'You're gonna have to sit this one out, Bedrock.' Osho spoke to his second beat through their bond.
He felt a bit of reluctance at his words, but thankfully, Bedrock didn't cause a fuss and simply agreed.
Bedrock's defenses were incredible, no doubt about it. However, a gap of three ranks was simply too large for him to overcome effectively. Perhaps he could handle a few attacks, but he still lacked the strength, speed, and experience to properly match up against something like that golden lion.
Moreover, he and Gale were going to get a little... crazy.
As such, Osho decided it was best that he watch from the bench for now.
"Your beast isn't half bad. I can see how you were able to get admitted into this place," Ahmed said calmly. "But you've gotten off more than you can chew."
Hearing this, Osho said nothing. Instead, his hands moved to the two hilts of the short swords sheathed by his waist as he entered a stance.
As soon as he did, he felt a gentle breeze wash over him, and his body became lighter.
Both sides watched each other closely as no one rushed to make the first move, and this continued for well over thirty seconds before something finally happened.
Pretty much at the same time, the golden lion opened its mouth and condensed another golden orb while Gale flicked out one of his wings, and the edges hummed with white light as he prepared an Ozone Blade.
Both attacks flew out at the same time, but Gale's was faster as a large blade of ionized air met with the orb of golden light.
The attacks clashed, and the surrounding air as well as Mana were displaced from the force as both fought for dominance.
However, the power within the golden orb proved to be too much, as the Ozone Blade was dispersed while the orb kept flying. But by then, much of its power had been dispersed.
Gale flicked one wing to the side, and a strong gust of wind sent the attack into a nearby tree, blowing a deep hole into it.
The whole exchange only happened within a few seconds, but it seemed like, for now, the golden lion came out on top in strength.
It's clear that they were only testing the waters, though.
'He's pretty meticulous despite his looks. But I shouldn't be surprised, he managed to reach the Expert Rank, after all.' Osho mused as he watched Ahmed, who in turn, observed him.
'You can handle it, right?' Osho asked Gale who snorted.
'Of course I can. You should be the one worried about whether you can handle your side.' Gale replied confidently.
'Fair enough.' Osho sighed.
Initially, he wanted to discuss some elaborate strategy with Gale, and while he still had a plan in mind, he realized something.
He kept saying he wanted Gale to act more freely according to his nature. As such, now was the chance to let him do so.
He'd let the bird fight how he wanted with only a few basic orders.
Such a notion might seem insane, especially with the rank gap. But Osho trusted Gale.
'Now, let's begin.' As soon as Osho said that, Gale let out a screech as a horizontal funnel of wind appeared around Osho, and he felt the wind push him from behind, but he didn't resist and simply braced his body as he was propelled forward like a cannonball, aimed straight at Ahmed. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ noᴠelfire.net
The sudden action seemed to have caught him off-guard, and his lion moved to intercept Osho, but a figure appeared in front of it and blasted the lion back with a powerful gust of wind.
Shortly after, Osho reached Ahmed who had already raised his weapons which were a pair of metal bracers that glowed with golden light.
Despite his initial surprise, Ahmed was still able to read the situation calmly as his fist was already descending on Osho when he reached him. But at that point, Osho had drawn his short swords, and one of them swung in an arc towards the side of Ahmed's fist.
The blade hit his armored arm, and while it didn't cause any damage, it was enough to throw his fist off course.
The wind from the attack blew past Osho, but he wasn't bothered as he stabbed his second short sword towards Ahmed's stomach.
In response, Ahmed placed his free hand in front of the blade's tip.
Without missing a beat, Osho let go of his sword but maintained his momentum. As such, the blade hit Ahmed's open palm harmlessly.
At the same time, Osho used the momentum to roll his body as Mana moved into his leg in a specific pattern. It surged and increased in density before suddenly collapsing, and at the same moment, his leg collided with Ahmed's side.
'Neutron Style: Collapse.'
A muffled 'bang' sounded out as his leg struck Ahmed, and the latter's eyes widened as he felt like something had detonated in his body, almost completely bypassing his armor as he staggered back, blood bubbling within his throat.
Despite this, though, he didn't stagger or panic as he stomped the ground. A wave of golden light erupted forth, making Osho do a backhand spring to retreat, and further cover himself with a barrier of wind to shave off the remaining damage.
In the process, he used his magic to pull back his fallen sword into his grasp, and he tapped his leg against the ground twice to stop the faint shaking.
'He's sturdy.' Osho noted.
That attack he used just now, Collapse, more or less mimicked the collapse of a Neutron Star, and it focused a lot on internal damage as one's mana would become unstable and detonate within the opponent.
The instability was to begin from the one using the attack, making it difficult to defend against the invading Mana even if you knew it was coming.
At similar levels, it was a devastating move that would instantly rupture the internals of anyone who got hit by it, killing them in moments. But from what he could see, Ahmed only had some tame internal bleeding which he could stem with his Mana.
As he had this thought, a loud explosion erupted some ways to the side as a golden sphere expanded and engulfed everything in the vicinity.
The two Tamers immediately moved away from the destructive battle of their beasts to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, which was smart as a moment later, dozens of lightning bombs rained down on a certain spot, creating massive craters and electrifying anything in their range.
This just served as a reminder of the gap between beasts and beast tamers, and the rule that, at least in terms of raw power and stats, a beast tamer could never be stronger than their beast at the same level.
Osho and Ahmed weren't thinking about things they already knew, though.
Instead, Ahmed exhaled before clenching his fist, and golden light covered it as the surrounding Mana was pulled into it.
Osho felt his hair stand on end, and without hesitation, he ducked.
As soon as he did, a beam of light passed over his head and went into a tree not far behind him. The attack dug deep into the bark of the tree, moreover, despite dodging, Osho could feel the heat searing at his armor.
Regardless, he simply poured Mana into his legs and dashed forward.
Ahmed was prepared to meet him as his golden aura surged, and an oppressive heat emanated from his body, forcing Osho to layer his body with Mana to prevent himself from getting cooked alive.
The two of them immediately started to go at it. Ahmed had the advantage in power as each of his strikes carried enough force to tear down large structures, and Osho was certain that he couldn't tank any direct hits.
In comparison, Osho was faster and more agile, despite each dodge being close, he was still avoiding each of Ahmed's attacks with an uncanny precision, twisting and weaving his body in strange ways that made him resemble a slippery eel.
He occasionally sent out an attack of his own, but Ahmed's defenses were nothing to scoff at, and it seemed like Osho would need to land an attack similar to Collapse to deal tangible damage.
Ahmed knew this, which is why he prevented Osho from doing just that by using a lot of attack that came from the ground, forcing Osho to constantly dance around with his feet so he couldn't kick with them.
From an outsider's POV, it seemed like there wasn't much Osho could do, and it would only be a matter of time before he ran out of Mana due to constantly defending from Ahmed's aura.
Ahmed thought the same way, as such, he never let up on the pressure as he waited for Osho to burn himself out.
"Fuu~." Suddenly Osho let out a turbulent breath, and Ahmed frowned as he sent forth another punch. However...
'Quasar Style: I Form.' Osho's blade suddenly flickered, and for a moment, it looked like several overlapping slashes fused into one as he sent it upwards at a speed incomparable to before.
It flashed past Ahmed's arm, and there was a brief silence before blood spurted powerfully from the wound.