"These Dragon Tooth Soldiers, let me, Poltus, handle them!" Among the Argonaut heroes, a burly giant of a man stepped forward first.
Poltus hailed from Athens, the noble son of Teleon. He was inherently bellicose, joining the ranks of the Argonaut heroes precisely in pursuit of adventure and battle.
Unskilled in hand-to-hand combat, Poltus hadn't participated in yesterday's trial against the "divine bulls," but now, armed and facing the Dragon Tooth Soldiers, it was a different story altogether.
How could he pass up the exquisite thrill of slaughtering these Dragon Tooth Soldiers to someone else?
Seeing him seize the initiative, several other heroes who had hoped to claim this fight could only retreat to the line with regret.
"Watch closely, Captain," Poltus thumped his chest, brimming with confidence as he addressed Jason. "I'll bring you the victory myself!"
However, Jason couldn't help but furrow his brow.
After learning about Colchis's background and Mystra Academy, he no longer dared to underestimate this nation, let alone belittle this trial.
Seeing Poltus so self-assured, Jason felt a twinge of worry.
"Um... you should still be careful," he advised. "I think these Dragon Tooth Soldiers might be far from simple."
But Poltus didn't believe a word of Jason's warning, perhaps because Jason himself wasn't particularly strong, lacking credibility in such matters.
"What do you mean, not simple? You're overthinking it, Captain. A mere hundred fodder troops, watch how I sweep them aside."
With that, he donned his armor, shield in one hand and sword in the other, striding onto the battlefield.
Opposite him stood a hundred Dragon Tooth Soldiers, all seemingly carved from the same mold.
Their only distinctions lay in the weapons they wielded.
Some held bows and arrows, others swords and shields, and still others long spears. Though similar in appearance, they were clearly different troop types.
Observing how these varied units arrayed themselves in formation, coordinating divisions of labor, each fulfilling their role, Poltus finally grew serious.
"To have such division of roles, it seems you're not those foolish puppets after all," Poltus positioned himself at one end of the field, raising his round shield before him and crouching low.
"But for me, Poltus, you're still far from enough!"
With those words, he charged toward the Dragon Tooth Soldiers in that very stance.
On the other side, the Dragon Tooth Soldiers reacted immediately.
The archers among them stood at the forefront, drawing their bows and loosing arrows at the lone Argonaut hero with swift "whooshes."
As the arrows flew, the watching Argonaut heroes gasped in surprise.
The speed and force of the shots exceeded their expectations.
"These aren't arrows that ordinary humans could loose," Atalanta, the hero most skilled with the bow, immediately judged aloud.
"To shoot arrows like that... these Dragon Tooth Soldiers are far stronger than we imagined. Poltus is in danger."
On the battlefield, Poltus made the same assessment facing those arrows, but he didn't retreat because of it.
On the contrary, his fighting spirit surged even higher.
"Opponents like these... they're truly strong. But let's have a proper clash!"
Confronted with the meteor-like barrage of arrows, the charging Poltus suddenly leaped like a fish, then rolled forward on the ground.
With a series of "whoosh!" sounds, dozens of arrows embedded themselves where he had just been.
Yet the Dragon Tooth archers didn't stop; they continued drawing and firing, sending deadly shafts toward Poltus without pause.
Alas, though Poltus was war-loving, he was indeed a battle-hardened warrior.
His agile form leaped and rolled across the field, nimbly dodging arrow after arrow from the Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
When evasion proved impossible, he blocked them one by one with his shield.
Though the Dragon Tooth Soldiers' arrows were tremendously heavy, with his strength and skill, they couldn't touch him.
Soon, Poltus closed in on the Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
The archers retreated en masse, and in their place, the sword-and-shield bearers and spear wielders formed interlocking lines to block the way.
The shield bearers held their shields forward for defense, while the spearmen leveled their weapons, thrusting spears through the gaps in the shields.
Dozens of razor-sharp spear tips aimed at Poltus, like the deadly fangs of death itself, as if eager to devour him.
Yet the presence of these melee troops didn't halt Poltus's advance; instead, it spurred him to quicken his pace.
The spearmen thrust their weapons at Poltus in response.
Just as the two sides were about to clash, Poltus abruptly veered his steps, evading the enemy's front line, then crouched low, channeling his full weight into his left-hand shield.
He tilted the shield slightly upward while pressing it into the gaps between the spears.
Poltus's shield was round, but its surface wasn't flat, instead, it was a smooth spherical curve.
This design meant that with sufficient skill, a mere tilt of the shield could deflect direct attacks sliding off its surface.
Using such techniques to parry arrows and spear or sword thrusts often achieved the effect of redirecting immense force with minimal effort, but it demanded exceptional skill and experience from the shield wielder.
This was precisely the technique he employed now.
Having already tested the Dragon Tooth Soldiers' strength by blocking their arrows, Poltus knew that while they fell short of him individually, they weren't to be underestimated, two or three combined could match his might in a contest of power.
That's why he had to do this.
And the effect of this move was remarkably evident.
With Poltus's full bodily force plus the momentum of his charge, all the thrust spears were either dodged or deflected by the shield.
He barreled straight into the Dragon Tooth Soldiers' ranks, using the shield as his battering ram.
"Thud, "
Shield clashed against shield with a piercing clang, and the struck Dragon Tooth Soldier staggered back several steps, in raw strength, they were far inferior to Poltus and the other heroes.
But that was as far as it went.
For the Dragon Tooth Soldiers were not alone.
They numbered a full hundred, arrayed in a military formation.
Their combined might halted Poltus's charging shield bash, thwarting his plan to disrupt their lines in one fell swoop.
Now Poltus was in a bind.
He knew full well that individually, these Dragon Tooth Soldiers were no match for him, but their greatest strength lay in their disciplined formation.
Only by throwing them into chaos could he create opportunities for slaughter.
That's why he had recklessly committed to a full-powered shield strike, to shatter their formation with the force of his impact.
Then he could wreak havoc among them.
Alas, his plan had failed now, the Dragon Tooth Soldiers' lines remained impeccably tight, and it was Poltus who found himself on the defensive instead.
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