Mutt wagged its tail in excitement at its master's summon. The wolf was itching to be of assistance, but nobody seemed to require his expertise until now.

"No need to hold back," Rino told the sabre tooth alpha wolf, who howled a little from happiness.

Thankfully, the lich had enough sense to teleport into the distance to a place that they could battle without holding back. The backyard of his farmhouse required some repair work, and Rino took care of that using earth magic. He had no idea if spears could split grounds and rocks like magic, but he knew Mutt would be capable of mass demolishment if given a chance.

The wolf grew to such a size comparable to the king toads now, and Rino did not like the idea of mutt rampaging near his farmhouse. So, they were currently deciding the boundaries for their all-out sparring match in a different part of the forest near a creek.

The rules of this sparring match were simple. Rino wanted to test his physical abilities and limitations. The hound could not hurt his master because of a contract, so Rino told Mutt not to hold back. Any deadly attacks would be forcefully neutralised by the soul contract anyway. The only condition was that Mut could only use his physical abilities and no magic.

The sparring match would end when Rino concluded it. As selfish as it sounded, the magician was convinced that this was for the best. Mutt could go on forever, and Rino doubted he had that energy to keep up with his summon in terms of stamina even if he was technically undead, whose lungs no longer held him back.

Rino was highly convinced that combat talent was heavily dependent on a person's natural body in his previous life. Many magicians did not have strong bodies and were scrawny. Naturally, they were not fit to train in physical combat.

Rino tried to run and train like the knights. He even hired a fitness tutor who was an ex garrison captain when he became a noble. The dream of becoming the first magician who wielded a sword charmed him so much when he was still a teen, but by the time life started to snowball into his young adulthood, Rino gave up all hope.

He was unable to keep up with the strenuous training routine of what his fitness tutor called basic. Everything hurt too much, and even with recovery magic, Rino could not keep up. His legs flailed, his arms flopped, and his coordination was first from the bottom despite his immaculate control over magic.

It was at this point that Rino was told something he did not think was possible.

"There are things that people do better than others. Combat isn't for you."

Those words hit Rino hard. From that day onwards, Rino refused to touch a weapon or entertain thoughts about becoming the first magician to be knighted. He went into a slump, and it took months for Rino's fragile heart to accept reality.

Rino blamed his weak body for failing him in his previous life. That fragile health only became worse as his responsibilities became heavier. The lack of physical exercise meant that Rino relied a lot on healing magic and recovery potions to ease his bodily pains. Yet, none of those did his mental health any good. It was like a caged rat drowning slowly, but Rino brushed those thoughts aside.

He was finally given a new chance to test his teenage dream with a new body. Fate might not be kind to him, shackling him to something different. He was simply a caged canary getting a more luxurious cage, but for someone who experienced captivity their whole life, it did not stop RIno from having the fun he wanted.

Getting into a ready position with his enchanted spear, Rino summoned a pixie to be their referee for the match. He wanted to start on a fair foot, and Mutt lowered his front paws in a crouching position as the countdown started.

The moment the pixie declared the sparring match's beginning, she was blown back unceremoniously by a strong gust of wind trailing behind Mutt as he lunged forward with snapping jaws to rip Rino's spear out of his hands.

Rino reacted equally quickly. He wasn't going to give in to his hound so quickly. Thankfully, his body was able to keep up with his mind this time. Rino never had reflexes this fast. It was always his mind running ahead and his body struggling to keep up.

However, Mutt was not done when Rino avoided his first move. Without even looking back, he swiped his tail and jumped on his front paws so that his hind legs kicked out.

Rino was not expecting such an attack and did not manage to block in time. His reflex screamed at him to put up a magic barrier, but Rino held himself back, remembering his rules. He wanted to prove that he had the makings of a warrior. Hence, those powerful hind legs broke a few of Rino's ribs as the lich was sent flying across the creek.

Mutt did not wait for Rino to fully crash into a tree to land his next attack. If anything, the wolf monster turned around to follow through with his first hit. The adrenaline took over completely, and the sabre tooth wolf could feel his hunter instinct screaming for blood, no longer remembering who it was that they were fighting against. The alpha wolf sprung into the air and howled while gnashing his sharp teeth.

Rino took one look at the ugly mug and held his spear firmly despite the broken bones. His mind anticipated several scenarios while in battle, and he was in an extremely unfavourable position without his magic. He refused to throw his spear like a javelin because he might not get it back, and there was a high chance of Mutt being able to dodge it, unlike Gnut, who was inflexible in thinking.

Acting on instinct, Rino used his spear to dig into the ground and jolted to a sudden halt so that Mutt, who was in the air, would not be able to get him. Changing direction mid-air was impossible without external interference. It was something Rino heard the royal knights talking about in their sparring tournament when they were up against paladins. Needless to say, they only justified their loss for that reason, and it took Rino two lives to finally understand what they meant.

It wasn't an excuse. It was a fact. Without anything to change his direction after he took the leap, Mutt could only watch as Rino got away when the lich used his spear as an anchor and ran to the opposite side of the creek and behind the rocks.

However, Mutt was a warrior through and through. He was a hunter who never let his prey escape.

Quick as lightning, the sabre tooth wolf landed horizontally on a tree to use it as a jumping launch pad to propel himself towards those rocks. His master ordered him not to use magic in this battle, but Mutt had other abilities that were not magic attacks. It came as a package with his monster DNA, so Mutt sucked in a deep breath before releasing a boulder shattering howl.

Rino wasn't ready for such an attack. Sonic waves! He didn't know Mutt had this skill. No wonder those goblins died so miserably! In fact, Rino had to applaud them for wounding this monster despite their distinct power gap. Goblin Lord Gnut and his shaman were excellent tacticians to be able to bring such a terrifying foe like Mutt down even if they perished trying.

Then again, Rino did not recall Mutt being this powerful when he first fought him. Maybe Mutt simply grew stronger after becoming his mount. Whichever the case, Rino no longer had a cover to hide behind. He spent too long thinking when he should have been preparing to attack.

Mutt wasn't going to back off no matter what kind of attacks Rino tossed his way. The spear came down swift and quick, piercing at shadow fur and body all the same, but the high-speed regeneration ability worked on them both.

Mutt smashed a few more rib bones with a tail swipe, and Rino made a few more holes in Mutt's side with his spear. Neither of them felt pain, and the battle was getting more ridiculous with the damages piling faster than it could be healed.

In a last-ditch effort, Rino spun his spear using both hands and landed a hard smack on Mutt's head, making the shadow minion blur for a second. He cursed silently and tried to back off, but Mutt was faster, twisting his spine to smack Rino away with one paw.

The lich flew upon impact and felt half his bones shatter from that front paw swipe. Mutt shook his head and was about to end it completely when Rino declared the sparring match over.

"You won," he groaned, unable to feel his arms as they no longer moved. The bones were broken in many pieces and fell to the ground as purple soul flames covered almost all of Rino.

Mutt wasn't looking much better, with purple soul flames glowing around him where there were holes. If they were alive, they would have died from all the injuries.

"I'm a weak warrior," Rino sighed as they lay on the ground, waiting for the injuries to recover.

The wounds did not hurt, but his pride certainly did.

Mutt stuck his tongue out to give his master an affectionate lick. "Do not say so, master. You were human. Humans seldom win monsters like me or hold out this long. Besides, I've gotten a lot stronger thanks to your growth as a lich. This match was unfair from the very start. I believe you would make a great warrior with time."

Rino did not know to feel comforted by those words of flattery or hold onto hope that he could become a true combat magician in this life.