"I've said, if you're looking for female company, there's plenty back in the city!" The Cavalry Captain glared at the smiling face of Ye Qi. She brandished her longsword and said, "And I am your captain, Alice, not some floozy for you to court! If you are unable to fight me fairly because I'm woman, no worries because I'm extending you this challenge as Alice, a fellow knight!"
"Alice, I suddenly realize your stubbornness is quite alluring as well!" Ye Qi whispered in a tone that was only audible to him and Alice before nodding and raising his voice to announce, "Fine! I shall accept the challenge issued by Calvary Captain, Alice!"
When he said that, Alice instantly moved in on Ye Qi.
Even though he was interested in the Cavalry Captain, the young Demon Hunter turned serious after the challenge started. Ye Qi didn't hold back facing off against his opponent—since he had accepted the challenge and he had to treat it seriously. If he held back, it would be a serious offense to himself and his opponent!
Of course, that was still different from a bout for life, Ye Qi would gauge how far things could go.
Agni's attack was blocked by Alice's shield! This surprised Ye Qi and he started to study the shield she was holding.
It was quite a typical Knight's Shield, similar to other shield of the same set, it was almost 1.5 metres long, oval and rounded on the top and sharpened on the bottom. The only difference was the insignia on the surface—a winged chimera. After Agni brushed its surface, the chimera was glowing in a barely discernible golden light!
A Hallowed Artefact? Then again, she's the Captain of the Calvary, I should expected as much!
After the initial surprise, Ye Qi smiled disarmingly as he heightened his assault on Alice—after mastering his opponent's rhythm, Ye Qi avoided another attack aimed at his chest easily. Agni caught Alice's longsword when she was pulling it back and at the same time, Ye Qi launched a low kick aiming at his opponent's knee.
Alice's longsword wasn't a Hallowed Artefact, and Ye Qi purposely pressed down hard on the sword. The longsword was no match for Agni which was slowly cutting through the metal of the blade. The Cavalry Captain whose attention was completely occupied by the attack didn't catch the swipe that was coming at her knee—for the sake of dexterity, the joints of a knight's armour weren't covered with metals but replaced with a more flexible chainmail. The choice of chainmail would normally be cow skin lined with some thin metallic pieces. It had fine defensive capability but it was not enough to defend against this kick from Ye Qi. Furthermore, the young Demon Hunter's point of attack was the knee, part of the joints where the human body was the most vulnerable. Therefore, when Alice was kicked, she lost her balance and tipped sideways to the floor.
However, even in that condition, she didn't forget to counter-attack—the shield in her left hand came crashing down on Ye Qi's chest. After all, a knight's weapon was not only their sword, when the situation demanded it, even the normally defensive shield could be used as a blunt-force weapon as well! Even though it couldn't cut down bones and flesh, it was more than capable of crushing skulls! Furthermore, this was a Hallowed Artefact; the young Demon Hunter wouldn't bet his life by taking the attack openly.
Therefore, Ye Qi gingerly took a step back to evade the attack. However, this didn't mean that Ye Qi give up the pursuit, flames appeared instantly—even though the Cavalry Captain was protected by her armour, meaning Ye Qi's Burning Hands wouldn't be able to cause real damage, it didn't mean that it caused no damage either! After all, a metallic armour was the perfect conductor for both heat and electricity…
The flame disappeared as fast as it appeared. Ye Qi immediately rushed forward to pull off Alice's helmet. "Alice, are you okay?"
"I lost!" The Cavalry Captain who was busy catching her breath, shrugged Ye Qi off. "But, this is not the end! I will work extra hard and the result will be different next time!"
"I await your challenge anytime!" Ye Qi smiled looking at the stubborn Cavalry Captain. Then he shouted at the gathered crowd, "Someone go get the camp doctor! All of you wouldn't want heat scars to leave themselves on your beautiful captain's body, right? Of course, that doctor had better be a woman!"
The slight flirting caused the soldiers to laugh and their captain to blush slightly…
"Completion of C Quest: The Trial. Reward: 3000 experience…"
The break after lunch soon concluded. After the female doctor confirmed there was no serious injury on Alice, Ye Qi returned to the stable to work on his horsemanship skill.
Ye Qi sat on horseback trying to follow the instructions given by the weird wolf that early afternoon—try your best to familiarize yourself with the horse's running and walking rhythm; when he goes up, you go down. Try to match your rhythm as close to his as you can. For this, Blind Fighter proved incidentally invaluable. Even though it was a fighting-based Specialization, it helped Ye Qi understand the horse's rhythm more easily. Therefore, Ye Qi soon improved as a rider, proven in his status screen. His horsemanship was now a 4.
"Gelding!"
Ye Qi patted the black horse lightly on his neck. The black horse who had formed a rudimentary bond with Ye Qi jumped out of the stable as the young Demon Hunter wanted him to—the black horse who had escaped the narrow confines of the stable was unusually excited and it brought Ye Qi to tour the camp at a gallop. Thankfully, Ye Qi had gotten used to horseback riding or else he would have vomited instantly.
Due to his victory that afternoon and his open declaration of love that was admired by most, Ye Qi soon found himself in a friendly relationship with most people in the camp. They respected and admired his power and courage. Therefore, as Gelding hopped through the camp, many greeted him and Ye Qi greeted them back in kind.
After the horse finished touring the camp and slowed down, they were already quite far away from the stable. Ye Qi found himself at the camp entrance and a small group of knights were leaving.
"Mr. Ye Qi!" It was Alice's right-hand man who greeted Ye Qi, and he then extended him an invitation. "Mr. Ye Qi, do you wish to go on a patrol with us?"