In the forest, a silver-haired man could be seen facing a giant bear,
"I'm sorry little bear but my party is hungry" "Roooaaar" roared the bear as he lifted his giant arm and tried to squash Ronald.
"moon flash" Sir Ronald moved his sword so fast it created after images, the poor bear couldn't understand what happened as his head flew in the air.
(Leon's pov)
No matter how many times I see him fight, I can't see his movements, it's just so fast that my eyes can't keep up, that 'little bear' he killed is a peak silver-grade monster.
"so, Leon, since the others are at camp, how about we spar, it's been a while since we've been alone."
We're currently hunting and bringing food for the others, so we are a bit far from camp, but why does he want to spar with me? I'm overthinking, I could learn something new from this spar.
"Alright, but aren't you too strong to spar with me?" he could literally behead me before I even know it.
"oh hahaha, don't worry I'll limit myself to your level, and if you force me to use my strength then you win, so get ready, Here I come!"
Before I could draw my sword he vanished,(what? Where is he? From above!)
*Boom*
I barely avoided that, but is he trying to kill me? that attack pulverized the ground!
"what's wrong kid? If you stay still...you could die..."
No...this is not a simple spar, this is a test to see my full capabilities.
If so," Then I'll show everything that I have"
(general Pov)
"Haa!" Thrusting his sword into the ground, Leon makes dust go everywhere, then he hides himself using 'stealth'.
'Accelerate', now with the speed boost of his skill, he dashes behind Ronald attempting a torso cut.
"Good decision-making, but you lack power" Without facing him, Ronald blocks Leon's attack with his sword.
Rotating at high speed, Ronald kicks Leon back.
"Uck!"(that hurt, but I'll keep trying) Vanishing from his spot again, Leon reappears in front of Ronald.
"if I can't beat you using strength, then how about magic, 'fire ball' "
Lifting his arm, Leon conjures a 1tier spell: fireball, heading towards Ronald from above, "Oh, a fire spell?"
As Ronald was about to dodge, Leon blocks his way and tries to attack him with his sword.
Now Ronald needs to block both Leon's fireball and sword at the same time.
"clever, but what are you gonna do when I do this"
It took two moves for Ronald to deflect Leon's sword and grab Leon towards his fireball.
(now you're forced to dispel your magic) snickered Ronald inside his mind.
But contrary to Ronald's thoughts, Leon had a crazy smile on his face.
*boom* the fireball exploded hitting both Leon and Ronald.
Smoke covered the place, but a figure could be seen walking slowly.
*swish* Ronald clears the smoke with his sword.
Ronald keeps looking at the person before him with a glint in his sharp eyes.
"Leon... Who are you?"
"what do you mean?" asks Leon with a wary look.
"there is no need to keep lying, you're profile says that you come from a town near this village, other than that, everything about you is unknown, even the name of that village is unknown"
"..."
"don't you think it's weird that a gold-ranked knight is sent here to kill a silver-grade monster?"
Leon frowned even further.
"I think you guessed it, the real reason I was sent here is that we detected a shift in space and time, it was fast but we were able to capture it, 'coincidently' the next moment an unknown guy comes to the nearest town, which was you"
"so we sent a message to the guards there to keep an eye on you until we arrive"
(uncle max?!)
"My task is to see if you could be an ally... Or a potential threat..."
Ronald's energy spiked when he mentioned the word 'threat',
"so when I got here I started watching you, even that fight at the bar was caused by me to see what you would do"
"so...what are you going to do...kill me?"Leon gripped his sword tightly, even though he is weak, he wouldn't go down without a fight.
Ronald kept staring then a shrewd smile covered his face.
"Hahaha, I like your guts kid, but if I want to I could kill you before you even know it, you have two choices..."
Ronald then pointed his sword towards Leon. "either die here..." An unbelievable amount of mana started surging from Ronald's body, and Leon could only feel dread.
"or join my guild" Ronald's smile expanded, it may seem like he had a choice, but now Leon was forced to join Ronald's guild.
"do I even have a choice..." Ronald smiled at Leon's defeat.
"This is actually good for you, The higher-ups already know of your existence, so you will always be under their eyes, so the only way for you to have some 'freedom' is to have a strong background behind you"
"A background?"
"That's right! So, how about you join my guild? Having me as your supporter would keep the higher-ups from sending 'people' to watch you 24/7, you'll also be sent to the human academy"
"And what do you exactly gain from this?"
"you don't need to know, because if you don't accept you will die here, all you need to know is that you should show your worth, consider it an investment. of course, if you fail to do so...a flame that doesn't burn always dies."
"...Alright then, I'll join your guild," said Leon with a weird glint flashing in his eyes.
"That's the spirit! It seems that your wounds healed up, so let's gather this bear meat and join the others"
"..."
And like that, Leon 'secured' himself a position in the academy, while Ronald secured himself a future 'ally'.