Durant flicked his hands towards the sword at his left and attempted to unsheathe it at the unknown foe.
"Huh! Wheres, my sword?" thought Durant as he felt that both the sword and the scabbard were missing from the leather belt at his waist. He looked towards the cloaked man and saw that he was holding the sword in his own hands.
Before the knight could even shout for help, Daren drew the sword and placed it swiftly on Durant's neck. "I'm not here to hurt you. If I wanted, you would already be dead." he said with a cold and unshakable voice.
"Wa-wa-what is it that you want." asked Durant. His voice was shaky due to the fear of the much faster and definitely stronger force user in front of him. He also feared the sword in Daren's hand that just be being placed on his neck caused there to be minor bleeding.
Cultivators had skin that most regular metals could never cut through. The sword that Daren was holding belonged to Durant so he knew that this was a weapon made for cultivators to kill cultivators.
This sword was enchanted with similar magic circles that overlapped with each other and had 0's and 1's written within its gaps. This steel forged sword could cut through most Body Strengthening cultivators would be sliced apart like butter using this sword. It starts to lose its effect when matched again cultivators higher than body strengthening.
If Daren was to make a small amount of excess movement, that sword would behead him like a pig.
"What do I want? I want to help you fight. Nothing else." said Daren. His voice was more warm and confident. This was a stark contrast to the cold-blooded tone he spoke in a couple of seconds before.
This made Durant slowly calm down but he did not let his guard down. He was spooked by the fact that the young man in front of him had taken off his hood. He was spooked by the wide smile this blue-haired, handsome young man sported.
Durant could not believe that someones tone and personality could change so quickly. His experience from being in the militarily had sharpened his judgment of people's character and intention.
Daren took his free hand and pushed the knight in front of him with very minimal force. Durant took this chance to stumble back on purpose and gain about 8 feet of space between them. This is exactly what Daren wanted.
Daren took the dazzling, blue, and red hilt of the sword and admired the ruby that had been embedded into the sapphire-colored metal. It may look like an ornamental sword but it could easily slice up some worthy opponents.
The scabbard of the sword was no joking matter either as it was fully made from silver metal. It was outlined with gold and had engravings made from white gold. These very minimalist engravings created faint outlines of numerous snakes coiling around the scabbard as if it was their prey.
When Durant saw that Daren was closely inspecting his sword, he thought "I know this young man is stronger than me but he is he so confident? Why is there no hesitation at all? There is not an ounce of worry on his face."
As someone who had killed tens of cultivators during his 33 years on the battlefield, he had so many fighting tactics and raw combat experience that could allow him to beat an unskilled person who is a full level above him in cultivation.
He wasn't sure if Daren did not know about his skills or if he was just that sure of his own skills.
As Daren carefully inspected every corner of the sword and its scabbard, the other soldiers on the wall had recognized that their captain was in what looked like a stand-off between him and a black-clothed man.
The soldiers drew their swords without hesitation and without anyone having to give them commands. The soldiers both behind Daren and behind Durant just nodded their heads as if they understood exactly what their comrades were thinking.
This was a byproduct of Gigantus's high level of training that was provided to every one of their soldiers and due to the friendship, these men had built over the years that they spent guarding this side of the city walls.
Daren continued to admire this sword. In one of his previous lives, he had been a student of a kendo master that was renowned throughout many galaxies. This master of his had taught Daren many ways of using 'katanas' and 'kunai' blades.
His master also had a very large collection of exquisite swords that were both ancient and contained flawless beauty. It wasn't just katanas that his sensei had collected. There were also medieval swords.
Master Umehashi Hakuro was not only good at the art of kendo and Japanese sword fighting but he had taught his student how to fight using mediocre long-swords and rapiers. His skills in blades were definitely unparalleled.
His master's habit of appreciating fine blades had also passed off onto Daren and that is exactly why he was taking his time and enjoying the finely crafted sword. The long sword's blade was double sides and had perfectly sharp edges.
The light of the morning sun reflected off of it. The light created a majestic feeling that the sword fully embraced.
'Hmm. These soldiers did not hesitate in surrounding me. They are as well trained as Andrew told me that they would be.' thought Daren as the smile on his face contorted into more of a sly grin.
He noticed that the soldiers had slowly surrounded Daren in the front and back. He had long learned that Gigantus used their vast finances on making sure the military was always in tip-top shape and no soldier lacked skills.
This was to make sure no one could challenge their financial stability by using a superior military.
"As I said, I came here to help." announced Daren in an authoritative tone as he slowly put the sword back into its sheathe. He wanted to indicate to them that he came in peace. He wanted to deescalate the situation.
"Put the sword down and kick it over to me." demanded Durant as he was slowly making his way behind his line of soldiers.
Durant wanted to make sure that if there was a fight, he could let his soldiers die first so he could analyze Daren and find the best way to fight him.
He could even decide to run if he found that Daren not only had strength but the skill to back it up.
When we first saw Durant at the Manupus manor, he had entered with arrogance, power, and an air of superiority around him. This was far from the real Durant.
Honorable Knight Durant maybe try to show that he was a more prestigious and powerful life form than others but the truth was that he was a calculating, conniving, and cowardly being.
Durant only card for his life, money, and prestige. He would show off to those that were weaker than him but would try to appease those that were stronger.
Right now, his priority was to survive. That is why he was trying his best to figure out the mysterious Daren.
"Hahaha." laughed Daren. His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the men in front of him and said "I like this sword so I shall not drop or kick. It would be an insult to its marvelous form.
As I have said, I am only trying to help fend off the beast but you are all too wary." Daren let these words sink in for a minute until he spoke again.
"I don't blame you for being on guard of the guy who popped up from nowhere and stole your commanders. That is why you can't blame me for this either."
Daren then proceeded to close his eyes for 3 seconds. A small vein popped up on his forehead as he condensed the elemental energy within his core. He then let out a massive burst of cold energy that solidified the soldier's feet and up to their ankles with clear ice.
"Huh!" exclaimed Durant as the soldiers around him started to grunt and shiver as the cold traveled from their feet and up their spines.
"As I said. I didn't want to do this. You." said Daren as he pointed at Durant who was still visible behind his soldiers as he was a decent bit taller than most of them.
"Me?" asked Durant in response with a puzzled look.
"Yeah, you. Get over here. We need to talk." Daren commanded. Durant was reluctant to do anything that could put him at risk but he knew that if he ran from here right now, all his prestige will go down the drain.
He was hesitant to lose the honor he had built over the decades of service so he took slow steps forward as he carefully maneuvered through his men that were stuck in the ground.
Durant approached Daren very carefully with his guard up. If anything went wrong, he would try to flee first and then assess the situation. 'What good is honor if you are dead?' s what he thought.
Durant kept on walking until he reached a distance of 2 feet. That's when Daren said "Stop." and he complied.
"I know I have said this so many times already but all I want to do is help you men fight the beast tide. Here's proof that you can trust me." said Daren as he reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled something out.
It was a circular object about 5 cm thick. This object had the family crest of the Hendrix family which looked like a green dragon that was biting onto the wings of an eagle.
As soon as Durant saw the crest, he instantly recognized it. He had to recognize it on sight or it would have been embarrassing for him not to know what the logo of the city;'s rulers looked like.
He had been the city guard's captain of Igrit for the last 12 years so there was no way a schemer like him wouldn't easily remember this important symbol. Heck, no one living in this city would not know what it was at a glance.
Durant instantly took a knee and bowed towards Daren.
"I apologize for my actions just now. I was not informed that someone from the noble household of Hendrix would come to our aid." he said in a very respectful tone. While it may sound respectable, with Daren's thousands of years worth of experience, he could tell that this guy was faking it.
"Hmph." Daren hated people like this that only cared for their outwards appearance, money, and power. He did a slight wave with his black-gloved hands as the ice broke apart and turned into invisible fragments of energy that assimilated itself into the surrounding air.
'So this is the strength of a cultivator' thought the soldiers as they kneeled in unison. If their commander had to show respect towards the Hendrix crest, there was no way that they could get away without kneeling either.
"No, that you all have calmed down. What do you think about the size and strength of the approaching beat tide?" asked Daren. he aimed this question towards Durant since he was sure to be the most knowledgeable about something that happens often under his jurisdiction.
Durant could not kneel long as his sense of pride was high and his rank within the military was not low either. He did not have to bow down for long in front of Daren since he was not the marquess himself and only someone sent by him.
Durant was someone who kept a good amount of tabs on the powerful people in this city so he knew exactly who Daren was once he had a good look at his face. He remembered that there was a young cultivator who had entered the city about two and a half months ago.
The young man had become good friends with the marquess and his family. His wife even opened a shop where all the products sold like crazy because of how innovative and useful they were. Her fragrant soaps and beauty products, along with the umbrellas had spread far and wide.
Even the capital was overtaken by the small shipment of goods the marquess sent out from here as gifts to the nobles and royal family.
It took a little bit of thinking but now Durant was not worried about his safety but he was rather glad that someone would help him out on the dangerous fight against the beast.
Durant looked over towards the horde of different beasts making their way toward the wall at great speeds. He sensed the large output of force particles that the beasts were emitting and had a look of shock on his face.
He almost had a heart attack when he realized that the number of beasts and their strength was much larger than what he was used to fighting in the last couple years of beats tides near Igrit.
Durant may be a strong cultivating knight but he was still a 70-year-old man. He was not at the point in force cultivation in which people could retain a youthful face and good organs.
That's why all the rapid changes of emotions were taking a toll on his pathetic heart. Before he could give a warning to his men and Daren. Before he could even try to alert them of the strength of this horde, a dreadful scream could be heard from the furthest back of the beasts.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
The scream was horrendous as it sounded like an ancient flying dinosaur that had its eggs stolen or eaten.
The beast tide had a collection of what looked like over 350 animals. Some looked like overgrown bulls, bears, tigers, and lions. Others looked like rhinoceros-sized amalgamations of what seems like a crossbreed between horses and wolves. it had a horse torso with furry legs and paws.
The creature had a wolf head with bright red eyes while two black horns protruding from its sliver skin and fur. The horns on their foreheads looked to be made from a bluish gem.
These horns would really sell for a lot. While around 200 of the beasts were just normal, oversized animals, they had no cultivation and no force radiating from them. On the other hand, the number of mutated creatures amount was over 150.
Each one of these wolf/horse creatures had some sort of force leaking from them. All of them are magic beasts.
At the back of this ferocious stampede of animals was a 50 meter tall, orange wyvern with a wingspan of 90 meters. A wyvern was basically a dragon but with a bonier build, very little scales, and frailer wings.
They were also found in many magical forests where magic beasts lived so they were not too rare. Given the fact that they had dragon blood though made it to where their cultivation and skills were above pretty much all non-legendary beasts.
When Durant and the city guards saw the wyvern, they started to deeply frown as small hints of fear would start cropping up in their expressions.
Daren on the other hand starting to smile like an idiot as greed formed in his eyes.
'If I could kill and absorb the soul of the wyvern, all of its insane talents will belong to me.'
Daren had read that dragons were creatures that flew through the ranks of cultivation like crazy and wyverns as their descendants often had similar but lower levels of their absurd talent. Once he got his hands on a wyvern soul, his strength would skyrocket.
This would not be easy though as the wyvern had to be strong if the screech it gave out was enough to slightly intimidate Daren. He could clearly see that the wyvern was radiating force for over 7 miles.
'I'm totally up for my first true challenge in this world. I need to get used to fighting perfectly with this body.' thought Daren. He was right though as a blood bath was about to occur where Daren would not come out unscathed.