"What the hell? When did Rufus get so strong?!" Edward yelled out.

"He must be at least stronger than Dorothy or Mihalh," Doreen said and looked startled.

"Not a surprise," said Pema and smiled who was the only one who wasn't stunned.

Tride looked also surprised. He weighed immensely and he was still flown through the air. He got up and then looked at the arm Rufus had hit. All the iron covering his arm had been destroyed and it looked like it was a close call that his entire arm didn't get blown into bits.

Tride then made more iron cover his arm and rushed into attack Rufus.

Rufus was completely outclassing Tride. Rufus displayed superior martial arts skills. He was showcasing the same martial arts and techniques that Pema used.

"Was he really able to learn your martial arts?" Amala asked from Pema looking surprised.

Pema smiled.

"Rufus never gave up. I never knew how to teach my martial arts well. Even Tenzin learned only small bits. Rufus never gave up. He may be a beginner, but he is a fighter whose other divine power is to never give up. Martial skills with his unique divine power could easily make him maybe the strongest creature ever," Pema said and looked proudly at Rufus.

Rufus kept destroying the armor of Tride with just the smallest of touch. He showcased an extremely impressive striking. He punched fast jabs that made holes into his armor.

With a single leg kick, he was able to destroy the iron armor around Tride's leg able to make him fall on one knee. With one liver punch, he was able to destroy the iron armor around Tride's body and again make him fall on one knee.

Every time Rufus was able to make Rufus fall down he just let Tride limper back up. He even let him throw punches knowing they wouldn't hit.

Tride felt extremely frustrated. He though never gave up and kept fighting on as he had against Tenzin. Rufus didn't lower his guard once.

Tride again made iron claws come from the tips of his fingers and tried to kill Rufus. Rufus just grabbed the palm with his own palm and this time made the entire arm explode with blood splattering everywhere.

Tride was devastated. At least against Tenzin, he had a chance, but he started to feel like he had no chance against Rufus.

Tride had dropped on his butt. He looked at Rufus who looked down on him. Even though Rufus was smaller Rufus looked like he was towering over Tride. The hatred towards humans vanished. He felt something he had not felt in many years. He felt fear against the humans.

~ ~

[years back]

Humans had made Tride hang on two ropes that were tied to his hands. He was just a young grey skin basically in his teens years and was caught by the humans. He was taken to a barn of a noble. He was scared and didn't understand human language. All the humans just smiled around him.

A man with a razor-thin knife came into the room. He plunged the knife between the muscle and skin. Tride started to scream frantically. Large pieces of skins were removed and cut off. The man with the knife was skillful enough not to cause too much blood loss so Tride didn't die from it.

Every time Tride fell into shock and passed out they waited to stop flaying him. When Tride woke he looked at all the humans around him. They looked happy knowing that Tride had woken up. The flaying and torture started immediately.

He looked at the smiles of the humans who seemed to enjoy the torture. Echoes of their laughter ran in his head. The smiles of the nobles were branded into his memory. The pain was left into his skin forever to haunt him.

For over three months Tride was flayed and made to endure all kinds of tortures. He had passed out many times and was kept alive with a small amount of food and water. He had slimmed down with his bone showing against his grey skin. His hands were soaked in blood and became extremely slippery. He started to wiggle the arms out of the tight ropes he had been tied into.

He was able to get one arm out of the constraints thanks to the blood making it easier to wiggle out and because his hands had become extremely thin. Soon the humans again entered the room. He pretended he was still tied to the rope. The humans came with a hot metal rod and again had large smiles on their faces.

Just before the noble with the hot metal rod was able to torture him, Tride caught the metal rod with his freed arm. The hand started to burn, but he just pushed through the pain. He grabbed the metal rod and hit the torturer with his own tool. He then cut the other rope and proceeded to kill all the rest of the humans in the room.

After he had killed all the humans in a huge rage he started to escape from the building. He was running through the barn and came to another room. There he saw more grey skins that were hanging from ropes. He looked at them and they had the same kinds of wounds as he had. He realized all the grey skins were dead and he was the only one left. He looked terrified. He recognized them all. They were all from his tribe. He was the last warrior of his tribe to be alive. He looked at one who he recognized very well. It was his little brother.

"I am sorry...I AM SORRY," Tride said wept as he looked at his little brother's corpse.

He heard steps coming towards him so he threw the hot metal rod on a pile of hail. He looked at the grey skins and wanted to give them all a funeral and make sure the humans couldn't disgrace them anymore.

When he got out of the building he ended up in the front yard of a castle keep where the barn was. The courtyard was filled with soldiers and Tride who didn't have any weapons knew he had no chance of escaping.

All the soldiers had the same kind of smiles as the nobles. He realized they all were guilty of killing his tribesman. He started to feel huge rage and hatred. His yellow eyes started to glow and a divine aura started to circulate around him. The soldiers gazed in fear as Tride started to look different and get bigger.

Tride was able to manifest his divine power. Metal armor covered his body protecting him from arrows and other weapons. A large carnage and massacre came next. He killed his way through all the soldiers. Some soldiers started to even run away, but Tride started to catch up to them. He grabbed onto them from their legs. He ripped the limbs off and roared. The courtyard was full of blood and dead soldiers.

After Tride had killed all the soldiers he went into the keep. He found the family of the noblemen. Women and children. They were all hiding under the table and were immensely scared of Tride. He butchered them all from women, children to maids.

Tride heard wailing. He walked toward the sound and found a room with a crib in it. He went to the crib and saw a baby crying.

"You all are not allowed to be alive."