Eager to test out his physical skills on an actual opponent, he spent the briefest of moments looking at the equipment of the dolls before he charged at the one that was unarmed. He flowed over the ground effortlessly smooth. The air whined at the speed at which he lashed out with his sword. Nearly falling over as the doll he tried to strike docked under his swing. Actually falling to his knees as the unarmed doll hit him in the stomach,

Note to self: don't over comet to a swing.

He could feel movement in his detection aura but it was just a vague impression of something being there. It wasn’t enough to let him tell what it was, however It was enough to let him know he needed to move, as two of the impressions were directly behind him.

His acrobatic skills made rolling forward and then rising back to his feet an easy maneuver. Doing it just in time as the two dolls with long staves struck where he had been just Moments before.

Now for attempt number two.

He could feel all five of the dolls circling him in his aura. They were just there waiting to swarm him as soon as he made his move. Lunging at the unarmed doll again. This time he tried an overhead chop. The doll easily stepped to the side. As the sword went past, the doll launched its counter strike.

This time he was prepared for it. Dropping his sword, he did a backflip. Now able to see the dolls that had been approaching him from behind as he was sprang off his hands. The stave wielders had lunged forward trying to jab him with their range,

He landed on and kicked off one of the staves. Then doing the same to the other staff wielders head. Barely missing the Axe wielder's axe before jumping off the shield of the last one as it tried to slash him with its sword. By the time he landed back on the ground he was laughing hysterically.

Ok the ridiculousness of being a master acrabate when I could never get my swordsmanship past level two. At least my efficiency perk will let me swing forever and probably pack a punch if I can actually get a hit in.

Knowing he needed to do something about his aura to be useful in a fight, He began tweaking it. It had let him know something had moved behind him but its impression was vague so he couldn't really tell how many or get a good grasps of their attacks,

The first thing he did to try to fix the issues was to dump mana into his aura. The problem with this was that by the time he dumped enough to get a grasp of their shapes they were trapped in his mana. Completely unable to move.

Oops

He dropped down onto one knee as if he had done something strenuous. Quickly dispersing it before sending back out the weak version.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

My problem is the mana gets moved too easily , and doesn't refit the gaps. So what happens if instead of having the mana be passive I have it be active?

The dolls had reached him again so the aura experiment would have to wait. It was the shield and sword doll in the lead. With the axe and unarmed ones to its sides With the stave users on the flanks

Formations seem like over hill when I can't hit' anything

He swung at the Shield user assuming it would block so he could at least see how he fared against defenses. Of course the dolls weren't going to let him get a hit that easily.

The shield user was blocking like he expected but their formation meant he was going to take a chop from an axe if he went through with his swing instead he darted at the stave user on the side with the unarmed doll. The doll thrust its stave at him forcing him to side step. The doll then tried swing the extended staff at him.

He did a side flip over the staff before launching off the face of the unarmed doll. He lunged forward at the staff wielding doll, trying to catch it before it pulled the staff back to defend itself.

His hope was to impale the doll as he descended. Unfortunately he couldn't fall fast enough. The doll changed its swing as it sidestepped out of the way. Unable to dodge in midair, it caught him in the back before launching him across the arena

Trusting his body to catch itself he focused on his aura. Deciding to start with a simplistic approach to Making his mana active. He made it cycle expanding and contracting repeatedly. So focused on this task, he was only vaguely aware of his body as it twisted in the air to face the doll's as he landed with a slide.

The detection aura was now actively mapping his surroundings and the dolls as they approached him. He wobbled on his feet trying to process it all.

Oh this is way too much information to do on the fly. The feedback from the aura is making me nauseous. Time to Daredevil this bitch.

He closed his eyes as he waited for the dolls to cover the distance he had been flung, He swayed Slightly as he tried to get used to perceiving his body through the aura.

The dolls approached in the same formation as before but he did nothing but continue to sway. The staff users thrusted and he could see it clearly through his aura. Dodging by stepping forward towards the shield and sword doll. A sword stabbed at him, an Axe descended from above while the two staves tried to block his escape.

The staves were separated, one high and one low, as they were swept towards his back. As he dove backwards through the opening, they tried to pincer him, first grabbing both staves before yanking on them.

As David landed on his feet the dolls. all had lost their balance from being sandwiched by the staff users. He lunged forward and slashed at the center mass of the entangled dolls.

He was surprised when he actually managed to hit the stave doll on the left. His surprise turned to confusion as his sword went through the doll as if it wasn't there. His sword was already through the axe doll as his confusion turned to horror but still his sword made its way through the dolls.

He stood over the pile of doll halfs. Not even the shield hindered his sword. His whole body ached despite his ceaseless self heal and he turned off his detection aura in hopes it would make his head no longer feel like it was going to explode.

He raised his sword over his head and then threw it into the ground before heading back to the box seat. As he passed the guard he had talked to earlier, he made eye contact before glancing back at the pile.

I guess I better pretend I am a melee build.