The Warg opened its maw wide and released a guttural, rumbling growl. The skin on its face bunched up, revealing sharp white fangs underneath.
"Option B it is then…"
Gerald lifted the sword vertically in front of himself and placed one hand behind his back. He started elegantly circling the beast with the blade, which looked more like a giant meat cleaver than a delicate longsword.
The Warg continued growling while keeping its head low and watching Gerald with wary eyes. It seemed unsure what to do. On the one hand, it wanted to attack and maul the human, but then again, it was having a weird feeling about the entire situation.
If it was in the forest it might have simply decided to retreat, but inside the city, surrounded by stone walls from all sides, a wild animal could only act with aggression.
Gerald kept making slow and calculated steps, coming closer to the beast. In turn, the Warg kept slowly retreating and growling, like a scared cat pushed into a corner.
Then all of a sudden, multiple hurried footsteps sounded out on the cobblestone and a patrol of guards quickly turned the corner.
"Ah! A Warg!" one of them shouted.
They all gripped their swords and were ready to pull them out when Gerald shouted at them.
"Don move!" He never left the Warg out of his vision and was keeping eye contact the entire time. "Slowly back away, I'll deal with this."
The Warg looked at the newcomers in confusion, but then its fur rose up and it started growling even more menacingly.
The three factions were each watching the other, with the guards nervously gulping. Both the man and the beast were giving out dangerous vibes. One of the nervous ones pulled his sword with shaky hands.
As he did so, his equipment rattled loudly, breaking the final restraints the Warg had from going berserk.
It madly roared, spraying the toxic saliva everywhere, and pounced. In two quick jumps, it was nearly at the target.
"Aaaaah!" the guards shouted in terror and straight-up froze. Just as they thought their lives were coming to an end, Gerald kicked the Warg in its side, away from the terrified group.
The beast collided with a wall meanwhile Gerald was also pushed back from the force of the kick.
"Damn, I forgot to make myself heavy," he murmured. Then he turned to the trembling fools simply huddling together and watching.
"What are you still doing here?! GO!" he shouted.
"Hiiiii! Yes, sorry!" The guards were instantly woken from their stupor and ran as fast as they could while stumbling over themselves. Gerald was pretty sure he saw one of them pissing himself while he ran.
"Bunch of weaklings! I guess all real men are at the frontlines, eh?" Gerald looked at them in disgust as they disappeared behind some houses in the distance.
It seemed that there was always at least one group of incompetent people no matter where you looked. The fact that they were a part of the city guard was concerning though.
"Ah, whatever…" He turned to the enraged Warg that was currently staring him down, "I guess it's just you and me now, huh? Elemental Avatar!"
Roar!
The Warg responded in kind with its own roar and pounced.
Bam!
...And immediately got punched in the face. The snout specifically.
"I guess you are not all that bright, huh" Gerald grinned and stored away the Orc Slayer. His fists were more than good enough to take the beast down.
"Alright! Show me what you got!" He taunted the animal.
Each pounce and growl that came would quickly be turned around with a well-aimed punch or kick. And the more defiant the look the beast carried, the stronger Gerald's retaliation.
The Warg was nearly as big as a horse and full of tough muscle under a thick fur coat. It could take the beating.
Soon the angry roars and growls were replaced with occasional whimpers of pain. Meanwhile, Gerald transitioned into more of a grappling style combat. He was tossing the Warg left and right while kicking and punching at the same time.
The beast was showing signs of exhaustion and its moves were becoming slower and less confident. It was gradually losing the will to resist. No matter what it did it couldn't even scratch the crazy human, all the while getting tossed around like a rag doll.
Then suddenly Gerald stopped pursuing it. He simply stood at one spot with his hands on his hips, giving it a stern look.
Maybe he got tired? Maybe he finally gave up?
The Warg immediately regathered its courage and pounced once more, putting it all into this one all-out attack.
That's when it happened.
Those eyes, they started to glow with such power, and the Aura spread outward like a tsunami towards the poor helpless Warg.
The animal came to a stop just about a meter from Gerald's face and trembled. They kept eye contact, but even that lasted only a few seconds. As Gerald's brows slightly furrowed, the Warg quickly lowered its head and body in fear. It laid on the ground like a puppy getting scolded, with ears down and tail tucked between its legs.
"Look at me," Gerald said with a commanding voice.
The Warg slowly lifted its eyes while keeping its head on the ground and gave the most guilty and pleading gaze possible.
"Look at me here, I'm the boss now!" Gerald commanded. He took out the Toothpick and struck the cobblestone road with it.
"The options still stand. What will it be? A, B, or perhaps do you prefer option C? You can become my mount and serve me."
He leaned forward and looked in the beast's eyes, releasing his Aura to the limit. "So? What will it be? Servitude or death?"