Fist to Fist
With strength and speed, matched with the mastery of a legendary swordsman, he met the four-armed being in a frontal assault.
He attacked and defended simultaneously against the numerous weapons. Each edge came from a different part of his body; the axe aimed for his head; the sword thirsted for his neck; the spear lunged at his stomach; the halberd swept for his legs.
"...Faster! Be faster!" He commanded himself amidst his continuous movements, feeling each deflection.
[Hypnosis successful.]
The desperation in his voice fueled the burst of swiftness as he moved his blade as though it were guided by a hastened wind.
From the undead warrior's flurry, the rain of arrows and fire only occupied two of its weapons. Blake used his single sword to deflect the rapid strikes of the guardian's halberd and longsword—CLANG.
Sparks ignited as both clashed, only to knock each other back.
Blake felt his boots slide against the floor, not wasting a moment as he raised his sword.
Put into practice was his recently acquired skill, whispered into the blade: "Electrify!"
[Hypnosis successful.]
[EXP: +10] [62/175]
From a sharp hiss of the unstable element, a coil of electricity wrapped itself around the length of his blade.
"I'm running out of arrows!" Emma called out, running along the right side of the room to pick up stray arrows.
"Same here…on mana!" Vivian exclaimed, unleashing a volley of fireballs towards the undead fighter.
With finesse like that forged by decades of mastery, the undead warrior guided his weapons against the incoming flames.
As though the fire-born magic was but mere smoke, the blades of the guardian dissipated them all. The life of the rusted weapons expired, crumbling to dust in the martial hero's hands.
Blake saw an opportunity as his foe was left without a weapon, dashing in with his electrified blade. He dragged it across the ground as sparks scattered, drawing within reach of his target as he slashed it upward.
By a mere hair, the blade's edge failed to make contact as the agile guardian leaned back, grazed by the stray electricity.
"Hyrah—!" Blake didn't let up, spinning around as he wove his missed attack into another.
Amidst its own dodging, the undead hero grabbed hold of two swords lodged into the ground. In a seamless tug, both blades were unearthed, clashing against the electric assault.
"—Shit!" Blake let out as the cobalt fragments of lightning screeched at the collision of steel.
Only for a second was his sword deflected, causing him to slide back, yet it was enough time. The guardian slid to the right, evading an arrow as its third hand retrieved a katana. Despite standing over two meters tall with a muscular build, the undead sentinel moved as if weightless.
"This guy is like the damn Terminator," Blake mumbled to himself.
As he looked upon the re-armed undead, he could feel the fickle element imbued into his blade wearing out, bringing him to make his move. He ran straight towards the weapon bearer, intending to go for a frontal strike, watching the guardian get ready to counter before–
"Sike!" Blake said, instead sliding across the ground.
He used the unorthodox maneuver to slash his electrified edge against the undead's left side, striking with the swiftness and potency of lightning.
"Nice!" Emma shouted.
"That looked like it did a number on it!" Vivian observed.
Blake hopped back to his feet, looking at the back of the patchwork hero of the labyrinth. There was an entire chunk missing of their side, spasming from the traces of electricity left to assault their wound.
"...Phew," Blake used the moment to catch his breath, feeling as though his muscles were on fire from the strenuous use of his system.
The weapons wielded by the undead dropped to the ground as if his hands could no longer wield them. Yet, the sentinel remained standing firm, only slowly turning to face the one who had left the deathly gash on his body.
"What? Still want to go?" Blake said, keeping his sword raised.
To his surprise, the amalgamation of adventurers raised not blades, but his own fists, beginning to hop in place on both feet as if not already warmed up enough.
'You're kidding me, right? Fists? I still have the advantage though–' Blake thought.
Before he could even finish his thinking process, his eyes widened as he found himself on the receiving end of a speedy first step by the guardian. In that single burst from its right foot, the undead hero closed the gap between them.
"Ha–"
Blake reactively moved his sword, only to find his wrist grabbed before he could swing it. There was no chance for retaliation, or help from the others, as the skilled undead twisted his hand.
"Nngah!" Blake winced, being forced to drop his sword from the awkward hold.
As soon as his blade bounced off of the ground, it was kicked away by the fist-bearing guardian, leaving them on equal footing, or at least, that's how it first seemed. There was still the problem of his foe having twice as many hands as himself.
"You're awfully chivalrous for a zombie. I think I know why. Maybe you wanna punch me," Blake said.
There was something he came to realize through clashing with the amalgamation of the fallen; a certain kinship he felt with the one he faced, a similarity in their outfits worn.
"...You're Kaleb, aren't you? At least, part of you is," Blake asked, knowing he wouldn't receive an answer from the lost one. "I've been wondering if I was brought into this world to fill the void you left. But, that's crazy, isn't it?"
Through his clash with the undead hero, new inspiration fluttered in his mind and soul; the man that once spent a life of mediocrity and dullness found himself reborn with a warrior's spirit.
It was surprising to himself, never believing he would enjoy fighting, but he couldn't ignore what he felt.
'My blood is running hot. All I can hear is my heart beating in my eyes. It's weird–I'm not afraid of dying. Maybe it's because I've already died before, but I think I'm changing,' he thought, looking at his fists.
With new inspiration in mind, he clenched his fists as he spoke to himself with the image of world class martial artists in mind–champions of his era, legends told through stories:
"Become a martial master."
[Hypnosis successful.]
There was an immediate change felt; a calmness, steel-clad focus steadied itself in his mind. While before he felt naked without his sword, with both of his fists, he felt more than equipped.
"Come on," he challenged the guardian.
Accepting the invitation, the patient, wordless sentinel stepped closer, met halfway by the adventurer.
Both the archer and mage decided to stay out of it, not that it'd be much of a benefit to help in such close quarters combat. With the mindset of a martial arts master, he carefully watched every facet of his foes movement; a twitch of an eye, a certain lean in one direction, which foot was dominant.
Yet, the result of that careful observation was–
"Pyuh!"
"Pah!"
Both fists of each fighter slammed against one another's cheek, resulting in the undead guardian and the foolhardy adventurer spitting out.
"This feels like…" Emma began to say.
"...A man thing?" Vivian finished.
Somehow, with the stinging he felt in his cheek, he could feel the soul residing within the guardian; the essence of the one whose life he filled in–Kaleb Mather.
'I guessed that he died up here. Only made sense, going by that journal I found,' Blake thought.
Even against twice the arms, the advantage slowly became his, after receiving a black eye and a busted lip of his own. The mastery imbued into his body granted him the edge, to adapt to his opponent's movements as he ducked between each strike before–
"There!"
He bent his knees before springing up, landing an uppercut that echoed throughout the room, forcing the teeth of the patchwork guardian to slam together.
The blow was enough to make the undead stumble around before suddenly beelining for the dropped sword. Passing all of the dormant weapons, the guardian went for the one belonging to Blake–or rather, the one that Blake had claimed to be his, once owned by another.
"He's going for your weapon–hey!" Emma said, suddenly raising her bow.
"Oh no–!" Vivian covered her face.
The undead hero was clearly ahead of the young man as both made for the sword, though the adventurer released words not for the zombie, but for the blade itself:
"Come to me."
[Hypnosis successful.]
Coaxed by the command, the inanimate blade suddenly spun itself into the air, returning to the hand of the rookie adventurer like a boomerang. Just as it reunited into his grip, he met the perplexed undead, passing by with a sharp farewell.
In the same motion used to swiftly behead the guardian, he claimed the prize worn around its neck, catching the necklace in his hand.
"I'll be taking this," Blake said with an exhale, holding up the dragon insignia.
At last, the persistent sentinel of the labyrinth fell to its knees, succumbing to the mortal wound with a heavy thud.
[Undead Martial Hero defeated.]
[EXP: +100] [162/175]
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone