I was given no time to think. The air golem let loose a barrage of concentrated blasts of wind. One blast hit my ribs, and I heard a loud crack. I reformed the brace on my arm into a smaller splint, and using the excess poison, I shielded my vital points with hard shells. This entire fight, I had been low on power, but now I was quite literally running on empty. My poison was running out, and I had barely any strength left in my muscles. Even with my newly acquired ability to form solid objects from my poison, I still didn't stand a chance against the two remaining golems. Unless...

I had been thinking about this idea even before today: I could form a weapon out of my poison, leaving a liquid layer on the edge to make it melt through things. It would mean abandoning all defence for a slight chance at victory, but I was willing to take that risk. I backed away from the two golems to buy myself some time. I started by absorbing the shells protecting my vitals. Next, I absorbed the wrist splint. Although it was barely enough to make a short sword, it was better than nothing.

The golems were charging at me together. Gripping the sword with my broken arm was torture, but the pain was a good thing, it meant I was still conscious. I focused all my intent on the battle, cutting out all noise other than the creaking movements of the unnatural behemoths charging at me. Time hung suspended, as if it too was waiting to see the results of this battle. The ice golem reached me first, sliding on a path of melted ice it created. My blade hissed as the dripping poison ate away at the platform beneath me.

Spikes of ice came flying towards me from point blank, I dodged but one of them still managed to dig its way into my leg, yet another agonising injury for me to deal with. I gritted my teeth, I went blow for blow with the golem for a moment, my poison was melting away at the golem quicker than it could recover, but I was also sustaining more serious injuries by the second; Every blow had the power of a mighty earthquake packed into it, this would be a battle of attrition.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I heaved, trying to stop myself from throwing up blood, my entire body was screaming at me to stop. But I was determined to win. My poison was still eating away at the golem but the core was too solid, the level of concentration needed to melt it was way too high for me now, I could barely manage to keep the sword together after all. I lunged my sword at the core, trying to force my poison inside it to eat away at it from the inside, by arm bucked under the force and I wasn't able to penetrate the core, I had a new idea in that moment of desperation, I absorbed my sword and all of the poison clinging to the ice golem, and with it I forged a spear, sharp enough to pierce even a diamond. I pulled my arm back, building as much force as I could muster, the golem was starting to recover now that I had removed my poison but that wouldn't matter, my spear pierced the core with ease but the shape was too unfamiliar to me, I couldn't hold it for much longer.

I had no time to recover before the air golem was on me, but it ignored me for an instant, it dashed towards the ice golem and ripped its remaining arm clean off, the golem used its air to shape the ice into a jagged blade. This golem wasn't just a mindless attack drone like the rest, it thought to use another golem's element as a weapon. That made me think, maybe that's why it didn't attack me during my fight with the ice golem, perhaps it wanted to have an honourable one on one. If that is the case then I should be thankful that it decided to be so chivalrous.

The spear was getting more and more warped, I absorbed it back into me, once again forming the shortsword. The edge of the blade was once again covered in the strongest poison I could muster, but this time it was even weaker than previously. The wind golem took a stance like it was ready to fight, so I got into my own stance, but right as I was about to charge towards the golem it went flying into the sky, the sound of howling winds evident around me, something was happening, I couldn't see anything but its like I could feel the air around me gathering into something. Pain shot out from everywhere at once, like mini explosions all over my body, the golem hadn't just randomly flew away, it was escaping its own attack radius. Little pellets of air where circling around like a vicious tornado, each one of was devastating on its own.