From the very beginning he had been a step behind the chimera in various ways. Power, speed, versatility and experience were all things he lacked, only rivalling the thing in intelligence.
Whilst his versatility had expanded greatly with three Impetus Talents under his command, his strength had begun to stagnate.
Oh, it had grown tremendously over the past few weeks, but it was still lacking when compared to a Fallen Spawn at the Rank of Terror. Ascending further was his original plan, but with his Soul Core now growing at a slower rate, such a thing would probably never happen in time.
Which meant, he would have to try and close the gap between himself and it through experience alone, learning one battle at a time.
Already, he had spent weeks fighting various abominations at the Rank of Monster and below, learning how their unique bodies functioned and noting it down for his own battle against the chimera.
But through it all, he understood that he was also limiting himself. The chimera may have fought with only it's body against them the first time, but it had been arrogant, playing with its food instead of going for the direct kill.
Their next meeting wouldn't go down the same way though.
It would no longer just be using its body alone, but instead it would be taking him on as if he was a threat to its life, using the various abilities it had collected over its twisted life.
A part of him felt proud for being seen as such a threat by a chimera of all things. The rest of him either dreaded their next confrontation or waited eagerly for it.
Truly, he didn't know how he felt about it anymore.
Not that he could truly feel much right now.
Either way, with his time growing shorter before their final confrontation, he knew that sooner rather than later, he would have to go out and hunt an abomination at the Rank of Deviant.
He chose tonight to do it.
With his body brimming with energy, his muscles having grown warm from three other fights that night and his Soul Core full of Spirit Energy, he stepped through the shadows.
Any other Ascended would have called him a fool for thinking he could challenge a Deviant as a Grade 1. But he had clashed blades with a Terror and caused enough damage to make it run away, living to tell the tale.
No other Ascended could boast of doing such a thing, so the rules were slightly different for him in comparison.
With his enhanced senses and ability to travel long distances within seconds, it didn't take him long to find a soul beating with the power of a Deviant.
It was one he recognised from lessons he had taken as a child at the behest of his parents.
It held a scientific name just as any Fallen Spawn, but as a child he had been more drawn to the title Ascended had given this species.
The Storm Weaver.
Standing on four long limbs that ended in curved obsidian hooks, gold plated armour covered its entire exoskeleton, from its limbs to its back. All except the centre of its body, where a large golden mane stood, sparks of electricity sporadically jumping between the hair.
Its face was small in comparison, with two teal eyes that had horns sticking out of them, and two smaller limbs, like its legs, coming out beneath its stomach, protecting its face with manes of golden hair covering the limbs.
It was a deadly arachnid, but one that appeared often enough that Ascended had learnt how to battle effectively.
Artorias himself had become quite interested in the bug simply for its title when he was a young and impressionable child, and as a result, had studied how to best kill such a beast.
The trick was simple in principle, striking or cutting at its delicate underbelly to kill it, but even Grade 4 Ascended struggled with accomplishing it.
Between the Deviants sharp hooked claws, its mastery over electricity and the sticky webs it could produce from its mouth, just getting close to its body was a struggle.
Much less being able to get beneath it and strike at its underbelly.
Luckily for Artorias, he could cheat.
Hiding on a rooftop overlooking the street, he watched as the arachnid made swift work of a pack of four Beasts, killing them swiftly before beginning to eat them.
Palming the katana he had taken from Seirios, he pulled on the lightning in his chest and released a tense breath. Emotions were finally beginning to build within him, and he could feel the usual ecstasy flowing through his body.
The world slowed for a moment and then he stepped into the shadows.
Appearing from the shadow cast by the Deviant, his arms moved as fast as lightning itself, flashing through the air and cutting through one of its four limbs with all the enhanced strength he could muster.
One thing many people forgot when facing a Storm Weaver, was that only the tops of their limbs were protected by the plated armour, whilst their undersides weren't.
If it were, then the abomination wouldn't be able to move their legs as quickly as they did when attacking or moving around.
He cut through the joint connecting the crooked leg to its body, severing it completely, before vanishing into the shadows again.
When his vision parted again, he was standing against one of the buildings around the street, his ears being assaulted by a pained screech.
The Storm Weaver stumbled slightly, its weight disproportional to the rest of its body before it seemed to catch itself, stretching its front two legs further to stay standing.
He pushed himself of the ground, the lightning inside of him surging and making his steps blur together. The arachnid turned to face him at the last possible moment, its teal eyes aflame with rage as he slashed down, enhancing his strength again.
The smaller limb protecting its face came up, and his blade cut through the sparking mane and the obsidian limb hidden beneath. The arm fell, and he pulled on the shadows, avoiding its left claw from piercing his chest.
'It baited me with its right arm and used the opportunity to strike with its left, if I didn't have Solthia's talent making me faster, it would have caught me.' He thought, appearing a few steps away from the arachnid.
A blast of lightning met him as his vision cleared, but he was able to duck below it, feeling the force produced from the attack ruffle his hair. The wall of the building behind him exploded, sending concrete flying everywhere.
Running to his right, he avoided another two arcs of electricity, before a third nearly struck him. If it weren't for his enhanced danger sense, his next step would have allowed the lightning to hit him directly.
'It's predicting where I'm going to be, I'm telegraphing my movements too much.' Even through the ecstasy flowing through his body, his mind was as sharp as a razor wire, flowing faster thanks to his inner lightning.
He avoided another blast of lightning by the skin of his teeth, the smell of ozone growing stronger by the second.
Moving in a zig zagging pattern, he began to close in again. Arcs of electricity went left and right, each missing him by mere inches as he began to adapt his mobility to the arachnid's intelligence.
'What about this?' He stopped his advance suddenly, lunging right, only to twist his body and accelerate to the left.
The bolt of lightning missed him entirely.
Artorias grinned, the feeling of tricking the abomination feeling euphoric.
He repeated the same thing a few more times, baiting the abomination in between his already zig zagging movements. The arcs of lightning began to slow down for a moment, its teal eyes watching him carefully, before increasing in quantity once again.
But he was already ahead of it.
He'd pretend to lunge right, before twisting his body left and taking a measured step back, avoiding the strike of lightning which would follow to his left.
His grin became almost gleeful.
'Its learning!' The thought almost made him laugh in his frenzy. 'But so am I bastard!'
If he were a mundane human, his ears would have long been bleeding by now, but with his healing factor focused entirely on his ears, he could enhance his hearing as much as he wanted to without any permanent loss.
It was important that he did, because even through the powerful arcs of lightning the arachnid produced, he was noticing the small shifts in its muscles, the twitches of its mane as electricity sparked through its body.
He was beginning to predict its attacks like it was predicting his movements.
'Ah, what a feeling! I almost don't want to end this fight between us!' the high going through him was indescribable, but even through it, he knew the time to finish this was closing in.
Strafing through another arc of lightning, he lunged forward, meeting its eyes with a mad grin on his face.
It screeched at him, its mouth opening before sticky strings of black erupted from its maw. He laughed at the attempt, physically jumping into the shadows.
Pulling on all his enhanced strength, he appeared below the abomination. With only a second to react, he threw his fist forward with enough force to create a small bang.
The creature didn't quite so much fly as its entire body tilted back, its underbelly rippling from the impact.
With one of its back legs gone, and its other leg straining to keep itself upright, he lunged forward, his shoulder digging into its body and adding the momentum needed to push it onto its back.
Its other two limbs tried uselessly to pull itself back up, its instincts overriding its meagre intelligence. But it was already too late.
The katana in his hand moved like a surgical knife, piercing its underbelly before cutting it open completely. Blood sprayed everywhere, and he carefully stepped around it, spinning the blade in his hand before slashing again.
His soul hummed soon after, confirming the kill as The Storm Weaver beneath him grew still, its previously twitching limbs falling to the ground with a small tremor.
Taking in a deep breath, he allowed the smell of ozone and corruption to mix with the lingering high he felt. It lasted for a minute at most, before it all went away again, replaced with hollowness and that same burning anger.
Gritting his teeth, he felt his frustration begin bubbling again and instead of ignoring it, he focused it.
Flicking his blade off any blood and putting it in its sheath, he pulled one of the horns out of his pockets and began to cut through the arachnids' limbs, tearing the plated armour off its body.
It was a small release, one that couldn't compare to the high of feeling things again, but for now, it would do.
Either way, the plated armour would be useful for him.