The San-Baka for the next five minutes took turns in attacking, getting demolished, and taking a break. Tino who started the match absolutely dominating felt a shiver of fear slowly creeping up on him. Originally his Aura protected him from everything, his attacks turning the bastards into bloody pulps.
But the longer the battle went on, little by little the tables started to shift. The Impetus was the [Straight Pierce] of Aurum. Everything started to go downhill from there.
In the beginning, there was such a big leeway that Tino didn't even bother to use his defensive skills. However, when his armor and defenses started to get breached he began to think otherwise.
'It is not my imagination, their blows are starting to hurt a lot more. What's worse is it's like they are using me for combat practice. The moves that originally worked on them are now getting countered without fail. What the hell is this?'
While fighting Tino started to feel his unease rising. Unlike the three people he fought who took breaks resting, the bodyguard has not stopped fighting since the brawl began. As the three ate and drank, Tino saw their wounds heal rapidly like magic.
'What are they eating, are they supplied with some sort of elixir or potion? Those are fucking expensive, even I only have one on me.'
As he observed the things being eaten and drank by the San-Baka Tino finally figured it out after a good minute. 'These bastards are eating raw monster meat and are drinking monster blood like fucking vampires! What the hell is going on?!'
"When did you fuckers decide to be brutes who eat shit raw? What? You guys like camping out so much or something? You bastard are getting more disgusting by the minute!"
Expecting some kind of reaction, Tino continued to insult and rebuke the San-Baka for their tactics, their tenacity like cockroaches, and even their appearances. System users generally were extremely prideful as a side effect of steadily evolving past human limits. The bodyguard normally used mind games to invoke a lapse of judgment from his opponents.
In the original match he had with these bastards only three months ago, they were naïve, fell for the stupidest tricks, and wholly believe victory would come to them simply just by shouting for it. Less than a hundred days passed and now they fought in a hyper-aggressive manner. They were more than willing to give flesh to take bone.
No matter what Tino said, they never responded and their eyes only kept focused on his movements. While unease and agitation started to mess up the bodyguard's mind, his mental state immediately began to slowly manifest in his fighting style. Tino's attacks started to turn into glancing blows, some got blocked, while some started to miss entirely.
On the other hand, the San-Baka's attacks repeatedly started to break the giant's Aura defenses. He started to incur small wounds that grew more numerous as the fight dragged on. 'Fuck, I am not imagining it. They are learning to fight using me for practice. These fuckers I'll show them.'
Tino then summoned an insane amount of Aura to his fist and used his strongest multi-hit combo. "[Brawlers Barrage]!" Aurum who played as the main attacker didn't get out of the way, instead, he slashed his sword against every punch thrown from [Brawlers Barrage]. The counterblows Aurum executed blocked the skill which made Tino's jaw drop.
'HOW IN THE FUCKING HELL IS THAT POSSIBLE! HE DIDN'T EVADE BUT BLOCKED EACH BLOW BY COUNTERING IT! THIS GOES BEYOND SKILL AND LEVELS. THESE FUCKERS CHANGED ON A DEEPER LEVEL!'
Wondering why no one else attacked him. Tino then saw that Geo was drawing Mana for a big move. In contrast, Lars stood in front of him with eyes lit ablaze in anger. The brunet's eyes reminded the bodyguard of a being he fought in the past.
"Monsters. They fight like monsters. What in the world happened to them in the last three months!" Still executing his skill, Tino's body automatically executed punch after punch. In a feat of extreme perseverance, Aurum continued to counter his opponent's blows without missing.
___________________________
A ways from them, Hiro and Fregit continued to watch the San-Baka's battle in silence. The nanny couldn't help but ask in a pleading voice "Lord Sabacthani, my husbands are getting beaten up repeatedly. Can't you help them? Tino is a mere fly to you no? Help them already!"
Hiro who looked at the battle with a bored gaze answered like a robot. "No, this is something they asked for. And I believe overcoming this will remove the heart demon they have harbored all this time."
"Heart Demon? What is that." Fregit questioned.
"An unresolved trauma, an object, person, thing or event that the someone fears so much they are forced to flee, freeze or hide. Not unless they can win over that man, the San-Baka will forever be chained by their past." Hiro continued to watch while his men fought.
'This is the only thing I can do for you all as your friend. It will be hard. It will be difficult. But there is no other way. Only when one faces their fear head-on will they overcome it. It doesn't matter how slow the progress, so long as you don't stop you will move forward if you do.'
Hiro then remembered the end of the first day of fun camp. Aurum, Lars, and Geo were sprawled on the floor gasping, they were covered in blood, sweat, and monster guts. The caravan stopped to allow the others to eat and do their bathroom breaks.
The San-Baka were allowed neither. Exhausted, hungry, cranky, and resentful they tried to rest as much as possible before the caravan moves again. Despite fighting for over 15 hours they only managed to gain two levels each. Hiro rebuked them in a condescending manner as they rested. "You weaklings still fight like people. Strength will forever be out of your grasp if you continue like this."
"Why don't you just kill us already you sadist fuck! We already managed to put down monsters that are 30 levels above us and you still aren't fucking happy!" Geo the most logical also grew prone to being the most tactless when provoked.
And although Aurum and Lars said nothing they shared the same frustrations. Hiro ignored the rude manner the redhead spoke and approached him and slammed his foot on the sprawled man's face.
"Listen here you fucking weakling, you talk to me like that again, I will kill you where you stand. The only reason you didn't die is because I took the damage for you. The only reason you could prevail against such level differences is due to the fact that I shared my skills.
"I could have gotten different slaves, and the results would have been more or less the same. The first thing you need to recognize is your weakness. Now, let me tell you why you fuckers are weak. It's because you do not crave victory nor look beyond that battle."
The son of Renacida who struggled to remove Hiro's face, felt his head getting crushed. Meanwhile, Aurum who found Hiro's words strange inquired to learn his master's point of view. "What do you mean we do not crave victory, we are desperate to survive!"
Hiro removed his foot from Geo's face and then kicked his head to the side in such a forceful manner, the man rolled a good 3 meters away. "That is the problem, you crave survival, not victory."
