Excerpts from the Book of Heroes ##

Paramour of the Searing Flame - 5th Passage

...the battle was in darkness... with only the light from the hero’s spear, he fought against numerous monsters that emerged from the abyss... until finally, the largest one remained. The strongest of them all against the strongest of humanity.

It scorned the hero for killing its brethren, but it was the hero’s purpose, to protect his own species; the monster from the darkness must fall now.

<--->

The light in the cavern instantly faded. The eyes of the Spikes and Walkers burned. Even though it was just a moment, the party saw their target looming in the dark, unscathed by the light.

The mutated walker looked different... it had linings all over its body dimming on and off as it was breathing. Its exoskeleton was now much more apparent. The magic and blood lust it was exuding was more sharper.

Paramour’s sudden flash of light really did a number on the spikes and walkers. To add to that, there were walkers everywhere who were also enraged... to the point that they would attack anything in front of them. Since they were enraged, they continued their attacks; most of them were attacking blindly... they didn’t know if it was an enemy or a foe.

Simon jumped away from the blinded walkers that butchered themselves. “If I have a longer weapon I can kill the two,” Simon said, with a bloody walker’s blade in his hand, each one coming from the different walkers he had slain.

He approached the black hood that was in the middle of the formation, without words Simon showed him the tail blades he had collected on the fight.

“You want me to make this into a sword?!” the Black Hood was surprised, but he got the idea that each walker tail blade would produce a slash on Simon’s hands. “What if I make you the same sword that you are using?” the Black Hood asked.

“Can’t use two swords at once,” Simon answered, and he went back to the battle as soon as the walkers regained their sight.

Paramour and Percival were close by, so they could hear what they were talking about.

“You got 15… minutes, Hoodie,” Paramour said. It was rare for Paramour to agree to almost everything someone suggested; that was how much trust he put in Simon.

“Fucking Spikes!!! Eat this!!!” Percival dropped his shield and held his axe two-handedly; he then jumped from the raised earth into a fray of still-blinded spikes, and he started spinning widely. The spikes were instantly dismembered. He then threw his axe at one of the walkers who was battling with Simon.

Simon dodged the axe, and the walker instantly died with its brains spluttered. Simon quickly took the large axe and threw it back to Percival, who was now holding his shield.

“What the hell is that combo!!!” The Black Hood said as he was still aware of his surroundings.

Paramour could hear the battle but he was in a stare-down with the mutated spike, which was still not making a move.

“Simon!! LINE UP!!!” Percival suddenly screamed again. Simon reacted by baiting the spikes forming a lined-up group, the boy was using his footwork and it was effective.

The large northerner threw his axe again in the direction of Simon; it literally killed dozens of spikes and another walker on Simon’s side. Then Simon caught the axe in the air by the handle, and by its momentum, he spun, changing his position. Then he threw back the axe; it killed another bunch of unsuspecting spikes.

“That’s the combo!! Thanks, kid!!” Percival happily caught his axe. Paramour glanced in their direction; the boys were clearly enjoying the fight.

“Simon, how did you place the blade next to each other?!!” suddenly the Black Hood asked.

“Carve the top of the blade or the bottom!!!” Simon answered as he continuously parried the attacks of the walkers.

“Got it!!” the Black Hood took a silver knife from his bag and started carving.

The hero holding his spear was still on the stare down 'Why was it not doing anything? Is it planning something?' These things ran on Paramour’s mind. He was steadily watching the mutated walker... he could tell that it was also staring at them.

“SIMON!!!!” the Black Hood screamed as he threw the newly crafted weapon. Simon removed his bag, throwing it to an area he thought was safe, along with the 4x Walker Sword he was using. He caught the 6x Walker Sword in his two hands.

“Perfect…” Simon had been using only one hand ever since... but he was trained by the old man to use his two hands when in swordplay.

The 6x Walker Blade glowed a bit more red. He then performed a wide slash.

Unlike when he was using the 4x Walker Blade, the slashes he created whenever he swung looked like wind slashes that had a tint of red on them.

But the six slashes he produced created red-like slashes around Simon; the surprised walkers died, some lost their tails, some their limbs. Their fluid sprawled into the air.

The walkers that evaded used their upper limbs to defend themselves; few lost their arms. Simon smiled; it really felt good doing that move. Ideas began to flow into his mind.

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“Simon, watch out!!!” Paramour warned. The hero was caught off guard as the mutated walker moved at a low stance at an extreme speed.

Unlike the normal walkers, the mutated walker attacked not only with its tails but also using claws on its hands. A spike that evolved to imitate human’s versatility.

Simon jumped away, and the three-fingered claws created a vacuum of slash on the ground. Some gashed his clothes but there was no blood... he tried parrying them but realized that it was not possible, so he threw a wind knife. It produced a wind blade spinning, but it deteriorated when it collided with the vacuum slash from the claws. Both of its wind blades dispersed. Simon was safe.

“I got 2 more,” Simon said. He only had six in the first place.

Paramour was already bee-lining to the mutated walker; he launched an attack. His spear was already on a magic blade, the mutated walker parried with his claws. They had a standoff for a while. “I’m going to slay you,” Paramour said, face-to-face with the mutated walker.

The mutated walker was taller than Paramour.

Paramour’s spear slowly glowed more intensely; it was the magic edge level 2, giving the weapon an elemental value.

The heat seared the mutated walker’s claws; it used brute force to break the standoff. The two began a series of clashing attacks, Paramour relying on his spear play while the mutated walker on its instincts.

Simon was back again, fighting against the walkers... “Eight more,” Simon said as he slayed another walker, slashing its head. The walkers helped each other when fighting against Simon when he was attacked in the tunnels.

This time they were just mindlessly attacking him, with his new sword, its weight, and the six focused slashes that could break their tails... he was killing one walker at a time.

“Guys!!! I’m gonna do Cleaving Earth! Two minutes!!” suddenly Percival screamed. The party knew of this move. It’s an earth magic combined with Percival’s swinging axe. To put it simply, he just used a magic edge level 2 and swung it as hard as he could.

Earth mages are usually good carpenters and builders outside of their fighting, and earth mages use this skill to excavate. It was just this skill combined with Percival’s ridiculous strength.

“I’m ready!!!” Simon confirmed...

“A bit to the left, Sir Percival!!” Black Hood said.

“Do it!!!” Paramour screamed.

Percival jumped into the air; Percival had this Earthen Sense too but not as prominent as the princess’s but it was enough for him to be aware of his surroundings. He had already determined the direction of his Cleaving Earth.

“Hurrah!!!!” he screamed; northerners are known screamers when in the heat of battle. The Cleaving Earth traveled, creating a bursting fissure that released whatever was below; rather than cleaving enemies, it actually pulverized them.

The Black Hood was watching Percival’s back; he was on fending-off duty, as attacks from behind can be very brutal.

“Thanks for the assist!! I’ve got space!!!” Paramour says. The attack made the Mutated Walker jump back, and it was a fatal mistake against Paramour; he went into a stance. Simon knew what skill the hero was doing, and the Black Hood knew the dance he was about to perform.

The Sun Dance.

“The dark is so cold, the wind has no life”

“We scream against the odds, lie against strife”

“Hold your head high, feel the warmth of the sun”

“We feel our lives, we never stop the run”

“For the lands hold the origin of life”

“For the lands, ye hold the ending of life”

“For I carry the trident of the fire”

“A flame that’s bursting with magic and ire”

This skill is actually a double effect; it reinvigorates allies and melts enemies. Simon basks in its warm feeling. “He should have done this from the start...”

The Black Hood instantly canceled the Umbra Eyes as the whole cavern was basked in the hero’s light.

Simon sometimes never understands why Paramour or Percival would do the things they do; they have sparred many times, and sometimes he doesn’t understand their actions—some were effective, some were not.

The Mutated Walker felt the heat, but it didn’t melt; rather, it changed targets. As the room was cleared of its allies, it saw Simon, Percival, and the Black Hood.

“Dodge!!” Simon screamed. The Black Hood and Percival instantly became wary and both jumped away; the Mutated Walker assaulted them, specifically the Black Hood.

“Simon, help!!! Paramour can’t stop the dance now that he has started!!” the Black Hood screamed. Simon swiftly moved. Percival used his axe to deflect the claws of the Mutated Walker as the monster landed at the earthen elevation of Percival.

He wasn’t successful, and he couldn’t move as the two made a stand-off. Percival was not an avid user of strengthening skills; the Black Hood tried to cast it, but... “NO!!! It will attack you from behind with its tails!!!” Simon warned the Black Hood. The Black Hood hid his staff and took out a sword.

The Mutated Walker’s tails flew to him. He deflected 2 tail blades out of six. “Aargh!!!” Percival screamed; he cast another earth magic, creating a defensive barrier for the Black Hood. It was enough; Simon arrived in time and deflected the tails.

The Black Hood upon seeing the opportunity successfully cast a strengthening magic on Percival, and Percival pushed the Mutated Walker a little. That was really dangerous, Percival thought; there were only four of them if one of them got hit, they would be in deep trouble.

The three began their teamwork in surviving the onslaught of the Mutated Walker. Unlike Simon, who was accustomed to deflecting the attacks, the other two were not as good as him. Simon instantly noticed a smell; the Mutated Spike was excreting some kind of liquid on its tail...

“Be careful! The blades are poisoned!!” Simon said.

Percival used his shield and axe to block and parry the attack. The Black Hood was dodging and parrying with his sword while keeping track of Paramour’s dance.

“The song is almost over!!! I will cast Umbra Eyes again, Sir Percival!!” the Black Hood spoke his intentions. The buff was needed for them to see in the dark.

...

Paramour clearly eradicated every enemy inside the cavern... except, of course, the Mutated Walker, which was still alive. But along the lines of openings, mistakes, and opportunities, the few seconds of blindness before the Umbra Eyes effects are one of the opportunities the last Walker was waiting for. That’s what it was observing earlier.

“It's attacking!!!” Simon warned; he was the only one who could act as their eyes during the few seconds of opening. The Mutated Walker timed its attack as soon as the Black Hood cast his magic; it would only take a few seconds for the Umbra Eyes to affect them, and it was enough.

“Sir Percival! let’s jump back.” The magic was cast, but the delay of the effect was still there, the two had to do something and Black Hood suggested the jump but...

“No!!! You will be in range of its tails!!” Simon, who had been fighting them, knew that the tail was deadlier than the claws. Simon screamed, but the two already were on the move; Simon was on the move too. He must do something.

“What is happening!!!” Paramour, unable to move as his eyes were still blinded by the dark... for any level of adventurers, this was bound to happen... mistakes.

The tails were flexible; the two were not the monster’s target... it was the boy... if it eliminated him... then it would be hard to parry its tail attacks. Its tails instantly shifted direction into the boy who was running to the rescue of his two brethren.

Simon finally realized... as the moment proceeded... he could not change what would happen next... he could only confront it. “Think from the beginning of your movement until its end and move without hesitation.” Those words resounded in Simon's mind.