Before him now stood five dungeon guardians.
His instinct screamed at him to continue running, but he didn't.
Running any further would incure the wrath of the remaining 6 left.
Fighting the fated battle was his only option.
[Side Mission: Destroy all the dungeon guardians and store]
[Reward: Unlock skill]
At least this time, he was given a greater incentive to press on, rather than just surviving.
He courageously raced towards the guardians.
His eyes were fixed on their cores, and with 9 osteo flames left, he could currently deal with the threat at hand.
Since they didn't launch any kind of attacks, except the physical kind, he could absorb any other so dodging was going to be essential in his every movement.
The first approached, and strongly stomped the ground with his fists just before him.
He jumped up and over its large fist onto its backside, swiftly making an epic over-the-moon-surf over its back and mid-air, shattering its core behind.
[Damage Space: 8/10]
The next one wasn't too far off. He barely had time to react. He manoeuvred his weight aloft and knocked off its oncoming arm before briskly sliding low and killing the core.
[Damage Space: 7/10]
'Two down, three to go.'
The rest marched, quaking the earth.
Max moved towards the third line, timing the approach behind. As soon as he heard the rumble of the rocks against the wall, he immediately gave way with a side leap into the air.
The third crashed into the wall with a punch, destroying the guardian within.
While Max high up in the air, weaved an extensive shadow tentacle bursting into the core of the next.
'Three and four.'
His feet landed gently on the ground, but a bit too far behind.
'Damn it!'
He has crossed the second line.
In a blink of an eye, another guardian attacked him.
This one looked different and bore a weapon, but despite its increased vitality, it still couldn't compare to the Max's light speed reflex.
The other, with an axe, dropped its axe onto Max, giving Max no respite for even a breath.
Within a fraction of a second, the blade of his shimmering mana sword caught the slash under the pivot of both his palms.
Crack!
The blades were shattering. He pushed strongly against the axe, giving him seconds to dodge.
Now he stood once more against five guardians, thrice his size, with two having enhanced abilities.
They narrowed him down to the edge of the room. He slowly stepped back before halting just before the last mark.
From the point he stood, he couldn't get a confirmed shot at their cores, and even if he did, they wouldn't be able to finish the job now.
His mana pool still hadn't fully restored and the excess light at the end of the tunnel weakened shady.
All these limitations once again attracted the thought of him being weak, as weak as a fly without any power of his own.
But you know what?
That wasn't going to stop him.
Even if he wasn't strong enough, he wasn't going to die without a complete fight.
Against five plus dungeon guardians, he didn't stand a chance.
He summoned one Osteo flame in his palm and tried something.
On its own, it might be useless, but maybe...
[10xp granted]
The brilliant flame trampled over the blade of his mana sword.
'Wow!', he said as he admired the glow from every angle.
The guardians relentlessly approached.
He clenched its hilt tighter and waved his sword in the air.
A sharp line of dazzling flame arched through the guardians.
The spectacle filled him with awe.
Though they weren't hurt to the point of defeat, he managed to slow them down.
Cracks filled their bodies, gradually crumbling the weaker three into a pile of rubble.
'If that's so, what if I do this?'
[20 xp granted]
[Level 2 achieved]
He merged the flame with both his arsenal.
[Damaged space: 4/10]
A flaming sword and pyro-shadow fist.
"So that is it!"
For him, normal and regular training was useless, but evolving abilities gave him an immense boost.
A proud and confident grin casted over his face.
He had found it.
His power.
He immediately launched forward and thrusted his right fist in the core of the first.
It was so powerful that it pierced into the second as well.
Red veins surfed over the guardians before they exploded, scattering in all directions.
He was loving this power.
He noticed the speed and strength was escalated.
His exp was rising to with every slay.
He was getting stronger.
Behind him were the last pair of guardians, stronger than any of the last.
How did they get out?
—
He didn't care.
With this much energy, he was unstoppable.
Slash!
Nothing. Unharmed.
He quickly stepped back before noticing that these ones were different.
It seemed his new power was nothing for the...
'What! Level 10.'
Already aware of the capabilities of the others, he wouldn't want to squander his talents on gauging those of these ones.
There was no time to experiment.
One wasn't going to do it. No, not two or three either.
It would take all to finish in a single blow.
He called out all the flames left and merged into it, with his now enlarged blade and crowned it all with shady creeping over to form a dark inferno sword.
It was powerful and was growing unstable.
He had to let it go.
He quickly swung the sword and destroyed the guardians with a flaming vortex.
It resisted at first, but the pull got stronger and soon swallowed the guardian into nothing.
His knees crashed to the ground.
It was over. He had won. So he thought.
There was one left.