ROAR!
With an angry roar, the tiger rushed at Neo.
In just a second, the tiger was before Neo. It leaped at him, threatening to hit him in the chest with its huge front paws.
It was a beast in the 1-star warrior realm, so Neo expected it to be strong and fast, but the tiger was too fast. A lot faster than he expected.
The tiger arrived before him so fast that it caught him off guard.
"Fu.ck!" Neo jumped to the right, barely evading the attack.
He did not stand still and wait for the beast to attack again.
He swung his staff at the beast, aiming for its head.
Clang!
The tiger's sharp claws collided with the staff as it parried his attack.
The moment the tiger blocked the attack, it jumped at Neo.
But this time, Neo did not dodge.
Roar!
The tiger barred its teeth into Neo's staff.
Holding the staff by both ends, Neo held back the tiger, which had barred its teeth into the middle of the staff.
And although Neo was holding its own against the tiger, he was slowly being pushed back. He was no match for the tiger in a pure context of strength.
'Looks like I have to give it my all to win!' Neo thought.
He jumped back a few steps, trying to create some distance, but the tiger did not let him. It was right after him.
Roar!
Once again, the tiger jumped at Neo.
Neo evaded to the side, but one of the paws grazed his shoulder. Still, the sharp claws tore his uniform apart and tore off a large junk of flesh from his shoulder.
Neo almost dropped his staff but managed to grit his teeth and hold on. He could not afford to groan out loud or lose concentration.
Before the tiger could jump back on him again, he gathered a lot of the spiritual energy into his legs and jumped up in the air.
He jumped four meters (13 feet) high in the air.
The tiger immediately rose on its back legs, trying to reach him.
Neo channeled his spiritual energy into his weapon. "Art of Staff, third form. Down Poke!"
He pointed his staff downwards to the head of the tiger and started descending.
ROAR!
Bang!
Just as the tiger roared at Neo, who was falling down, the end of the staff hit the tiger between the eyes, closing its mouth.
The eyes of the tiger turned white, and it fell back on its back.
"Hahaha!" Neo landed on his feet and gave a thumbs-up to the audience.
With a satisfied smile, Neo walked up to the unconscious tiger.
"As expected. A wild tiger is no match for me!" Neo kicked the tiger.
With a satisfied smile, he turned toward the audience and ran his hand through his hair.
"Now, you will learn why the beasts are several times stronger than humans in the same realm," Linda muttered to herself.
In the audience seats, Alden's eyes widened in terror.
"NEO! Behind you!" Alden roared from his seat.
Slash!
But it was too late.
The tiger behind Neo had raised and delivered an attack at his back.
"Aghhh!"
Neo got thrown a few meters forward, but he managed to not collapse. Even still, the pain was too much.
The sharp claws of the tiger have torn deep into his back.
"Fu.cking tiger!" Neo turned back at the tiger. "That was dirty!" However, when he saw the tiger, chills ran down his spine. He immediately jumped away from it and took guard.
The eyes of the tiger were completely red.
ROAAAARRRR!
The roar shook the entire arena.
Swoosh!
In the blink of an eye, the tiger was before Neo. It rose on its back legs and threw a paw at his chest.
Luckily, Neo managed to put the staff in front of his chest and block the attack, but just by the force of the impact, he was sent sliding on the floor meters back.
'Fu.ck!' He cursed internally. 'His speed, his strength. Everything has nearly doubled.'
The tiger did not give him time to rest. It was immediately upon him.
Clang!
As Neo blocked another attack, the staff in his hands broke in two, and he was sent sliding back once again. But this time, with his feet, he hit the edge of the arena. Behind him was a wall. He had nowhere to go.
'Great! She did not even give me a quality weapon.' Neo looked at the sharp, pointy ends of the now two separate staffs in dissatisfaction. They now looked like short spears.
"Wait." It hit him. "I can use this to win."
When he raised his head, the tiger was once again upon him. However, he did not dodge and tightly clenched the grip on his two staffs.
Swoosh!
Just the second before the tiger hit him, Neo jumped to his right and dodged.
Bam!
The tiger hit its head into the wall.
SWOOSH!
Once again, gathering his strength, Neo jumped up in the air.
The tiger rose on its back legs, trying to reach him.
"It's time to end this!" Neo muttered.
Using all of his strength, he tightened his grip on the two parts of the broken staff and prepared to descend down on the tiger, with the pointy, sharp ends of the broken staff, pointing down at the tiger's head.
As Neo descended down and the two 'spears' threatened to pierce the tiger's skull, the tiger's instinct sensed death approaching.
CLANG!
An ear-piercing sound sounded throughout the floor.
The tiger fell on its back, and Neo landed on his feet.
"I lost." He smiled.
Crack!
The two parts of the broken staff he held shattered into pieces. But the tiger behind him slowly rose.
When it rose, it left all the students in shock. There was a stone armor protecting its head. But even so, where Neo's weapons had hit the beast, between the eyes, the stone armor was cracked.
Still, Neo was not able to bring the beast down.
When Neo descended down and was about to hit the beast, the beast sensed death approaching.
In the split of a second, like a snake, from its back, stones climbed up to its head, protecting the head like armor.
The forming of the armor happened so quickly that the students did not even see it.
ROARR!
The tiger roared angrily and rushed at Neo, but Neo stood unmoving, without any hint of intention of dodging.
"Teacher, I give up!" He announced.
Swoosh!
Just as the tiger jumped at Neo and was about to bite into his shoulder, Linda appeared before it.
With just one hand, she grabbed it for the head and raised it off the ground.
"Scram!" She effortlessly threw the tiger back a few meters.
Roar!
The tiger raised instantly and roared angrily at her.
But when its eyes met with Linda's, it lowered its tail between the legs and backed away in fear. All of its instincts screamed of death if it had attacked her.
Now that the fight was over, Neo relaxed and collapsed to his knees. In the heat of the battle with the tiger, Neo managed to endure the pain because his life depended on it.
But the pain he felt was terrible. His shoulder was torn and bleeding, and on his back, he had a deep claw wound.
'Fu.ck! Had I been allowed to summon little stone, I would have killed that tiger in a second.' Neo thought.
"Green Slug," Linda called. The green portal opened beside her leg, and the green slug came out. "Heal him." She ordered.
As the green slug was healing Neo, she put the metal collar back on the tiger. Dragging it by the chain, she led it back to its cage.
By the time she returned, the green slug had finished healing Neo, and he was in perfect condition. Alden and Owen were by his side, checking If he was alright.
"Who told you to come down?" Linda questioned sternly when she saw Alden and Owen. "Go back to your seats."
Sensing that they had done something they should not have, Alden and Owen bowed and apologized, after which they returned back to their seats.
"Now." Linda turned to Neo. "Do you know why you lost that fight?"
"Yes." Neo nodded in annoyance. "Because I was not allowed to use my beast pet."
Linda glared angrily at him.
"Yes, you could not use your beast. But you are using it as an excuse. You lost. And had I not been here, you can count that you have died in today's battle." Linda spoke sternly.
"But with my beas..."
"Yes! With your beast!" Linda shouted angrily, stopping Neo from continuing with the excuse. "But assume you did not have your beast today. Or assume your beast is fighting another beast and you are left to yourself.
You need to learn to not rely too much on your beast. You should learn how to fight yourself."