Gideon wasn't shivering in fear, but of excitement as Jaice just informed him that another group of ariund 10 rats were coming towards them and were only seconds away.
He immediately informed Manav who took his phone and called someone informing the same and then said to Gideon "Just hold for a few minutes, back-up is on its way."
Gideon didn't care about the back-up as he wanted to fight as many Bronze Teeth Rats as possible as it would be a good experience for him to fight with more than 1 monster at a time.
TING.. CLANG..
He continued swinging his sword defending the attacks from the sharp claws and teeth of the Bronze Teeth Rats standing firm in the same place. He was currently fighting the 4 rats that came in the beginning as he was the 1st to react.
SWOOSH
He suddenly heard an arrow shot from behind that crossed only a few centimeters away from him hitting a rat that just poked its head out of the farm, piercing its eye killing it instantly without even giving a dying screech. It probably had a painless death before even realizing it had an arrow in its eyes piercing its brain.
TING.. SCREECH
Gideon again swung his short sword against a Bronze Teeth rat that bit it and screeched which he thought would be because it was angry. He flicked his sword, sending it flying for a meter.
SLURCH
He then noticed another jumping at him, aiming for his chest this time. He swung his sword vertically infusing his Spirit Energy into it, increasing its piercing, slicing the rat into 2.
He was a little surprised to see it as he only hoped to injure it, but slicing it into 2 halves was a pleasant surprise. But he couldn't linger on it as another rat jumped at him more fiercely seeing its kin being sliced into 2.
Gideon side stepped and swung his sword vertically, slicing this rat into 2 again when it had no way to dodge his attacks in mid air.
The other 2 rats that came towards him were the only 2 that were still fighting him with more angrier and fiercer seeing 2 of their kin sliced into 2 like vegetables on a cutting plate.
While he was fighting these rats, Manav was fighting another 4 rats easily without defending himself, thanks to the heavy armor he was wearing while his monster partner, Metal Horn Bison, was having difficulty with 2 rats that were toying around it.
Being a huge monster it was unable to use its powerful horns against these tiny rats and only had to stomp its hooves at them which the rats evaded with ease and biting its legs.
Meera kept shooting arrows continuously at the rats that were trying to get close to her bypassing Gideon and Manav who were fighting at the front while her monster partner, Steel Claw Hen was fighting 1 rat with its full focus on it.
The fight progressed slowly while Gideon focused fully on defending the attacks of the 2 rats he was fighting as he considered them as training dummies giving him more practice in his sword technique while Manav and Meera had already killed the 10 rats that came out after he started the fight.
CAW.. SWOOSH.. SWOOSH..
That was when Jaice cawed from above and shot a few wind blades in the middle of the farm indicating there was another wave of Bronze Teeth Rats coming towards them which made Gideon confused.
The task they took said it would be 8 rats at most they have to hunt. Even if the information was outdated or incorrect, they should have faced only a few more monsters, but Jaice just informed Gideon that a wave of 8 more monsters are coming towards them and they are stronger than the monsters he was fighting.
SLURCH.. SLURCH..
Hearing that, Gideon immediately killed the 2 Bronze Teeth Rats he was 'practicing' with 2 swings and looked at Manav with a serious expression on his face.
"We have another 8 more inbound. This time Tier-1, level-2 or higher. We need to be prepared." Gideon said in a serious tone which they have not heard before.
"How is this possible? My family servants said there were only around 8 or 10 Bronze Teeth Rats in the farm and we have already killed 14. This is not good." Manav said which made Gideon look at him with raised eyebrows.
"This is my family farm. That's why I agreed to take this task with you." Manav said, looking straight into Gideon's eyes, which made Gideon nod in understanding.
'This kid is really trying to prove his power, just like him.' Gideon thought, but did not voice it out.
They closed their formation immediately and took their fighting stances looking in the tomato farm, ready for the Bronze Teeth Rats that would emerge from it any second.
SWOOSH
When the rats came closer and out of the farm, Meera was the first to react, shooting an arrow at 1 of the rats that came out.
To their surprise, the rat dodged the arrow by jumping slightly to its side.
These rats were bigger than the ones they just fought and when they came even closer, Gideon sensed 5 of them to be at Tier-1, level-2 while another 3 were Tier-1, level-3 which made him more worried if he could handle them without getting any injuries.
His mind went back to the days where he was a prisoner in his home because of a minor injury he got, sending a chill throughout his body. He never wanted to go through that ever again.
Resolving his mind, he gripped his short sword tighter with both his hands and focused on the rats that were coming towards him.
He saw 2 of the Tier-1, level-3 rats go towards Manav and the last of the Tier-1, level-3 rats came at him followed by 2 more Tier-1, level-2 rats. The remaining 3 Tier-1, level-2 rats went towards Meera and their monster partners.
The Tier-1, level-3 rat screeched at Gideon and the 2 Tier-1, level-2 rats jumped at him together. 1 aiming for his right thigh, while the other aiming at his shoulder.
He dodged the rat that was aiming for his shoulder by crouching a little and blocked the other with his short sword and had to jump to his right a little as the Tier-1, level-3 used that as a distraction to jump aiming at his head.
Their coordinated attack came as a little surprise to him. He knew that even the wild monsters who are not Soul Integrated would become smarter while they Tier-up. But he never expected a Tier-1, level-3 monster to show intelligence that is equal to an 8 year old by leading and attacking with such coordination.
He continued defending their coordinated attacks, focusing completely on defence because he couldn't find any opening in their attacks to go on an offence even for a second.
The same was happening to Manav, Meera and their monster partners. They were unable to go on the offence even after Jaice joined them in the fight, supporting now and then with her wind blade attacks.
Gideon started to grow impatient and angrier as he was continuously defending and dodging against their attacks for 5 full minutes and he started to receive a few scratches on his cloth armor which was not a good sign.
When he was about to lose his patience and go on the offensive even after knowing he would get hurt if he did that, he heard rapid footsteps coming towards him from the farm entrance.
He didn't have to look around or couldn't, but he knew that it was the back-up which Manav informed him about at the beginning of this fight. They had finally come.
He kept dodging and blocking the attacks for another few seconds before a bulky looking man in full metal armor pushed him back and sliced 1 of the Tier-1, level-2 rat he was fighting with ease.
Gideon fell on his back and looked at the man who came for his rescue and sensed he was at Tier-1, level-5. He looked at his side to see a Silver Badger of the same Tier fighting the 2 Tier-1, level-3 Bronze Teeth Rats Manav was fighting.
He turned around to see that the Bronze Teeth Rats that Meera and the monster partners were fighting were already killed. 2 were sliced with a weapon while 1 had a claw mark on its head indicating it was killed by the Silver Badger.
He looked again at the man who came to their rescue and was surprised to see he was just standing resting his long sword on his shoulder looking at the Silver Badger that was being petted by Manav.
The fight was over!
The fight ended in less than a minute after this guy entered the fight, showing the power of a Tier-1, level-5 Soul Integrated.
"Hello. I am Tridev, Manav's brother. It is nice to finally meet you." The man in the bulky armor said with a smile stretching his hand to help Gideon stand.
Gideon realized that Tridev was not bulky, but just his armor as his face was sharing a few features with Manav.