CHAPTER 14 - Slippery

It’s time to show my peculiar tactics. I will get what I want without the need to commit!

I am talented and that’s a fact, but how will I ever get better if I don’t practice? Well, I will be taking care of that right now. First I approach the first car I see and take off the rims of their tires. It takes a while and I make some noise, but nothing to worry about. I have to idea if it is possible for me to infuse inert things with qi, but for now this will do the job.

The plan is super simple. First I find what for me seems like a group with a manageable amount of the lesser-orcs. They are one of the smallest ones I found till now, being formed by five of them. They are not accompanied by any other monsters, but they are armed.

Having spotted my first prey and feeling confident I stalk them for a little while till a good ambush spot. I chase after them from a distance to assure myself that they don't spot me, yet I am alert as I will have to be able to shorten the distance enough for the ambush the moment I spot a good place. I hide myself behind anything I can trying to make the least amount of noise while maintaining the speed.

The moment they get to a crossroads I see my chance, having the rims attached to my left arm with some straps from a shirt I found I am ready. The moment they pause to probably choose which direction to take I rush at them. I rush from their right, where the gap between their group and the obstacles that I use as cover is thinner. I empower my legs and dash as fast as I can to the nearer monster.

The guy notices my charge just in time to try and parry even if it is with its unarmed arms, yet the moment he brings them forward to stop my swing in place I change my focus. I boost my arms and torso instead for a quicker and stronger impact, and change my swing to a piercing motion to the neck, delivering a fatal hit. The speed of its block falls short of speed as I don’t continue the expected trajectory and my attack connects. My longsword displaying its amazing quality once more coupled with my empowered body as it pierce the head of my first victim from bottom to top, killing it.

‘One down, as expected.’ The fight hasn’t even started yet and it already became a four against one from a five against one. I could try to force more than that, but I don't want to tire myself too early on, so I just rush at the second monster without using anything else other than my physical prowess.

The monsters, already aware of me, take out their weapons and start attacking me.The nearest one is the first one to react, throwing a punch directly at me not even taking out its weapon. Something that he instantly regrets as I dodge it and shorten the distance, dashing beyond him while going under his swinging arm.

*Whip*

My sword lets out a whipping sound as I slash with it as fast as I am able at his extended arm, cleaving it apart from the rest of his body. I did use some qi to make sure the attack goes all the way and it doesn’t impair my movement in any way. Before fighting the other two guys, I take the chance to make some time and push the one I just hurt with a strong kick to his back.

‘Nice, that w-’ *Clang*

While I was taking care of the second monster the others got more than enough time to take out their weapons and rush at me. The first attack being a vertical slash that comes my way so fast that I need to block it with my improvised shield. I decide to not use any qi for the defense and nearly kills me as another attack comes at me front the left. A huge ax comes into my sight as I try to push back the first attack with no avail, I feel forced to let the attack push me away from them to dodge the second one.

I get some respite with the distance, but I rush again because I know that the moment I let them surround me I am dead. I need to play it slowly yet be proactive. I killed one of them, but there is still the guy whose arm I cut and three more unharmed enemies, all stronger than me. I have already halved my qi reserves, yet I still feel energetic. One thing I notice while practicing with it, is that it only tires me out whenever I get to a dangerously low level or use too much at once.

I don’t waste time and focus on the fight. That’s when I notice that the last one of them hasn’t made his move yet. I turn my head to my right and get scared as the still far away enemy throws a spear at me. The spear is aiming directly at my face with precision so I am forced to move back again, losing my chance to counterattack. Not even a second after I get pushed back yet again, not daring to try and parry two swings of the couple in front of me head-on.

‘I need to take care of one more of them at least to have a chance at killing all of them with the amount of qi I've got.’

Both of my enemies in front grunt in what I identify as annoyance at their failed attempts to land a single strike on me, but I know better… The moment they land even one I will probably be out of commission. I pause a second to look at the guy that’s missing a limb and he is already back on his feet, either I kill him fast or I rush at the unarmed one that just threw the spear at me.

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“Arghh” I roar at the top of my lungs to get the attention of the two foes in front of me, and that,I achieve. After doing so though, I run right, rushing at the unarmed monster at the back like a maniac and leaving the other two guys stunned in place. At least that's what they seem to be before they get all worked up and start chasing me.

‘They definitely don’t like being ignored I guess, not like I care though!’

In no time at all I find myself in front of the guy who threw the spear at me.

“Payback time you bastard!" I vent my anger on the monster with a quick slice of its neck. The unarmed monster, though, still tries to block it with both arms. I use as much qi as I can and concentrate it all on my arms and torso as I make contact with the guy. The sword slices through both arms and neck, only losing strength at the end. After I stop to breathe I start to feel the exhaustion arise as I used way too much in a go, yet I don't regret it. I am now in a 3vs1 situation and I start to run out of stamina, yet my enemies are not in the best shape.

They are all three running at me, the first two are already on me, enraged by my taunt and seeing red after the death of two of their comrades. The last one, less mad, yet enraged nonetheless, still trailing behind the other two and suffering from a huge loss of blood from its arm.

Every second that passes I see my victory closer and now it is time to end this fight. However, I can’t be overconfident as I am now without qi to fight, if I get hit in a bad spot I won’t be able to react on time or defend against it.

I try to take advantage of their rage to bait their attacks before counterattacking, not daring to make any risky moves for now. They both start throwing punches and swinging their weapons at me with rage.

I dodge everything they throw at me again and again while retreating, making them even more enraged as they can’t hit me. I track the three of them while maintaining enough space to escape from any of their attacks, making them waste energy while I wait for their stamina to deplete. At the pace they are going, it doesn’t matter how sturdy or resilient they may be, they will fall to their rage.

I don’t know what it may be waiting for me in any of the streets surrounding us, so I decide to end this here. I retreat to the nearest building while dodging, not daring to give them my back.

I reach the pavement and retreat till my back hits a light pole, then another swing of one of them comes and hits the steel pole as I duck below it, making the guy who hit it reel in pain from the backslash of such a strong hit. I use the free space to push with no punishment whatsoever, I run past them both and slash at the last guy who was trailing us limping by the lack of strength. My slash cuts off the other arm of the guy, leaving him armless and dying on the floor.

I take a quick breath and back off before the other two guys rush at me. They are tired from swinging their weapons non-stop, yet they still have more than enough stamina to catch me if I get careless.

I focus on the one with the huge ax to avoid getting hit by him and let him push towards me, letting him rage all he wants. The other one follows soon after as I zig zag between cars and rubble. One of them misses and hits a car and I get behind to get some hits in, I slash one of his legs with my sword and then kick it to the ground making him fall while I retreat using his body as my cover from the other monster.

At least that was the plan, but the other guy just rushes at me anyways, trying to catch my neck with a swift reach from his free arm. The arm gets dangerously close and I trip as I try to get away, landing on butt. The monster trips too due to its bad balance, but its ax keeps coming my way and I have no time to move away, my only option tanking it or parrying it somehow.

I grab my longsword as firm as I can while I use a reverse grip to parry the attack to the ground, making use of the hardness of the blade as I point the sword downwards and use the blade as a shield from the attack and let the force of the hit slide to the floor. The moment the attack meets the ground I slide to the side to avoid the fist coming at my stomach, sadly losing my weapon that stays under my enemy.

Trusting my skills and knowing full well that it's a risky move, I jump at the other enemy I downed before. I hit him with a strong downward kick on the head, smashing his head against the floor again. I use the sharp edges of the car rim I still have attached to my arm to pound at the neck of the monster till it stops moving.

I turn to face the last one of my foes trying to hack me with the ax again. I finally see him losing speed as he tires himself out, yet I am not sure it will be a good idea to spend any more time here than needed, so I use my superior speed to get some hits in. The monster tries to hit me with wider attacks, but they are easier to read and predict and now there are only two of us, him and me. Having no need to worry about external threats for a while, I throw away the car rim and I use my expertise on muay thai to obliterate the guy.

The already slow monster keeps getting slower and slower as I pummel him with blows all over his body, giving him no respite even for a second till he collapses.

*huff* *huff* "I did it..."

That was really tiresome and dangerous, I was worried for a second. Fortunately it all ended up now and I got away scot free. Yay! Time to pack up, as fast as I can!

I am weary from dodge all around and swinging a car rim all over the place, yet I can't complain, it ended up being quite useful even though I wasn’t planning on using it as a weapon honestly. Now I only need to get all the loot from the fight and make a run for it, and that’s just what I do.

I use the little strength I still have to bring the pick up to the place where the fight took place as fast as I can and load it all on it. I pile up all the five bodies quickly on it, which are in no way light and then throw inside the trunk the weapons too. I turn the engine up while puffing for air and leave the place. Let’s return to base, I am going to become filthy rich.