Duuung!
The High Warrior's fist struck my shield. It was difficult to prevent myself from toppling over, but I kept myself upright.
My sword arced through the air as it flew towards the Enemy's chest. A shallow gash appeared, with a slight ebbing of blood, which then disappeared with the floating smog.
"Grr," the High Warrior groaned. It seemed that it already lost its mind. It seemed almost unaware of my attacks. No noise, not even a breath could be heard from it. The whole environment was quiet, in fact. The wildlife and nature just seemed to disappear, leaving me and this Monster stuck in a vacuum of perpetual fighting.
"…hah…hah…hah…" I, on the other hand, was panting like a tired dog. Even with my shield, I felt a shock every time a fist or claw landed. My left hand was already numb.
Fwoom!
The High Warrior slashed at me again. This time, I chose to dodge the attack instead of taking it head on. With its hand passing by my head, I leaned in and slashed at its chest again. The wound was already closed by the time the slash hit.
'So it has a faster regeneration rate as well, I see.' That was a piece of information that I had not received before hand, and most definitely could have helped to have as a warning. Oh well.
'That means I have to land more damage than It can regenerate from.'
Clang!
A set of knuckles landed on my shield again. Letting the force push through, I turned my body to the side as the left haymaker followed through. Once again, I leaned in and attacked the High Warrior's chest.
Shlik!
"Grrk." Another groan. I did not speak monster, but I imagine that every following noise that this killing machine let out would only spell more and more danger for my well-being.
Fwoom!
Its right arm swung out this time. On complete instinct, I leaned back as much as I could to avoid the crazed attack.
[You've lost 100 health.]
Still-- I was grazed.
'Tch. A cut in my side that does 100 damage, and yet I call it a 'graze.' Only goes to show how ridiculous the damage would be if I let even one full-blown attack land.'
It was a hypocritical thought, sure, but it is not like I could afford the luxury to patiently form a respectable thought.
Shlik!
[You've lost 100 health.]
Another lapse.
'I have to fix that.'
This time, the strike landed on my left shoulder, which is the arm that holds my shield. Even more evidence oh how ridiculous this Monster's reach is, and how unfair this fight is, as well.
No time to complain, though.
Clang!
Strike on my shield.
Follow Through.
'Continue with the attack pattern.'
Now unbalanced, attack.
The wound— slash it.
Clang!
...!!!
"Crap!"
Clang!
Clang!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"So much for that damn pattern!" I blurted out.
The damn High Warrior read my attack and parried it. No, not only parrying it-- it pushed me back hard enough to leave me unbalanced, and now it is coming at me relentlessly!
Ching!
Once again hitting my shield, I let the attack slide by on my shield, hitting the ground instead. A mass of dust blew up in between us, hopefully disrupting its vision.
Gasping for some breath from the lull in fighting, I did my best to prepare myself for an ambush from the High Warrior.
"Hoooh….haaaah…." Still breathing hard, I positioned myself behind my shield and held my sword high, pointing towards the other end of the dust cloud separating me, and the Danger on the other side.
I quickly checked which of my skills were still left on a timer.
…
[Skills]
- [Daunting Throw Lv. 2]
Cooldown Time: {2 minutes 24 seconds}
- [Shield Bash]
CD T: {1 min 13 sec}
- [Crescent Cut Lv. 10]
CD T: {1 min 18 sec}
…
'Three of my skills are now available: [Warrior's Strike], [Dash], as well as [Guard]. My remaining skills are almost off the clock as well. I am close to being at full strength now; I just need to hold on for a little bit more—!'
…
Vwoom.
….
Vwoom. Vwoom.
A light was coming from the other side of the cloud as it faded. As the dust tried to settle, a cold sweat came over me.
Goosebumps flourished across my skin. My arms, my legs; nothing was left unbothered as I felt my blood cool down.
'A Blue light is coming from the High Warrior. The only skill that causes a blue light is its multi-hit ability [Quick Stabbing.]'
'But it is only activated with a weapon. The only weapons in this area are… mine. So why did the light appear? Unless…'
'The system considers its entire body a weapon.'
…
'Run.'
A single step. I was able to take one step back…
BOOM!
The High Warrior's fist struck exactly where my foot was before. More dust and dirt jumped into the air, helping the black smog surrounding It with its concealment.
That was the first hit. The second one was coming, immediately after, but I had no idea what part of me it could be targeting. I, following my intuition, continued to step farther back.
BAM!
Second hit. Once again, I was a step early, and it was only able to hit my footprint marking the ground.
'I may be ahead of myself, but I think I understand it's pattern. Once again, in this stage of the fight, this Monster has lost most of its intellect. Which means that the next hit, it will also try to hit my leg—'
BLAM!
Another miss.
'But I can not mistake its ability or intuition. 3 in a row is predictable, and it must understand that. For its last hit it should change its last shot's target. So, just to throw it off—'
FWOOM!
Milliseconds. My thoughts and the Monster's strikes came one after another at a lightning pace. Its final strike was the one to end me— that is what it would hope, anyways.
The naked fist, its knuckles so spiny, protruding so much that they looked like knives, came rushing at my eyes, blowing my head off my neck.
At least, that is what would of happened, if its fist actually met my face.
A complete and utter miss; I could feel the wind blow by, rustling my hair. I had not dodged the strike in the nick of time, as if I was some Martial Arts Master that controlled the "Heavens and the Earth."
'Such a notion is Insane…'
…I could not help but smile at the comment.
"— [Warrior's Strike!]"
A White Light glaring so brightly that it made the Blue light it passed by seem pale by comparison, struck straight and true.
The wound that I was attacking so persistently, so tenaciously, once again spilled blood. And this time, I doubted it would close so fast again.
[Critical Hit!]
[The target has suffered 2,200 damage!]
"Grraahh!"
…
That was the first yell that had sounded from the High Warrior's mouth since it transformed.
…
It felt nice. Hearing it. In a sadistic sort of way.
It made sense, the scream.
I was not just striking at a point in its chest randomly. The anatomy of a human and a Hobgoblin are surprisingly similar, no matter how ugly the visible differences between the two species may be.
Which is why I chose to strike at its Solar Plexus. A known weakness of the human body, its disabling ability is amplified many-fold when the target is so much more giant, such as on this trash.
All I did to nail the attack was change my stance before the attack even came. I twisted my body sideways and crouched, preparing to spring upwards like a… spring, I suppose.
…
Shling!
My sword cut at the wound again.
It was possible because the smog, dust, and dirt was not only prohibiting my vision from seeing vividly, but the High Warrior's as well.
Shlick!
"Keep attacking," I muttered the reminder.
…
[Your Persistence stat has increased by 1.]
'…Appreciated.'