Akiol sprinted as fast as he could. He leapt through groups of undead and slashed down the ones he couldn't pass. He wasn't going to waste his time on the stumbling undead. As he was sprinting a voice sounded.
'What's going on? I sense a lot of dark magic even through your muffling body.'
Akiol replied, "Undead invasion, it's lead by a Great Lich named Orothus."
'Orothus. . . ? Wasn't he dead?'
"Yeah, someone revived him though. Since I took his finger he is here to obtain it back."
'You took his finger?! Ha! You're kinda brave, not many dare to offend a Great Lich.'
"It was a series of coincidences. Or something like that."
Slashing down another undead he soon saw a large horde of undead. He intended to ignore it but a particular individual caught his eye. In the distance was a samurai on a horse. The only reason he could tell it was a samurai was due to the armor they wore. Akiol knew this had to be the General Vertigo.
Changing his course by a bit he headed towards the samurai. As expected, he was met with opposition. Many of the undead under Vertigo's command attempted to block Akiol.
Akiol would have no issue fighting with them in groups, however fighting a large amount of undead was suicide.
He shouted, "Vertigo! I challenge you to a duel!"
This was a gamble, normally samurai had a code of honor. They served only their lord and usually only listened to their commands. Rarely they would act on their own, this happened when their lord was offended or killed. Akiol had no clue on what the samurai would do in this situation. If the samurai agreed to the duel then the battle would be much simpler.
The soldiers stopped and parted, through the space a samurai walked towards Akiol. Looking at the opponent the samurai then asked, "On what terms do you challenge me to a duel?"
"I am the one who stole the finger of Orothus. If you win the duel the finger is yours."
"How would I trust the fact that you would uphold your word?"
Akiol replied somewhat confidently, "You can't, however would you miss out on a chance? No matter how slim?"
Vertigo was silent for a bit. Staring at Akiol he then raised his hand and made a sign. The undead soldiers then distanced themselves and surrounded Akiol and Vertigo.
Drawing his katana he than challenged, "I accept! Draw your weapon!"
Akiol dispelled his sword and took a stance, he had confidence in his victory. If he didn't then he would have never used the finger has a bargaining chip. While he didn't believe much in ego and honor, he wouldn't go back on his own word.
An undead soldier smacked their shield three times to signal the beginning of battle. Immediately Akiol and Vertigo began to circle. Neither making the first move.
Sometimes the first move gave an advantage, sometimes not. Usually someone should only take the first move if their confident in succeeding. In this case, Vertigo was.
Dashing forward with extreme speed Vertigo began to slash Akiol. Dodging and parrying what he could Akiol began his counter attacks. A katana was made for slashing rather than stabbing. While it could stab it wasn't ideal. Therefor Akiol had a small idea on the style Vertigo used for his sword.
As they continued to battle Akiol got an understanding of the difference in stats. It wasn't obvious but Akiol was losing by a decent amount. The gap wasn't so large to where Akiol was unable to fight, but he was definitely at a disadvantage.
Akiol was disappointed in his lack of strength once again. Every major opponent he faced was stronger than him. The only reason he was able to win was with his large amount of battle experience and training.
It was something he expected and accepted. It would still be quite a while before his strength compared to that of when he was the hero. He only felt it was a shame that he was only bested purely by physical stats and not through skill. It was proving difficult to improve.
Activating [Aura Boost] he lessened the gap between stats. Although it wasn't by much.
Vertigo slashed skillfully towards one of Akiol's weak points. A clean cut was formed onto Akiol's body only for it to mend together shortly later. Baffled by this Vertigo questioned Akiol, "How is it you managed to heal so fast?"
Akiol smiled faintly and didn't answer.
Vertigo's eyes narrowed dangerously, a regenerative foe was more dangerous to deal with. Despite being an undead Vertigo lacked any way to heal himself, especially not while the Lich's finger bone was missing.
The two continued clashing their swords. Sparks would fly, but since Akiol's sword was made of bone there was only metallic ringing sounds. Vertigo twisted his sword strangely and some marking appeared over his head.
It looked like Japanese kanji but since Akiol didn't know the Japanese language he had no idea what it meant. Vertigo swung his Katana towards Akiol, the blade had three red afterimages following its movements.
Akiol blocked the strike, the angle was strange and he couldn't parry it. As soon as the katana met Akiol's blade he was sent sliding backwards several feet. As soon as Akiol stopped it felt like his sword was hit again and he was sliding once more.
Akiol clicked his tongue, "Delayed attacks huh?" He said to no one in particular.
Vertigo was already continuing his assault. Akiol's [Aura Boost] was soon going to run out. Without any offensive based skills Akiol knew this fight wasn't going to end anytime soon.
~ ~ ~
Wrock vaulted over an undead, fighting undead bare-handed wasn't a smart choice. He didn't like the feel of rotten flesh and blood on his hands anyway. He was excited at the thought of battling another strong opponent. It wasn't everyday that he got the chance, although it seemed like it was still somewhat often recently.
He was indeed a battle maniac, but not in a normal sense. Some players battle for the thrill of victory, few even want to see people suffer. Wrock enjoyed battle because it tested him, regardless of the outcome as long as the battle was hard fought he would be satisfied. However if he lost he wouldn't mind a rematch to fight again. No one intentionally wants to lose.
He had high hopes for this Carthino person. A whip was a dangerous weapon to fight against.
It didn't take long before he gained sight on his target. The general was surrounded by her undead underlings. Obeying her commands. Wrock knew he would have to fight through if he was going to take down Carthino.
Planning wasn't his strong suit, so he charged into battle. The undead noticed him and began to attack Wrock. Dodging projectiles and battering undead Wrock slowly made his way towards Carthino.
A decently armored undead blocked Wrock's way, bashing their shield with the pommel of their sword. As if confidently saying that nothing would get past them. Wrock's name should have been 'nothing' then, since he knocked over the undead and got past them.
Carthino long since noticed an intruder, she watched as her undead were being scattered about. It intrigued her, a human charging into an undead horde. Winning no less. Such activities were extremely rare, only the confident and strong would even think of attempting such a feat.
She continued to watch, perhaps when this was all over she would ask Orothus to turn the human into an undead. She would like a loyal strong soldier.
Wrock jumped off an undead twisting his body to land on another. As he battled through the horde, flowing between undead like water around rocks, he noticed Carthino staring at him. It wasn't a pleasant look, that was for sure.
Punching a weaker undead's stomach, shattering their spine with sheer force causing to collapse. He stared back at Carthino, he wanted to let her know she was his target.
Carthino noticed the look and gave a playful smile, she would play along in the little game. Waving her hand she ordered, "Clear a bit of space around me, if that human manages to come near then I shall deal with them."
Like clockwork the undead separated and a decent space was cleared around the general. If one really payed attention, they would notice the length was as long as her whip fully extended. This small detail would only be noticed later if players were to fight the general.
Wrock broke through the horde and entered the cleared area.
"What brings you here living one?" Carthino asked.
"Your death I suppose." Wrock answered nonchalantly.
"I am already dead."
Wrock pondered for a bit before correcting himself, "Then your death again, I suppose."
"Good luck then living one." Carthino said before she cracked her poisonous whip towards Wrock.
Dodging a whip was difficult, compared to other weapons it was hard to predict the direction it would travel. This meant Wrock would have to react just as it would hit him.
As he dodged the whip suddenly cracked mid-air and change its direction towards him. Wrock jerked sideways and the whip barely missed him.
He felt like he would enjoy this battle.