Elemental Cats

"Well then."

Although it hadn't looked like the pirate was interested in talking, to begin with, the two machetes he pulled out of the sheathes on his legs made it clear he wasn't interested in negotiating.

Although the pirate had discovered Toz, he had trouble accurately measuring his strength, so the two looked for openings and weak points in the other's defense for a few long moments.

The fight started abruptly, but not due to Toz or the pirate. Thunder echoed out from deep into the forest. The thunder was quickly followed by shouting, but the pirate couldn't afford to pay attention to anything else, and the last sound he processed was the thunder.

Right when the sound of thunder rumbled through the island, Toz took advantage of the pirate's eyes flickering to the side and dashed forward. His sword had a slightly longer range than the pirate's machetes. But if the pirate got the advantage and pressed the attack, it would be easy for him to begin overwhelming Toz with a flurry of attacks.

Since Toz had no way of knowing what the pirate's inclination was or what magic he used, he decided to test the water with physical attacks using his swords. Although he could use his sword and magic, at the same time, just like how he was reinforcing his body with mana while fighting, he wasn't confident enough doing that without revealing an opening. The pirate was, after all, probably at the seventh level, from what Toz could sense.

It was an opponent in the next division, and aside from Rick, it was the first being at that level Toz had encountered. But every time he and Rick sparred, Rick held back, so Toz didn't know what a mage or a fighter at a high level could do. Revealing an opening, no matter how small, was a risk Toz didn't feel like taking.

The pirate's eyes had flicked to Toz's left, so he went right and swung his sword at an upwards diagonal angle. The pirate noticed Toz's movements and dodged before the sword could get further than the hem of his shirt.

Toz didn't lose the opportunity and used his momentum and the sword's overhead position to swing downward. With the speed he had built up during his dash, he was faster than the retreating pirate, and the pirate was forced to block the blow with his machetes before he was cleaved in two.

Toz pressed down with his sword on the machetes held up like an X, but before he could force the sword any further, he had to dodge a kick to his midsection. He sidestepped to the left to avoid the kick and brought his sword into a sideways slash, aiming at the pirate's stomach.

The slash was blocked by the machetes. The pirate growled and pushed away Toz's sword before swinging the machete in his left hand down on Toz. Toz managed to parry the first strike, but he couldn't move his sword enough to block the follow-up from the second machete, and although he tried to dodge, he still suffered a slight scratch on his chest.

If he had still had his coat, such a light touch would have never made it past his clothes, but now that he only had a simple undershirt, Toz had to be extra careful. But at least he was on equal grounds with the pirate when comparing protective clothing. Despite being fancier clad than his fellow pirates, the pirate Toz was fighting didn't have any enchanted clothing to protect him.

But it wouldn't matter if the pirate didn't have protection if Toz couldn't land a blow on him. After the pirate managed to push Toz back, he hadn't let up his assault and continued swinging his machetes like crazy. Toz guessed that the pirate was trying to use his advantage in physical abilities and overpower Toz.

And it would have worked if it weren't for Toz possessing extraordinary physical prowess compared to his mana, which was at the fourth level. Both a beast type inclination and being a mage at the fourth refinement had strengthened Toz's body by a lot.

The pirate had only managed to gain his advantage using his dual machetes and taking advantage of the moment he pushed Toz out of balance. But after Toz regained his balance and had some time to get used to the speed required to deal with a dual-wielder, Toz started retaking control of the flow of their fight.

Each time Toz blocked and parried a machete, he sent it flying, not out of the pirate's hand, but away from the fight, delaying the time it took for the pirate to attack each time. Toz used the extra time gained to begin planning how to deal with the pirate once and for all.

The pirate hadn't lost his cool despite the growling and glaring and the muttered curses, and he wasn't showing signs of getting tired any time soon either, so Toz was slightly at a loss.

The tiny gaps between each clash weren't enough for Toz to use magic powerful enough to land a blow on the pirate. Worst case scenario, it would open up for the pirate to land a significant attack on Toz.

However, Toz had the advantage of having spent every day, for more than a year, on the island of trees. While the island wasn't that large, he was confident he could maneuver around on it with his eyes and ears closed without crashing into a single tree.

Toz still had no idea about the pirate's inclination, but if it was something that could be used with only a small opening, the pirate would have already used it to take down Toz. Unless there was some severe drawback or backlash that the pirate didn't deem necessary just to defeat Toz.

But it could also mean that it wasn't a combat-specialized inclination, which made it possible that the pirate would be able to see through Toz's thoughts since a production-type inclination would most likely not be out in the Void looting from wooden islands and that meant either a unique or a knowledge type inclination. However, only a very specific or limited inclination would be able to help the pirate to avoid what Toz was planning.