“You’re that confident, huh?” Listening to Faulus praise Hal for his superb ability in combat, Valyr could not stop an amused smirk from creeping up onto his lips. “You really think he can’t be beaten?”

“I just said I feel like he can’t be beaten, not that he couldn’t be beaten,” clarified Faulus in response. “After all, we don’t know when some prodigy with a level of talent far monstrous than Hal’s would appear in the world of Veldanyr.”

“But what if that prodigy has already appeared?” asked Valyr, a knowing smile adorning his face.

“If they did, then their name should’ve been known by now…” Raising his eyebrow as he looked at Faulus in confusion, the gears in the young man’s mind turned as he wondered which person Valyr was talking about. Fortunately, it did not take too long for a couple of things to click in his mind as he looked back at the man beside him.

“Are you seriously talking about yourself?” Narrowing his eyes as he dropped the question, Faulus let out a low sigh after Valyr grinned in response. “You may have beaten me in magic combat, but are you sure you could stand toe to toe with Hal in a battle using magic?”

“No clue.” Valyr chuckled as he faintly shrugged, causing Faulus to let out yet another sigh.

“Then, where are you getting all that confidence from?” asked Faulus soon after.

“Well… let’s just say I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve and leave it at that.” Responding to Faulus’ question with a faintly mysterious smile, Valyr returned his attention back to the fight happening within the crater.

“Would it really hurt you to tell me?” Seeing as the young man beside him did not plan on elaborating what he meant by his words, Faulus shook his head as he soon returned his attention to the fight in the crater as well, thinking that he would eventually find out once the time came.

…

Whoosh!

“Ephemeral Flora Summoning Arts!” Slamming both of her hands to the ground, Loreina swiftly infused a great amount of her mana into the earth below them, causing her immediate surroundings to transform as a layer of greenery appeared on what was previously barren land.

Not long after, this layer of greenery rapidly grew in length and size, only for them to bunch up together as the greenery gradually took on the shape of a humanoid-looking figure.

“Plant Battalion!” Removing her hands off the ground, Loreina then looked at the creatures she had summoned, inwardly nodding in satisfaction as she redirected the mana she had been infusing before into these creatures.

Swoosh!

“Uwaaarrrgghh…” At the very moment these creatures were faintly infused with Loreina’s energy, all of them let out a deep groan rarely heard even from the largest of creatures as their auras gradually spread out. Within seconds, these creatures stood ramrod straight as they eventually gave off the feeling that they were working as one entity, making one think that a small army had appeared to protect Loreina.

“Plant Battalion: Awakening Command.” Seeing as Hal was only standing where he stood as he watched her summon her creatures, a slight frown appeared on Loreina’s face as she infused a bit more mana into one of the plant creatures, giving it a semblance of consciousness as it gained the ability to lead the other plant creatures through a single command.

“Shouldn’t you be summoning your creatures as well?” Counting the number of plant creatures she was able to summon, which came up to a number of around 20 or so, Loreina inwardly let out a sigh of relief as she stepped back from the frontlines, gazing at Hal as she asked.

“I just wanted to find out what I would be fighting against.” Hal faintly grinned in response, his demeanor continuing to exude great self-confidence all this time.

“Now that I’ve found out…” Then, not long after, he extended one of his hands outward, conjuring a magic circle that swiftly expanded in size.

“It’s time for me to respond.”

“Greater Lupus Summoning Arts.”

Swoosh!

Channeling a great amount of his mana into the magic circle he had conjured, orbs of light gray energy soon manifested out of the circle before positioning themselves in a spot a couple of meters away from where Hal stood.

Whoosh!

A few seconds later, these light gray orbs expanded in size, taking on rough forms that looked to span widths greater than Hal’s height as the young man continued to infuse his mana into them.

Eventually, once it seemed like the light gray orbs had obtained enough mana from the young man, the energy from these orbs turned corporeal, allowing a line of wolves with light gray fur to appear in front of Hal, their eyes crimson with bloodlust.

“Greater Lupus Summoning Arts: Wolf King.” Though the number of wolves Hal had summoned were only around a quarter of what Loreina was able to summon, the young man flashed a confident smile at her as he sent out a large wave of mana towards the wolf in front of him, causing its aura and appearance to undergo a massive transform.

“Awooooo!!!” Letting out a howl of delight, the wolf’s fur became slightly darker in color as its size grew to be around 50% larger than the wolves surrounding it. After that, a few tufts of fur on its head started protruding out and took on a pale yellow color as it began to resemble a crown.

“Flora versus fauna. Quite a fitting theme, don’t you think?” Stepping back as he allowed the wolves he had summoned to take the limelight, Hal let out a bit of laughter as he posed the question to Loreina.

“…” As if she had returned to her original personality as a tailor, Loreina’s demeanor turned solemn as she sent out a series of mental commands to the creatures she had summoned, all of them relayed to the other plant creatures through their commander.

“That’s harsh.” Wryly smiling as the young woman did not respond to his question, Hal took in a deep breath as his expression turned calm, prompting him to take this fight a bit seriously.

‘Your order for today.’ Sending a command to the large wolf at the center, a faint hint of fighting intent arose from him as he looked at the young woman he was fighting against.

‘Leave no creature unharmed.’

“Awooooo!!!” Howling in response, as if to show it had understood its orders, the wolf king began to move forward to meet the plant creatures it would be fighting against. Seeing their leader move forward, the other wolves began to move as well, coordinating with one another as the crater soon turned into a battlefield.

“Uwaaarrrgghh…” Seeing the wolf king make a move, Loreina went ahead and ordered the commander to fight against it, the latter groaning as it ordered a few of its comrades to join it on the offensive.

“Grrr…” Seeing that its enemies had come to appear before it instead of it appearing before them, the wolf king let out a deep growl as it looked around, taking note of the fact that the other wolves were already engaging in combat with their opponents.

Bending its knees for a bit, the wolf king soon lunged forward towards its enemies, which numbered four in total. Swiping down its paw diagonally to land the first blow, the wolf king sent its first attack towards the commander, keeping in mind that defeating it would allow the wolf king to emerge victorious.

“Uwooghh…” Quickly understanding what the wolf king was aiming for, the plant commander ordered all three that had joined him to block the attack, successfully doing so as the three used their wide arms to deflect the attack.

“Uwowoohh…” Noticing that the wolf king was standing in place as it looked for an opening it could exploit, the commander swiftly sent down a command to the three, allowing them to take advantage of the situation. With that, the three lunged forward and held the wolf king by the legs, affixing the opponent in place.

“Awoo!” Realizing that it had made a lapse in judgment, the wolf king swiftly let out a howl, sending down a command to the other wolves that one of them should help it free the wolf king from the encirclement. However, with all of the wolves still engaging with their opponents, none of them were free enough to help the wolf king out, prompting anger to appear in the latter’s eyes.𝒪𝓋𝔩xt.𝗰𝒪𝗆

“Uwoo…” Transforming one of its arms into a sharp tip, the commander made use of the opportunity and thrust its arm forward, hoping to hit the wolf king at one of its vital parts.

Unfortunately…

“Awooo!!!” Seeing that none of the other wolves could help it out, the wolf king decided to take matters into its own hands, severing one of the arms holding it down by biting down on it with its large jaw. Then, with the increased freedom to move about, it relied on the strength its hind legs contained to propel itself forward, dodging the sharp tip the commander sent just in the nick of time.

“Grr…” Distancing itself from the opposing group tasked to defeat it, the wolf king let out a low growl as it stared at the four, letting it know through its action that their fight was only beginning.