For a long moment both Atlas and the lizard were still. Between them a few scant meters lay.

Then the lizard lunged swiping at Atlas. It was deathly silent as it moved, with no growl or roar in accompaniment. Atlas steeled himself raising his spear and cycling the Body of Peerless Strength to bolster himself for the impact. Inches from contact the lizard pulled away.

The lizard lunged once more, feinting an attack. Not missing a beat, Atlas brought his spear to bear cycling the Body of Peerless Strength once again. The lizard veered away again, hissing loudly.

The lizard began to circle slowly around Atlas. Atlas slowly turned, keeping the lizard centered in his view. The lizard continued to pressure him, feinting, and occasionally trying to knock the spear from Atlas’s hands.

Over the course of what felt like hours but truthfully only scant minutes, Atlas began to lose control of the Body of Peerless Strength. As his initial burst of energy ran out, he was now fighting as much the lizard as his own body. His panic had made him careless, and he had burned too much qi. The crystal dust in his lungs was now agitated and full of qi, they hummed a discordant tune that sought to disrupt Atlas’s focus and technique. For a moment more Atlas maintained the Body of Peerless Strength warding away another feint. Then, like riding bucking beast the Body of Peerless Strength tore free from his control. It sputtered out leaving him only a swirling mess of qi and a burning pain in his chest.

The lizard, perhaps sensing weakness, struck. Atlas barely got his spear up and had just begun to accelerate his cycling before the lizard crashed into him. To Atlas’s dismay the steel spear tip skittered harmlessly off the flank of the lizard. Without proper purchase the spear offered little in halting the momentum of the lizard. Claws tore through his clothing and slammed into his side. Atlas was flung bodily losing his grip on his spear as he crashed onto the road.

Atlas scrambled to his feet casting his eyes about his for his spear. Spotting his spear Atlas dove for it grabbing the spear and spinning to face the lizard. The lizard pursued closely on Atlas’s tail rearing to strike. Atlas wrestled control over his qi and began to cycle the Body of Peerless Strength again.

Trusting forward with the full power of his technique, Atlas struck the lizard dead center in the chest with his spear. The steel tip easily parted the bronze scales of the lizard before the wings on the spear caught on either side against the scales of the lizard. The force from the lizard’s attack drove Atlas back, his feet sliding against the road looking for purchase. The lizard swiped at Atlas catching his loose robes and nicking his skin.

After a moment the lizard jerked back, twisting its body, and ripping the spear from Atlas’s grip. After shaking more, the lizard dislodged the spear from its chest.

Atlas used the lizard’s distraction to retreat to his wagon and retrieve his second spear.

Whereas his first spear was a standard issue from the Bobaross Trading Consortium this second spear was of Atlas’s own making. It looked much like a normal spear except with the upper third of the haft made of steel. Atlas had had a wingless steel spear tip wielded over a hollow steel tube. The remaining open end of the steel tube was joined with a wooden haft via threading and a pin. The open space within the hollow tube was filled with qi fragments as well as a fuze. An explosive spear.

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The lizard and Atlas squared off again. Atlas nursing his side where lacerations cut down to his ribs. The lizard where a dozen injuries were more severe than the stab wound Atlas had given it.

The lizard was now far more aggressive. Staying just out of Atlas’s range the lizard swatted at the spear looking to knock it away and strike at Atlas. With the unbalanced and unwieldy nature of his spear Atlas found himself at an even greater disadvantage than before. He was barely able to bring his spear in time to ward away the lizard.

Fear, pain, and exhaustion clung to Atlas as the lizard pressured him. Inexorably the lizard found its way past his guard landing blow after glancing blow. These were individually not very dangerous little more than light cuts, but together they dealt a heavy toll. His robes were now unrecognizable rags, shredded, soiled, and turning pinkish with blood.

Even under such pressure Atlas kept his wits about him. With his exploding spear he had a weapon that could truly harm the beast. All he needed was a clean hit.

When Atlas and the lizard separated momentarily Atlas saw an opening.

Atlas pushed his cycling of Body of Peerless Strength as high as he could, and waited. The lizard lunged forward claws outstretched closing the distance in a blink of the eye. The moment before contact Atlas jumped. As he sailed past the lizard’s claws and over its head the lizard snapped at him with its jaws. The bite missed taking a chunk of his rags instead. With the extra power from the Body of Peerless Strength he easily cleared the height of the lizard.

Atlas landed on the lizard’s back and immediately stabbed downwards. Here the bronze scales were far larger and thicker though it made little difference against the empowered strike of his spear. The spear tip disappeared completely into the flesh of the beast along with most of the metal part of the haft. The strike drove the lizard into frenzied thrashing. Atlas held on now he needed only a few short moments to activate the fuze.

As Atlas cycled the Body of Peerless Strength, he opened the gates allowing qi to flow freely between his hands and the spear. While his body held a great deal of qi the same could not be said for the spear. With qi levels barely above the ambient air the wooden haft of the spear and qi crystals fragments pulled qi from his body at a viscous rate.

The spear buzzed discordantly as more and more qi flooded the crystals. Their damaged and imperfect shape could not hold the qi properly, each fragment began to expel qi as heat and motion. Atlas continued to supply qi to the qi fragments until finally he heard the telltale click of the fuze igniting. He released the spear and let the violent shaking of the lizard throw him free leaving the spear lodged in its upper back.

For a long pregnant moment nothing happened. Then Atlas heard a loud thump, like a dozen fireworks going off simultaneously. The fuze donated shattering nearby qi fragments and releasing the built-up qi in an explosion which then shattered more qi fragments in a chain reaction. The scales of the lizard ripped with a shockwave. Then the lizard slumped over life fleeing its body.

Atlas was not far behind; he had been riding on the rush the whole way through and had burned all his qi. Now the pain from the lacerations across his chest began to seep in along with all the other cuts and bruises. His lungs burned and itched fiercely. He felt exhausted.

Atlas took a step towards his wagon to take out a bed roll and some dried food and water. Then he collapsed, passing out.