Axel raced towards Bernhardt, eager to lend a hand. Catching the pigs by surprise, he dispatched the first one by repeatedly using [Slash] on its side. Axel turned towards Bernhardt, looking for a thank you of sorts from the guy who clearly needed his assistance.
[Battle O' Pig - Ax was slain. Gained 17 points]
The look on his face was far from anything remotely resembling gratitude. Instead, he received a glare that matched the fiery depths of a volcano. Axel barely had time to process why Bernhardt was so angry before a pig with a sword attacked him, catching him off guard. With a horizontal swing from the side, Axel was forced to leap backward, narrowly avoiding being struck as the blade grazed his clothes.
Before Axel could regain his footing, another spear-wielding pig lunged forward, thrusting into Axel. However, just before the spear could find its mark, the spear-like tail was sent crashing to the ground along with the rest of the pig. A hard strike on the back by Bernhardt's foot, which glowed a soft red, left the pig sprawled on the ground, its legs splayed out to the side. A final blow from Bernhardt's mighty glowing red fist turned the pig into loot.
"I'll talk with you later," he growled. "Now pay attention!"
Feeling shocked by Bernhardt's unexpected aggression, Axel opted to find out more later, especially when there was a sword-wielding pig about to cleave him in two. The pig swung the sword like a bat, trying to slice through Axel, which was met by a [Block] with his [Trusty Iron Sword].
The pig swung its blade furiously, thrashing its behind from side to side in an attempt to land a solid hit on Axel. A few more [Blocks] later, and Axel found the rhythm in the pig’s swings. He ducked under one of its wild swings, before swinging wildly at it with [Slash].
The pig unable to defend itself from the attacks disappeared into more loot for the duo.
[Battle O' Pig - Sword was slain. Gained 18 points]
The final pig, which had a mace for a tail, charged straight at Bernhardt.
"Watch out!" Axel cried out.
Bernhardt was already wary about the attack, Axel’s calls were merely an unnecessary distraction. Right as the pig closed in, he jumped up with his massive legs and brought both fists crashing down onto the pig's back with tremendous force.
The pig collapsed onto the ground but barely clung on to life. Axel wasted no time, rushing forward and delivering a decisive [Slash] along its side, putting an end to the creature's suffering.
[Battle O' Pig - Mace was slain. Gained 17 points]
"You okay?" Axel asked, catching his breath.
"What in bloody blazes do ya think you are doing, kid?" shouted the big burly Bernhardt, pointing an accusatory finger at Axel. "Did Fen not teach you any manners? Are all the newcomers in Blue Rose gonna act like this now?"
"What? What do you mean? I was trying to help you!"
"Really now? You were trying to 'help' me and not trying to killsteal from me."
"I really was trying to help you!" repeated Axel. "And I'm not a part of Blue Rose."
"Well, thanks for 'helping', kid. Next time don't go helping others unless they're at death's door, if not you're just going to piss off everyone and waste everyone's time."
"But you were surrounded and—"
"Is your brain working, or are you too stupid to understand simple English? Let me spell it out for you and listen closely. Unless we're in a party, you getting all those last hits means that you get all the points and all I get is a part of my day wasted. So thanks for wasting my time today and yesterday, and if you don't want to waste any more of my time either join the Plundering Pulverizers or piss off."
“But —” Axel tried to interject but was cut off.
“No buts. Now do me and every bloody person a favor and learn some common sense.” Bernhardt turned and walked away, leaving Axel stunned, confused, and baffled.
What had just happened? What did he do wrong? He was just trying to help him, yet all he got was an earful.
Lost in thought, Axel sought solace atop a nearby tree letting his mind wander and calm down.
Do I lack common sense? Doesn't common sense dictate to help when someone is in trouble? Is that sense not common enough? he wondered. But it looked like he was going to die. I struggled a lot with three pigs and there he was fighting four and unarmed at that. If anything that looked like ringing death's doorbell.
His moment of rest and contemplation was interrupted by a loud thumping sound that shook the tree he was perched on violently.
The shaking of the tree grew more intense, causing Axel to grab onto the trunk for stability. Only when he was able to hold himself steady did he have the fortune of looking down on his opponents. Below him stood four Pig O' Battles, with axes for tails. Each taking turns to hack away at the tree. With each slam from their axes, the tree wobbled and shook under Axel's feet, threatening to topple at a moment’s notice.
This is bad. Really bad.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
As if hearing his thoughts, Axel could feel his whole world turn upside down as the tree began to fall over, with Axel still clinging onto it for dear life. With a sinking feeling, he saw the ground coming closer. In hopes of mitigating the worst, Axel activated [Copper Body] and braced for the incoming impact.
With a deafening crash, Axel slammed into the forest floor. The bush he was lucky enough to fall in cushioned the landing to an extent, but Axel felt no less bruised and battered.
[Copper Body: Rank F → Rank E]
He dismissed the untimely notification, Axel felt the exhaustion weighing heavily on him. Fighting was tiring. All he wanted was to curl up in bed and sleep forever.
But, if he did not get up soon he really would be sleeping for all eternity. Axel could hear the snorts and grunts of the pigs drawing closer and closer. Looking up he saw the four pigs approaching him. Their beady black eyes stared into his soul, their snouts wrinkled with anticipation.
One of the pigs jumped into the air, executing a mid-air flip and slashed downwards at Axel using its ax-like tail. Axel rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. Meanwhile, another pig led with a head-on charge. Acting fast, he activated [Copper Body] and [Strength Boost] before grappling the charging pig with his hands.
Still seated on the ground, Axel felt a surge of force propelling him backward until his back collided with a nearby tree trunk. The pig continued to press on, digging its hooves deeper into the soft earth, driving Axel further into the tree. He could smell the fetid odor of the pigs, wafting over to his nostrils and overwhelming his senses.
Axel caught sight of another pig about to perform the same aerial ax attack as before. With an extra dose of adrenaline pumping throughout his body, Axel was able to summon up the strength to lift up the charging pig, giving him his own pig shield to protect him from the aerial attack.
A resounding squeal sounded as the flying pig's tail dug into the back of the makeshift pig shield. A splatter of blood colored the leaves and branches red, painting them crimson.
Axel heaved with all his might and tossed the double pig stack to the side. One pig was heavy enough, but two were taking everything to stop his elbows from buckling and turning him into a pancake. Upon colliding with the floor, Axel's temporary shield disappeared into loot.
[Battle O' Pig - Ax was slain. Gained 17 points]
The pig, who was unfortunate enough to be a major contributor to its friend's death, looked at its bloodstained tail with horror. Fueled by vengeance, the pig glared at Axel. With a huff, it charged towards Axel.
Axel quickly got his swords out, barely rolling out of the way of another downward aerial slash from the furious pig. Scrambling to his feet, he [Blocked] the rage-fueled attacks. However, he could hear the snorts of the remaining two pigs right behind him getting closer, growing louder.
Not wanting to be sandwiched, Axel [Blocked] one more swing at his chest, before darting off in another direction. The three pigs grouped up and chased him in hot pursuit when a brilliant idea struck him harder than the ground did earlier. Brilliant to him at least.
He spun around, taking a deep breath and letting it out as he waited for the Pig O' Battles to catch up.
The bloody-ax-wielding pig led the charge, its snout wrinkled in fury as it closed the distance between them. The closer it got to Axel. the faster it sped up leaving its comrades in the dust. It took a mighty swing with its tail, aiming to cleave Axel in two, but he ducked under the predictable attack.
This was the idea that was oh-so brilliant in Axel's mind. The pig had its bloody ax embedded in the bark of the tree behind, it was stuck, just for a moment. That moment was what Axel needed to turn the tides of the battle in his favor.
As the pig struggled to free its tail from the tree, Axel seized the opportunity, launching a rapid flurry of slashes with his [Wooden Training Sword]. Allowing the pig to join its brother in tails in the next life.
[Battle O' Pig - Axe was slain. Gained 19 points]
The other two pigs were hot on his weaponless tail. They too, blinded by rage, swung madly at Axel, who [Blocked] and dodged their attacks, trying his best to lure the pigs into trees. Whenever a pig's attack met bark instead of flesh, he took the opportunity to take a quick cheeky [Slash] to their exposed sides before continuing this weird dance that they were sharing.
Eventually, one of them succumbed to its wounds and exhaustion before joining its brethren, leaving one last pig standing, albeit barely.
[Battle O' Pig - Axe was slain. Gained 15 points]
The duel between man and pig was short lived as the strategy Axel employed proved effective. Taking advantage of the brief openings created when the pig attacked the trees, Axel seized the opportunity to strike and bring the confrontation to a swift end.
[Battle O' Pig - Ax was slain. Gained 16 points]
The forest fell silent, save for Axel's ragged breathing and the pounding of his heart in his ears. Axel trudged his way to the dirt path, feeling lucky that when he encountered another Pig O' Battle, it was preoccupied with another person. Taking Bernhardt’s advice to heart, Axel snuck by undetected.
Reaching the dirt path, he slowly climbed up the tree where he knew he could rest for a bit. His whole body was sore and aching, but it was manageable. It had been a while since he had to endure such aches and pains, but he had done it before and he would do it again, unfortunately.
He had dozed off for what he estimated to be an hour, judging by the sun's position in the sky. Although still sore, Axel felt refreshed. Fortunately, nothing was broken and miraculously he did not have any wounds after such a battle. At least now he had a decent strategy to fight against these monsters. It was risky, but far less risky than turning one of his weapons into a distraction.
The subsequent battles were still exhausting, but nowhere near the level of the earlier battles. His strategy was effective, but as the number of enemies increased, the pace of the battles slowed down. Being given small brief windows to dish out an attack before going back on the defensive. Nonetheless, he managed to dispose of whatever squads of Pig O' Battles that he encountered.
What was more annoying than the slow pace of the battles was the frequency of bad encounters. Bad in the sense that others were already engaged in battle with these monsters, forcing him to search for another squad to dispatch.
During the downtime spent searching for good encounters, he wondered whether he should just enter a sub-world. However, each time he proceeded toward the crystal, a convenient squad of pigs presented itself, causing him to change his decision.
It took a while but eventually Axel finally got the notification that he was looking for.
[Exterminate: Pig O' Battle - Completed]
[Gained 100 points]
Not only that but during one of his earlier encounters another of his skills had ranked up.
[Slash: Rank F → Rank E]
Axel still had no idea what that meant, maybe his [Slash] was somehow stronger.
Currently, only his [Strength Boost] was still Rank F. Admittedly he should have used it more during combat, but he could never seem to find a window of opportunity. He only had enough time to execute a [Slash] before immediately reverting to [Block] and dodging.