35: One-sided

This was the first time since Locke awakened his system that he had seen the task rewards explicitly stated.

"Bat Affinity? The name sounds like something that allows for forming intimate relationships with animals. Haha, looks like I'm Batman now!"

However, there was nothing to say. Since there were benefits to be gained and the difficulty wasn't high, he had no reason to refuse.

At this moment, Emilia's three subordinates also spoke up, starting to defend their own person, Locke.

Especially that noble female Vampire; her attacking power was particularly strong, and her words were full of sarcasm.

"Kruto, since this is a sparring match, it should be fair and square. You're making our master feel constrained; even if you win, it wouldn't be honorable for you, would it?"

Alek also emboldened himself and said, "Since you want to compete with our master, there shouldn't be any conditions attached. Or are you afraid of our master's marksmanship and swordsmanship?"

Kruto knew he was in the wrong, but he was unwilling to back down, simply staring fixedly at Locke.

He had a premonition that Locke would agree to his request.

However, his actions made the few werewolves behind him turn their heads away in shame, not daring to face Locke.

Locke gestured with both hands, putting away his gun and knife, and beckoned to Kruto with an expressionless face.

"I agree. Come on, make your move, Kruto."

Kruto had thought Locke would at least haggle with him a bit, but he hadn't expected Locke to agree immediately.

He didn't even say a single word of complaint from beginning to end.

"Are you that confident in your own strength?"

Kruto tore off his shirt, threw it to his subordinate, and completed his transformation the next second.

He saw his muscles bulge, his arms and thighs became thick, and dense wolf fur sprouted all over his body, turning him completely from head to toe into a grey wolf standing in a humanoid posture.

Locke looked at Kruto, who had turned into something like an iron tower. His expression remained unchanged. He just calmly rolled up his shirt sleeves and said coldly, "Kruto, hurry up, I'm in a rush."

Kruto's eyes froze for a moment; he hadn't expected Locke to say something that sounded so condescending after seeing him transform.

"I admit that your marksmanship and swordsmanship are far beyond my imagination, but in close combat, I definitely have the advantage."

In truth, Locke didn't mean to mock him; he just wanted to finish this sparring match quickly and go back to push the next task.

He still had to figure out a way to let Serena awaken Viktor in a way that wouldn't arouse suspicion, so he couldn't waste too much time here.

Seeing that Kruto had no intention of making a move, Locke scratched his head and said slightly awkwardly, "Uh, can we stop talking first? Anything you want to say can wait until after the fight."

He believed that since he and Kruto weren't enemies, there was no need for so much small talk.

Although Locke himself didn't mean to provoke, these words sounded full of arrogance and contempt to everyone else.

This immediately made everyone except him freeze.

After all, after Kruto transformed into a werewolf, his height shot up to over two meters; he was truly a small giant.

Correspondingly, although Locke had also activated the power of a Vampire, his physique hadn't changed at all, making him look like a child in front of Kruto.

Furthermore, Locke hadn't even activated the sharp claws that Vampires use for close-quarters combat, opting to go bare-handed.

This made even Emilia and the others feel it was unbelievable.

After all, comparing the two, anyone with eyes could tell who would win.

"Master, isn't this a bit too arrogant?"

Although Emilia was Locke's Star Slave, she didn't know the extent of Locke's skills and abilities; she was only analyzing objectively, so she couldn't help but feel nervous and uneasy.

Currently, excluding other factors, this battle was definitely a lopsided situation; no one thought Locke could win.

Some werewolves who admired Locke even subconsciously closed their eyes.

They didn't want to see their idol lose miserably in a competition of his weak point.

Kruto knew his demand for a hand-to-hand fight wasn't honorable, so he voluntarily put one hand behind his back. When Locke saw this, he also smiled helplessly.

"Kruto, what is the meaning of this? Are you trying to let me have one hand?"

"I advise you to give up that plan; I don't need anyone to go easy on me."

Kruto tilted his long wolf snout and said very confidently, "I have the advantage in close combat against you, so tying one hand behind my back is reasonable. You don't need to feel embarrassed."

"I'm not feeling embarrassed; I'm giving you a friendly reminder. It would be better if you used both hands."

Locke also confidently raised his chin towards Kruto: "Because... I'm afraid that if you lose in a while, you won't honor the agreement."

He intended to beat Kruto into submission right here, to prevent the other party from pestering him in the future; he didn't have the energy to deal with a man.

Seeing Kruto put away one hand, Emilia and the others had initially breathed a sigh of relief, but they saw Locke refuse in the next second and say something that made them secretly gasp.

"This... is Master really that confident?" Emilia began to ponder with a solemn expression: "Looking at it this way, Master must surely have some means we don't know about."

Thinking of this, Emilia watched the two in the arena with increasing anticipation.

By now, her curiosity about Locke grew even more; she wanted to see why Locke could be so confident when facing a werewolf in close combat.

As for the others, their eyes were filled with confusion; they didn't understand why Locke would reject Kruto's proposal.

"Perhaps this master thinks that if he loses with one hand, it would look even worse?"

"Indeed, if it were me, knowing I was going to lose, I would definitely want to lose more gracefully."

How could they know that Locke didn't care about this sparring match at all? The only reason he was doing this was to use force to subdue Kruto and lay the foundation for unifying the Werewolf Clan and the Vampire Clan in the future.

After all, he hadn't forgotten his main quest: the mission was to resolve the grievances between the Vampire Clan and the Werewolf Clan.

"Uh..."

Seeing Locke so confident, Kruto felt a bit uneasy, so he brought out the other claw he had been keeping behind his back.

"No matter what, I'll win this sparring match first."

Thinking of this, Kruto tensed all the muscles in his body and focused his attention.

He decided to fight with all his might and no longer deliberately go easy on Locke; even if it wasn't an honorable win, as long as he could win, that was enough.

Locke, on the other hand, was completely relaxed, not even tensing his muscles, and his expression didn't change at all, with a faint smile on his lips: "Make your move, Kruto. Let me see if your strength is enough to make me use one hand."

"Hmph!"

Kruto didn't hesitate any longer; his pair of thick, powerful hind legs stomped hard on the ground, and he launched his attack.