I had stopped all the wolves but it was to no avail. The carriage was already far out of sight.
*Clap*
*Clap*
*Clap*
I heard applause in the distance. I turned around and looked around, but couldn't find the source of the sound.
"I am very happy for your progress, Lord Devian." A person appeared from the forest.
It was Javier. He had his sword on his waist and also a big bag on his back.
"Javier! What are you doing here!? Didn't you go back!?" I shouted at him.
"You might be surprised about all this. I had said so much but I came back? These must be your question." He said.
"Believe me it is." I said.
"Well, your father had told me to do this. My behaviour at the bar and this wolf attack was a part of his plan." He said. He glanced at the wolf's corpse and crouched near it.
"What about the carriage?"
Carriages and wagons usually have enchanted rocks behind them to ward off nearby [G] or [F] Rank Monsters.
"I had secretly taken out their wagon's protection stone. They wouldn't have gotten hurt. I would have saved them if the monsters ever got close to them. As for you, if the monsters had bitten you, I would have immediately saved you and taken you back to the mansion with force." He said while he was tearing the flesh of the wolf.
I started to pretty much grasp the situation in front of my face. My father, Lord Louis Leviathan wanted to test me if I was fit to become a knight or not. If I had failed this test by my father, Javier would have taken me back forcefully. This test endangered the life of the innocent people but it's not like I am a good person or an evil person. I don't intend to cause trouble to my father for some innocent person.
"Were the thieves also in on that plan?" I asked.
"No, they weren't but I had already got your money back when you were running around the town." He said as he threw a pouch of money out of the bag on his back. He seemed more interested in the corpse than the bag of money.
"Wait a minute, is that a G-Rank mana core?" I asked as I saw him take out something from the corpse.
Mana cores can be found in monster corpses. Used by Dwarves to craft weapons and armor for combat. They're pretty rare. Depending on the rank you have achieved, you can sell it at a high price.
"It sure is. I could feel the unpure mana of this inside the corpse." He said.
"Give that to me. I had killed that Mountain Wolf. It belongs to me." I said as I saw him put it inside his pocket. As if he started to think of something, he looked at the sky and brushed his beard with his hand.
"How about this? If you can block or dodge my ten hits, you can get this and also I'll help you to reach the Academy." He said as he smiled.
"Does that mean, you weren't planning to help me reach the Academy?" I asked.
"Of course not. Your father's test hasn't ended yet. He doesn't intend to help you to become a knight so easily~." He said in a playful voice.
I started to think about the prize as his help would help me to reach the Academy faster than I would do by myself.
"I accept it then." I closed my eyes and said as I switched my AIMBOT to 'Set Target: Weapon'.
I was in a combat stance, ready to repel any attack he threw at me. His eyes were closed, but I could feel the murderous intent pouring out of him. He was no joke. He was using his skills to intimidate me. I opened my eyes and saw him filling his sword with mana. His sword was now surrounded by a mist of white colour, like he had set his blade with a white flame.
A swordsman's mana capacity and strength is not as strong and more than a wizard's, but using it still makes them stronger than before. He's not using his aura which means he's holding back.
He readied his foot to dash towards me. The ground under him cracked a little. With a gush of wind, he came at me. The distance between us was covered in the blink of an eye.
Clang!
I moved my hand slightly and my sword automatically parried his first blow. His mana imbued attack slightly broke my sword. This sword was a gift from my father, so it was quite strong enough to parry that attack.
"First attack." He said as he raised his blade up. The blade shined with the sun.
In one instant, the blade was up and then it came down as if a meteorite had fallen.
Clang!
My blade automatically clashed with his and it broke in half. The top part of my blade fell to the ground and I had the lower part of my sword with me.
"Second attack."
He didn't stop there. He spun around and aimed for my leg this time. I used the broken sword to block this attack.
I was thrown back due to the sheer power of the attack. My body collided with a tree and I fell to the ground after coughing up some blood.
"Third attack."
He said as he started to slowly walk towards me.
"W-Wait. Time out!" I shouted as he stopped.
"I am very disappointed in you. I guess you aren't meant to become a knight after all." He said. He looked quite sad about this.
"Wait a minute! I j-just wanted to say that do all of your attacks at once!" I said as I stood up on my two legs. My legs were shaking.
"That's what I am talking about!" He shouted as he smiled.
Following my instructions, he cracked the ground and with a very high speed, he came near me. I couldn't even see him this time like the last three times. Was he holding back before.
I was wondering why a low rank like me could react even slightly to a C rank's attack. Now, it makes sense.
Javier's POV
I hit all seven attacks as he said, but this time I attacked at full speed. I made sure the attack didn't kill him, it would just leave some permanent scars. I had a high-rank healing potion which would heal his sounds after this.
As I finished my seven hits, I couldn't believe my eyes. He was fine?
He was standing straight just like the position he was in earlier. Wait, does he have a skill related to healing? Has he been hiding it?
I was thinking about all of these questions, when he fell to the ground.