I destroyed two more golems in close combat, causing my [Claw Mastery] to reach level 3.

As euphory from battle fell down, I realised something, 'I am horrible at melee. Without my superior's stats and insane cutting capabilities of my claws, I would be useless... I am lucking techniques... Also, the reach of my claws is too limiting. There is a reason why they prefer longer weapons in warfare.'

With each level of [Claw Mastery], my instinct with claw fighting increased, but it was only as subtle as learning how to angle them for a little bit less air resistance. That wouldn't be enough for me to become a decent melee fighter.

'Maybe I should find a tutor? No, my schedule is already full of my magic studies. I should probably abandon this whole motion as it will only distract me from improving my magic, which is my main strength. Splitting my focus will only make me mediocre at everything.'

Depressive feelings filled my mind as I realised that I couldn't be good at everything like some protagonist I saw in movies or read about in books. Then I shook my head, 'I am giving up too soon. I will wait till my [Claw Mastery] reaches a level five, which is likely to be a breakthrough level, and then I will see.'

Wanting to raise my level with claws as soon as possible, I walked into the next room. It was again a plain square room made out of a smooth grey stone. In the middle was standing a golem knight equipped with a two-meters long halberd covered in flames.

It looked at me with its flaming eyes and took a few steps forward with its halberd pointed at me. I stood still, ready to react to its charge. But after a few moments, both of us remained still.

'Do they have different personalities, or are their's weapons affecting their behaviour?'

Seeing that it wouldn't charge at me, I made the first move. I started to run to its left side. It quickly moved its right hand holding the halberd in a piercing move, trying to skewer me with a spear-like tip on the halberd.

I slightly moved my hyp, letting it pass by me, but the golem knight quickly rotated halberd and cut towards me with an axe-like part. Halberd hit my barrier, creating ripples on its surface. I pushed with my legs against the ground as I slid one meter backward.

Golem moved forward, ready for another strike but a plan was already formulated in my head. Halberd glowed in red light, and its clone made out of flames appeared right above the original one. With a swing of the golem's arm, both halberds moved towards me, leaving trails of flames and smoke behind them.

I didn't move from my position; instead, I swung my claws towards the incoming halberd. They easily passed through the thick metallic rod and severed the head of the halberd. However, the flame halberd still continued forwards and hit my barrier, spreading flames all around its surface.

Flames vanished an instant later, and I started to laugh, 'I was such a fool. Why was I trying to fight like some kind of warrior? I am a mage foremost, so I should be learning how to use my claws in tandem with my other powers. Why should I dodge enemy attacks when I can easily destroy their weapon with my claws and safely absorb any damage with my barrier. There is no need to avoid using my barrier for its intended purpose as it will be much more energy efficient just to tank that one hit, creating a massive opening that I can use.'

The golem retreated backwards and swung the metallic pole that remained out of its halberd to push me away from its body. Pole hit only empty space as I already blinked behind the golem. I sprung from the ground, reaching the golem's neck and used both of my claws like scissors, cutting off the golem's metallic neck. Both the body and the head separated from each other and fell to the ground.

"Ding! Clang!" loud metallic noise echoed through the empty room.

'Also, why shouldn't I be using [Blink] to compensate for the short reach of my claws, instantly nullifying any distance between my opponent and me.'

Ding!

System Announcement

You killed LV 22 [Flaming Golem Knight]

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You obtained 312 XP

You obtained 920 CE

You learned a new skill [Improved Reflexes I]

I clasped my hands in joy as I read through the rewards, 'Well, it may be only the lowest grade skill, but it is so much useful that it is insane. All of this would be worth it even if only for this one skill.'

I quickly checked through my status to confirm that I still had enough mana and barrier durability.

Leaning over the golem's body while purple strands of energy kept pouring into my hand, I thought, 'After this one, I should only need to kill one more to gather enough of the death energy to enter my [Reaper Form]. Also, I want to see how quickly I can slay the next golem.'

Without any further ado, I walked through the doors. This room contained the golem knight wielding a bastard sword and a kite shield.

The golem slightly bent its legs, directed its shield forward and lifted its sword as it assumed a fighting stance. I immediately vanished as I blinked behind the golem again. The golem began to turn its head, searching for me. But it was too late as I once again swung my claws towards the golem's neck, quickly decapitating it.

Ding!

System Announcement

You killed LV 23 [Flaming Golem Knight]

You obtained 327 XP

You obtained 1000 CE

'This is really effective style of combat. Even if the enemy expects it, I could just blink again to change my position again. It has only one problem...'

"Bang!" I angrily kicked the golems remnants, 'It's exactly the same stuff that I have begun with... Well, as my claws are too short and my close combat duelling skills are low, I guess that is the best way... at least for now. Anyway, sometimes return to the roots is best.'

Then I kneeled towards the golem, sucking purple tendrils of death energy into my hand. I checked how much I had, and it was a little bit more than the amount required to enter my reaper form.

Ding!

System Announcement

Proficiency of [Absorb Death] increased to 4

Seeing all of these monsters in the dungeon opened a big question I wanted to be answered, "Bif! Open a portal into the secret room, please!"

Almost instantly, a rainbow coloured oval of a portal appeared in front of me, and I walked straight through it. My surrounding immediately changed into that of Bifron's secret room. Surprisingly Bifrons wasn't doing anything weird. He was just sitting behind the table filled with plates containing a plethora of different dishes. I could recognise some of them like a chicken, but others were totally unknown to me, like weird smooth red balls.

"Well, weren't you always busy? So, what is going on with this?" I smirked at Bifrorns.

He put down the red ball he was biting and said with an annoyed tone, "Phhh, me being the demon of knowledge doesn't mean that I am not doing anything else except for research..."

I interrupted his answer and asked the main question I wanted to ask, "I am still waiting for my golem army... but I can see that the dungeon is full of them. So what is taking you so long?". I crossed my arms as I was a little bit annoyed.

Bifrons said with an overly dramatical voice, "I hope you are not suggesting that I am delaying your order intentionally... I am so offended now." then he laughed, and his tone changed into his standard arrogant of the all-knowing teacher like tone, "Hahaha, there is plenty of stuff that you don't understand, but don't worry I will explain it for you."

I interrupted him again, "That is why I came here. I am not suspecting you of causing intentional delays. I just wanted to know the reason."

"Let's say that these monsters you see inside the dungeons are without a power source as they have only a weak soul that can't support their abilities or have no soul at all. "

Snicker appeared on his face, "What did you think? That they can just spit a fire without any power source?

"This allows them to function in full power only in the bounds of a dungeon domain. To fix this issue, I either need to create a mana core to supplement weak souls or empower their souls. This makes it much harder to manufacture your golem army."

'I guess that makes sense, but that creates another question...' "Then what about these storm wraiths or what are they are called. They have no soul either, so how are they powered? "

"Natural electricity in the atmosphere during a storm, rest of the energy is supplemented by the system itself."

'As always, when I ask him to do something, he is not very keen about it, but the moment I ask him about something, he is all happy to give me a lesson...' I smiled inwardly at Bifrons personality. 'But I still don't understand why would be a system using the energy it collects from fees for something so useless as storm wraiths. Whoever made it is not normally in their head.'