Sparring

"Come on, it's rare for an outsider to show up, and one who could even injure a Demon Race member. Don't worry so much."

"But Rhode is still injured."

"It's fine, Norn," Rhode said. "I'm actually a little stronger than you imagine. These minor injuries are nothing."

"Oh? Big talk!" Erik raised a brow. "Perfect. Let me test that."

Seeing that Rhode had said so himself, Norn had no choice but to give up on stopping them.

He stepped back several paces to make room for them to fight, but still reminded him, "Erik, watch yourself."

"Don't worry. Quit nagging. What are you, my mother?"

Erik's words made Norn's brow twitch. He wanted to rush over and punch the guy twice, but he restrained himself.

Meanwhile, Rhode secretly thought that those words were better directed at him.

After all, if he failed to hold back, Erik would probably turn into a pincushion.

Plant Magic would be better after all.

"Come on!" Erik somehow produced a wooden stick and assumed a fighting stance.

He was the tribe's strongest warrior. Even Norn was inferior to him in certain aspects. It was just that Norn fought more cunningly, and if Erik let his guard down even slightly, he would fall into Norn's traps.

As a result, even though Erik was somewhat stronger than Norn in raw strength, he still lost more often than he won whenever they sparred.

It left Erik thoroughly frustrated.

Faced with Erik's poised stance, Rhode smiled faintly and gently raised his right hand. Magic power began to surge around him.

From afar, Norn keenly sensed that Rhode's aura had changed and immediately shouted, "Watch out!"

"I know! I'll hold back."

Erik replied impatiently as he charged toward Rhode like a cheetah.

"This idiot!"

Norn cursed under his breath. His warning had been meant for Erik, yet that fool had mistaken it for a warning to Rhode.

Erik was incredibly fast. His wooden stick tore through the air as it struck straight at Rhode's abdomen, only to stop abruptly one meter away from him.

It was not because Erik had held back. His attack had been forcibly stopped.

"What!?"

Erik looked down and discovered that vines had somehow wrapped around his feet. Those vines had completely prevented him from moving forward.

Pale green magic power flowed slowly around Rhode's fingertips. It was obvious that Rhode was actually a mage!

At the same time, the vines climbed rapidly up Erik's legs like living creatures. He tried to struggle, but the more he struggled, the tighter they became.

"Magic!?"

Norn's eyes widened as he stared at the scene before him in disbelief.

He had never expected this outsider to be a mage.

How had he done that!?

Rhode conjured a Magic Circle, and even more vines burst from the ground, wrapping tightly around Erik's body.

"Well? Do you surrender?"

Erik's face flushed red. "Why didn't you tell me earlier that you were a mage?"

"Huh? Didn't I? I guess I forgot."

Rhode chuckled, wearing an expression that was somewhat asking to be punched. At least, Erik really wanted to punch him right now.

"I won't surrender that easily!"

He suddenly roared. No longer holding anything back, he unleashed all of his strength and forcibly tore apart the vines around him.

Rhode quickly retreated to keep his distance. Erik's physical strength surprised him somewhat.

Freed from the vines, Erik charged at Rhode again. This time, he was completely serious and used all of his strength.

Rhode continued retreating, trying to widen the distance between them. At the same time, he released vines in an attempt to bind Erik once more.

However, Erik, who had already been on guard, dodged them.

"He's so fast!" Rhode was secretly shocked.

His vines burst from the ground in an instant, yet Erik had still managed to evade them.

"Then can you dodge this?"

With a wave of Rhode's hand, dozens of weakened Light Arrows appeared in the air and shot toward Erik the next second.

The sheer number of Light Arrows made Erik's scalp tingle. He was forced to halt his attack and throw himself into dodging them with all his might.

"Hey! I'm your lifesaver!"

After barely dodging all the Light Arrows, Erik hurriedly shouted.

"I know. That's why I weakened them. Still, getting hit would hurt a lot," Rhode replied with a smile.

Was this how Serie and Som had felt when they sparred?

A noble mage beating up a backward warrior savage.

This feeling was simply incredible!

Meanwhile, Erik, standing opposite him, was having a miserable time.

"And you told me to hold back!" He turned toward Norn, who was watching from the side. "Tell me, how am I supposed to fight this!?"

Norn spread his hands, indicating that he had no idea either.

They had only heard of mages, but had never fought one before. They had no combat experience against them whatsoever.

More importantly, he had never expected Rhode to be a mage. No wonder Rhode had escaped the Demon Race's pursuit and had even severely injured one of them.

"Damn it, I'm going for it!"

Erik roared and charged at Rhode again with great strides.

Rhode had already said he would not kill him, so Erik might as well go all out.

Watching Erik's speed surge once more, Rhode repeated his earlier tactic and unleashed another Arrow Rain to block him.

This time, Erik did not retreat. After dodging some of the Light Arrows, he swung his wooden stick and knocked down all the ones he could not avoid.

Once he had knocked down every Light Arrow, he immediately rushed toward Rhode during the brief opening after Rhode had just cast his spell.

The only way to break through against a mage was to close the distance.

That was what Mr. Kraft had once taught them.

However, he had clearly underestimated Rhode—or rather, Rhode's magic.

Facing Erik's charge, Rhode neither dodged nor retreated. A casual Defense Magic barrier blocked Erik's attack.

"What the—!" Erik became anxious. "Isn't that way too shameless?"

He voiced the exact same sentiment Som once had.

Mages truly were a very shameless existence.

Rhode did not reply. He merely released another Arrow Rain, surrounding Erik in a ring without firing it.

Erik immediately froze in place, cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

At this distance, he absolutely could not dodge the Light Arrows. And with so many of them, getting hit would hurt badly.

He forced out a smile. "Rh-Rhode, you're not really going to fire those Light Arrows, right?"

"That depends on whether you surrender."

"I-I surrender."

As soon as he spoke, the barrier and Light Arrows dissolved into specks of light.

Seeing the dejected Erik, Rhode walked over and comforted him. "You're very strong. You just lack experience fighting mages."