Boom-!
"Argh, you're something else aren't you?"
"Enough."
A figure pushed the arm out, another figure found themselves being pulled towards them. A smirk appeared, "Harbinger of Doom? What a stupid name!"
Wham-!
The figure slammed a fist covered in magma into Harbinger of Doom. The force sent them crashing into the dirt, along with a nasty wound.
Harbinger of Doom winced and clutched their stomach, "Erupting Volcano huh. . . you're no better."
"I humbly disagree."
Harbinger of Doom spat, "Fine then."
Erupting Volcano clenched his fist, the red and black magma changed color. It turned a bright yellow, the once black obsidian rock turned orange. Erupting Volcano sneered, this wasn't even a threat!
Harbinger of Doom outstretched a hand, a crystal appeared and began to form into a sword. He gripped the crystal sword's handle, "The only one dying here shall be you!"
~ ~ ~
Clang~
Travis parried another strike. Tyrannical Axe turned and struck towards him again. Travis blocked and grunted, this race was always incredibly annoying. It didn't matter if they missed, for they could easily build momentum near instantly. The Gyro race was always incredibly aggressive, they weren't built to handle defense.
Travis was well aware of this, he planned to create another opportunity to regain the offensive.
Tyrannical Axe swung diagonally, Travis ducked and slid to the side. The axe missed but Tyrannical Axe wasn't worried. Their hip was used as the center and they began to spin in circles. Slowly they moved towards Travis, like a tilted top.
Travis didn't retreat, he watched the axe as it only grew faster. He felt the wind as it approached him. The moment Tyrannical Axe reached the optimal spot. . .
Dang~
Travis swung his sword and directed the axe downwards. The momentum wasn't stopped and the axe was buried into the ground. The axe got stuck and Tyrannical Axe's eyes widened.
Travis' sword slashed across their chest. A deep cut forming. Yet Travis did not stop there. His sword flashed and another cut formed. Tyrannical Axe attempted to strike back, but Travis kicked their knee and made them lose balance. Travis' sword was a blur as several cuts formed. He aimed for the joints first, for they were troublesome. After ten additional strikes Travis decided to end the combo, while long and devastating combos were popular. This would only be useful against average players. Highly skilled opponents would begin to see flaws the more you combo, Travis believed that the Champions of the Royals weren't average.
He kicked Tyrannical Axe in the chest, making them slide back slightly. He swung his sword in a straight line, forming a deep cut across Tyrannical Axe's neck.
It was at this point Travis noticed something wrong. All his cuts, especially the last. Lacked a very important thing. There was no blood.
Tyrannical Axe seemed unbothered by their neck. Instead they cracked their bones, "Not bad."
This was a zombie Gyro! More realistically, a reanimated Gyro. Zombies under the power of other undead creatures tend to rot overtime. However if the process was done perfectly, the zombies body would be maintained for several decades! These were far more dangerous than average undead. With full access to their bodies, and the untiring undead ability. This would create the unstoppable warrior.
Undead were already troublesome to deal with. With no critical hits and their increased regeneration speed, the undead wasn't something Travis wanted to fight. Especially not here.
Tyrannical Axe charged forward, their joints spun even though they were severely damaged. Several kicks and fists were thrown towards Travis. While dodging these he realized another crucial piece of information. Tyrannical Axe wasn't an axe wielding class!
Perhaps it was meant to let down the guard of the opponents, but Tyrannical Axe was far more skilled in hand-to-hand combat!
Travis' mind flashed to his months of training with Dimitrin. Dimitrin decided that only training with swords was a bad idea, so randomly through battles they would switch with their War Sight. Travis was immediately overwhelmed by the difference on how weapons were wielded. It took a long time before he grew to combat several weapon changes.
In case of fighting against the Pugilist class, it would be best to go on the offensive! Unless the Pugilist was able to block a blade, they would have to focus on dodging. Travis doubted Tyrannical Axe had an ability to block his sword, considering they were undead.
He chuckled at such a glaring weak point, Tyrannical Axe was purely offensive. Relying on their undead body for taking attacks. Now that Travis knew this. . .
Travis gripped the wrist of Tyrannical Axe. Using their wrist as a joint they jumped and spun, aiming to kick Travis' head. Travis simply slammed them into the ground.
Tyrannical Axe recovered quickly, spinning rapidly. Their limbs became blurred, their figure turned into a tornado.
A dark energy surrounded his blade. He swung twice and the dark crescent attacks carved into Tyrannical Axe.
Ignoring the attack Tyrannical Axe taunted, "Is that all you got?"
The dark energy formed at Travis' palm. He raised it and calmly answered, "No."
Bwom~
A large dark beam shot forth, Tyrannical Axe's eyes widened as the beam enveloped him. The dark energy began to tear him apart.
While players could learn skills, one had to ask: what happens when they become outdated?
Does the skill just lie unused? The answer is no, all skills will eventually evolve into newer ones. The exception was ones learned from Skill Stones.
There was a requirement to evolving these Skills however, that was to increase the Skill's level. Some skills don't require this, such as Travis [Abyssal Shift]. Yet most do.
One of such Skills was Travis' [Depth's Beam]. He increased its level and as such the power and charging rate was increased. Along with his massive increase in stats the Skill's destructive power was strengthened several-fold.
The beam was large enough to attract the attention of some Royals. Lord Theen was especially focused, if his Champion lost here he would be out!
The beam faded and Tyrannical Axe stood still alive, or rather undead. His body now looked like a regular undead, some bone was even visible.
Their voice now course and rough they spoke, "That was. . . surprising."
A voice shouted across the yard, "Do that! I don't care anymore! Just don't lose!"
The voice was from Lord Theen, who was sweating near buckets. Tyrannical Axe was surprised, but then grinned. On their hand was a rune, it began to glow a bright pink. Travis sensed something was off and immediately charged forward.
His sword swung brilliantly through the air, the sword cleanly chopped Tyrannical Axe's hand off.
The grin remained, for as the hand fell it closed. Once it hit the ground the rune's light increased dramatically. A pink light enveloped Tyrannical Axe while pushing Travis away.
Travis sent two [Depth's Slash] towards the light. The attack was futile, for it seemed to dissolve once touching the pink light.
Flinnder immediately jumped out of his chair and shouted, "That's against the rules! Lord Theen has handed Tyrannical Axe some of his own power!"
Theen shot back, "Against the rules? I simply invested it into my Champion. Is that not what this competition is about?"
The Dukes began to murmur with each other. As they were discussing Travis spoke up, "I am requesting to speak."
The Dukes stopped and looked at Travis, even though he was a speck in the giant arena. Even though loud abilities were used, the Duke heard him easily. One was interested and granted the request, "Speak."
"It matters not if he received power. The outcome shall remain the same."
All the Royals heard this. Theen shot a deadly glare and spoke, "Arrogant boy! Your power has limits!"
"Limits are merely obstacles."
The Duke smirked, "Very well, we shall overlook this incident."
Flinnder shot a look at Travis. His Champion was acting a little too arrogant!
The pink light faded and Tyrannical Axe was reborn. Their immensely damaged body was fully repaired. The only difference was that the rune that repaired the body was much larger and pulsing on their chest.
Tyrannical Axe grinned, "I heard that! Such arrogance shall cost you everything!"
Tyrannical Axe dashed forward. Several blows were exchanged almost immediately. Travis calmly reacted, it seemed the rune not only repaired but increased their strength a bit.
This was fine, Travis hadn't used everything he had just yet. He was treating this battle as a mere warmup. He was beginning to grasp his strength in combat against similarly leveled opponents.
Travis twirled his blade and cut Tyrannical Axe's hand off again. Now, it was time to begin his combo.
Travis sent Tyrannical Axe flying back with a kick. As they flew he sent out two dark crescent attacks. He followed up with [Truth Twofold: Existence].
Appearing behind Tyrannical Axe he charged his blade with [Abyssal Enhancement], and began to charge [Depth's Beam] with his other hand. Once Tyrannical Axe was close he swung upwards.
Tyrannical Axe pivoted to attack Travis as they flew. However they weren't able to dodge the sword. They guarded against it instead, but this proved to be a bad idea.
The sword sent him flying upwards. Their height reached ridiculous level before falling back down. As they fell they saw Travis with a single hand pointed upwards.
Travis charged this beam for far longer than he had the first. This one would hurt.
Bwom~!
The beam fired, significantly larger than before. Tyrannical Axe attempted to protect themself, but it was futile. The beam began to disintegrate them, soon enough the beam faded.
This time there was no one still standing.