As Elias looked at the newly formed screen in surprise, he wondered what the devs are thinking when they added the possibility.
'Regular people will probably just continue the tutorial.'
However, he was not one of them. He was the type to search for Easter eggs, who wanted to see what each game he played had hidden away. The secrets that could be there. He is not a speedrunner and would never want to be one.
'Besides, maybe there will be an advantage if I go through this route.' Since tutorial will likely be a once in a lifetime thing, he should try things other players don't do.
He moved his arm, the only thing he can move around while the rest of his body stuck. Pressing Continue Fighting, Elias prepared for a long, grindy fight. Either he finished the Human Puppet, or die trying (not literally).
The Human Puppet moved at the same time he did. Thankfully, it jumped back, cresting a distance. Essentially giving Elias a breather.
Taking the time to regain his Stamina, Elias observed the Human Puppet, wondering if there were any changes to its movement mechanics. Fortunately, there are no changes. At least as far as he can see at the moment.
While he observed the Human Puppet, it made the first move. It leaped towards him. Its attack, however, obvious, likely choreographed to be predictable. Elias dodged it, before landing a blow on right elbow.
This time, he did not go for weak blow, instead trying to hit as hard as he could, hoping for a better result. Fortunately, it did.
The elbow snapped, sending the lower arm flying away. With its right arm just a stump, the Human Puppet tried to retreat. But Elias did not plan on letting that happen.
'The chances of that arm growing back is low, but not zero.' He was uncertain of that fact, but taking chances is something he did not plan on doing.
When he charged at the Human Puppet, Elias stabbed at its body, with the intention of pushing it back. The Human Puppet tried to slap the blade away, but with only one arm long enough to effectively block his sword, it was a futile attempt. Plus, it was something he planned for.
When the Human Puppet made another attempt to push his sword away, Elias pulled back, before, like a viper, struck the left elbow. This blow, using the same amount as force as the strike that took the right arm, broke the Human Puppet's left arm.
With both arms gone, Elias had rendered the Human Puppet helpless, unable to block his attack. Letting him dish out blows after blows on his current foes.
The Human Puppet, completely helpless, tried to move around to dodge his slashes. Keyword: tried. It couldn't get away fast enough before Elias wailed on it like a drummer banging on a drum.
As he continued shtriking the Human Puppet down, Elias watched as its arm started to regrow.
'Not in my watch.' This time, Elias delivered a powerful blow on its shoulder, its arms completely removed out of the equation.
With its arms gone, the Human Puppet leaped backwards, doing its best to create the necessary distance from him, in hopes of giving itself enough time to regrow its arms. Something Elias did not want in the slightest.
The young man continued to keep the distance as close as possible, following the Human Puppet like an incessant mosquito that kept on buzzing on one's ears during the summer.
Elias slashed at the Human Puppet's torso, keeping up the pressure. He also cut off any growing limbs, preventing the Human Puppet from being able to counterattack.
But as Elias wailed on the Human Puppet, a series of slashes on every part he could strike on, the Human Puppet lightly twisted its body, before it did a roundhouse kick aimed for his head.
"Woah!" Elias cried out, taken by surprise, but he managed to lean back, barely dodging the foot of the puppet. He could still feel the wind from the force, though.
'It's a good thing I thought of it using its legs.' He thought, his eyes on the outstretched legs. With its arms gone, the Human Puppet had problems balancing itself, shaking slightly after the kick.
"You better off without those." Elias let out before slashing the legs. As the legs went flying, the Human Puppet fell on its back, unable to move, aside from some squirming that made it no different than a worm.
With his adversary down, Elias pummeled the Human Puppet, first striking the torso, before he aimed for the head for, hopefully, more damage on it. And when it's limbs showed signs of regrowing, Elias cut it off, ensuring the Human Puppet will remain helpless until it finally die.
-x-
"Seriously, is Grade A Vitality really that high?" Elias complained out loud, voicing his displeasure. The chances the developers heard him is low, they likely won't be bothered to check everyone who played the game, but it still feels good to complain once in a while.
He did not even know how long he had been beating the Human Puppet, but he was certain it had already passed an hour mark, maybe even two.
"Just die already." His arms felt like they would fall off at any point. If he was outside the game, he would already be panting and drinking several jugs of water from his continuous beat down of the Human Puppet.
The game even gave him the opportunity to end the challenge earlier, to continue like the rest of the players. However, Elias already got this far, and he planned on reaching the end.
He even tried to cut off the Human Puppet's neck, hoping for an insta-kill. Unfortunately, the game did not want the tutorial challenge to end quickly, so they made the neck tougher than steel. On the bright side, striking the neck still causes the greatest damage to the Human Puppet.
"Argh!" With a frustrated roar, Elias swung his blade at the Human Puppet's neck, using all of his strength. This time, the head detached from the body, the Human Puppet slowly fizzling out of existence.