I looked up at the tir again, then walked back to the wall, putting my back against it. The entire chamber would stay in my field of view that way.
[Ti Remaining: 5 seconds]
[Ti Remaining: 4 seconds]
[Ti Remaining: 3 seconds]
[Ti Remaining: 2 seconds]
[Ti Remaining: 1 second]
[Initiating the First Wave...]
The ground shuddered. The chamber humd, and the grinding noise returned in full force, then, the floor ahead split.
The sterile white tiles on the opposite wall of the cube opened up into a square hatch, and from the darkness within, sothing lumbered out.
[The First Wave has begun.]
A boar.
As big as a bull, its hide was ashen, its tusks yellowed. But its tail ended in a bony knot, swollen like a mace. Its eyes were pits of red, shining with a glow that reminded of the crimson torches in the starting pathways.
The Beast encyclopedia flickered in mory.
Club-tailed Boar. No elent. Weak vision. Relies on its mass for Charge and Crush tactics, using its tail to guard its rear and strike any enemies still within range after a dodge.
I raised the axe, and walked forward slowly. Having my back against the wall against a charging beast was a death sentence.
The boar shrieked, loud enough to have my ear-drums vibrate a little, then, striking its hoof against the tile a few tis, it surged forward.
And so did I.
With a roar of my own, I charged towards the boar with reciprocated ferocity, and then, I swung.
Wide, horizontal. But the timing was off. It reached before the weapon could make contact.
Tusks tore into my abdon as the boar’s charge picked off the ground, mauling as it continued its charge, finally slamming back into the wall that I’d deliberately charged away from.
[You have been impaled by a Club-Tailed Boar: x2]
I coughed blood, but the injury wasn’t anything to worry about. I could already tell. I was stronger than this beast.
Despite its size and physical nature, it couldn’t co close to the sheer immovability of the Fla Toad.
I kneed the beast in the snout, stunning it for a mont, then my left hand jamd a finger straight into its eye.
It shrieked in pain as it attempted to pull off my body, trying to put so distance between us.
Not happening.
My finger, still inside its eye socket, gripped the inside of the beast’s skull, then tightened in a vice over the left side of its head. The shrieks grew in volu, becoming more and more erratic. But for so reason, I wasn’t in the mood to care.
Using my grip on its head, I pushed it away, releasing my body from its tusks, but followed the push with a backward yank employing every ounce of strength I could muster. The force overpowered the Beast instantly, and brought its neck to my side, and then... I swung my axe.
Steel t bone, split it, and continued past.
The creature’s head, still in my grip, separated neatly from its body, ending its accursed shrieks in a single mont.
[You have killed a Lv.1 Squall-Class Club-Tailed Boar ]
It’s body thudded to the floor, the stump of its neck spraying blood all over the sterile white.
[The First wave has been cleared successfully.]
[Do you wish to continue?]
[Yes/No]
I stepped away from the corpse, watching my abdon knit itself back together in seconds.
[Host’s [Pierce Resistance] has increased significantly]
[Host’s [Pierce Resistance] has increased significantly]
That was pretty quick. But it was also only a Level 1 Squall-Class Beast. That’s as weak as beasts get. Comparing the Fla Toad to this beast...the Toad had to have been extrely close to an evolution...
And yet if it wasn’t for my regeneration, I’d be spilling my guts and dying right about now.
I was beginning to understand Gerard’s warnings. I had agreed with him, yes, but I hadn’t fully understood it.
I need to get better. Not tougher, or faster, or stronger. Those will co of their own volition. But Skill...Mastery of one’s weapon...and combat experience...these are other requirents entirely.
The problem was that with my current level of skill, I had no choice but to use my regeneration as a crutch.
I’ll just have to improve that much faster then.
My attention returned to the System prompts.
[Do you wish to continue?]
[Yes/No]
Yes.
My eyes widened in shock as the Boar’s corpse suddenly dissolved. Nothing was spared. Not even the remnants of blood splattered over the walls. All of it simply lted, then burst into motes of red light, scattering into the air until nothing remained.
I exhaled in disbelief. But I didn’t linger on it. This place was beyond my understanding. I looked back to find two new System Prompts.
[Do you wish to Rest?]
[Yes/No]
With another exhale, I recalled my earlier sentints about Weapon Mastery. Even if it was only 5 minutes at a ti, at my current level, every one of those minutes spent training would make a substantial difference.
And I’d take every minute I could get.
Yes.
[Rest Period has begun.]
[Ti remaining: 4 minutes 59 seconds]
This ti, I didn’t bother going through the manual. I’d already picked out the most basic moves, I just had to learn to execute them effectively.
The Downward Chop, Downward Diagonal Slash, Upward Diagonal Slash, Horizontal Slash, and the Tail-End Stab.
Five Forms. Five Minutes.
Planting my feet, I took up the Guard Stance once again, then, raising the greataxe overhead, I hamred down straight into the tile. Then I reset my stance and did it again.
Lift, drop, reset. The rhythm sharpened just barely with each swing, my shoulders burning by the ti the countdown reached the 4 minute mark.
Next, I shifted into horizontal slashes. The blade cut flat across my waistline, hips turning to drive the arc. I realized my mistake during the bow fight was that I had over-extended. It was as clear as day doing it in practice. That over-extension caused to misjudge the distance, and thereby the timing. I corrected it best I could, making sure to ground myself properly, and using my arms and core muscles to stabilize and tighten the swing with every repetition until another minute drained away.
Next, I focused on the Downward Diagonal Slash. It was very similar in execution to the downward chop, but had a little more flexibility, whilst also being harder to evade. My torso rolled with every cut as the Axe carved through the air in increasingly smooth diagonal slashes. I could feel myself actively improving, getting more and more comfortable the more repetitions I amassed.
I did the sa with the Upward Slash, dropping the head low and out to my side, then hauling it upward and to the left. This one was a little tricker, the weight of the axe head made it so the montum carried the axe’s arc full circle, forcing my body to twist and follow it back. Even by the one-minute mark, I wasn’t able to figure out where my mistake was.
But I didn’t dally. I moved on to the final form.
Surprisingly, the tail-end stab ended up being the easiest form by far. It was a simple movent from the Guard pose that already had the butt end leaning towards my imaginary opponent. For the basic version, I didn’t have to shift my grip in any way, only raise the weapon a little, then punch the end forward while stepping in, for a short, brutal thrust. There was a slightly more advanced version that could be used following a downward slash, but I didn’t want to dilute the training of the basic form by doing that. I could try it out at a later ti.
I also realized that the starting form for the Tail-End Stab was extrely similar looking to that of the Downward Diagonal Slash. It would be easy to mask one as the other, creating opportunities for faking out an opponent, but against Beasts, I doubted it would be all that useful.
Before long, System Prompts broke out of my rhythm.
[Rest Period has ended]
[Initiating the Second Wave...]
I exhaled heavily, feeling the Axe’s slightly more familiar weight in my hands.
I learnt the forms. Now, let’s put them into practice.
----------------------------
A/N: Please! Leave a comnt or even better, a review, just so I know actual people are reading my work. I need the motivashun!
----------------------------
Reviews
All reviews (0)