บท 199: Trial and Error (II)
With a clunk, the sword was pulled out of the ground. Snow's body started to groan, telling her that this might not be a good idea. Compared to the other swords that she wielded and changed, she could maneuver around with it without much difference, but this sword took everything out of her.
With a harrumph, she swung the blade. A loud whining sound followed after. Her arm shook, traveling down to her whole body. She could barely make it move as fast as she wanted to like the others, realizing how difficult this was going to be.
Sensing Snow's unease, the Hellhounds attack.
Snow slammed the sword downwards into the ground, smashing the monster with it. She threw her body up and around, kicking the next in midair. A loud yelp followed after.
She landed down effortlessly. Crouching slightly, she pulled the Eye of the Horus out from the ground. It groaned, telling her that it was not happy with how she handled him.
Snow cursed at the sword for being so heavy, knowing full well that she was at a huge disadvantage from all these HellHounds running after her. With a heavy grunt, she braced herself. Magic quickly flowed into her legs, allowing her to become much more stable than before.
Her muscles strengthened, her arms bulked in size, and she gritted her teeth. The sword was pulled out, and she swung a full three hundred sixty degrees around herself. Every single monster that jumped towards her was sliced away. Even quite a large number in the back, leaving behind the bodies of the dead.
With a clunk, her arms dropped, causing the sword to fall down onto the very ground. She used it to help brace herself. Her muscles twitched, screaming at her for overspending magic on her muscles.
How many more could she swing the blade? Three more? One? She had a gut feeling that another two of those powerful swings would cause her body to lock up.
But even still, there was still a hoard left. At least half was still alive, but the Hellhounds were a lot more careful than before. Running upon Snow was a death trap, and they knew that any wrong move would cause them to needlessly die.
Snow spat out blood onto the ground. She could taste the metallic taste, still lingering in her mouth. The swing had made her push her physical body to an uncomfortable position in just one swing.
"This is going to be annoying." Snow said, wiping her lips. She had lost count, but her guess would have been over three hundred. Still, the drive to win pushed her forward. The adrenaline kept her in high alert, keeping her in a constant state of excitement.
"Ms. Snow. You seemed tired." Mr. Rogers called out to her. He didn't sound out of breath, but more spirited than before. "It is okay to admit defeat."
Snow gripped her sword handle. She didn't like how Mr. Rogers was egging her on. His arrogant words made her want to stuff it back in his throat.
"I'll pass, thank you." Snow shouted back. She was already thinking about her next move. Not too far away was her other sword, White Gryphon, that she temporarily threw away. It was still stuck in the Hellhounds body, ready to be picked up again.
The Hellhounds paced back and forth, waiting for her to collapse.
Snow lifted the large sword again, focusing her power also on her muscles to stabilize the sword. She could feel the shifting of her body change every time she moved.
Her eyes darted back and forth, watching for any openings. Suddenly, feeling a peculiar magical flow from the blade, Eye of the Horus, her mind interlocked into its magical power. It was as if she had over a hundred eyes, being able to watch every movement from any direction.
A simple movement from behind, the Hellhound attacked. Snow instinctively moved slightly, dodging the Hellhounds attack. She followed it quickly with a back kick, throwing the Hellhound back.
More and more Hellhounds took this chance and sprinted towards her.
At that moment, the blade hummed. The shape of the Eye of the Horus grew even larger than before. Her body moved on its own as magic assisted her every movement. Sprinting forward, she bulldozed through a crowd of Hellhounds, cutting them in half in the process.
She stomped forward, shifting weight. Her teeth gritted as she changed directions. The sword lightly scraped the ground, picking up a bit of the dirt. Even still, she swung it as it weighed nothing, taking another four down.
For the next five minutes, as if she was possessed by a demon, she moved around the battlefield effortlessly. Her sword struck every opponent in reach of her blade, and in return, the monsters fell down continuously, unable to keep up.
Eventually, her mind and body started to groan in pain. Her eyes became blurry, and every step she took was a lot more difficult than before. An intense pain echoed out of her body, locking up her leg. She couldn't believe she pulled her muscle, causing her to trip and stumble.
Snow was on the ground, breathing heavily. Playing with all three swords cost her too much magic, and physical movement made her tired. She couldn't even dare to consider continuing with this blade without harming herself and blacking out. This was her limit.
She had a grandiose idea of being able to swing through all six without any problems. Scattering them all out into the field, changing them in between the mob of monsters, and continually fighting. But, such an idea was far off than she thought. The weight difference between the swords threw off her balance more than she liked, and switching from one to another was something she needed to get used to as quickly as possible.
Every time she hiccuped between the transition, making her fight a lot more sluggish, but in exchange, she understood what she was lacking-- Strength.
Magical power was no issue, but her physical strength was poor. Half the time, she used magic to compensate for this issue, but now with the other swords given, it has become an annoying problem.
Snow dropped the sword next to the other, unable to move anymore. Heavy breath escaped out of her lips, she wanted to sit down and sleep, but she couldn't. There were only ten hellhounds left.
With an aching hand, her shoulders cried out to stop, she let go of the Eye of the Horus and reached to take White Gryphon into her hand. Even the weight of White Gryphon felt heavy.
"Come at me!" Snow shouted with a heavy breath. She glared back at the Hellhound that growled and snapped. "I'll kill you all!"
The Hellhound barked, turning tail with the others as they disappeared back into the open crevice on the ground.
With a tired breath, she slumped onto the ground. Everything hurt.
A familiar voice was heard from behind. "Well, Ms. Snow."
Snow's eyes refocused, and noticed Mr. Rogers stepped up in front of her with an arrogant grin.
"It seems you have won by one."
Mr. Rogers didn't seem affected at all by losing. She couldn't help but feel that he didn't go completely all out and actually allowed her to win in the first place.
"You could have killed the ones that were escaping." Snow had dug up inside her storage, a small potion that was the size of her thumb. She had a few more as it was considered quite expensive because of how condensed the potion was. It was something not quickly sold in the market, making it a rare sought out item. Lucky for her, she was able to snatch up two because she had connections with the alchemist. The alchemist said it was in a trial phase and gave it to her. Other than that, obtaining one would have been impossible until the potion was complete.
Tearing open the bottle cap took a bit of effort. Snow quickly drank it down, allowing her to quench her thirst. She could feel her body tingling, telling her that potion was working out its magic, healing her stamina slowly. Even her muscles seem to relax a bit more, allowing her to move.
"They weren't in my range." Mr. Rogers shrugged, not really caring if he had won or not. "Plus, I rather wanted to see your skills." He smirked. This whole time even with the lure of favors, he made it his decision to lose anyways.
Snow was a bit irked that she was given the win, but she didn't complain. A favor from Mr. Rogers was still a valuable asset. She wouldn't dare use it up so easily unless necessary.
"Not only that, you got a stamina potion made by that crazy alchemist." Mr. Roger was even more interested in her. "To get such a good potion from him so easily..." His voice trailed off.
Snow was able to get up.
The Black Box was spat out from her storage watch. It clicked open, sending out a magical rope-like energy outwards as it gathered all six of the swords. Instantly, they were snatched back in and the box and closed with a sharp click Steam escaped out from the box as it rocked back and forth as if it was trapping a monster. She quickly put away the box.
"The portions were a gift." Snow replied, "and I would have preferred you went all out if you wanted to wager with me."
Mr. Rogers just shrugged. "Its a gift.
"I don't understand," said Snow. She really didn't. Why was Mr. Rogers so courteous to her and allowed her to win? Did he trust her? Or was there something more than she didn't understand about him?
"What do you mean?" Mr. Rogers pulled off his dirty gloves, burning it away with a snap of a finger. "A gift is a gift because I find you interesting."
Snow froze. This wasn't a good sign at all.
"Don't worry, Ms. Snow. I won't gobble you up like that boy that follows you around like a puppy."
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