The prompt answered Indra's question, this was an enemy. Indra peered around the corner at the humanoid beast. It seemed so calm, staring into the unknown source of light as if worshipping it. The mountain Sage was much less fearsome than the Alpha he had fought previously but it gave off an aura that was much more formidable. It was almost as if the air around the Sage was permeated with its desire to kill. Both spears, even though they were only sticks they gave off an essence of death. He could tell that being pierced by one of them could result in an excruciating demise.
Indra's body moved before he even realized what was happening. He leaned backwards and dodged the incoming spear which lodged itself firmly into the solid cave wall. Two whole feet disappeared into the stone. He looked back to where the Sage sat. The humanoid beast moved with a demeanour that resembled a sloth. Its actions were graceful and steady and looked to be in slow motion. It turned its head to reveal a mutilated face.
Its eyes were just empty pits and its mouth was sewn shut. The unparalleled grace that was ingrained in its movements was oddly mesmerizing. The Sage finally stood up completely and simply bent its back as if stretching. Only, it wasn't stretching. It kept bending backwards until its hands reached the ground and one of them gripped the second spear that was still lying there. That is when the hypnotic movements stopped and the fighting began.
The Sage's arched back worked like a slingshot. It launched back up and fired the second spear. Indra dodged.
Thud!
The spear lodged into the wall. The dust settled and cracks like spider webs appeared. Indra's body took up a stance while the Sage's shot toward him.
The beast's steps were silent but his presence was like that of a rhinoceros. Indra defended himself. With a gust of wind and a whirl of legs and arms, the Sage landed atop his spears, feet spread and eyes locked. They stared each other down. This would be nothing like the Alpha. This was a true fight between warriors.
The silence was eerie, especially staring at the sewn mouth of his enemy. Their face-off lasted a full minute, at least, until the chaos began again. The Sage dropped to the floor between each of his weapons, gripped one in either hand and yanked. Rocks flew forth and the thumps broke the silence, echoing throughout the cave.
Indra stood still, adamant and resolute. He would be as unyielding as a mountain yet as graceful as a summer breeze. The Sage attacked.
Quick jabs from the Sage's longer spear pricked at his abdomen while the shorter one set its sights on his neck, heart, and lungs, anything vital.
Duck, sidestep, parry.
Evasion was a simple concept, don't get hit but he needed to counter. Simple to say, but hard to master.
Their clashes came in short but dangerous bursts.
'I need to attack, but how?'
As each clash resulted in Indra's fatigue while the beast remained invigorated, Indra realized something needed to change. How could he attack without a weapon? Then it hit him, he was a weapon. A warrior's strength didn't lie within their tools but in themselves. If he wanted to survive in this new world he would need to turn to sharpen himself into an unparalleled weapon. He wasn't the only one who was changed by the system, which meant that not only would he need to fight demonic beasts but other humans as well.
With this realization came clarity. He was no longer Indra, the weakling who practised martial arts to keep from getting hurt. He was Genesis, as of now he was nothing but to survive in a martial world such as this one he would need to become something. Genesis would need to become more. Genesis would need to become strong. The real fight finally began.
The jabs halted and silence overcame the dreary cave. Indra's muscles rippled under the inhuman strength of the mountain Sage. The spears began to move. Each one slid through bloody grips and sought after his body. His strength was the only thing lying between him and death. The situation was dire. It seemed that the weapons were draining his power. Each spear was a leach on his strength every time they made contact with his skin.
As his resolve wavered, the Sage's soared. The doors of death opened and the prying arms of the lost souls reached for him but he wasn't going anywhere. His intent to live overcame his senses and his will overpowered his weakness. His body radiated a faint blue light and his skin became like a stone.
The doors slammed shut and the faint blue light gathered in his fists while disappearing from the rest of his body. The light got brighter and his grip solidified. Each spear splintered under this newfound strength and then shattered. Indra didn't know what had just happened, what he did know was that this fight was over. Or so he thought.
The Sage lept back and then something completely unexpected happened. The string that confined him to a life of silence unravelled and the pits where his eyes belonged glowed red. The Sage smiled.
That grin unhinged Indra and when the Sage spoke shivers ran down his spine.
"This fight is over." The voice carried with it murderous intent, he could feel death in those words.
From that moment on, the final confrontation began.
The cave seemed rumbled and the Sage's grin grew. He dropped the two broken spears which were replaced by stone ones that grew from the floor beneath his feet. A bestial roar reverberated through the cave and when Indra saw where it came from, his eyes widened. It was the mountain Sage. The young man could not believe that the tiger-like roar could come from a human. At that moment he would need more than glowing blue hands to defeat this foe and he had just the thing.
Indra disappeared, and his illuminated fist crashed into a rock-solid grip. Pain ripped through his hand as he tore it free of the Sage's grip.
He leapt back and dodged as spikes shot from the cave walls. His body quickly found a rhythm and he countered. He spun and guided many of the spikes back toward the Sage who shattered them with his fists. The small chamber they fought in became started as a shower of dust and stone but soon transformed into one of fire and death. On many of the stones he redirected, Indra had placed his Draigan Aansoo's. Soon, the spikes halted as the Sage realized what was happening. Instead, it charged. Its face made it clear that it was confident in its ability to defeat Indra in hand-to-hand combat. Indra had another idea.
Just as the Sage reached him, Indra vanished and his enemy exploded. He appeared behind it and then disappeared once again. Another explosion. Indra appeared back where he stood before and caught the spear that the Sage had released as it was launched off its feet by the former's pull. It was clear that no amount of explosions was going to kill the Sage but maybe its weapon could.
His prey was hurled back towards him once again but this time, instead of an explosion there was a thump and a spray of blood. At the end of the long, stone polearm was the impaled Mountain Sage. Indra dropped the stone weapon and collapsed beside it. He turned his head slightly and witnessed the red lights wink out and become dark pits once again. The blue glow of his hands was extinguished as well.
The only light left in the cave was that which the Sage's body had concealed earlier. Its golden luminescence bounced off the walls and illuminated the shadows of Indra and the impaled body beside him. The disfigured forms cast a certain gloom on the cave. Indra's eyes closed while he stared at the beautiful radiance that was a single flower growing out of a small mound of dirt. Exhaustion engulfed Indra and he passed out.