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Chapter 38- Overwhelming Power
🕑 Added 2022-11-11 23:59:01 +0000 UTCMira observed the devastation before her, eyes wide open in shock as she used her arm to shield herself from the dust cloud that had somehow managed to reach her twenty meters away. The tectonic reverberations from the lizard's blow had caused her weak knees to give out. She had invested very little into her physical body.
Was the fight over already?
No human below level 130 could survive that blow and even if they did, it’d probably take them out of the fight. But when the dust finally cleared, it revealed Arthur standing there, his arm raised in defence from withstanding the monster's mighty strike.
An Arthur Ward that was perfectly fine, albeit with a minor bruise that had begun to form on his forearm.
The monster too was taken aback by its opponent’s perfect physical state before it bared its teeth in a mockery of a smile. It took a step back, spreading its arms wide as if inviting Arthur to attack. The animal was getting smarter. Learning to taunt its opponents.
Mira watched with bated breath as Arthur took a slow step forward, his movements so graceful that they seemed to flow into one another like water in a stream. It looked like perfection in motion, with no extra movement, no wasted energy, almost as if space itself moved around Arthur instead of him moving through it.
Mira blinked-
-and missed Arthur's attack, but from the spray of blood that erupted from the lizard's cracked teeth and the way it was now looking directly up at the sky, she realised that Arthur had delivered a devastating uppercut to the now staggered monster.
The sound of the punch reached her a split second later, a loud crunch that resounded in her ears and Mira stood there dumbfounded.
Did he, did he just hit the lizard faster than the fucking speed of sound?
What was more impressive, however, was the fact that the monster was even alive after taking such a powerful blow and it too seemed no worse for wear, the cracked teeth quickly falling to the ground as they were replaced by a fresh set of deadly canines.
Mira's heart dropped at the sight. It looked like the Liverthion had some sort of skill to increase its regeneration speed, a broken ability to add to its arsenal of strengths, and Arthur's already slim chances of victory now looked downright impossible.
Arthur however seemed to take his foes' rapid regeneration in his stride as if he had expected it and he did nothing except alter his stance a little, taking into account the new skills the lizard had displayed.
Mira had no idea how Arthur could hope to deal with such a game-changing ability, but the man seemed to have everything under control, a look of cool determination on his face.
The fight that Mira was about to witness, as she would later think back to in the future, was a defining moment that would change her life forever. It was the moment that would make her fall in love with the art of physical combat, and though she’d never possess the talent or drive for it, she would forever appreciate those that fought with their fists.
The lizard appeared more cautious after it had felt Arthur's impressive strength, no longer standing so arrogantly. It leaned forward, its long arms almost touching the ground like an ape. There was nothing defensive about its stance, every part of its being was focused only on offence.
After all, the Liverthion had never known anything besides it and these principles had served it well until now. It wouldn't turn its back on them the first time they were put to the test.
Arthur’s strike had jarred the beast, and it was weary of taking another such blow to the head. Some things took longer to repair than others, namely the brain, and it had finally realised that the mammal in front of it could pose a genuine threat to its life.
That's why it stood ready, poised to react to even the smallest movements the human made. Its preparation proved futile as it felt its jaw completely shatter as a huge amount of force pushed it past its breaking point, a strike far stronger than the first it had felt.
The lizard roared in pain and outrage, falling back from the blow, eyes closing in agony as it felt chips of bone interspersed themselves throughout the lower half of its face.
How?!
How did the challenger do that?!
It had been looking, OBSERVING the human for any movement and it was positive that the human hasn't moved its hands. It couldn't even begin to fathom how the wound it had received came about.
Two more impacts, a shattered kneecap and a broken arm later, the lizard finally realised how the human was dealing so much damage. It was using its lower half!
The concept of using one's hind legs offensively in battle was such a foreign notion to the former four-legged lizard that it threw the beast into a state of confusion for a short while. In that time, as it was pummeled further, this time by elbows of all things, it understood one thing.
It would never be able to move with such grace. Its claws were deadly, its strength immense but its joints and physiology just weren’t made to cater to such profoundly beautiful movements.
The realisation broke down its already crumbling spirits and the monster felt a strange emotion take root in its chest.
Fear.
He was far, far stronger, and had higher vitality and constitution than his opponent, but he was simply outclassed by the weaker challenger.
Mira watched in disbelief over the next few minutes as the fight slowly left the lizard's eyes, its regeneration gradually beginning to slow down with every additional blow Arthur dealt. It simply couldn’t keep up with the onslaught of damage. Mira, herself could hardly observe what was going on, just a constant spray of purple blood bursting from the beaten beast.
The Liverthion’s broken, twisted hands fell to its sides, no longer defending the body that had taken so much punishment, not that they had managed to do much in the first place.
Arthur didn't let up, striking out so fast and clinically that Mira couldn't even see his movements, each of them flowing seamlessly into another in a dance of death, only the damage inflicted as it slowly accumulated on the beast.
After nearly ten minutes of the abuse, the lizard fell to the ground unable to remain standing, its shinbone was broken by a devastating kick to the lower leg. The beast's entire body now resembled a living wound, its rapid regeneration long outpaced by the intensity of Arthur's strikes.
Mira let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
It looked like she’d brought the stronger monster to this fight.
~Arthur Ward~
Arthur couldn't remember much of what happened during the fight. He had walked towards the lizard, which he now realised had been very, very stupid of him and then- blank.
An entire portion of his memory was missing.
No, not missing. It was just... hazy. That was the only way he could describe it. Like something had commandeered his flesh and he'd remained an observer in his own body.
He recalled vague feelings of motion and violence, the occasional cramping in his legs that told him he had delivered one too many kicks, and his completely mangled fists, that perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to enter a slugfest with a monster almost 200 levels above him.
Everything seemed to have gone well though even if he couldn’t recall much, as the lizard's broken form lay before him, in a spreading pool of purple blood.
“It's still alive you know,” Mira said from behind him.
He jumped in surprise, having forgotten that she was even here.
“I’d kill it soon if I was you. You might’ve won this round, but when it wakes up, you’ll be in a weakened state after the potion’s effects wear off. And the fuckers only getting stronger.”
Arthur blanched at that. He’d completely forgotten that he was fighting with borrowed strength. A strength that was rapidly draining out of him, as he felt fatigue start to claim his body. A sense of numbness began to spread from the pit of his stomach. It felt like he’d eaten some extremely spicy food.
“You kill it, I don't want all the levels.” Arthur managed to groan as he quickly sat on the ground.
“Are you sure?” Mira asked.
“You know you’ll still gain some even if I kill it, right? You dealt way too much damage to not absorb a portion of its soul when it dies.”
Arthur managed to nod his head weakly as his vision began to darken. The poison mage just shrugged, before sending an arrow point-blank through the lizard's eye into its skull. Mira wouldn’t miss from so close.
As he was passing out, Arthur saw the familiar blue of system messages flicker in his vision, and he felt oddly reminiscent of the first time he had seen them in a similar situation to how he currently was.
You have reached level 40…
you have reached level 41… ….
you have reached level 60
You have 168 unspent stat points.
Darkness claimed him.
Arthur's current status
Arthur Ward
Level 60
Unallocated stat points: 168
Strength- 110 (100)
Vitality- 160*
Endurance- 50
Constitution- 182 (140)
Agility- 118
Intelligence- 323
Willpower- 190
Charisma- 95
Health- 2950/3200 (352(160)/hour)
Ether- 3200/3230 (323/hour)
Stamina- 31/500 (50/minute)
