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Beast Tamer Who Got Kicked Out From the Hero’s Party Chapter 170

CHAPTER 170: TRIALS OF THE SPIRIT TRIBE

The Village Chief led us to a place that looked like an arena of some sorts.

「It’s amazing to see a place like this in the middle of the village of the Spirit Tribe.」

「This is primarily used as a place for magical training. That is why it is so spacious and well reinforced.」

「Also, there are layers of protective barriers around this entire area. That way, even if the spell that is being cast fails, it will not cause any harm to its immediate surroundings.」

Sora and Luna quickly explained to me.

So this is where this “Trial” that the Village Chief told us about is going to take place?

What kind of trial is it going to be, I wonder?

I was starting to get a little bit nervous here.

「Now, get onto the stage.」

I went up to the stage of the arena as the Village Chief told me to do.

Following me, Kanade tried to climb up, but……

「No, the daughter of the Cat Spirit Tribe. You cannot enter the stage with him. And neither can the rest of you Ultimate Species.」

「Nyah……? But why?

「I don’t need to see if your powers are adequate enough. Because you are the members of the Ultimate Species, it is certain that your powers are more than apt enough to the task at hand.」

「Does that mean that I am the only one who needs to go through the trial?」

「Yes, that’s correct. Is that a problem?」

「Nope, no problem here.」

I then cast a quick glance at Kanade and the others.

「So that’s why…… Just stand back and wait for me, okay?」

「But……」

「I will be fine. You’ll see. How hard can it really be? After all the things that we have been through?」

「Nyaahh…… But Rein, you have a tendency to lying when it comes to matters related to yourself.」

…… Do I, really?

「But…… But, but! Yeah! I believe in you! So good luck out there!」

「Thank you.」

Kanade and everyone else waited at the side of the arena, just like I told them to.

「You are about to fight a certain opponent.」

「A certain opponent……?」

I was actually worried out there for a moment, especially with the pompous way in which the Village Chief’s said that.

Is it going to be someone who is exceptionally strong?

Naturally, thinking like that, I couldn’t help it but to raise my guard.

「If you can fight against that opponent one on one and emerge victorious, I will acknowledge you, human.」

「What are the specific terms of victory?」

「Literally, that’s about it. You only need to take your opponent down.」

「This is……」

「What? You think it’s going to be easy? Do you think that you perhaps already have this fight in the bag?」

「No, I’m not saying anything like that.」

「You’d better focus here, overconfidence is not going to help you much. After all, your opponent is going to be a magically created construct. It is not alive. So you can go all out against it, without having to worry about anything.」

「That’s a relief to hear.」

I don’t know what I’m going to be dealing with here, but……

I’m going to give it my all!

I really need to get the Spirit Tribe’s approval.

And besides, we don’t have a whole lot of time left.

If possible, I would like to settle this with a short and quick battle.

…… At the very least, that’s what I was hoping for here, but……

I instinctively knew that there was no way that things would be that easy here. It would be simply too foolish to even think that.

「Your opponent…… is going to be this thing!」

In the next moment, the space right in front of me started to distort.

Then, a huge mirror appeared right in front of me.

「What is this……?」

My image was reflected in the huge mirror.

My reflection in the mirror had a quizzical look on its face.

「Huh!?」

Suddenly, the reflection inside of the mirror smirked at me.

But I was sure that I was not smiling at all.

It was then that my reflection inside of the mirror started to move on its own.

It moved from inside of the mirror into the real world.

The other me then appeared right in front of me.

「Nya, nyah?」

「Wait, what is going on? There are two Reins now……?」

I could hear Kanade and Tanya’s surprised voices behind my back.

Although I didn’t say that out loud, I was actually equally as surprised as they were.

What in the world is this……?

「That’s who you are going to be dealing with.」

「But…… That’s me, right?」

「Yes, that’s right. I mean, the purpose of this trial is to have you battle against yourself.」

「Battling against myself……」

「A man’s true nature can only be discerned when he is confronted with himself. Therefore, I ask you to fight against yourself. Now, the power of your heart…… Let us all witness it with our own eyes!」

The Village Chief then clapped his hands out loud and……

That was the signal for the start of the fight.

***

The other me……

It would be hard to call it like that all the time, so for simplicity’s sake, let’s call this thing “The Shadow”.

Upon hearing that signal, the Shadow rushed straight at me.

「Fuh!」

So fast!

It was moving as fast as the wind.

There was no way that I would be able to stop the Shadow from getting up close and personal with me at this rate.

The Shadow came out with a fist strike with the same momentum as its closing-in.

One blow.

Two blows.

Three blows.

With a seemingly flowing motion, it unleashed a series of mighty blows my way.

「This thing……!」

I avoided the first blow by tilting my face to the side.

The second blow was avoided by blocking it with my left hand.

The third blow was something that I was unable to dodge or block, so I had no choice but to accept it.

And it was as heavy and powerful as you could have expected.

The impact seemed to resonate to the core of my very body, and I was staggered involuntarily for a moment.

Without missing this opportunity, the Shadow moved in to perform another attack without giving me a moment to breathe.

It would stay close to me as if it was trying to not give me any space to make a move on my own, preventing me from going onto the offensive.

It was like an incoming avalanche.

Once it would be able to land a blow on me, it was pressing the advance without letting og or slowing down.

「Persistent little bugger, aren’t you!?」

I avoided the leg sweep done by the Shadow.

I then slammed my knee into its side, hoping it would stagger it for a moment.

But it didn’t stop, but instead it spun around on the spot.

I then dropped my heel on top of it in the form of a top to bottom motion.

The Shadow that received the painful blow staggered for a moment, but…….

The visible change here was just that, and it quickly regained its position.

This power.

And this durability.

It was as if the Shadow was copying my status exactly.

And then………

「Huh?」

Right after I had a bad feeling about this……

The Shadow chanted three fireballs at the same time and released them at me.