-TENG TENG!
When Lily and Trival reached the battle area in the middle of the forest, they could see two people.
One was lying on the ground where the other was standing with his right leg up.
As they reached very close to the scene, they could see Aerox Sun was the one who was lying on the ground and he was about to be crushed by the poacher using his right leg.
"Ahh. Lily, we don't have much time left. So let's make our move!"
Trival said.
"Yes Let's do it together!"
Lily replied.
"Super Shield: Double Protection"
Immediately Lily blocked the attack of the poacher who was on the verge of hitting Aerox's head.
At the same time, Trival Maxpad who was beside Lily attacked the poacher.
"Imperial Spear Style: Obliterate Strike"
-HAAAYAAAA..
As the poacher was already injured while fighting with Aerox, Trival had a perfect hit on the poacher's body.
"Haha Alright another Noob is here"
The man took a hit to the chest, but the attack from the Rank-2 opponent wasn't strong enough to seriously injure him.
On top of that, the dark mana surrounding the man acted like a protective shield.
Trival was briefly stunned.
He realized the man's defense was far superior to the sparring partners he had faced at the federation.
The man's strength was at the peak of Rank-4, and with the added power of dark ore, his defense was as tough as a true Rank-4 fighter.
"I'll heal Aerox right now. Can you hold him off for a bit?"
Lily requested.
"Okay."
Trival knew his opponent was strong, but as the young master of the Platinum Federation, he couldn't back down and especially not in front of the girl he liked.
Besides, he had a defensive artifact protecting him, so it was unlikely he'd get killed.
"Hmph. I'll let you walk away if you retreat now. Otherwise, don't blame me if you die!"
"Heh… Is that how a weakling begs for mercy? A Rank-2 talking about killing me? Hahaha!"
"You'll regret saying that!"
Without wasting any more time, Trival attacked the poacher.
However, the man easily dodged his attack and countered with a precise punch.
BAM!
The man's punch hit Trival hard in the ribs after he dodged Trival's spear.
Even with the protective armor, the impact was strong enough to hurt Trival.
"Ughhh!"
Trival groaned in pain.
Without the armor, his ribs would've been broken for sure.
Trival slowly got back on his feet.
The poacher didn't see him as a real threat, so he didn't bother to attack while Trival was down.
He could have finished Trival off easily, but the man enjoyed toying with his opponents.
Dragging out a fight and slowly breaking someone gave him far more satisfaction than ending it quickly.
From Trival's first attack, the poacher already knew Trival wasn't a danger to him.
He was just having fun, treating this as entertainment.
"Hahaha! Come on, you little mouse. Keep me entertained!"
"You're dead. I'll make you pay for this humiliation with your blood!"
Trival Maxpad wasn't just anyone.
He was the young master of a Platinum-Ranked Federation.
Everywhere he went, people praised him as a genius.
Even Rank-5 heroes showed him respect.
His Federation always protected him, and he had never faced real hardships before.
This was only the second time he had felt humiliated.
The first was when he came second in the entrance exam.
He wasn't called a genius just because of his family; he was genuinely strong and always topped every test, except that one.
Now, a no-name Poacher was mocking him.
The frustration and anger burned inside him.
Out of frustration, he attacked the man once again but to no use.
The man easily dodged his attack.
Trival was a genius, but what he lacked was real experience.
He had trained and sparred plenty at his place, but a life-and-death fight was a completely different challenge.
As he fought the poacher, Trival started to notice his attack patterns.
He dodged when needed and struck back whenever he found an opening.
"Hahaha! You've got some potential. How about this? Join us, and I'll spare your life,"
the poacher offered.
"Hah! That's not how a bug should beg for mercy. I already gave you a chance to run, and you didn't take it. Now, I'll just have to kill you,"
Trival replied.
Trival was feeling confident after gaining the upper hand for a moment.
He assumed the poacher was trying to negotiate because he was feeling pressured by Trival's attacks.
"A foolish mistake,"
the poacher sneered.
This time, the poacher poured his dark ore into his punch, greatly increasing its power.
Trival, believing he could block it like before, took a defensive stance and prepared to counterattack.
But the poacher wasn't playing anymore.
This attack was meant to kill.
BAM!
Trival was sent flying several meters back.
SPURT!
He coughed up blood as he hit the ground hard.
This time, the impact broke his ribs, leaving him in serious pain and unable to get up.
"Trival…!"
Lily immediately ran toward him.
She had finished healing Aerox and given him some potions.
Luckily with the mana and stamina potions, Aerox's strength and mana were now restored to about 50%.
"Hygieia Blessing: Compassionate Light!"
Lily used her strongest healing spell.
Trival's injuries began healing rapidly.
"Argh!"
Trival groaned as he stood up, pulling out a potion and drinking it.
He glanced at the man, who wasn't paying him any attention at the moment.
"Aerox, think about it. Join our group, and you'll have everything you could ever want,"
the man offered.
"Trival, can you still fight?"
Lily asked.
"Hmph! Who do you think you're talking to? I'll kill him myself!"
Trival snapped as it was really shameful to say I can't in front of a crush.
"You can't,"
Aerox cut in firmly.
Aerox, having already fought the poacher, knew that even after such a long battle, the poacher was still too powerful for either of them to handle alone.
"Oh, so you think you can beat him?"
Trival said.
"Don't think you can boss me around just because you ranked first in the student rankings. I only came second because I was careless back then!"
"What?"
They were in a life-or-death situation, and Trival was arguing about rankings.
This made Aerox so angry as they were already in a life threatening situation.
Suddenly Lily stepped in, realizing the argument between Trival and Aerox was only making things worse.
"Trival, please work with Aerox. He knows more about the enemy than we do,"
"Hmph!"
Trival looked annoyed but didn't argue back since it was Lily asking.
"Alright, here's the plan,"
Aerox said.
"I'll fight him head-on. Trival, look for an opening and attack his weakness. Lily, stay behind us and provide support."
Lily nodded immediately, while Trival didn't respond but didn't object either, which meant he agreed.
"Let's go!" Aerox said with full determination.
"Finally done with your little chat? I was starting to get bored,"
the poacher mocked.
SLSSSHHHHH!
Aerox charged straight at the poacher, attacking fiercely.
However, the poacher easily dodged and blocked each attack.
Without his system-boosted, Aerox was no real threat to the poacher's dark ore-enhanced defenses.
"Athena Blessing: Reinforce Strength!"
Lily cast her skill to boost someone's strength,but instead of Aerox , she used it on Trival, who was preparing to attack the poacher from behind.
Trival's strength instantly increased by 1.5 times.
Feeling confident, he prepared for a decisive strike.
"Imperial Spear Style: Obliterate Strike!"
The poacher, focused on Aerox , didn't bother to defend against Trival's attack, thinking his defenses would easily block.
SPURT!
But Trival's spear pierced through the poacher's back, breaking his defenses.
Blood spurted from the wound, and the poacher stumbled.
"ARGH! I underestimated you all. I didn't expect her little buff would let you break through my defenses,"
he growled and coughed up blood.
The poacher pulled out a small black fruit radiating dark ore from his storage ring.
Storage rings were like storage bags but far more expensive and compact.
"I didn't think I'd need this," he muttered.
GULP!
He ate the fruit.
HAAAA!
Dark energy surged around him, and his power skyrocketed.
He broke through to Rank-4 where his right arm regenerated and his teeth sharpened, and his eyes glowed red.
He now looked more like a monster than a man.
Suddenly, the poacher leapt into the air, gathering all his dark ore.
He aimed his entire body toward Aerox and the others, planning to unleash a devastating explosion.
"Quick! Shield!"
Aerox yelled, realizing the poacher was about to blow up the area like a living bomb.
"Soterai Blessing: Triplex Protection!"
Lily cried.
A shimmering shield appeared in front of them just in time.
BOOOM!
The poacher collided with the shield and it released a massive explosion of dark energy.
Lily poured every last bit of her mana into maintaining the shield.
CRACK!
After a few seconds, the shield began to break under the immense force.
The shield shattered, and the shockwave blasted everyone backward.
"Ahhhhhh...…"