Adriel took the handful of soft, beautiful feathers from his pocket, then activated his ability and held them close to his nose to smell the scent impregnated in them.
With a quick glance, Adriel could see the path marked by the crimson line, which led west, where they had arrived at the lake. Without waiting for Kael to get going, Adriel started running: 'Those guys told me they needed the girls for breeding, so they could be raped.
Out of nowhere, Adriel felt a twinge in his heart. He knew they were in great danger, but he decided to take his time talking and burying Nico. 'Why did I prioritize a dead man? Wait, he wasn't just any dead man, he was my friend. Even so, Liora and Selene are my friends, and Nico's reason for dying was to try to save Liora.
Adriel wanted to destroy his head, sit down, and meditate, but time was ticking dangerously fast.
With so much thinking, Adriel arrived at the Pheasant without remembering the journey, but luckily Kael was following in his footsteps, trying to catch up with him.
One breath in and one breath out later, Adriel calmed down to a certain extent, took out his new katana, and took confident steps to reveal himself to the Pheasant. The girls were on the ground, their arms and legs damaged just enough to make the simple act of walking painful for them.
Adriel put the katana sheath on his waist and rested his hand on the hilt of the katana. "We'll have a duel, little Pheasant." Adriel's confidence and coldness were so palpable that even Kael stayed behind, where no one could see him.
"I guess I have no choice." A malicious smile appeared on the elegant Pheasant's beak.
The Pheasant charged at Adriel without another word. Adriel saw it coming and deflected the katana with a diagonal cut that the Pheasant barely dodged.
Adriel stood his ground, his hands wrapped around the hilt, holding it firmly.
"It's time to put theory into practice. From what I saw, there are three parts to the sword: the tip, the middle, and the part just after the hilt. These three are the weak, medium, and strong parts, respectively."
Adriel knew that keeping his distance against a rapier was suicide, so he put strength into his legs and propelled himself forward, then slammed his katana against the rapier.
With a slight movement of his wrist, he was able to leverage the middle part of his katana against the weak part of the rapier, leaving an opening in the Pheasant's guard.
The moment the opening was created, Adriel lunged at the Pheasant, attempting to deliver a precise cut to the Pheasant's stomach, but the Pheasant was no longer in front of him.
Adriel looked around for his enemy, but found nothing. Soon he felt a breeze and pain on his cheek. The flesh split as if it were jelly.
When he noticed this, Adriel looked up at the sky, realizing that his enemy was gliding through the air.
"He's stupid, the leaves and trees will protect me from his aerial attacks." After that fleeting thought, he began to run like crazy, the pheasant's feathers flying past him and the few that hit him sticking into the hard oak trees.
The pheasant, frustrated, returned to the ground. He calmly surveyed his surroundings. After a few seconds, Adriel propelled himself forward with his skill, trying to cut his stomach again, but the pheasant reacted and kicked him, causing Adriel to fall face down on the ground.
A smile of victory and arrogance appeared on the mouth of the majestic pheasant, who grabbed his rapier and aimed straight for the lungs of the defeated Adriel.
Just as the first thrust was about to reach the boy's flesh, a shield, the throw was not perfect, but it prevented the boy's flesh from being penetrated.
With palpable determination, Adriel firmly grabbed the katana and used all the strength he could muster while on the ground in a slash that amputated both of Faisán's feet, leaving his flesh, bones, and nerves exposed.
The sharp sound of something hitting the ground could be heard; Faisán fell backwards, having completely lost his balance.
"Agggg!!!!!" A guttural scream came from Faisán's beak, a scream that reached the depths of the surrounding forest.
Adriel grabbed his katana with the tip pointing towards the ground. "I'd tell you that I'm going to let you live, but even you know that with legs like that, you won't get far," Adriel said as he approached him.
"Tsk, I know how people are, just admit that you would have killed me anyway," said the Pheasant in a self-deprecating tone.
"Yes, regardless of your condition, I would have killed you. Even if you have a way to heal your feet in a few days, I'm going to kill you." Adriel placed the tip of his katana right where the Pheasant's heart was
"You helped me expect the unexpected in battle. Good night, Pheasant." Adriel plunged his weapon into his heart, stabbing and destroying him.
"Congratulations, you have killed a monster. Pheasant, Phase: Initial. Category: A. You have earned 10 coins."
'The A royals give 10 and the C royals give 5.' That thought flashed through Adriel's mind like a bullet.
When they finished with Pheasant, Kael noticed a status window. "Congratulations, you have obtained a latent class. Name: Protective Squire. Potential: Mythical. Able to obtain 6 skills, both active and passive. Description: The best support in combat."
Upon reading this, joy filtered through Kael's expression, and he didn't hesitate to click yes.
"Your endurance and strength have risen to a superhuman level, your speed, senses, and intelligence have improved slightly, and your agility and dexterity have reached a human limit."
While Kael was happy about his new class, Adriel was checking on the girls. "I can only hit them," thought the boy as he grabbed his katana and stood up.
"I hope your loot is good," thought Adriel, even though a somber tone was reflected in that phrase.
Adriel approached the Pheasant's body and began to cut open its chest, then its rib cage, and finally grabbed the blue sphere that contained his new equipment.
Kael turned to look at Adriel, who was holding the ball in his right hand while leaning on the hilt of the katana stuck in the Pheasant.
'I guess it's better to ignore where this comes from and what's going on. The outcome has nothing to do with me. Kael looked away again. According to his new class, he was a protector, so he went to assist his friends whom Adriel had previously checked on.