This monster fell from the sky, with a tail in the shape of a scorpion, and a body exactly like that of a lion, but with a pair of bat wings.

Just as Todd lamented the wonder of the creatures, the manticore took the lead.

The bat wings fanned a gust of wind on the ground, and the monster took advantage of the wind to kick the ground with four claws, turning from static to static, and the speed of the forward swoop reached the maximum instantly.

Todd was taken aback by the rapid attack, and without sufficient mental preparation, he rolled on his right hand on the ground and dodged the attack in an embarrassed way.

"Concentrate! Keep your attention on your opponent!" Meredith kicked his feet on the ground, his body like a light bird, and flew to the top of the high stone pillar, looking at the battle below.

Todd adjusted his balance, put away his academic distractions, and looked at the manticore in front of him, metal scales slowly appearing on the skin of his right hand.

The manticore looked at the rising black flame on the opponent's right arm, and didn't know what to remember, his footsteps stopped in place, his body was close to the ground, and he put on a posture ready to attack.

Seeing that the other party had no intention of attacking first, Todd gritted his teeth, rushed forward with an arrow, and swung out his right claw after accumulating power.

Looking at this rusty action comparable to a street fight, Meredith let out a helpless lament while covering her face with her hands.

Sure enough, Todd's blow was too strong, and the action before using it was too obvious. The manticore easily jumped sideways, dodged the attack, and then stood up again, taking advantage of the opponent's lack of time to retract, leaving three deep scars on his body with his lion's claws.

Meredith sat on the pedestal, dangling his white calves, and taunted with all his might: "Newcomer, have you never fought before?! I bet the drunks in the fishing village are better at fighting than you!"

Todd touched the scar next to his ribs and smiled bitterly, although the ability of "regeneration" made the skin and muscle tissue heal quickly, but the self-esteem in his heart was greatly damaged.

When he was in the Kingdom of Twilight, he sat on a throne, and he had to participate in real battles except for the symbolic sword on his shoulder. Even Cumberland's daily request for his martial arts training was only perfunctory.

But now is not the time to sigh about that.

The manticore made a successful move and followed up with another charge, only this time the target was Todd's head.

The short dodged the attack, and Todd took a few steps back in a panic.

Meredith shouted anxiously, "Watch your step!

The fight lasted two minutes, and the manticore left no less than ten wounds on Todd's body, large and small. If it weren't for the increase in physical strength, as well as the help of the "Metal Skin" and "Regeneration" abilities, Todd would have died ten times by now.

Skaha's training with Cúchulainn came to an end, and the two turned their attention to the new entrants' battle.

Cú Chulainn, who was covered in bruises, walked to the bottom of the stone pillar, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth carelessly, and raised his head with a smile and shouted, "This guy really passed the 'strength' test?" Are you sure?"

Meredith used a crow feather as a dagger and threw it at the top of Cúchulainn's head, shouting angrily, "If you run into that opponent in his 'Strength' trial, even you will be defeated." ”

"What?!" Cú Chulainn caught the crow feather, folded it in two, and raised his head proudly and shouted, "There must be a limit to lie......s!

With a flick of his fingers, a round pebble flew into the air and smashed on the back of Cúchulainn's head, shattering in half: "Shut up and watch well!"

Cú Chulainn grinned, rubbed his head desperately, looked at his master, and asked puzzledly, "What are you looking at?"

"Look at how he learns to fight......" With that, Skaha remained silent, watching Todd's movements intently.

After the initial one-sided beatings, Todd was hit less and less often, and even occasionally launched a counterattack or two.

The body transformed by the mutation, whether it is attack power, physical endurance, agility or reaction speed, has far surpassed ordinary people, which gives him infinite trial and error possibilities in battle, the only thing he lacks is combat experience and opponent information.

As the battle progresses, Todd gradually recalls the experience of playing the game in his previous life.

Whenever you play hardcore action games such as "Bloodborne" and "Dark Souls", facing the boss, it is often an infinite death and running corpse at the beginning, and after adapting to the enemy's attack routine, the battle will become as simple as drinking water.

The same is true for the Manticore's opponent, this monster's attack is nothing more than four ways: scorpion tail, claw strike, collision and bite. And the expansion range of the opponent's tail, as well as the extension length of the limbs, have a certain upper limit. Taking into account factors such as the opponent's speed, attack habits, and battlefield terrain, you can roughly calculate the range and order of the opponent's attacks, and predict a concept often used in action games - Safe Zone.

Twenty minutes into the battle, everyone present saw a strange situation.

Although Todd was never hit by the manticore again, he had no intention of killing him. In battle, he can always dodge every attack of the enemy, and imitate the opponent's attack bit by bit.

To outsiders, it is not so much a life-and-death battle as it is more like an "alternative pas de deux".

One man and one beast, advancing and retreating, sliding in circles.

It's just that compared to Todd, the calm "lead dancer", his dance partner seems a little impatient.

After a series of actions such as rage, roaring, biting, rolling, and running to no avail, the manticore completely collapsed.

It knelt on all fours, its tongue sticking out and panting, its eyes no longer filled with despair and sorrow.

Meredith jumped off the stone pillar and looked at Todd with a look of joy that she said, "You won." ”

Cú Chulainn glanced at the half-dead manticore on the ground, and muttered, "Of course such an opponent will win." ”

Todd sat cross-legged in front of the manticore, looked at the monster that was no longer crazy, and laughed.

Meredith came up behind Todd and said, "Give it a good time, it's the power of the victor." ”

Standing not far away, Cúchulainn also cried out at this time: "That's right, tear its throat, tear off its head! Blood! Wail! This is the meaning of battle!"

The manticore leaned its chin on the dirt and closed its eyes quietly, like a traveler who has seen the end of his life, accepting his fate with peace of mind.

Patting the dust on his buttocks, Todd looked at the monster at his feet, his smile still on his face: "Let's go, get out of here." ”

The decision to abandon the execution of the loser made the other three people present stunned.

Meredith stammered, "Let it go, you're not kidding, are you?"

Compared to her questioning, Cú Chulainn showed anger: "The execution of the defeated by the victor is a tradition in the North for thousands of years! If a battle is not sacrificed without the blood and life of the loser!

Ignoring the attitude of others, Todd lowered his body, pointed to the sky in the distance, and said again to the manticore, "Let's go, return to the sky, the battle between us is over." ”

The monster slowly opened its eyes, watched Todd's movements, and listened to his words, an inexplicable emotion slowly appeared in his eyes.

Seeing that the manticore still didn't move, Todd stepped forward, intending to pat the other man's head and tell him to leave as soon as possible.

The moment the palm of his hand touched the lion's head, Todd's consciousness suddenly automatically entered the 'soul space'.

Looking at the turquoise water around his body, Todd said in disbelief, "What's going on?!I didn't activate the soul space!"

A small mountain-like figure slowly swam from the pitch-black ocean floor below Todd, and a huge eye opened...... Stare...... Closed.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the whole process was just a second of Todd's stunned. But only he knows what has just happened.

Todd, who returned to reality, looked at the manticore flying farther and farther in the air, and his back was drenched in cold sweat. His consciousness has just been pulled into the "soul space" of other creatures!

Ignoring Meredith's blockade, Cúchulyn walked up to Todd and roared, "Do you know what you just did?!"

The latter shrugged: "I'm not used to wielding a butcher's knife at an enemy who has given up resistance. ”

After a pause, Todd added lightly: "Doing that makes me feel unaccomplished." ”

"What did you say?!" Cú Chulainn's face flushed, and he rolled up his sleeves as he saw that he was about to fight Todd.

A twisted vine, like a living snake, crawled up to Cú Chulainn's body, and tied his hands and feet.

Skaha tossed the branch in his hand, leaving the three of them walking straight to the temple. When she left, she left behind the following words: "The winner has his own reasons." ”

Seeing that Todd and Meredith were also about to leave, Cú Chulainn, who was tied up and sturdy and fell to the ground and could not move, shouted anxiously: "The one who breaks the tradition is the new guy." I didn't make a mistake!Why do you tie me up?!"