Chapter 135: Getting Better
[Perfected Encased Soldier Slain]
Emile's sword ripped through the bowman's chest, piercing the stone island beneath him. As his soul notified him of his accomplishment, cracks erupted through the stone man's body.
Eventually, the stone imploded and a cloud of dust followed suit. Moments later, iridescent white particles mixed with the dust until the dust faded and only essence remained.
Emile casually stepped to the side, allowing an arrow to soar past his shoulder. Looking back, the two remaining bowmen stood tall.
While observing them, however, Emile noticed them putting their bows aside. The two stone men leaped across the lava to other islands until they stepped on the center platform.
Once there, they each placed their hand on the hilt of their swords. The moment their hand made contact with their katana, a corrosive aura exploded forth.
Mostly dark with an orange tint, their aura spread throughout the training grounds. It was all encompassing, coating Emile's body like the miasma from above.
Like the miasma, the aura readily stuck to his skin. It didn't weigh him down or limit his movements, but it stung, like a sunburn.
Emile's skin started to tingle and his breaths began to burn. As if he was cutting onions, it also became difficult to keep his eyes open. The air, the aura, had some sort of toxicity built into it.
Emile activated Nimbus and leaped into the air. His feet crashed into the center arena and slid forward.
Emile spread his legs and raised his sword. As if acknowledging him, the two samurai finally gripped their swords handle. One burst forward, appearing before Emile in a matter of moments.
He pulled his sword and slashed, performing a quick draw and quick slash. Before he could react, a hole appeared in the center of Emile's shirt and a line of blood began to seep out.
Just as blood began to fall, the wound started closing on its own. Emile tightened his grip and counter-attacked, slashing horizontally at the samurai that cut him.
The stone swordsman deflected his attack and grabbed Emile's wrist. He squeezed Emile's wrist, forcing his fingers to spread apart far enough for his scimitar to fall to the ground.
Then, the stone man slammed Emile's wrist into the ground. Emile's body followed, his shoulder crashing into the ground and his head nearly accompanied it.
Emile picked up his sword with his left hand and struck the samurai's forearm, the one that held control over Emile's arm.
Emile's strike went through, slicing the stone man's arm clean off. He backed up, retreating next to his fellow swordsman.
Meanwhile, Emile pried the stone fingers off of his wrist and tossed it into the magma. He activated Nimbus and exploded forward.
Properly utilizing his momentum, as he exited the quick burst of speed he swung his sword down, crashing into the shoulder of the now armless Encased Soldier.
With his sword caught in the stone, Emile immediately let go of his scimitar and dropped onto the ground. Above him, the other soldier's katana erupted and flew above his head.
Emile spun around, he extended one of his legs and kicked the ankles of the two soldiers. As their legs buckled and they collapsed onto the floor, Emile jumped up.
He reached out and grabbed his sword's handle, ripping it from the clavicle of the armless soldier. On the ground and disorientated, Emile activated Nimbus and directed all of its speed into his downward slash.
His scimitar exploded, the pressure alone shattered the armless soldier's chest and cracked the stone arena beneath them.
[Perfected Encased Soldier Slain]
Suddenly, the stone hand of the remaining samurai grabbed Emile's ankle and pulled his leg out. Emile fell onto the ground, he impaled the stone island with his sword to keep himself upright.
With both of them on their knees, the two clashed violently. The sound of metal clanging against metal repeated incessantly, but in terms of swordsmanship, Emile was losing.
He managed to block the majority of attacks, but every four or five strikes one of them broke through. Emile's shirt rapidly dissolved into loose rags and blood splattered all around them.
If it wasn't for his wounds closing instantaneously, Emile would have died from blood loss long ago.
Emile knew he was on the losing end, his sword clashed with the samurai's katana and a stalemate ensued. Emile leaned his body into his sword, pushing everything he had against the soldier's katana.
The samurai slammed his head forward, headbutting Emile and breaking his nose. Momentarily dazed, Emile fell backwards.
His body went limp and he bounced on the stone like a slinky. The samurai stood up and walked beside Emile, he raised his katana into the air and adjusted its tip above Emile's stomach.
Without hesitation, the Encased Soldier plunged his katana down, piercing Emile's stomach and crashing into the stone ground. Emile tried to lean up, he tried to wiggle and squirm his way out, but the katana kept him locked in place.
Gripping his sword, Emile activated Nimbus as he threw his scimitar into the air. It flew forward and pierced the soldier's chest, impaling him through and through.
The swordsman stumbled back as cracks began to spread across his stone.
[Perfected Encased Soldier Slain]
The samurai burst into essence and so too did his katana, releasing Emile from his skewered situation. Relieved, Emile rested his head on the ground and heaved a sigh of relief.
He ran his hands over his chest, completely bare from the fight. He traced along his torso with his fingers, remembering all the areas that were sliced open only moments ago.
To his right, Pyra appeared with a smile spread across her face:
"Congratulations on defeating Beginning Perfected! Would you like to advance?"
"No—" Emile replied calmly, "I'd like to ask a question instead."
"Of course! What can I help you with?"
"Is there a limit to how many opponents you can summon?" Emile asked.
"The limitations of my summoning is not directly tied to the number of beings, rather the amount of essence utilized within the training grounds at any given time. For example, I could summon one Late King grade being or a ton of Chosen beings!"
Emile's eyes glistened as he listened to Pyra:
"Okay then, can you summon as many slimes as you can?"
"If you'd like!"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone