Fifteen Against One (Physically)

Chapter 16 15. A Physical Confrontation

Hidden in the grass, Mordas's eyes were filled with vigilance.

As a hunter of the Fleshfang tribe, Mordas's physique was considered extremely robust even among his own kind. The Fleshfangs, products of interbreeding between humans and Vastaya Shuray, possessed characteristics of both parents.

In this regard, the Vastaya people of the Fleshfang tribe were like lions in battle, their bodies covered in dense, strong, and smooth fur.

With muscle strength several times that of humans, their power far surpassed that of ordinary people from birth. Their light yet hard bone structure allowed them to move as swiftly as felines, darting freely through the branches of trees.

Compared to the usual two-meter height of his tribesmen, Mordas stood nearly two and a half meters tall—

This was even with the Fleshfang tribe's naturally feline arched spine.

Such physical advantages had given Mordas a significant edge in past hunts. Even when facing Sharpmane Beasts several times his size, Mordas could complete a hunt in a short period by skillfully combining traps, pitfalls, flying daggers, and sharp blades.

But now, in the figure of the human leaning against the tree, Mordas felt a strong sense of crisis.

Mordas didn't know where this sense of crisis came from. He only knew that with the other party's words, an instinctive alertness made him feel like a thorn in his back—in fact, the fur on his back had bristled, but it was concealed by his light leather armor.

"Why so vigilant?"

A deliberately lowered voice came from the side. A slightly immature Fleshfang bared his teeth and licked his lips. Looking in the direction where Yuan Chen was lying, he said with a gaze full of fighting spirit:

"Just a human warrior. We are the most outstanding hunters of the Fleshfang tribe!"

"Don't waste time here! The old folks in the tribe won't wait for us to collect enough valuable prey! Let's beat him up now!" the young Fleshfang said.

"Maybe we can get some secret information!"

Upon hearing this, Mordas merely glanced coldly at the Fleshfang beside him—

As rising stars of the Fleshfang tribe, it was extremely difficult for them to compete for the position of chieftain. This was because the Fleshfang tribe measured a tribesman's worth by their prey and spoils of war.

But in terms of the quantity of spoils and prey alone, these youngsters combined might not have as much as a single old Fleshfang.

Therefore, to stand out, they had to obtain prey heads of sufficient value and weight.

For example, an Elemental Drake.

"Have you forgotten the lesson that woman taught you, Nakrol?"

Hearing Mordas's words, the Fleshfang named Nakrol opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he just gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "That was an accident! Who knew that woman could turn into a Cougar?"

"He has that woman's scent on him."

"Huh?!"

Hearing Mordas's words, the young Fleshfang hunter let out a sound of uncertain surprise.

Sniffing the air, Mordas said, "It's the smell of blood, hmm, and herbs... not necessarily dead, but at least severely injured."

Hearing this, a flicker of excitement flashed in Nakrol's eyes. He couldn't help but say, "That's perfect! Let me defeat him!"

As the words fell, before Mordas could say anything else, the young Meat-toothed Beast named Nakrol tensed his beast-like, backward-jointed hind legs.

With the contraction of power, his strong hind legs were like a spring compressed to its limit. With an instantaneous release, the brewing power caused the Meat-toothed Beast to launch forward like a projectile.

What went fast came back faster. The Meat-toothed Beasts hidden in the grass only saw Nakrol shoot out with a whoosh, and then with a bang, he was blasted back by a surge of water cannon at twice the speed.

He crashed into a nearby tree with a clang. Even with the skeletal structure of a Meat-toothed Beast, Nakrol felt dizzy and disoriented from the powerful impact. He lay on the ground, unable to even crawl.

The man who had been resting stood up, turned his head, and looked towards Mordas, who was hidden in the grass—or rather, he looked in the direction Nakrol was blasted from, revealing a handsome face, fair and smooth, completely different from the Ixialians.

"So annoying. I can't even lie down for a bit without someone ambushing me. Don't they even know their own level? A level four Pantheon fighting a level six Kha'Zix, right?"

Hearing Yuan Chen's words, Mordas felt confused. After a moment of silence, he still stood up from the dense forest and looked at Yuan Chen, saying, "I am a hunter of the Meat-toothed Beasts. You entered our hunting camp first."

"I didn't know when creatures like the Meat-toothed Beasts, who prefer dry environments, decided to settle in a rainforest."

Saying this, Yuan Chen looked at Mordas with a resolute gaze. "My purpose here is to drive away the beasts that have been attacking the village's livestock. You guys must be the culprits, right?"

Hearing Yuan Chen's words, Mordas narrowed his eyes and remained silent for a moment. As Mordas remained silent, in the distance, hearing the commotion, over ten Meat-toothed Beasts gradually arrived from the nearby hunting camp, surrounding Yuan Chen with hostile gazes.

After a long silence, Mordas shook his head and took a bag of money from his backpack, throwing it onto the grass in front of Yuan Chen.

"We are also conducting a hunting trial. Perhaps we accidentally injured some of them while preparing dried meat... This money should be enough to buy those rock sheep."

Glancing at the money bag in front of him, a look of surprise appeared in Yuan Chen's eyes. He then shrugged and said, "Giving money? I thought Meat-toothed Beasts were all barbarians..."

"We are merely hunters who revere the wild, not beasts incapable of civilization." Mordas shrugged and continued, "Just like you humans have poachers and scum, don't you? I've given you the money. Take it and leave. Tell those humans in the village to stay away from here, or we won't be responsible if they fall into a trap."

He paused and added, "If you have any extra rations or iron tools, we would welcome you here for trade."

Although Meat-toothed Beasts rarely interacted with human civilization, they would trade for items like spices and iron tools for better survival. Leather merchants also enjoyed trading with Meat-toothed Beasts because their prey was usually more valuable, and their hunting skills were generally superior to human hunters. The fewer scars on the prey, the higher the value of the tanned leather. Coupled with the rarity of some beasts, transporting them to the city-states of Valoran could yield substantial trade profits.

Of course, being willing to trade with humans did not mean that Meat-toothed Beasts were all benevolent. As it happened, upon hearing Mordas's decision, before Yuan Chen could say anything, several Meat-toothed Beasts immediately let out dissatisfied grunts.

But it was clear that Mordas had considerable prestige, so these Meat-toothed Beasts only grunted and did not openly object. This surprised Yuan Chen.

However, surprise was a matter for later. Looking at Mordas, Yuan Chen said resolutely, "My target is also an Elemental Drake."

Even though Yuan Chen had guessed that Yuan Chen would say something astonishing, Mordas was still stunned in place for a moment when he actually heard Yuan Chen's words.

A moment later, a loud voice rang out from the side, followed by a Fleshfang Hunter of similar stature, almost as tall as Mordas, pushing through the crowd from outside. He came before Yuan Chen and said with contempt in his eyes:

"You? You want to hunt dragons? Stop joking, dragons won't go easy on you just because your skin is fair!"

The tall Fleshfang Hunter came up to Yuan Chen, pointing at Yuan Chen's chest and looking down at him, saying, "You weak, effeminate pretty boy, go back to your village and drink milk!"

Yuan Chen shook his head helplessly at this, then turned his head to look at Mordas not far away: "Your subordinate isn't listening. I'll teach him a lesson."

Hearing this, Mordas raised an eyebrow, then nodded, but did not speak or stop him—

On one hand, this team was composed of rising stars from the tribe. Not to mention looking down on each other, they all believed themselves to be the strongest. The only reason they obeyed him was because of a common goal.

This kind of reckless behavior was not the first time it had appeared along the way. And the human in front of him had clearly guessed this...

If he could help teach him a lesson, that would be good.

Also, he could take this opportunity to see the strength of this human... After all, his opponent was an Elemental Drake, and on its home turf in Ixialia's Dense Forest, even with preparations, his chances of success were less than thirty percent.

Having confirmed his guess, a hint of ease and indulgence appeared on Yuan Chen's face.

Then, before the Fleshfang Hunter in front of him could react, Yuan Chen suddenly threw a punch, hitting him squarely in the lower abdomen. Although he was wearing tough leather armor, it seemed to have no effect at all.

The heavy impact traveled along his arm into his abdominal cavity. Without the protection of bones, the surging force instantly churned his abdominal organs.

He instinctively lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of churning sour liquid, but Yuan Chen didn't stop there. Instead, he grabbed the fur on the Fleshfang Hunter's jaw and performed a powerful over-the-shoulder throw in the direction he was bowing.

With a bang! sound, the Fleshfang Hunter's skull hit the ground head-on. He immediately rolled his eyes and fainted.

Completely caught off guard by Yuan Chen's sudden outburst, the surrounding Fleshfang Hunters didn't even react for a moment.

Just as they realized what had happened and wanted to rush forward to tear apart this reckless human to avenge their companion, Yuan Chen, standing in the center, simply tore off his leather armor, revealing his muscular and smooth upper body.

Even without the tough hide and mane of the Fleshfang Hunters, the continuous muscles made the Fleshfang Hunters squint their eyes in that instant. Muscular, powerful, but not bloated.

His streamlined physique made the Fleshfang Hunters certain that this human in front of them was not just for show.

He had been in a deathmatch with Nedeli just two days ago. Although Yuan Chen's injuries had healed under Oshirresh's blessing, the scars on his skin had not disappeared.

Scars of various sizes, torn by Lion Claws, were all over his body, and his right arm was entirely dark red, like a burn. These scars did not detract from Yuan Chen's imposing presence; instead, they added a fierce aura to his original demeanor.

And the surging blood energy beneath his skin, like a surging tide, was like a volcano poised to erupt, or like a suppressed beast, as if it could tear someone's throat apart at any moment.

"I know strength is respected here."

Yuan Chen shook his neck, doing some light jumps and stretches, and said, "So I won't waste words... Are you coming at me all at once, or one by one? Hunters of the Fleshfang tribe, you shouldn't be weaker than me, a scrawny pretty boy, right?"

"Use your fists, don't be like a chattering little faggot who only knows how to use his mouth!"

Hearing Yuan Chen's simple and straightforward words, the surrounding Fleshfang Beasts surprisingly didn't charge forward in a rage. Instead, they froze and exchanged glances. After a moment, a tall Fleshfang Beast couldn't help but let out a laugh:

"Ha! What a bold fellow! I'll face you!"

It leaped from the crowd and stood before Yuan Chen. The strong Fleshfang Beast also tore off its leather armor and hunting knife. Its sturdy upper body was bare, and even the thick mane couldn't conceal the contours of its powerful muscles.

Staring at Yuan Chen, this Fleshfang Beast wasn't as savage and contemptuous as the previous one. On the contrary, its eyes were filled with surging fighting spirit:

"I won't take advantage of you! But I won't hold back either! This will be a glorious hunt!!"

"It's not glorious, just a small test of skill."

Yuan Chen merely chuckled, then stretched his shoulders and charged towards his opponent amidst the cheers of the encircling Fleshfang Beasts.

This truly wasn't glorious, because in Yuan Chen's Scout Skill, the general level of these Fleshfang Beasts was only three to four. They had skill, certainly, but facing a Level Six Master like Yuan Chen...

Even though a Dancer's close-combat ability isn't as direct and tough as a Warrior's, Monk's, or Fighter's, under the dual suppression of strength and technique, Yuan Chen could beat them like he was beating his own sons!

Top laner God-like Dao Mei solo kills a disconnected Rengar, even without brush. Just auto-attacking to stack passive can kill you alive! No need for Conqueror! Let alone one Rengar, even if Top, Mid, and Jungle came together, if I get in the zone, I'll take them all down one by one!

One, two, three—in less than fifteen minutes, three strong and robust Fleshfang Hunters were defeated and knocked unconscious by Yuan Chen right before everyone's eyes. From initial astonishment, by the end, even the Fleshfang Beasts had started cheering for Yuan Chen!