Elias looked at the timer as it hit zero.
'Thankfully, the remaining time is enough for me to master Energy Slash II and Sword Block.' he even managed to learn the first few parts of Sword Block II before the time is up.
As another shining circle appeared in the room, Elias wondered if there would be any improvements to the Human Puppet.
As Human Puppet Ver.3 appeared, Elias raised his brows.
'Will every new Human Puppet have two more arms than their predecessor?' The first time could be a coincidence. But the second time, with Human Puppet Ver.3 having 6 arms? Yeah, it started becoming a pattern.
'Still, if the Human Puppet will only have more arms, I can still win easily,' that's if the newer Human Puppet will not have any new gimmicks. Or worse, gain intelligence. He shuddered at the thought of a Human Puppet that thinks like a … well, humans.
He wanted the Human Puppet to make the first move. However, as previous one shown, he needed to be the one to make the first, whether it's an attack or literally moving before the Human Puppet made its move.
Like before, Elias took five steps, observing the Human Puppet to see if five steps is enough to get it to move.
Sure enough, it started to walk towards his direction, except the uppermost arms were crisscrossing, and …
"Woah!" Elias exclaimed in shock as Human Puppet Ver.3 performed a Weapon Skill!
"That's a new one," he said loudly, having blocked it using Sword Block. Fortunately, the Weapon Skill of the Human either to be not exceptionally strong or it only to low-level mastery. Or both. He bet it's both.
Still, Weapon Skill added another layer to the fight. Plus, it's not like the Human Puppet only uses swords. The middle-left arm held a small shield, a buckler he thinks it's called, while its middle-right arm held a mace. As for the right and left lower arms, it held a knife and spear respectively.
'Getting close so I could use Heavy Slash would be hard.' Not to mention absolutely dangerous with the opponents having so many weapons in their hands. If he didn't pay attention, Elias would either get stabbed, bashed, or shanked.
'Let's use Energy Slash first,' he unleashed Energy Slash, trying to cut off one of the Human Puppet's arms, though he expected limited success in that front.
Sure enough, as his Energy Slash sailed towards the Human Puppet, it dodged to the side, not bothering to block the attack. Elias expected it, and so, unleashed several more, this time stronger than the first one which acted like a bait.
The Human Puppet froze for a second before it tried to dodge all the Energy Slashes. However, the number and how it spread made such a task impossible. Seeing this, the Human Puppet headed towards the places with less Energy Slash and block it with its shield.
The shield let a white glow, no doubt a Weapon Skill that added an extra defense to the shield. Fortunately for Elias, his Energy Slash is stronger, allowing his Weapon Skill to break the opponent's Weapon Skill. And even though its power was consumed to break the Weapon Skill, it still contained enough power to hit the shield with enough force to make the arm blow back, the shield almost thrown to the side. Almost.
At the very least it confirmed the fact his mastery of Weapon Skill is far superior to the Human Puppet, or at least his Energy Slash is.
'Having Energy Slash II Skill Book really helps.' Energy Slash II Skill Book being the intermediate manual to Energy Slash Weapon Skill is something he only truly noticed when he trained it. Energy Slash I Skill Book purpose being to introduce him to Energy Slash, while the latter books, or book depending on how many more advanced volumes they are, will aid him in mastering the more intricate and advanced part of Energy Slash.
'Plus, Energy Slash being a basic Weapon Skill,' he wondered if that means there are intermediate, or even advanced Weapon Skill, or whatever grading used for Weapon Skill.
[GRADING
Weapon Skill has its own grading system + 3 Knowledge Point]
While he's grateful for the Knowledge Point, he preferred to not have it appeared right in front of his face, while he was still fighting the Human Puppet!
"That was too close!" Elias cried out as the Human Puppet almost brained him with its mace. Calming himself, Elias unleashed another Energy Slash, this time targeting its legs. Unfortunately it jumped, which made his worry of it being smarter were true.
The fight had gone on for 20 minutes and they both retained most of their Stamina and Energy. However, Elias did not know if he could keep it for long.
'By the amount I manage to damage the Human Puppet, it will take few hours to defeat it,' he doubted he could keep on fighting for that long without taking some much needed break.
'I need to take some risks,' he decided. Retreating, Elias let Water Aura to seep into his sword, causing it to give a bluish hue. With his sword being enhanced by his Magic, Elias took a deep breath before charging towards the Human Puppet.
His careless action was done with the idea of surprising the Human Puppet, allowing him to strike every single weapon of the Human Puppet, disarming it.
The plan seemed to work, the Human Puppet surprised before it tried to stab him with all its weapons. However, Elias struck first, his sword hitting the spear, even cutting it cleanly before it moved in an arc and cut the knife-holding hand.
He then moved his sword in such a way that he cut the middle and lower arms, sending it and the weapon held, flying. Now only having two arms, both holding a sword, Elias did not waste the opportunity given and clashed against it.
With the added leverage of being above him, the two arms tried to push downward, in an attempt to make him lose his balance before stabbing him repeatedly. However, while the Human Puppet has leverage, he has a Weapon Skill.
Heavy Slash pushed the sword, even causing it to crack before Elias aimed for the upper arms, cutting it easily before his blade slammed on the Human Puppet's neck. It didn't cut through, sadly, but it did push the Human Puppet to the side, causing it to fall to the ground, leaving it helpless like its brethren before it.
Elias did not waste the chance to cut every single one of its limbs, including the legs, before standing above the Human Puppet once more.