The boys faced each other in the makeshift arena. The arena reminded Jason of a children's sandbox, but it was much larger, the size of several boxing rings. The sand under the feet was compacted, thanks to which it gave good support under the feet. Around the arena there were logs of smaller trees that could be used by potential spectators to watch the fights – but now there was no one there.
"On your signal, we begin." – Firlo called
"Signal!" shouted Jason and rushed towards the smaller boy. He knew that when it came to physical strength, Firlo was probably not inferior to him, having been raised in a forest warrior village.
It only took Jason a few seconds to reach his opponent, and after gaining a few levels, he felt much stronger than when he was in school. His physical fitness was still not outstanding, but it had to be enough to fight the six-year-old.
As soon as Jason came to the mark, he aimed a simple punch at Firlo's chest, he didn't aim at the face on purpose so as not to hurt him. Firlo, however, only took a step to the side and put his leg under him.
Jason landed face first on the damp, compacted ground.
"That was humiliating," he thought, quickly rising to his feet. He decided to fight with more caution from now on and not to hold back his blows.
Firlo stood motionless and waited to see what Jason would do, it was clear that he had already fought many fights with his peers in this place, he was not nervous at all, his usual talkativeness of a six-year-old was replaced by full concentration.
"Okay Firlo, now seriously, just don't complain to your father if you get punched in the face!" – Jason threatened.
"Don't be afraid, I never complain. If someone loses, it's not a reason to complain, but to work harder." – Firlo replied maturely, as if repeating the words he heard many times himself.
This time, Jason approached the boy slowly, with his legs wide apart, when he came within striking distance, he hit with a right hook, but Firlo deftly pushed the blow away with his left hand and hit under Jason's elbow.
Jason felt a hit under his right elbow and immediately wanted to counter, throwing himself at Firlo. As soon as he took a few steps, he ran out of breath and fell to the ground.
"It was a blow to the liver, lie down for a while and you'll get over it – I think I won – just don't complain to anyone!" – Firlo replied jokingly.
It took Jason a good few minutes to recover. He had never felt such pain before, but he had also never seriously fought anyone. He also did not train any martial arts. For Firlo, who grew up on this training ground, surrounded by warriors he watched every day, he was an easy opponent.
"Look, I'm not a fighter, I've never learned to fight with my hands. Maybe we can change the rules a bit and I'll call my familiars to help me?" – Jason offered shyly, he knew that it could be taken as a sign of weakness and cheating, but he didn't want to end the sparring after a devastating defeat.
"Sure, I've never had a chance to fight a wizard and it's going to be great!" Firlo immediately took up a fighting position, and Jason summoned the Wasp Swarm. The raven, which until then had been perched on a tree nearby, flew closer and began to circle over the arena.
"Surround him!" – Jason said in his mind, and the wasps immediately dispersed and surrounded Firlo from all sides. The raven circled patiently in the air, waiting for its opportunity to attack.
Now that Jason was sure that when familiars died in battle, they only needed a little time to regenerate in his soul, he could use them much more boldly – especially since he was in the safety of the village after sparring and did not have to worry about being left without any of his companions in case of a surprise attack.
All five wasps attacked at the same time. The first to approach Firlo from the front met his strong blow to the head and scattered in clouds of black smoke. At the same time, however, two others managed to gently graze him in the back with their stingers.
"Ahhh." – Firlo hissed in pain – "I can feel the area around these wounds going numb." – he added in his mind, not expecting such a strong venom.
However, he did not allow himself to lose concentration even for a moment, he spun on one leg and threw a spinning kick behind him, to the place where he felt the sting.
Another wasp disappeared in clouds of smoke.
"Enlargement," Jason said in his mind, enlarging the two wasps twice to the size of large watermelons.
One of the wasps bit Firlo's hand, while the other stuck a sting in his right leg.
"Retreat!" shouted Jason, fearing that Firlo's wounds might prove too serious. He liked the talkative boy, but he also did not want to incur the wrath of his father, whose hospitality he enjoyed.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes, but I didn't expect this venom to be so strong. I'm not surprised why these wasps defeated the eren. Usually our people are immune to toxins of primitive beasts, only those of the common class are a problem for us."
"Do you want me to walk you home?"
"Really, there's no need for it, my mother will prepare a bath for me and tomorrow I'll be as healthy as a fish!" – replied the white-haired boy. "Such wounds are not a problem, our people recover quickly." – the boy began to boast again.
"Then I'll go to my place to rest, see you tomorrow?" – said Jason, he felt that despite winning with the help of his familiars, he had lost. His opponent was twice his age, yet he defeated him easily in hand-to-hand combat.
"I need to get really a lot stronger," he decided as he headed home.
To his surprise, a message appeared in front of him.
"You defeated your opponent – Firlo, you gained 50 experience points. Experience 70/100."
"Just a little more..." – Jason couldn't wait to get the next level. Each level brought him closer to finding Lucas.