Sen fully propagated his earth shield when the two-meter skeleton had translocated through its portal and slammed into him. With bone-crushing strength, its six-clawed limbs squeezed as they ringed around him. The usually transparent earth shield went completely opaque resisting the force that was trying to pulverize him. Sen immediately felt the Essence drain as he funneled it through his meridians to keep the barrier up and himself breathing.

The Skelemander, a warrior subclass of spiritually risen undead, much like the draugr, was a very worthy foe. As a whole, because of their great strength, they preferred grappling and close quarter melee combat. A very different form of battle than the mental-mage skill base that Kyon Shi was developing. Sen’s aural sight saw the violet of Mind Attunement, the indigo of Space, and the yellow of Force Essence as they pulsed through the Skelemander’s Core and meridians.

A tri-Attuned opponent!

Reality was not being kind to them today. Right now, Josh would be facing Kyon Shi alone. That was not going to go well for his brother, but Sen could do nothing about it except deal with his own enemy quickly and then get back..

From Sen’s memory, there was no easily exploitable weakness that the Skelemander suffered from. In general, they were strong and could take a great deal of damage. They were slower than less bulky opponents. However, its force Attunement would nullify that disadvantage. All Sen could hope to do was hack it to pieces in the short-term and return later to incinerate them, time permitting.

This was going to be a slugging match…but one that Sen felt prepared for. Say what you want about the Clone and his calloused treatment. He’s given us a solid foundation by facilitating mine and Josh’s Earth and Mind Attunements first.

These two Attunements were a solid base to start many Cultivator builds. The strength, vitality, Essence reserves, damage deferment potential, and protection abilities were optimized with the union of Mind and Earth. All of these were prime requisites for victory in most single combat encounters and Sen knew he was as well prepared as any doubly attunened cultivator could hope to be in such a struggle.

Waiting for his opponent to stop the grappled roll he had thrown them into, Sen noted that despite being a third tier Attuned Spherical Cultivator, the Skelemander’s base build was not entirely well suited for this method of combat. Not really the Sekelmander’s fault. Incomplete builds were the curse of all Spherical Core Cultivators the multiverse through.

It was widely known that gathering one’s Attunements in the Spherical stage was a transitional phase in development. All such early Cultivators should enter their battles cautiously and recognize their weaknesses. However, the Skelemander, being an undead minion, was subject to Kyon Shi’s arrogant whims. Given its own choice’s, perhaps it would have been more conservative in choosing or avoiding a fight.

But here they were.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Without earth attunement’s increased strength, vitality, and shield options, this beast simply had not yet fully grown into the potential capabilities on its chosen path. Placing it at a significant disadvantage to cultivators of equal level who had.

Sen would exploit this.

The top-knotted monk’s bastard sword was wedged between it and his earth shield. He pulled up and cut into the Skelemander’s ribs, severing the ends off two of them in the process.

Responding to Sen’s quick thinking, it circulated its undead fire to replace the bones that had been severed and flung Sen off to its front to get a better view of his armed enemy.

Sen twisted into an aerial flip and landed in a head down, three-point stance as he slid across the smooth decking. He came to a halt a dozen meters away and looked up with his bastard sword extended to the side.

The Sekelemander had stayed in place from where it had thrown Sen. Obviously realizing that accelerating its movements with force attunement wasn’t enough to balance their difference in speed and reaction times.

Instead it was now attempting to draw Sen into a more favorable fight. One that would rely on its strength to grind the monk’s soft human body into pulp. It had straightened up into a two footed stance, opened its four arms wide with claws spread and shook them out invitingly.

Circling each other in a tightening spiral, Sen spoke first. “An invitation to grapple? I am uncertain that such combat is in my best interest.”

The undead monster replied equally as politely in a refined voice that seemed odd coming from a towering skelemander who walked the path of a mele grinding machine. “Suit yourself young one. You only prolong my inevitable victory and lessen my opinion of your intelligence. Not a wise choice for someone who will be below my dominance and subjection within our masters will.”

Sen wasn’t taken aback. Many were the paths taken in cultivation. It would be foolish to think a brawler could only be an uneducated thug merely because of his chosen method of combat.

Still, Sen wasn’t interested in being crushed, and, or subjugated. For one thing, Sen knew that the skelemander would find it hard to deliver either of those promises without arms... or a head.

Nodding in apparent agreement to the undead’s words, Sen mirrored his larger opponent’s stance and held his arms out wide. Bastard sword in his right hand, and a lunatic gleam in his eyes the short monk took a slow step forward. The Skelemander was only too happy at seeing its challenge accepted and it accelerated at him. Sen assessed its speed as a match for his maximum enhanced velocity and joined in the charge.

The two streaks surged at each other over the deck. Orange sparks shot off Sen’s partial earth shield propagation positioned over the right half of his body as the skelemander struck him with two right-clawed open fists.

Sen’s first and second slashes were aimed at its top right paw and lower left leg. Both swung through empty air leaving the human overextended.

Playing to its strengths, the skeleton had activated its Space/Time Attunement and translocated immediately after its attacks. It reappeared behind Sen and slammed down on his back from above. Three clawed limbs found purchase on Sen’s unprotected left side and dug in spraying fountains of blood in three directions as the bony talons carved deep into Sen’s chest and abdomen. The Skelemander’s fanged snout then slammed Sen’s head to the side to close around his throat in an undisguised finishing move.

A rather… challenging position for Sen to be in…

…Or it would have been if he hadn’t been using his neck as a tasty snack to bait a trap.

Sen couldn’t hold back the thin, devious smile from his lips as a complete earth shield propagation exploded from his Core. A three-meter orange and golden sphere instantly appeared around him bearing thousands of sixty-centimeter spikes extending from its surface. The Skelemander was instantly pushed off Sen. Its bones pierced and shattered as it writhed helplessly like a worm stuck on countless hooks for several micros before losing consciousness and going limp.

Quickly Sen dismissed his shield and swung his bastard sword to sever the Skelemander’s while it still fell to the floor. A sharp front kick sent the fanged skull to shatter against a nearby bulkhead before it fell to the ground.

This would only slow the tri-attuned risen dead down. But time was a factor right now. Time Josh didn’t have.

Sen cycled his Essence to heal his wounds and stop his bleeding as he flashed back to where he had been pulled from Josh.

Josh was alone against Kyon Shi… Enough said.