Chapter 97 - Intermediate Training Ground (Part 2)
...
Shin is skillfully jumping from a floating platform to another. Sometimes, he is kicking the air to do another jump midair and change his direction.
Behind him is a Lizardman that is wearing a full body golden armor. Its right hand is holding a double-edge broadsword and a huge round shield on its left hand. The Lizardman is also jumping from platform to platform while chasing after Shin.
"Tsk, F*ck you sideways game developers. How can a Lizardman move that agilely while wearing those armors? What's more; while holding that heavy sword and huge shield." Cursed Shin to himself while running away from the Lizardman. Moments later, Shin saw a huge floating platform.
"That should be enough." Muttered Shin before rushing towards that floating platform.
Ta Tak!
Shin didn't wait for anything else and immediately dive towards his front and do quick military roll after.
Boom!
Immediately after that, the Armored Lizard landed on the spot where Shin previously landed.
Shin swiftly turn his body to face the Armored Lizard before quickly unsheathing the [Yamato] and swinging it rightwards, sending a crescent chilling sword Qi.
'Class Fighting Style: Lunar Flash'
BANG!
The sword Qi immediately exploded and turn into a bunch of white fog, hiding the Armored Lizardman behind after getting hit. Unfortunately Shin didn't dealt any kind of damage.When the fog settled down, the Armored Lizardman was revealed while holding its huge shield on its front.
The corner of Shin's mouth suddenly twitch after seeing that. "And isn't this unfair? You have a full equipment set, while my items transformed into a bunch of useless craps."
The Lizardman didn't care about Shin's feelings and rush towards Shin with unstoppable force, while thrusting its broadsword forward.Shin use the 'Sun-Ray Dash' to move backwards, trying to dodge the sword charge. From what he have experienced so far, this 'sword change' will chase after him until its duration ended or when the Lizardman collided with something.
When Shin reach the 15-meter mark of the 'Sun-Ray Dash', he immediately do some consecutive back-flips to reach the edge on the floating platform. What he did next is to jump backwards, away from the platform.
But the Lizardman didn't stop its charge and jumped out the platform, and case after Shin.Shin calmly kick the air, sending himself upwards while doing a front-flip midair. At the same time, Shin twist his body during the flip, making himself to spin in the air while dodging the sword charge.
Pa!
'Legacy Skill: Mondi's Jump'
Pa!
Shin immediately use another 'Mondi's Jump' to send himself back to the floating platform when the Lizardman brushed pass him.
He immediately turn his body while swinging the [Yamato] that is glowing with purple light at the Lizardman's direction. Then a powerful purple sword wave was sent in a straight line and devoured the Lizardman man.
'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Slash'
Bang!
-20 890
A bunch of smokescreen was created when the 'Eclipse Slash' exploded at the back of the Lizardman.
Swoosh!
But immediately after that, a huge shield was sent towards Shin, and flying like a rapidly spinning boomerang.
The speed of the shield is too fast for Shin to activate a defensive skill or dodge the incoming attack. All he can do is to swiftly hold the [Yamato] horizontally in front of his chest while being supported by the sword-sheath on its back.
Bang!
Ta ta ta ta ta!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
-100
-100
-100
...
...
...
Shin was sent sliding backwards while he continue receiving the continues damages caused by the spinning shield.
"Ha!" Shin push himself to the limit, forcing his arms to push the sword outwards, and sending the shield on the other direction.
Swoosh!
Shin taken a lot of damage from that attack. In fact, almost half of his HP was ripped off from that attack. He immediately drink an 'Advance Health Potion' to recover his HP back to full.
Then he flicked his left wrist to change his hand grip on the sword-sheath into a forehand grip. Then that sheath transformed into a semitransparent longsword.
'Legacy Skill: Mondi's Style: Meteor Form'
After that, Shin's body turned illusionary and transformed into a bluish-white stick of light that charges forward.
'Slayer Skill: Moonlight Steps'
And that is the time when a sword landed on Shin's previous location. Then the Lizardman suddenly materialize at the same time.
Shin in the stick of light form suddenly stops behind the Lizardman. He jump a little upwards before powerful swinging the [Yamato] at the later's back.
'Extra Skill: Destructive Slash'
But unfortunately, the Lizardman turn his body in counterclockwise direction while swinging its huge shield towards Shin.
Shin swiftly change the trajectory of the [Yamato] towards the incoming shield.
Clang!
Obviously, Shin is in the weaker side since the Lizardman have a higher strength than him, so the [Yamato] was deflected backwards when it collides with the shield.
Shin use the momentum from that impact to do quick spin-roll in the air barely dodging the incoming horizontal slash of the Lizardman.
Swoosh!
Miss!
After dodging the slash, Shin use the momentum of the spin-roll to swing the [Snowstorm Edge] downwards while forcing his body to descend on the ground.
'Extra Skill: Falling Lightblade'
-5 690
Bang!
The Lizardman lost its balance and was smashed on the ground when the [Snowstorm Edge] landed on its neck.
Shin quickly stand up while swifly shifting his handgrip on the [Yamato] in reverse grip manner. Then he stab it at the chest of the Lizardman who is currently laying on the ground.
'Extra Skill: Heart Seeker'
-5 890
-3 678(Bonus Effect)(Stunned)
Shin want to follow it up with another Skill, unfortunately the Lizardman have an CC(Crowd Control) removing skill. So he immediately pulled the sword from the later's chest before swiftly doing some consecutive flips backwards to put some distance away from the Lizardman.
Bang!
The Lizardman slowly stood up while picking up its weapons before immediately charging toward Shin after.
Shin have gotten some ideas from that sight and he is eager to give it a try. He channels the power of Eclipse towards each of his swords while waiting for the Lizardman to reach the 10-meter mark away from him.
And when the Lizardman set its feet on the ideal range, Shin quickly throw a two consecutive slashes on his front, creating a purple cross shaped sword wave that charges towards the Lizardman's direction.
'Self-Created Skill: Eclipse Cross'
The Lizardman immediately cancel the 'sword charge' and shifted to 'shield charge' to lessen the damage.
Bang!
-3 990
After throwing the cross, Shin immediately release the 'Meteor Form' of the 'Mondi's Style', returning the [Snowstorm Edge] back to its sheath form.
Then Shin swiftly put the [Yamato] back to its sheath, before transforming himself into a stick of bluish-white light that charges forward.
And when he is about to pass through the Lizardman, Shin quickly pulled the [Yamato] out from it sheath before slashing it at the later's body.
'Class Fighting Style: Moonlight Splitter'
Shing!
-12 456
After passing through, Shin didn't release his illusionary form and transform into another stick of light that dashes backwards.
'Basic Combat Technique: Second Drive'
'Slayer Skill: Moonlight Steps'
When the Lizardman turn its body around, Shin is already re-passing though its body and reappeared on its back.
Suddenly, the [Yamato] release a chilling light as Shin channels the power of the Moon towards it. After that, he quickly swing the sword leftwards, but he is targeting the legs of the Lizardman.
A moment later, a chilling crescent sword Qi was released from the sword and hit the legs of the Lizardman.
'Slayer Skill: Half-Moon Slash'
Swoosh!
-7 888(Slowed)
The Lizardman lost its balance and fall on the ground when the sword Qi successfully lands on its legs.
Shin knows that every time that the Lizardman fall on the ground, it is going to send a mini-shockwave when it is about to stand up. But before putting up some distance away from the later, Shin quickly kick the sword and shield away from the Lizardman.
And sure enough, when the Lizardman stood up one again, the first thing it do is to get it weapons back.
"So that was your weakness, Huh?" Shin formed an evil grin as he dash towards the Lizardman while thrusting his sword forward.
'Extra Skill: Sword Rush'
Roar!
The Lizardman hop backwards dodging the 'Sword Rush' and because Shin is blocking its path towards its weapons, it become enrage and entered a berserk state. The Lizardman charges toward Shin while swinging its right hand claws.
"At least this is a little easier than you having that broadsword and shield." muttered Shin as he reactivate the 'Meteor Form' of 'Mondi's Style'.
After that, he turn his left wrist upwards while moving the [Snowstorm Edge] in counterclockwise direction, and using its surface to redirect the incoming swipe.
'Quasi-Epic Combat Technique: Parrying Stance'
Bang!
-2 980
Since Shin's strength is still a little lower than the Lizardman's, he still receive some damage. But Shin still persevere to continue deflecting the incoming barrage of 'claw swipes' while throwing some counterattacks in the process.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Every time Shin's HP reach the 50% mark, Shin is swiftly disappearing from the sight of the Lizardman and reappearing few distance away to drink some Health Potions. It is another Combat Technique that he have mastered.
Immediately after that, he is going use the same Movement Combat Technique to appeared again in front of the Lizardman.
'Advance Combat Technique: Vanishing Steps'
Sometimes he is using 'Moonlight Steps' every time its cooldown ended.
The Lizardman suddenly charges towards its weapons and ignoring the damages that it received when Shin managed to burn the later's HP down to 10%.
"As if I'm going to let you do that after what I have endured." muttered Shin as he channels the power of the Moon towards both of his swords. Then he swing them forward multiple times while focusing the slashes at a single point.
Then five vertical sword waves flew towards the dashing Lizardman. And immediately after that, the five sword waves suddenly fuse together and form a giant vertical sword wave.
'Slayer Skill: Modified Crescent Cleave'
Shin didn't wait for that Skill to land and immediately channels another power on both of his swords, and this time it is the power of Eclipse. Then he quickly swing them diagonally in opposite directions, sending a purple cross shaped sword wave that is coming after the vertical one.
'Self-Created Skill: Eclipse Cross'
But the Lizardman is not that simple either. It move its body sideways skillfully dodging the vertical sword wave. After that, it jump forward while doing a spin-roll in the air as it pass through the gap between the cross shape sword wave.
But Shin expected that much, so after throwing the 'Eclipse Cross', he immediately release the 'Meteor Form' of the 'Mondi's Style' once again before sheathing the [Yamato]. Then quickly dashes forward as he case after the sword waves.
And when he saw the Lizardman skillfully dodge his sword waves consecutively, Shin immediately transform himself into a stick of bluish-white light and accelerated forward.
And while passing through the Lizardman, Shin swiftly pulled the [Yamato] out from its sheath and slash it towards the body of the later.
Shing!
'Class Fighting Style: Moonlight Splitter'
-11 993
Shin immediately cancel the skill when his sword successfully hit its mark. He materialize behind Lizardman as he swing the [Yamato] downwards, while forcing his body to descend on the ground.
'Extra Skill: Falling Lightblade'
-5 890
The sword slash successfully hit but the Lizardman ignored the damage and continue dashing toward its weapon.
Then the [Yamato] suddenly release a powerful purple glow. Shin slowly pulled his right shoulder as he move his right arm backwards while holding his sword and moving it on the same direction.
Moment later, Shin swing his right arm forward while throwing a horizontal slash with the [Yamato], sending a powerful purple sword wave that case after the Lizardman.
'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Slash'
-25 689(Critical)(Killed)
Then the Lizardman and his weapons suddenly transformed into particles of light after being killed.
Shin sits on the ground to catch his breath when a system notifications sounded on his ears.
System: Congratulations! You've successfully cleared the first stage. Calculating your stage score.
System: Congratulations! You've got a perfect score for killing all the monsters on this stage, rewarding you +25 STR and +25 VIT.
.....
Whistle~♪
"So a single stage can give this much Stats? If my guess is correct, then I can get a total of 50 bonus Stat points on each of my stats at the end of the first four stages. But what about the next three stages after it?"
"Nah, let's forget about it for now. That was a blind guess base on what I've experience on the Basic Training Ground after all." muttered Shin to himself while taking his rest.
After some time, Shin stood up once again to continue the challenge. He walks towards the teleportation gate that appeared at the center of the platform when he killed the Final Lizardman.
When he pass though the teleportation gate, he was sent on completely different location. No, it is in a completely opposite environment to be exact. If he is inside the mouth of a volcano before, then he was sent to a cold and a snowy mountain this time.
"Will I not get sick on this kind of sudden shift of temperature? I read from the forums that a player's virtual character can still get sick inside the game under extreme circumstances." muttered Shin to himself while observing the place.
"Hmm.. What kind of humanoid monster will I fight this time? I hope they only have a low basic defense and skill resistance." said Shin as he continue walking forward
....