Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

Zaroth and Eldros were preparing to spar, but their blades would remain sheathed for two important reasons.

First, Zaroth's odachi was laced with poison—just a graze could kill. Even a light touch during the match could end Eldros's life.

The second reason only became clear to Zaroth once he left the capital. During his time at the academy, he had access to a special room that healed all combat injuries. Not to mention, the capital itself was so vast and well-equipped that healers could be found at nearly every corner. Out here, things were different.

Even if the city Zaroth was currently at had a large population, it was mostly populated by bandits. As such, the healers here were scarce and if there were any, the Outlaws would have monopoly over them and would be able to gouge up the prices.

And after paying for his weapon and buying Eldros, Zaroth's funds were at their last breath, so he was reluctant to use them for a single trip to a healer, not to mention if they were even going to be enough for a single treatment in the first place.

For similar reasons, neither of them were going to use any of their skills. They were just going to fight with their sheathed blades.

The first one to move was Zaroth. He knew that while Eldros was obviously physically stronger, he would have the advantage when it came to speed, so he was going to make use of it.

Eldros's blue eyes flashed as he swung his right sword. His timing was precise; the blade aimed exactly where Zaroth would appear.

"Not bad," Zaroth mused. He relaxed the muscles in his legs and abdomen and fell low to the ground, managing to duck below Eldros's strike.

A wide grin appeared on Eldros's face. Originally, his plan was to use one of his weapons to guide to a certain position and then strike with his other weapon, but it seems that his new owner had a knowledge when it came to fight one-on-one.

"However, I am not one of these unskilled bandits you have fought until now!" He exclaimed as he moved his other sword with blinding speed.

Zaroth was impressed. He had watched Eldros fight bandits from afar, but witnessing the speed and ease with which he wielded those massive weapons up close was an entirely different experience.

Left with no choice, he moved his odachi in a defensive position.

As soon as both blades collided, the winner in strength was made clear as Zaroth felt a shockwave go through his body and he was sent into the air off his feet.

Eldros's assault didn't stop, however, driving his feet so hard into the earth that the ground cracked beneath him, he shot forward like an arrow toward Zaroth, still airborne. Two diagonal slashes followed—each one aimed at a different spot. Eldros wasn't targeting a single point; he was overwhelming Zaroth with choices, making dodging or deflecting both strikes nearly impossible.

In that moment, Zaroth was grateful for his height—it made slipping between the twin slashes much easier. Spinning mid-air, he twisted his body just in time and aimed his sheathed odachi straight for Eldros's head.

Before Eldros could react, he was surprised to see that Zaroth's sheathed odachi had stopped just a few inches from reaching his neck.

"It seems that I get the first win," Zaroth exclaimed as a pale smile appeared on his face. There was a bit of sweat on his forehead.

"Not bad," Eldros said, taking a few steps back. "Despite claiming you've never had a teacher when it comes to the blade, you already seem quite skilled."

His gaze darkened for a moment. "However, just as you have said, I found something that you are lacking."

Hearing his words, Zaroth's interest was piqued. If Eldros had any suggestion when it came to getting stronger, he was going to take it.

Eldros scratched the back of his head seeing the excited gaze of Zaroth. "How to say this… your fight style is wild… too wild."

With a raised eyebrow, Zaroth asked, "What does this mean?"

Eldros released a sigh as he sat on the ground. "What I mean is that while your wild way of fighting is certainly hard to deal with, there is a weakness. In a way, its strength is its weakness."

"There are hundreds of diverse fight styles. Some are easy to guess while others make their next moves hard to grasp, and from what I have seen your next move set is the hardest to grasp, but that is not because of your skill. It's because you yourself don't know your next moves, right?"

Zaroth was stunned. This was spot on. While in fights others relied on their techniques and moves, he simply just went with the flow of things.

"Is this a bad thing?" he asked.

"It's not necessarily a bad thing, but if you truly want to improve in sword fighting, you'll need more experience—enough to know instinctively when and where to move. And I mean a lot more."

A moment later Eldros added, "And there is another weakness."

Pointing at Zaroth's chest, he continued, "Your stamina. While you are great at fighting for a few minutes, what if too many come at you? You will be spent before you can beat them all."

This wasn't something Zaroth had considered before. He usually relied on his beasts to support him when things got tough, giving him some breathing room. But what if he found himself in a situation where he couldn't rely on that at all?

Thanks to Eldros pointing it out, he realized that his breathing was ragged. While the fight itself didn't last long, he used every single muscle and fiber of his being to move as fast as he could trying to deliver as much damage as possible.

As a result, if he had to fight against a large group of skilled fighters, he was going to gas out eventually.

"So do you have some kind of suggestion?" Zaroth asked.

Eldros rose to his feet, puffing out his chest with pride. "Yes, I do. Now, I'll teach you how to deliver maximum damage while using as little energy as possible."