A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

But in a flash of movement, the sword merely disappeared past his shoulder, as though the boy was made of mist and the blade had passed straight through him. The soldier was stood with his arms lowered after a completed strike, yet he felt no resistance to his blade.

It was clear to all that had watched it – that Beam had dodged the blow, and comfortably too, without even taking a step back.

Of course, those who knew Beam would expect that much from him. Dominus might have even pointed holes in his movement, for it wasn't as swift as it should have been, given his training. But to the untrained masses, it was like a magic trick. To dodge impending doom like that so calmly, and with such precision, it was a feat worthy of more praise than the Gods had to offer.

The lead soldier's face began to redden as he realized what had happened. Jeers came from the crowd now, as some of the villagers dared to use the opportunity to get in some of the insults that they'd been saving up a while.

Something about a crowd of people like that gave them the confidence in their own anonymity. And especially since Beam was taking the brunt of their aggression.

Not only that, despite the way that Beam had carried himself – with a level of disrespect that was indeed worthy of attacking – the villagers merely saw it as justice. As a man finally standing up for the villagers who the soldiers had walked all over for so long. They hardly saw his disrespect as disrespect, for they would have gone much further than he did, given half an opportunity.

"Bastard," the man growled. "I suppose you're intent on mocking us to the end, eh? No matter. When you're choking on your own blood, you'll see there are certain lines you shouldn't cross."

The raised his sword again, preparing for another strike. He then motioned with his head to the two men beside him. They immediately surrounded Beam. They were trained soldiers, after all. Group fighting tactics were second nature to them – especially lately, where It was basically a necessity that a few of them teamed up to take down a single opponent, in the form of monsters.

"Cowards!" Came a cry from the crowd. A few more villagers picked it up, emboldened by the display.

"Leave the boy alone!" Another man shouted, and there came a chorus of agreement.

The soldiers grimaced, clearly not accustomed to being hated so openly, but that didn't change their stance in the least – in fact, it only hardened their resolve. They were determined to finish this as quickly as possible.

With a man on his left, a man on his right and a man right in front of him, Beam did feel more than a little boxed in. Dodging the strikes of a single soldier was one thing. But dodging the strikes of three soldiers at once without drawing his sword? That made the task much harder.

The first strike flew.

The soldiers were certainly better coordinated than the horned goblins, Beam noted. Their movements were near simultaneous. He struggled to find any gap in their defences in which to move through. Just as with his fight against the Titan, he still didn't quite understand how one built up a proper victory, aside from through strength and speed.

His attempts to master the flow of combat were only providing results on the most minor of levels and he still couldn't rely on them as a weapon by themselves.

Still, his speed had gone up. It was by a mere hair's breadth – it had to be, for any wasted movement would get him killed – but he managed to move his head out of the way of a strike that went for his neck.

In the same instant, there was a sword thrust being levelled towards his stomach, he twisted to the side, allowing it to pass by him.

The final strike went for his feet. Without any more communication than a nod of the head, they'd all attacked a different part of his body, forcing him to defend himself from a true multi-level attack.

But with a light hop, he managed to skip free of that last strike as well. Still, the fact remained – they'd forced him back. Just like energy, space was something that he was short on. He couldn't afford to recklessly give ground, lest he lead the enemy towards where Nila and Judas was standing.

"Ah…" he noted blood dripping from his sleeve. One of the attacks had managed to get their way through. A shallow cut, but a cut nonetheless. It went the length of his forearm, having cut the sleeve of his shirt.

His blood dripped to the ground from it.

That only increased the roars of the crowd. What had started out as a mere collection of angry shouts now spread to the entire crowd as a whole, as people were swept up in the outrage.

"COWARDS!" Was bellowed as a group now, with force and rage behind it, and the soldiers shamelessly made enemies of those that they were meant to be protecting.

The soldiers looked nervous now, perhaps finally sensing the mounting tension of the crowd. Even lacking in true understanding of it as they were, they seemed to understand that if left as it was, there would be something closer to a full-on rebellion.

"Shit, we need to finish this quickly," the thin man said in alarm, sweat on his forehead. Fear was beginning to show on his lips as the crowd's resentment continued to grow. He understood that if they finally snapped into madness, then it would be he and his party who would be killed first.

No matter how well-trained or armed they were, they could do nothing against such a sea of people.

"Withdraw," Beam told them, letting just a little bit of his true might seep into his voice. His words came with an authority that his rank should not possess, shaking their spirits.

But they bit their lips and fought against it anyway. "Gah!" The main man said, quickly stepping in to unleash his next attack. His comrades quickly moved to mirror him, attempting to box Beam in.