His lackey wavered and was only a few moments from breaking. Worriedly, he looked for support from some corner. It was support that would never come. My Stamina had recovered significantly and I was struck upon a new idea. Power Strike was a skill that could be used both armed and unarmed. It was time to use it a little creatively. I used Power Strike, imagining kicking down against the ground, and in essence, causing me to jump forward at a great speed. Launched forward, I met my opponent with a crash, knocking him over. We fell into a clanking heap of flailing limbs. Straddling the man, I lifted my shield with both hands and smashed the edge into his face. Again, and again, my shield rose and fell, smashing bone and flesh into a bloody pulp until I got the notification of his death.

You have slain a human 15 experience gained.

You have learned Shields (lvl.3)

You have learned Dash (lvl.1)

“The venal Mauros thinks only of himself, and of power and worldly gain. So be it. If you seek to go against the will of, and side with the words of an earthly priest, I will stop you myself,” the woman Cordelia cried, in a voice taut with conviction. Her words, even in the heat of battle, reached out to me.

As soon as I got to my feet, a tabarded man engaged me up close, holding his sword halfway up the blade as he sought a weakness in my armor. Coming within a knife’s range, he failed to find an opening, and instead ended up tackling me down to the ground. We rolled around together on the grass, each searching for an advantage. What he lacked in strength, he made up for slightly in skill, leveraging joints and using locking techniques to try to overpower me. It was not enough, for I had found the knife at my hip. I slipped the wavy blade under his thick gorget, the weapon finding its way to his throat like an unwelcome guest, and ended his life.

You have slain a Human 20 experience gained

You have learned Unarmed Combat (lvl.5)

You have learned Daggers (lvl.4)

My body was thrumming with power, seeking more violence as I rode a high of adrenalin and raw life force. Something within me had changed; the Unarmed Skill, having reached level five, had changed me somehow. This feeling was soon confirmed, as I was given another notification.

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You have learned Improved Unarmed Combat (lvl.1)

You have gained 10 experience.

I raised my shield to block another arrow, as I quickly read the notification. A quick glance at the rest of my interface showed that it had supplanted the basic Unarmed skill. I was delighted that my battlefield experimentation had given me a new useful skill, Dash.

I had enough Mana to cast a few more spells. It would be churlish of me not to use them. Skulking in the corner of my mind, as if in hiding, was my Rust spell, its existence almost completely forgotten. I would have the magic do some work this day. Like a hound of war, my Entropic Aura was straining at its leash and begging to be let loose. So let loose it was, and the insidious waves of energy pulsed with me at its center.

I saw a soldier who was engaged with a caravan guard, and targeted him with the full force of my Rust spell. Dark bolts of hungering lightning mixed with the pulses of Entropic energy. Unerringly, the magic found its mark. The mouthwatering smell of roast pork, an aroma at odds on the battlefield, filled my nostrils. The soldier writhed on the ground, cooking in his own armor as it oxidized at an accelerated rate. The guards who had been engaging the soldier turned almost green, and my face lit up with a smile, full of satisfaction. It was a few long moments until the tabarded soldier went to meet with his goddess, his agonized death cries a sweet song that finally stilled when the caravan guard put him out of his misery.

You have slain a human 7 experience gained.

A quick glance at my Status showed that I was still very much in fighting condition.

Health: 249/288

Stamina: 23/63

Mana: 4/14

The tabarded men wavered for a moment, confusion and division running rampant through their ranks as their leaders argued with each other, even as they fought a resisting enemy. They were unsure of whose orders to follow. Unfortunately, the greater portion of their number seemed to be Knight-Sergeants men, as most of the unengaged soldiers moved to support him.

“Hubris to think that you would know of her wishes, little Goddess. We know that you bear that sword only because you spread your legs for his Eminence,” spat back Knight-Sergeant Mistevan.

The red-haired woman snarled back at this, raised her long slender sword, no longer seeking restraint but satisfaction, and answered with violence.