After a night of driving across the desert on their magical carpet ride, their target was finally in view. Located among a bountiful oasis, sitting in the middle of it all was a humanoid earth spirit that had taken on the form of a muscular humanoid creature, presumably a spirit that identified as a man. They had no facial features and wore no clothes, but it was clear that they were physically strong.

Surrounding the oasis full of water and lush plants, a place capable of housing human life, was a circular field of sand. The sand rose into the sky and created a dome of sand particles that forbade entry into the oasis.

Braun parked the magic carpet at the boundary of the sand dome and waited for a moment. As stated by the quest, the earth spirit noticed their presence and manipulated the sand, forming words in the air.

“Welcome, adventurers. I am Gwayne! An earth spirit that is training on the path of becoming a formidable fighter. Any epic class and below can challenge me in a battle of physical combat, and shall be given ownership of this oasis upon winning!”

“You own this oasis, like legally?” Braun asked with skepticism since this detail wasn’t part of the quest that the local government itself had issued.

“Yes.” The words shifted on their own.

“Huh? How does that work? I mean—“

“Don’t ask how, human! I’m an earth spirit, I’ve been alive before your mother was even born! Also, just chuck it up to generational wealth. Us spirits are ageless so I probably got ownership of this land over the decades.”

“But the quest said you’re just a random goofball that is forcefully keeping ownership of this oasis?” Braun questioned the earth spirit.

“Sigh, you humans and your trashy paperwork. To think the empire would even forget that I own this place.” The earth spirit visibly sighed in the distance. “Previous adventurers didn’t ask these questions, so I didn’t know the details about your quest, but fret not, I assure you, if one of you do win… This oasis is yours!”

“A whole ass oasis…” Braun’s grin slowly widened. “That’s enough grounds for us to become a noble, don’t you think so, Bear?”

“Ror.” Bear also had the same level of excitement as Braun. If he won this fight, they’d become… “Ror?”

“We’d become barons. Barons!” Braun laughed. “BnB becoming barons! We’d become Baron Braun Berry and Baron Bear Berry!”

“Ror!” Bear pumped his fists.

The Pendragon Empire, with its large scope, had hundreds of noble families under its rule, some belonging to previous kingdoms and others belonging to local citizens who had attained great merit or ownership of land. In the case of the BnB duo, having enough land to start a town is enough to become a baron, and the empire would even begin actively funding the construction of a town near the oasis.

Once the town is built, they’d start earning tax money from the inhabitants of their town which would be a great source of passive income.

“Bear, are you ready to win?” Braun tossed the bear his drugs.

Chugging the potions down, the bear wiped his lips and growled. “Ror!”

The dome opened, with the words changing into a new sentence, “Very well, my furry foe! Let us fight in a glorious clash of flesh against earth!”

…

Bear tossed his brass knuckles away and cracked his fingers, ready to fight.

The earth spirit took on a fighting stance and planted their feet deep into the sand.

The furry beast lunged forward, his aura coursing through his veins. Nanites restructured the form of his hands, transforming them from paws into draconian-humanoid arms, with five flexible fingers that can become both fists and claws at the same time.

Their fists clashed with a loud boom, displaying epic-level strength. Thanks to the drugs and tons of buffs cast on the bear, along with exploiting his draconian nanite physiology, he could now exert the same strength as those in the ranks of epics.

The sand beneath them was blown away while a shockwave formed from the impact point of their fists. Sparks formed as metal and earth hit one another, surprising the earth spirit.

“You’re not a bear?” Gwayne asked.

“Ror!” Bear snarled, pushing his legs deep into the sand.

The two contested in a rivalry of strength, their fists crashing into one another without pause.

“Break for me!” Gwayne rumbled.

“Ror!” Bear growled

Their raw strength was on equal footing as the two flew away in opposite directions. Gwayne manipulated the earth to carry him back to the ground for a swift landing, while Bear stepped on solid air using extremely fine aura control.

His right eye glowed blue, with the whole world slowing down in his perception. His aura bent to his will as if it were an extension of his body, and with greater control over his body, he crouched horizontally in midair, squatting to the side, and jumped forward, his fist expanding in size.

“Very well!” Gwayne’s fist also expanded in size, with metallic draconian flesh hitting against the durable might of spiritual earth.

The fight continued on for minutes, with both foes showcasing their martial prowess.

Bear used various martial arts taught to him by Braun, which was then empowered by his various martial skills. Each strike was a deadly blow capable of killing even rare class monsters with ease, his raw strength bolstered to the realm of epics.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Gwayne, far older than both Braun and Bear and an expert in close-quarters combat, used his vast experience to tear through the minor flaws in Bear’s fighting style. Whenever Bear threw a punch, he retaliated back with a kick. Whenever Bear tried to kick, he would punch back.

However, there was one big difference between them that gave Bear that tiny little edge.

[Martial Arts (A) -> Martial Arts (S), Combat Mastery (A) -> Combat Mastery (S), Aura Mastery (S) -> Aura Mastery (S) …]

He had talent.

Not just some genius-level talent that made one grow faster than their peers.

No.

What Bear had was not just mere ‘talent’. He was a monster. A monster in a furry disguise.

He had Hero, Adapt, Evolve, Transcend, the Eye of Truth, and natural born talent—he had all the cards to grow exponentially under a sharpening tool known as Gwayne.

“ROR!” Bear ran on all fours, his figure transforming into a blur.

Gwayne furiously slammed his foot to the ground. The sand blew up into the air as he tried to use an AOE attack to stop Bear from running so fast, but he fell right into his bait.

[Martial Arts (S) -> Martial Arts (Z), Aura Mastery (S) -> Aura Mastery (Z)]

Bear appeared from above, his fists cloaked in a heavy layer of black and white, yin and yang. The opposing force of the sand was grabbed by his left hand, and redirected by his right.

Bang!

The gigantic, two-meter large earth spirit was pushed back by a couple of steps, his rocky head cracked and fissured. He still held strong, his body rapidly regenerating, but something had changed.

Bear… Bear was a worthy foe.

The brown-furred bear landed on the ground and jumped straight back up. He leaped on the air as if it were solid ground, and closed in on the recovering earth spirit.

Gwayne’s arms turned large and jagged, like sharp stones. His arms extended outwards, which Bear responded back with a fist of his own. His aura expanded into a large ball before reforming into a giant yellow hand; his knuckles forcefully collided with the sharp spikes, punching through them with force.

Then, tapping into his transcendent skill, he displayed the power of a rare class martial artist.

Dragon Form!

His aura melded back into his body, fusing into his fur. The illusion of a dragon formed around his figure, with its maw wide open.

Dragon Bite!

Chomp!

The maw closed with a loud, audible thump.

At uncommon class, martial artists could punch through trees and kick through boulders, combining both enhanced strength and supernatural skill. It’s akin to those of martial artists in wuxia where they could run on walls or cut through tens of men with a single swing of their blades, but it’s not really to the point of being supernatural.

However, upon reaching Rare Class, they unlock the mystical side of martial arts.

Gwayne resisted the attack and used his unique physiology to dodge. His form collapsed for a moment, transforming into a miniature boulder that launched out of his back while the rest of his body was eaten alive by the aura dragon, before then reforming a few meters away.

He swiftly slammed both of his hands together, creating a large hammer, which he swung high into the sky and bashed against the ground without a second thought.

The attack came as quick as lightning, but Bear wasn’t planning on dodging. He was still high on the taste of power bought by his transcendent skills, and the feeling of tapping into the powers of a rare class made him drunk.

Natural Arts!

He pressed both of his legs to the ground, squatted down, and raised both of his palms to the sky.

Mountain!

His aura rippled through his body and the presence of a mountain appeared above him. The earthen hammer slammed against his fists, but he held on, stable as a grand pillar of rock and dirt.

Mountain Break!

He pushed back up, shattering the earthen hammer.

Mantis Form!

He crouched on the ground, his aura compressing along his legs.

Flash Strike!

The bear pounced forward at immense speeds, traversing tens of meters in the blink of an eye. An X mark was left hanging in the air behind him, one that was colored green.

Gwayne fell to his knees, his chest having been carved deeply by the same illusory green X in the air. He slowly reached for the ‘wound’ on his body, clearly shocked by his defeat.

“You…” He coughed out sand, struggling to stand up. “You…”

“YOU WON!” Braun came flying in, rushing to hug his furry companion. The two swirled around, with Braun dangling around the bear’s neck with a big wide grin on his face. “YOU FUCKING WON!”

“ROR!” Bear howled as he hugged his blood brother back.

The two celebrated their win. The two celebrated their honestly earned and deserved victory.

“WE WON!”

“ROR!”

The earth spirit, Gwayne, looked at the two, his form slowly collapsing into a more incorporeal appearance. From a humanoid golem to a floating ball of sand and rock, he let out a chuckle and approached the adventuring duo.

“May I ask for your names, dear winners?” Gwayne asked.

Braun laughed and landed on the ground. He patted away the sand on his clothes and pointed at himself with his thumb. “The name’s Braun Berry.”

He then pointed at his furry blood brother. “And he’s Bear Berry.”

“Together, we make up the legendary adventurer duo—BnB!”

“Braun and Bear, BnB…” The earth spirit formed a ‘grin’ with their sandy face. Gwayne slowly manipulated the sand around them and pulled out a whole stack of documents from the ground. “It was a bountiful fight, Bear. You’ve been a good teacher, Braun.”

“Oh, what makes you say I taught him?” Braun asked curiously while grabbing the papers from the sand.

“You may be able to trick others.” The earth spirit poked Braun’s chest. “But I can tell a master when I see one. Your every step, your every move, it’s done in a way where you can strike the most efficiently and defend with ease.”

“You’re at a realm far beyond my furry foe,” said Gwayne. “If you had chosen to become a martial artist as well, rather than your current class, you would have pushed martial arts to a new peak in Arte.”

“Pfft.” Braun chuckled, placing his arms on his waist. “It’s nothing much, just a skill I had to learn to survive, but if you want to…” He paused for a moment, debating on whether or not he should follow through with his idea. “If you deal with the paperwork for me, and take care of the town for us for a little while, I’ll teach you martial arts and leave you with a memory stone of my teachings.”

“You… Teaching me?” Gwayne was clearly moved by the sudden proposal. “How… How long is a little while?”

“As long as you intend to manage the town.” Braun shrugged his shoulders. This was just a fun investment on his part since he wondered what would happen if an earth spirit became a broken martial artist. “Besides, I can always leave behind a robot to take care of things for me.”

“You as my teacher…” Gwayne didn’t have to think much about the proposal, because there was only one correct answer. “Deal! You teach me for a month, I’ll be this town’s guardian for a decade!”

A decade is just a short while for the immortal spirit, so the deal was honestly in his favor. It’s incredibly rare to be under the direct tutoring of a true martial expert of great skill, much less receive a memory stone from them that stored all of their martial knowledge.

With this opportunity… He would become far stronger than ever before!

“Ror!” Amidst Gwayne’s exhilarating thoughts, Bear tapped Braun on the shoulder as he updated him on his class advancement.

[Name: Bear Berry]

[Class: Martial Master (Rare)]

[Skills: Martial Arts (E), Aura Mastery (E)]

“Martial Master?” Braun grinned. “Now that’s a class.”

The two were finally both in Rare Class, and Braun was well on his way to mastering his current class.

“Anyways, come on, we’ll rest for a while.” Braun sighed, glancing at the shimmering oasis. “Training begins tomorrow, and that includes you, Bear. I’ll be parting onto you two my transcendental understanding of martial arts, so you two better be ready, because very rarely would a god teach mortals.”

“A god?” Gwayne chuckled. “Depending on what I see, maybe you aren’t as pompous as I think you are.”

“This isn’t me being arrogant.” Braun smiled. “This is simply me being honest.”