Clicking my tongue at my failed attempts, I lunged right for the man, only to use [Blink] as I appeared on the ground right in front of him, yet he was already prepared for me and quickly kicked my chest, forcefully pushing me back while he came charging right for me.
Gritting my teeth, I braced for impact and used [Expand] on my swords, causing them to grow to over twice their original size as I used them to shield my body; following that, the man slammed his axe onto me with even more force than previously, causing Trina and Zartha to nearly slip out of my hands, though I had fused them to my hands at the last second.
However, the force from the impact still sent me skidding across the ground, crashing into a random tent before I eventually stopped.
'Felt like my wrists were going to snap.' Thought Alexander as he slowly stood up, only to quickly blink away, just in time to avoid an axe that would've otherwise sliced him in half.
Appearing above the man, I watched his axe slam into the ground, releasing a small but powerful fiery explosion that engulfed the entire tent, causing me to internally sigh in relief since that was almost me, though just as I was about to attack, another arrow suddenly pierced through my chest, hitting the same axe spot as previously.
'Tsk, fucking sniper!' Thought Alexander in annoyance as he Zartha in the direction of the archer, launching a large blade of wind her way, yet before it could reach her, a torrent of flames dispersed it.
"Your fight is with me, human." Said Boss as he tightly clenched his axe with both hands before violently swinging it at Alexander, who opted to retaliate rather than evade.
Using wind mana to increase the power of my flames, I attacked with nearly all my might, though; while my opponent didn't smash right through my attack, I wasn't able to stop his, causing me to be sent flying through the air with two broken wrists.
'Tsk, this isn't going to get me anywhere; I will have to use [Lightning Cloak].' Thought Alexander with a slight frown as he regained his balance in the air, only for yet another arrow to pierce his back armor and stab into his back.
"Hmph, so much for, 'Your fight is with me, Human'." Muttered Alexander in annoyance as he glared at the woman, who was already placing another arrow in her bow.
Using my swords, I cut the shafts of the arrows before shifting my focus to the man, intending to properly deal with them when I'm not in the middle of enemy territory.
Landing on the ground directly opposite the man, I used Blink to close the distance while also evading a swing of his axe. Once I saw an opening, I used [Heroes Gaze] to speed up my perception of time. I also used the lightning cloak, causing lightning sparks to dance across my body while a faint bluish aura surrounded me. This significantly increased all of my physical attributes except stamina, which I already had an infinite amount of.
Pushing off the ground, I speedily approached the man, though instead of going straight for the stone, which I wouldn't easily acquire, not to mention it would also make my intentions obvious, I swiped my swords across his chest, causing him to bleed, yet, even though I had taken him by surprise, he still managed to react by leaping backward, which prevented me from giving him a deeper wound.
"Hmm, those swords of yours sure are sharp; sliced right through my enchanted armor with ease… Like it wasn't even there. Epic artifacts, perhaps?" Stated Boss calmly as he glanced down at his flesh wound before looking at Trina and Zartha, a glint of greed flashing through his eyes.
"After I kill you, I'll take them for myself; they'll be better used in my hands anyway." Added Boss as he removed bot outfit and thin armor underneath, revealing his thick muscles that outclassed even Alexander's, a rather impressive feat for an Elf.
'Hmph, as if. Master still has plenty of room to grow stronger.' Said Trina with a scoff as she folded her arms while glaring at Boss, her words causing Zartha to nod in agreement.
'Thanks, Trina.' Thought Alexander softly with a hardened gaze as he pushed off the ground, charging towards Boss much faster than previously.
Now, with my increased speed, I wasn't required to blink away every time I wanted to dodge an attack, which, surprisingly, saved on mana in the long run, even though the skill I was using was somewhat extensive when it came to mana usage.
Side-stepping, I dodged a mighty swing of the axe and kicked his wrists, knocking his attack slightly off balance, which prevented him from continuing his attack into another; taking advantage of that, I slashed my sword at him, yet, at the last second, I blinked to his right side as Zartha effortlessly cut into his flesh, drawing blood while I quickly backed away, evading yet another swing of his axe.
Seeing my attacks working, I was starting to grow confident and planned to make a move for the stone very soon, but of course, I couldn't have it so easy as several arrows shot right for me; most simply bounced off my armor, though some did manage to find their way to the small gaps in my armor. Thankfully, with lightning cloak, they didn't reach any more deeply than my muscles, though they still hurt, yet the worst was probably the fact I saw several mages from a distance casting spells, along with several mercenaries running towards me while the others surrounded us.
"Seems like things just got a little bit harder for you." Said Boss lightly as he flexed his muscles, causing his body to faintly glow with a reddish hue while steam emitted from his body.
Ignoring the man's smart-ass remark, I narrowly dodged his sudden attack, which was faster and stronger than before, causing me to back away while I used my eyes to inspect his status panel, and after sorting through several, I finally found what I was looking for.
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[Flame On]— Grants an increase to all physical attributes proportionate to how much the user increases their body temperature. (Epic)
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'Tsk, fucking great.' Thought Alexander as he barely dodged an onslaught of swings from Boss, who further pushed him back.
While dodging the man's swings, I raised both of my swords, stopping his attack, causing me to grit my teeth as I used all the muscles in my body to push him backward, though just as I did that, a lady stabbed her sword into my side while another arrow pierced my thigh.
I tried to kill the lady behind me, but she quickly backed away while leaving her sword in me, and I wasn't even given enough time to pull it out as the man lunged towards me once again.
"Seems like you're having a tough time… It was a decently fun battle while it lasted." Said Boss with a faint smirk as he powerfully slashed his axe upwards, sending Alexander into the air despite blocking his attack.
Before I could get pelted by numerous spells, I used blink to reappear behind the man, only to back away while yanking the arrow out of my thigh, which was probably the most painful one yet.
'Fucking bitch!' Thought Alexander as he took a deep breath before releasing a torrent of flames that rapidly grew, covering nearly half of the encampment in seconds.
Ignoring the several spells and arrows pelting my body, I continued to release flames, yet I was forced to stop when an arrow suddenly pierced my neck, causing me to collapse to one knee while my blood began to coat the ground.
'Tsk, I-I knew I should've killed her.' Thought Alexander as he used his swords to cut the arrow in two, allowing him to easily remove it while he burned his blood.
Quickly standing up, I backed away, though narrowly dodged yet another swing of the axe before blinking towards him; appearing right in front of him, I slammed my foot onto his axe, preventing him from removing it while I punched him in the face, though it didn't seem to affect him that much as he simply spat out blood.
Clicking my tongue, I was forced into the air by the man while he swiped his axe upwards, launching a wave of flames, enveloping me in them while I used Zartha to block them; Trina was used to launch a [Void Slash] his way, which he dodged, but it made him stop attacking me.
Falling through the sky, I blinked right beside him while tossing my swords away and manifesting an incredibly dense [Fire Blast] in my palm as I lunged right for him, seemingly uncaring for my wellbeing, which seemed to take him aback as I tightly hugged him. Just as it looked like I was about to perform a suicide maneuver, I head-butted him in the chin and used that chance to push off him as I lunged towards his jacket that was on the ground.
'Yeap, it's still in here.' Thought Alexander with a nod as he looked at the reddish-black stone in the jacket before suddenly vanishing from his spot, dodging a powerful fiery slash that left a deep gouge in the ground.
"So you were after the stone the entire time? I should've known, but you did a good job tricking me… Though I don't like being tricked." Remarked Boss with a deep frown as he tightly clenched his axe while the steam emitting off his body increased in density.