He was nowhere near ready for the fourth setting of the robot, especially without his Daos, but he could and would defeat the third one. Setting his feet back into one of the many stances that he had learned from his weapon imprint, Sam pressed the buttons to start the fight. With a faint whisper of metal on wood, the robot came to life. It paused for a moment as it took in Sam’s weapon and it raised one of its metallic hands, summoning a glowing mace to it. It was made completely out of blue energy, but Sam sensed that it would be able to stave in his skull as well as any normal weapon.

He waited for the robot to make the first move and it happily obliged, advancing with its mace held in a protective guard in front of its head. Sam could now read the thing more comprehensively, and it was trivial for him to infer what it was about to do before it even started to commit to the motion. The movement of a single leg betrayed its launching of an overhead strike towards Sam’s head. He dodged to the side, catching the falling mace on his own and he repelled it, throwing the robot off balance.

This fight would have been even easier if he had allocated his stat points, but he wanted to test himself more. If he was too powerful to have a proper battle with this setting, but still too weak for the next one, he would be in a bad spot, training wise. Until he was able to at least hold his own for a minute against the next setting, he would not place his points into his stats.

With a whoosh of displaced air, the robot dashed in for another strike, this time feinting before it went for the killing blow. Sam almost fell for the distraction, but was able to save himself at the last moment as the seemingly telegraphed swing from the right turned fluidly into an underhanded strike. He leaped backwards, far enough to avoid the attack, but close enough to retaliate almost instantly, using one of the techniques that he had learned for the first time. It was a simple one, and one that he had already been using, but the strange tutelage of the imprint had shown him the true way to do it. A series of blows, calculated to disrupt the defenses of your opponent before the final strike killed them. Before, Sam had merely done this to keep up momentum, but now he knew how to use it properly. It was almost like there was a set of red lines to guide his movements as he did so and his mace followed those patterns unerringly.

The first move came in from the right, forcing the mace of the robot out of the way. The second one came up and over, disarming it, and the final one slammed down into its head, crushing its skull like a tin can. Standing over the crumpled robot as it rebuilt, Sam saw the truth of the fighting style’s name for what it was. It was named the Alkon Terenor Samburna, or in English, Flowing Water Style. It was a simple name, and relatively simple style of fighting as well, but the concept was as old as time and it summed up the endless march of some implacable object wearing away at the defenses of another, in order to one day destroy it. Whether the endless march of Entropy, or the simple man at arms, fighting for his life against a superior foe, it was true to its name.

Sam withdrew from the arena and sat down, ruminating on the battle. He had ended it perhaps a bit too late, as he could have easily defeated the robot within a few seconds by this point, but he needed to test out his style. In a real fight, he would not have the luxury of the languid attacks that he had used against the robot and he would have to perform the same moves on the drop of a pin, with them fully ready in his mind and body for execution.

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Sam had always been mystified by the stoic and contemplative masters of martial arts and weapons that were depicted in fiction, but now he understood. This was truly something that a life could be dedicated towards, the defiant march of a mortal, seeking to rise above the heavens. Upon thinking these words, Sam began to feel a small resonance in his Dao. It was not much because he was disconnected from them right now but he still felt a small awakening in both of his Daos. They sympathized with his sentiment and they wanted to be a part of it. For now however, It was just Sam. Whatever had happened to him had disconnected him so thoroughly that he did not even feel the inclinations that the Daos normally gave him. Instead, Sam wanted to follow his own path for a bit and see where it led him.

Biting back the surge of bitterness that erupted when he saw the brooch that he had gotten from Berrigious, he opened the box. As much as he despised the man and everything that he stood for, he still would take a leg up if he got it.

The brooch sat there, twinkling softly in the light of his room. It was made out of a twisted piece of wood that had a small amber stuck in the top of it. Lifting it out, Sam held it up to the light. In the center of the amber, a small gem could be seen, an emerald that reflected the light off of its many facets. As Sam ran his fingers around it, he found a small button. Pressing it, he felt the brooch transform into an armored wristplate. It was about the length of his forearm, and on the top of it was a small bladed attachment that was presumably for turning away attacks. Sam pressed the button again to revert it to its original form and he placed it on his wrist.

Upon pressing the button again, a small spike pressed down into his wrist, drawing blood. With a small grunt of pain, Sam saw a faint brownish tinge spread across his arm and down his body. After it had completely covered him, it vanished, leaving him looking the same as before. He felt different however and his skin felt more durable than before. Sam opened his System interface to see what it said about the feeling that he had. There was nothing there, but then Sam remembered how items worked. Using his analysis skill, Sam fixed the brooch in his mind and he made its description appear in front of him.

Brooch of the Sylvanian Horror

G-Rank Armor

This brooch was crafted out of a small amount of the essence of a monster known as a Sylvanian Horror. The monster was a genetically engineered version of the species that boasted especially deadly toxins. This armor emulates that, but in a beneficial way.

Armor Skill:Tree Shift

Upon using the brooch’s hidden function to transform into a piece of armor, a small root will dig into your skin, causing you to take in the qualities of bark. You gain additional defense when wearing this armor in its armor form. The benefits of this drastically drop as the user’s durability increases, in that the roots will not be able to penetrate the skin as efficiently. In the normal form, you do not gain any benefits.

Sam whistled appreciatively at the piece of armor. It was very convenient, and it even seemed to function as full body armor based on its ability. It still felt sour after it had come from Berrigious, but it vastly over weighed Sam’s inflated sense of justice. In fact, what better way to kill an enemy than by using their own gift to you? Honestly, it was just a pipe dream that Sam could even kill Berrigious, as the man was far more powerful than him, but one day…