I had already noticed the villagers gathering in the distance.
They wanted to see what I was capable of and ascertain whether I was dangerous or not. Since this was the case, I would show them. Whether this relaxed them or made them wary, it was none of my concern.
"He's going to fight the hunters? If he is really a normal person, he will suffer."
"Yeah. He is dead."
"What if he wins?"
People broke out in a discussion when they heard me accept the challenge.
I could vaguely hear what they were saying since they weren't too far, but I ignored them. My complete focus was on the three in front of me.
My expression slowly grew serious.
They might not be as strong as those beasts I killed yesterday, but they weren't mindless like them and this made them a lot more difficult to deal with.
Fortunately, I wasn't what I was yesterday.
"You ready?" asked the man in lead.
"Yeah. Come at me whenever you want."
"Heh." My arrogance incensed them and he immediately moved in.
He was fast, though not beast-fast. But since the distance between us wasn't much, he instantly reached me and his fist shot toward my face.
I didn't panic, I didn't need to because I could see everything.
The slight shift in his shoulder.
The tightening of his arm.
The angle of the strike and its speed. Everything was extremely clear in my eyes and… under my control.
I tilted my head.
Swish!
And his fist went past my head, completely missing its mark.
His pupils constricted and he immediately wanted to retreat.
But he was already too late.
I closed in and drove my fist into his ribs.
THUD!
The impact landed clean and he staggered back.
He was clearly in shock, but then his eyes flashed and he spat, "Lucky hit."
"If that helps you sleep better, yeah." I shrugged and his face turned dark in anger and humiliation.
The two behind him exchanged glances, silently communicating.
I thought they would attack this time, but the lead hunter rushed me alone.
'Hm?' I became more focused because he was faster this time, more serious.
The moment he arrived before me, he threw another punch at me.
I calmly titled my head while taking a step back at the same time, dodging his kick.
His punch was a feint, the kick was the real attack, but I had seen through it.
A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes for a brief moment before he followed up with another punch.
This time, I blocked it. And instantly… pain shot through my arm.
As expected, he was stronger than me.
But it wasn't going to make a difference.
I suppressed a smirk, twisted and slipped past him the next second. Before he could react properly, I struck at his side.
THUD!
"Arg…" He grunted, becoming angrier.
Then, he clenched his jaws and shouted, "You guys join too."
"You should've done this from the start. Wasted time testing me." I gave him a disappointed look which incensed him further. It was quite amusing to watch him turn all red in rage and I almost felt pity for him.
Suddenly, I paused and my expression fell.
I'm sure those guys—my viewers—also felt the same when they watched me struggle.
I suppressed the uncomfortable feeling rising in my heart and refocused on the trio.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
They came from three different angles and their timings were different, but coordinated.
If I dodged one, it would be easier for the second attack to land and if I managed to dodge it too, the third was almost guaranteed to land.
'Impressive.' I thought. They must have fought together a lot to reach this level of coordination and synergy.
Hu!
I softly exhaled, my eyes flickering between them.
While it was harder to watch their every movement, every step, every move, I managed and moved the next instant.
Swoosh!
Dodged the guy on the right.
Thud!
Blocked their leader's punch in front.
Unfortunately…
While my mind worked very fast, and I had seen through their attacks, and felt it wouldn't be difficult to dodge or counter, my body… didn't cooperate well.
THUD!
I failed to dodge the third guy's attack in time and his fist slammed into my shoulder.
I winced in pain and the force of impact made me stagger.
"Got him!" One on the right shouted and they pressed forward.
They were relentless.
Punches, kicks and even body slamming… one after another, attacks continued unabated.
I focused on retreating while dodging some, blocking others and enduring the remaining attacks.
With each passing moment, my situation became more and more serious, but I still didn't panic and continued watching them, reading their every move, their patterns.
Soon, I was starting to adapt and the number of times I was getting struck started to lessen... slowly but surely.
I felt surreal and when they realized what was happening, I was sure they felt the same.
From our earlier exchanges, they had realized I was a novice fighter, though my reaction speed was impeccable.
Therefore, they had thought once they gained upper hand, I would end up on the ground in a short time.
But what were they seeing now? They were slowly losing their advantage.
Immediately, they began pressing harder and I once again fell on the backfoot for a while. Soon, however, the same situation repeated itself. I adapted once again.
Then, at one point, my eyes flashed as I saw an opening to throw them completely off rhythm.
Swoosh!
I suddenly stopped retreating and stepped forward instead.
Seeing this, their instincts kicked in and they began going defensive.
But before they could successfully transition, I took hold of the leader's arm and pulled him forward, then using his momentum, I slammed him into the guy on the right.
THUD!
Both stumbled, wincing in pain.
At this point, I had already let go of his arm, had turned around and punched the third in his abdomen.
BAM!
His eyes bulged in pain and he staggered backwards, clutching his abdomen.
I paused for a brief moment, my lips curling up into an excited and proud smile—I had snatched control of the flow of battle.
Shua!
I moved, focused on the last guy.
A feint threw his hastily put-together defense in disorder and I struck my knee on his solar plexus.
THUD!
He immediately fell to his knees—he was out of commission for the time being.
Shua! Shua!
The other two had managed to regain senses and rushed toward me again. They were angrier and less organised.
This made the battle easier.
I dodged their strikes, then counter attacked, each attack finding its mark on their bodies.
Unfortunately, I couldn't deal any serious damage to them, thus they continue fighting, defending.
Thus the battle continued.
Not long after, I was out of breath, and the third guy had recovered and showed signs of getting to his feet.
Fortunately, the battle was already over. Despite their stronger bodies, they couldn't endure my abuse for too long and…
THUD!
THUD!
Fell to the ground, gasping for air.
—
The crowd had fallen completely silent way before the battle ended and just stared at me in shock.
Ha! Ha!
Barely able to stand, I took quick, short breaths to fill my burning lungs with oxygen as I swept my gaze across the crowd before focusing on the leader.
"Done?"
The man smiled bitterly in response and slowly pushed himself up.
"You… are really something, man." He exhaled, his tone was casual but there was a serious look in his eyes.
I just shrugged in response.
He took a deep breath, then nodded, answering my question, "Yeah. We are done."
He then stepped forward, extended his hand, and smiled, "Welcome to our village, Eren."
I let out an inward sigh of relief.
They had seen my strength and had realized I wasn't a threat. Now, they would stop being so wary of me.
Moreover, since I had single handedly defeated this hunter trio, I had gained their respect too… I could see it in the trio and villagers' eyes.
"Thank you." I shook his hand.
I was no longer a stray in this world. I had carved out my place.