.
"What did you think?" Jaden asked as he crossed his arms.
"After seeing that battle, I can say that the boy has immense potential. He might even be able to hit the Weaver family boy head-on." Martin said as he crossed his arms and looked at the other men.
"Do you really think he can hit that kid head-on?" Eric said with a serious look on his face.
"I see my son fighting with his brother almost every week and I can assure you, he has never received as much pressure in a battle against his brother as he did in this battle. And the power difference between Dylan and Dustin is enormous." Martin said after thinking for a while.
"The boy is probably on the Baron level, even if I can only feel a Knight energy coming from him, it's practically impossible for any Knight to exert as much force and speed as he did in that battle." Jaden said while fixing his glasses.
"My son had told me about this boy this week, I didn't think it was anything special, but seeing him now, I'm going to have to ask him when we get home." Eric said.
"And you, August, what do you think of him? Since you're the one who brought him in." Martin asked.
"I brought the boy just because my apprentice couldn't come and I had a ticket available. I didn't expect him to be so powerful either. When I met him, he had won a friendly battle against my younger brother, Tony, but since he's just a Knight, I thought the boy was just a little above average." August said as he sighed. But inside he was happy since the boy had come with him, August could develop a closer relationship with the boy. Talented people were always appreciated wherever they went.
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