I am a fast mobile fighter, although I mostly use it to escape. I am not one to hide behind walls and buildings. I am one to break into them and get the loot. Many times, I have caused destruction to cover up my escape.

If the archers are staying back because of the walls, I will remove all the walls and the wooden buildings. All I needed was protection against the smoke. I systematically went around lighting fires. The Undead must have some way of sensing the environment around them, even if they mostly track me with my life force or my mana. It has to be one or the other, or maybe both.

I covered my mouth and nose with a wet cloth to keep the smoke out. Undead don’t breathe, so the smoke won’t affect them. The smoke was blowing to the side, but trying to escape in the smoke was a failure. I moved to the upwind side and waited for the fire to do its work.

The timber was rotten and dry and burned quickly. Soon, there were just piles of ash and embers. I stayed close in. Now, what are you going to do? The barrier is gone. Will you attack now?

They did move closer, so their bows reached into the village, and now it was time to start with a slow dance. Hopefully, it appeared like all my cover had been destroyed, and there was more clear area for their bows.

All the walls and timber buildings were gone, but all the mud hovels were still standing. I still had a complicated environment, but it was less obvious. I certainly complicated it for myself as I used light to see, and the smoke was a hazard. Surely, those empty skulls can’t be that intelligent.

The Archers had moved forward, and the hounds started coming into the village. Were the archers ordered to keep the hounds in range so they could shoot when I attacked the hounds? Now that the archers can see beyond the wall, can the hounds come in?

The trouble with that is I have eight hounds all at once instead of a few at a time. And I have to dodge arrows at the same time. Fuck this Trial.

1. Slow dance first. The Dash between mud walls, drawing arrows. I worked my way around and drew two to four arrows at a time, so the archers could see the mud walls, but they don’t shoot when I am behind the walls. I figured some time they could lob arrows over the wall, but they didn’t.

I had my Spectral Vision showing me the infrared, so I kept away from hotspots, as there was a lot of smoke still around, and hotspots could be under rubble and ash. That was how I spotted my first undead hound. It came between me and a hotspot I was keeping an eye on. The hound itself had no body heat, so it blocked my spectral vision.

I moved and struck with my axes, wounding but not killing it. I kept moving now. The dance was speeding up. I was conserving mana, but I couldn’t help but test Cutting Light on the hounds. It would take limbs, but I had to be accurate as it was a very precise spell.

I was back into a complicated, moving fight when another thought occurred to me. The hounds have fur. Maybe I could help them have some body heat. I manoeuvred and gave one hound the boot sending it into a hot spot. Oh yes. The Hounds are weak to fire! This dance was about to heat up!

Then I mistimed a gap, and an arrow went through my arm, and another made my head ring as it bounced off my helmet. Shit, it took a bit to get my head on straight after that. I made sure my reaction was to run, and I might have careened off a couple of walls, but that was better than becoming a chew toy or a pin cushion.

Burning Light and the charm Spark were added to my dance moves. If they got close enough for me to use Spark, I would be in trouble as it was only a small flame, and I had to be close enough to touch them. I was in trouble a couple of times.

There were eight Hounds, but I only could find seven cores. I am reasonably sure it was in a pile of ash somewhere, and the Hound was dead, but I would have liked confirmation.

I paused as long as I dared to let Minor Regeneration do its thing and regain my stamina. I now had ten mounted Archers to deal with. This was going to be expensive for Mana and Stamina. At least their ground support was gone. May the gods bless fire.

Right. The bite on my leg and the arrow in my shoulder are not hampering me, courtesy of Minor Regeneration and Weak Health Potion. I gripped the two axes. It was time to Tango.

I Dashed at the left most Archer and when four arrow were in flight I switched to Light Spees for two meter ad almost stumbled. I wish I could have practised more. I was only saved by Steady Footing and my Sure-grip boots.

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I can’t stop now. The Archer was moving his horse to keep its distance, and I can’t have that. Dash, Light Speed, Dash, and I was there, bringing down my axes on the archer as I used Cutting Light through the horse's front leg.

It was weak, but this didn’t kill it. The Axes did take an arm, so I moved on as it could no longer use the bow. I had to keep moving and keep the movements unpredictable, or I would become a pin cushion fast.

I dashed off at an angle, and the Light Speed changed my direction. I did stumble, but I didn’t fall. I Dashed past the retreating archer and hit the one behind with a Cutting Light aimed at his bow. That worked before it could retreat. I had to reduce the number of arrows in the air. They could fire one a second. My Quick Hands Parryed one, but Dodge Dash and Light Speed were my only real hope. My main attacks are Cutting Light and Holy Strike with my Axes.

Then, the arrow that signalled my death struck me. It slammed fully into my thigh, and if I hadn’t had the leather pants, I would have been crippled and turned into a pin cushion. There was enough force in the arrow that the bone plating in my thigh armour cracked, and It was obvious what it would have done to my thigh bone. It did penetrate into the thigh muscle, but not far. I am sure even the small boost Level 1 Medium Armour gave me made the difference between life and death. I yanked the arrow out, and Minor Regeneration got to work. The armour would take several hours to self-repair, so I would have to be careful with that leg.

That arrow was not a normal arrow. It was fired with some sort of Skill to increase the force or penetration. How often could they do that? Not being hit was still my best plan, but that worried me. One of those arrows in the heart or brain would be an instant kill, despite my investment in my constitution.

The dance had to be finished. I had killed two and disabled three when an arrow glanced off my steel helmet. That helmet from the knight has saved my life multiple times already. This arrow must also have been a skilled shot, as the steel was dented. The dent rubbed uncomfortably against my head and was an uncomfortable reminder of how close to death I was. The armour set might be called the Dance of Death, but I am dancing with death right now.

The three disarmed archers did not remain out of the fight. Their mounts were trying to run me down and trample me. If I kill the archer, the horse dies as well. If I kill the horse, the archer will die. That is helpful, but it is easier to kill the archer.

It was a race. Catch and kill before my Stamina and Mana depletes. Dash, Cutting Light, damn, I missed the neck, Dash, Light Speed, Holy Strike, gotcha. Dodge, roll, Dash, axe, axe, Dodge, and so the dance continued.

A horse's hoof clipped me, and my shoulder broke, making me drop an axe. The dance must go on, or it is death.

The last one was the most difficult. They kept riding away and shooting arrows, and I had real trouble catching them. I could dodge single arrows easily enough, but my stamina was dwindling. Free Runner showed its worth.

I finally got it at the extreme range with Cutting Light after disabling the horse by Precision Throwing my Axe. It was slow, close to running me out of stamina, and then I would be dead. I had already drunk all my weak stamina potions and half of my supply of weak mana potions.

Fuck this Trial.

I just sunk into the dirt and let the pain and exhaustion sweep over me for a while. Minor Regeneration was slowly working on my shoulder bone. Because I couldn’t stop, I kept re-breaking the bone and undoing the regeneration that had occurred. Constant pain.

I checked my status while I sat. Dodge had maxed out, and I got an Agility point for it but no next-level skill. Free Runner, Steady Footing, Holy Strike and Basic Axe went up to 3. Light Speed and Cutting Light both went up a level.

I have decided on the longsword for Infernal Monsters and Axe for Undead. I had one longsword and one axe that had bonuses against Infernal, so I could pair them, although I am not sure even my ambidextrous is up to two such different weapons at the same time. I would probably need a technique for that.

I am eighteen kills into my class level, and I need two more levels for Basic Axe and three for Basic Longsword. It's time to collect the loot and go hunting. I pick up the coins, meat and claws and start jogging back to the other kills when I thought, when did my attitude change? I was running and avoiding fights, but now I want to hunt. I remember wanting to hunt the lynxes, but that was a lot of joy in being able to use my illusions again, wasn’t it? Is this trial changing me?

I look in. I am more aggressive and looking for a fight. This god’s forsaken trial is changing me, and a big part of the change is my new Slayer class. The change is right there in the name. It is a class for killing. All my life, I have minimised killing. Stealing, wounding and fighting if necessary, but very seldom killing. Do I want to change?

I have to fight and kill to survive here, so the Trial is changing me. Why couldn’t this be a puzzle trial? I would be good at that. This trial is out to kill me, and it is changing me into a killer. A Slayer. If I had wanted to be a killer, I would have chosen Assassin instead of Thief.

I am going to have to watch this. The Class is trying to turn me into a murder maniac. The Trial is trying to turn me into a murder maniac. That is not who I am. I will use it for now to survive, but I will keep a reign on it. Killing should be the last option, not the first.

One of the Archers dropped a bow with bonus damage to the undead. It was typical of the Trial that there were no arrows, and my Create Darts were too small. I had no way to use the bow. I examined the monster cores, and there was nothing. No Create Arrow skill, just a useless bow. I am not even sure I want to use the bow. A shield would probably be better, but there is no sign of that. I will store it for later.