Fine, you won’t give me my openings, I’ll fucking make them.

It had been about 40 seconds of fighting, but by now I had this asshole pegged.

Clearly, he got some skill that made one strike very fast, and he must have some high perception to track some of my movements so well, which meant one conclusion; filthy damage tank.

The bane of all fair gamers, a broken tank. Sure, they had lower health, but relative to fucking tanks. With this in mind, I knew he’s level 1, so his first move will more than likely be his entire bag right now. The problem was, he got way too damn close every time I closed the gap, regardless of my speed or angle.

It was by now I’d grown fed up. Call it a short fuse, call it pride, but the guy would not have put up this kind of fight without class skills, halberd be damned. He’s smart, I’ll give him that, but his movements were sloppy. His stance wasn’t, but clearly he was unpracticed in it. That indicated to me his defenses were for show. He too adopted the art of whimsically overpowered counter-attacking, but never learned defense as backup. Of course, this was probably a given. Not because of talent but, why the fuck would he before this?

Confident in my resolve, I switched my mentality a bit. I knew using my water stance was pertinent, my muscles pulsing with every move tapping into my agility stat with ease while in it, something I meditated on while enjoying my haven of H2O. I also practiced rigorously a new addition to this water stance. Something deadly, quick, and unpredictable; lightning.

Sure, you might’ve found how I cataloged my styles to be dorky, bordering corny even, but here? It appeared I had the last laugh, being rewarded for my diligent faith in the elements making concepts stickier. After the molly-whopping delivered in the first fight and meditated on my stance, a prompt pinged at the corner of my vision.

Skill unlocked -> Water Stance (common) - user exerts far less energy while in this fighting stance that revolves entirely on perpetual motion, and receives a +3 in agility, and a 3% boost to perception whenever an attack closes in. Endurance receives a -6% debuff for a time dependent on the duration the skill is active.

3% was far from shabby for a common skill, but the debuff upon deactivation definitely made the ranking make sense, and +3 agility was the more believable aspect of the skill in my opinion. It was like that pre-global kidnapping too. If in Flow too long however, as soon as I stopped moving I was hit with a massive wave of exhaustion. If anything, this would be a softer landing, ending up just 1 less point down, for now. I knew how big numbers and percentages worked from getting into finance, and knew I needed to fix this somehow at some point. Just, not now. Still, tiredness felt…deeper than stats. I’m not sure how to put it, other than something deep within me was spent, indicating it couldn’t be neglected too blatantly.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

With my stance skill active, I put in motion the second part of my plan, using my lightning straight.

It was risky, trying to convert it from an unarmed punch to a stab on the fly, but I had little option in my mind. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can fight the next, and maybe some God will actually like my abilities enough to see utility in choosing me. Then, I can get tools to be that utility, at least for a while.

Not big on commitment.

Circling him while feigning stabs and stepping motions with my lead hand Wakizashi, hoping he’d flinch enough for me to skip the lightning debacle and get an easy opening, but to no avail. He would step out of my range to maintain his defensive integrity as I’d step outside to get his body more squared to mine, unshaken by my fake stabs and steps, until I crept close enough for him to throw a swipe that keeps me away from any openings. An odd sensation, fighting someone so large in frame compared to me in truth, and I depended on my range to win most of my tougher battles throughout my short life.

Right before I formed the flow from my left side to explode into my lightning-like strike, he did the unthinkable; he feigned.

Part of me was taken aback, so I recoiled, but another was excited. Finally, someone with a little fighter knowledge.

Wondering what Korbin would do, I decided the openings were there, I simply hadn’t got to them yet.

Be patient, go at your pace.

I continued circling again, this time throwing a jab-like stab with my lead hand Wakizashi, twisting my hips to generate speed as I lunged the blade forward. At times it felt as if when I went to attack, he teleported a bit. I couldn’t really tell at first, but now with each parry from my blade onto his polearm, his figure shifted ever so slightly, but instantly. It didn’t feel like he moved, the water affinity in the air mixing with my Water Stance by now allowed me to see things far slower during attack sequences, and now that he was feigning, it triggered.

What the fuck, is this guy a mage or something?

Maybe his agility and strength are his best stats, maybe neither, either way I was beginning to abandon trying to read his stats from the outside, and focused on his actions.

After some poking and prodding with my blades, and the occasional calf kick when I got close enough, the fight grew in intensity. He wouldn’t let me stab his stupid magician face using his defensive strikes and instant relocation. it’s because of this I found myself rather fulfilled when he finally succumbed to the proverbial limp after a series of parried slashes and questionable near-misses left his leg ripe for the taking. He suddenly jolted lower after I landed a lower leg kick with my rear leg before Water Stepping away from a downward overhead swipe.

Calf kicks are brutal, in that they sort of turn off your muscles, rendering them dead weight for a period of time that varies by how and where you got caught. Clearly, these were his first as well, which were always the worst. I almost felt bad.

Now that the magical menace was slowed, I knew there’s no way he could react in time for another strike. I stabbed again, stepping back as I lunged my lead hand. The lead Wakizashi launched forward, stabbing it a quarter inch into his chest. Feeling my back foot reach touch the ground, I coiled my flow into my left side as I bounced back at him on the balls of my feet and exploded out, twisting my body clockwise in my southpaw stance, firing the Wakizashi out like a shot out of a cannon.

No, faster, like lightning was about to strike this poor sap right through his eye. For a moment, my weapon appeared red. As it neared my opponent’s body however, it became white, and felt like the sun was burning in my hands.

Warmth overcame me as the blade traveled through his eye socket. I'd moved faster than I’ve ever while throwing that strike. Beginning to ponder why, my thoughts were interrupted abruptly by the sight of his whole body dissipating from his eye outward. The sensation of a strike flying to my arm from my right side that had followed jolted me into retreat, like I had been puppeteer'd to safety, and just in time too. I turned to see the same halberd wielding magic man I had just murdered in less than half of a second.

“Hahaha, I thought you’d be tougher lil’ guy. You can’t even see me!”

Oh, oh hah. HAHAHA. Oh okay motherfucker.