What is he doing?

Marshal froze as he watched his friend walk towards the shelter’s boundary with his newly purchased items. His heart pounded in his chest, and he gulped down a mouthful of saliva. He was getting a very bad feeling about what Alex planned to do.

Seeing him continue walking, Marshal began to panic. He remembered how the last fight went.

“You can’t be serious!” Marshal shouted as he blocked Alex’s path.

“Please move Marshal.”

“We can take it on together.”

Alex shook his head. “You are too new to be of any help. I’m thankful for your concern, but it’s like you said, we can't afford to waste any more time. I’m sure you already know why.”

“I just said that out of frustration. What about your teammates? We should wait a little more. Maybe they will find us.” Marshal pleaded, while he gripped Alex’s shoulders.

Shrugging him off, Alex forced out a grin. “You heard Bartus, they are probably not coming. Without any supplies we are dooming ourselves the longer we wait.”

Still,” Marshal muttered.

“Please, Marshal, step aside.”

Reluctantly, Marshal moved out of the way. With no hesitation, Alex uncorked the elixir and downed its contents in one go. He also slapped the talisman onto his chest, causing the inscriptions on it to dimly glow crimson. The yellow paper disintegrated while the light spread out and covered Alex’s body. Saber in hand, he crossed over the boundary line.

“Graah!”

The undead centaur stood up and trotted towards its prey that foolishly left its protective space. Drool dripped from the corners of the beast’s mouth as all of its muscles twitched grotesquely.

Both of them approached each other calmly, almost like they were about to shake hands instead of fighting to the death. Once the undead centaur was a little more than an arms length away, it’s legs kicked off the forest floor, leaving behind four small craters. The distance between the two was closed instantly. A fist the size of a bowling ball shot forward, aiming for Alex’s head.

Eyes narrowing, and Alex crossed his arms across his chest just in time to receive the blow.

Boom!

Alex’s body shot backwards like a cannonball and slammed into a tree, causing some of the bark to splinter off. Blood trickled from the corner of his lips. However, none of his bones seemed to be broken. In contrast, the light surrounding him lessened by quite a bit. Much like a dying lightbulb, it constantly flickered. If it took another direct hit, there was no telling if it would last.

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Keeping up the momentum, the centaur didn’t allow Alex to catch his breath. It quickly followed it up with a hoof kick.

This time, Alex managed to get out of the way in time. He jumped to the side and slashed out with his saber. The edge of the blade had a dangerous, orange, tint to it as it dug into the undead centaur’s torso. Smoke rose out of the wound, as the flesh around the cut was slightly burned.

“Raaaaaw!”

A shrill scream hurt Marshal’s ears despite watching the fight from a safe distance. Marshal shut his eyes and balled his hands into fists. Never in his life had he ever felt so useless.

Is it really alright for me to just stand around and do nothing? Marshal thought.

He walked closer to the edge of the shelter, and watched his friend exchange blows with a creature he thought to only be a fictional being before today. A part of him wanted to run out there and help him, but the rest of him was rooting him in place.

Oh no, the centaur’s punch sent him too far away from the circle. There is nothing I can do. I’m too weak!

Luckily, it seemed that his friend had the upper hand. Each of his movements were compact and swift, leaving small wounds that began to add up. The flurry of attacks forced the undead centaur to back away in a bid to find an opening to attack. With each step, the duo came closer to the shelter.

However, Marshal noticed how flushed Alex’s face was, and the beads of sweat dripping onto the ground. From the looks of it, he would not be able to keep up his flurries of attacks for much longer.

Now, the centaur was right next to the barrier. Similar to when they first came here, the creature refused to get any closer. Yet, try as it might, a part of its tail flicked across the barrier of flowers.

A bright streak of electricity flashed, burning a few of the hairs at the tip of the centaur’s tail. The shock caused it to roar and do all it could to not lose any more ground.

This stalemate lasted for a few minutes before Alex miss timed a block and took a glancing blow to his left shoulder. He was only forced a few steps back, but the effects of the talisman finally expired. The light sputtered one last time before winking out.

That was the last straw.

Marshal snapped his fingers and hurriedly opened the shop. As soon as Bartus showed up, Marshal held up a finger and gave him a serious look. For the first time, the imp shut his mouth and didn’t blurt out an insult right off the bat.

“One Minor Frost Talisman and one Minor Shock Talisman.” Marshal said.

“The talismans are five points apiece. Which points do you want to use? Keep in mind you should avoid getting your points in any category too low.”

“Deduct five from my luck, and five from my fame.”

“Fine,” Bartus said as he clapped his hands twice.

Two talismans with different colored inscriptions appeared before Marshal. He had read the descriptions for both of the items and had a general idea of how to use them.

Without wasting any time, he ran up to where the undead centaur and Alex were fighting. He wanted to shout his plan out, but Alex was clearly on his last legs. Blood covered his tattered clothes and his left arm was bent in an odd angle.

Looks like I need to trust that Alex will know what to do.

Gathering his courage, Marshal threw the The talisman with powder blue covered inscriptions below the hooves of the undead centaur. White mist burst out from the inscriptions and covered the ground with a thin layer of ice.

Seeing the talisman work as expected, Marshal tosses the second talisman. It landed true onto its target, one of the back legs of the creature.

“Alex, shove!” Marshal cried as he tossed the Minor Shock Talisman.

Both of the talismans had very weak effects. The shock would only last a mere moment, and the ice was weak enough to easily crack if it was stomped on.

So everything came down to a single second.

The ground finished freezing over as the centaur brought down one of its hooves. At the same time, the shock started to course through the muscles of the same leg.

Either one of those might not have been useful alone, but together they created the desired effect.

Alex saw his chance and used every last ounce of his energy to barrel into his off balanced opponent. Both of them were sent tumbling into the shelter.

The undead centaur didn’t even get the chance to scream before a blinding light flashed with a buzz of electricity. It was similar to a moth flying into a bug zapper.

When the light finally dimmed, all that remained was a black statue of char.

Neither Marshal or Alex spoke. They held their breaths as they stared at the unmoving body. It was as if they feared it was merely unconscious, and could wake up at any time.

While they waited in silence, a gentle breeze brushed past. Like a pile of dust, the once intimidating monster flew off with the wind.