Rama charged towards the knights. He gritted his teeth because now he was engulfed in a feeling of anxiety and worry; could he defeat the knights with his current strength?
As he arrived in front of one of the knights, Rama let out a cry while swinging his sword with all his might. Hopefully, with Sword Mastery at the Intermediate level, he—
*CLANG!*
His sword stopped as it met the knight's sword that he was targeting. Rama then saw another knight coming from the side, swinging his sword.
*DANGG!*
Fortunately, Rama managed to dodge in the nick of time. The longsword of the knight hit the ground, creating a hole, illustrating how sharp the sword was.
"Shit!" Rama cursed under his breath.
After he initiated the attack, the knights became more aggressive. They seemed to have decided that Rama was the target that needed to be eliminated immediately. So they began running towards him.
The sound of metal boots hitting the stone floor echoed in this vast room. The noise of metal armor scraping against each other was also audible. Every inch of the wall reflected those sounds.
Rama stood up again. He couldn't stay in one place if he didn't want to be surrounded.
Feeling that he wouldn't be able to win without using it, Rama activated his power.
< Soul Fusion Level 2 activated! >
< -2 Mana per second >
Rama decided to assume the form of a regular Ghost first. Only later, when he felt the situation had become more dangerous, would he use the Specter Behemoth form.
Rama's body transformed into mist, and he felt more confident to attack. He lunged forward, and the knights immediately swung their swords towards him simultaneously; about five longswords descended from above his head.
*DANGG!*
*DANGG!*
*DANGG!*
*DANGG!*
*DANGG!*
The five swords pierced Rama's misty form and struck the stone floor. Rama swung his sword towards one of the knights.
*CLANG!*
The knight was thrown to the side after taking his blow. Afterward, Rama attacked the other knights around him with the same force, trying to strike as hard and as fast as possible.
The five knights around him were also thrown away like the knights before. Rama thought that he might be able to defeat them if he continued what he was doing now.
However, Rama realized something when he glanced at one of the knights he had thrown earlier. The knight got back up with a dent in its armor.
'Oh no.'
Rama immediately knew that the situation was much worse than he had thought. He couldn't harm these knights with his current strength; their armor was too tough.
Realizing this, he quickly retreated and distanced himself, deactivating his Soul Fusion. He stared at the knights who had marched back towards him, wondering, 'What should I do now?'
Rama was panicking now. He was fighting enemies wearing armor that he couldn't penetrate. Until he found a way to breach their armor, he could only use his Soul Fusion to evade their attacks.
Unfortunately, his Mana would eventually run out, reverting him to his human form, which would be crushed under the swing of those longswords.
'Calm down. You got this,' Rama said to himself. Surprisingly, with that, the fog in his mind cleared slightly. He could think more clearly.
The knights charged, longswords coming at him, but all of them only pierced his misty Ghost body. Rama thought while holding back fear as he saw the sharp blades slashing through his form.
'That's it!' And then, he saw it. It was only a small gap, but Rama could see an uncovered joint between the knights' armor.
He began his attack. His eyes focused on the gap in the arm of a knight who was attacking him. He let the knight's longsword pierce his body and fall to the stone floor, then he thrust his sword into the gap in the knight's arm.
*CRAKK!*
The sword stabbed something, and mist seeped out of the gap in the arm. It looked like the mist found in a Ghost. Rama couldn't help but suspect that perhaps the one wearing this armor was a Ghost.
After successfully landing the attack, Rama saw the knights stumble as if in pain. He proceeded to withdraw his sword and then thrust it towards the gap in the knight's neck, causing the armor to crumble loudly on the stone floor.
Rama smiled; he had finally found the knights' weakness.
< You gain 20 XP! >
'Sweet! Turns out, you can also get XP from them!'
Feeling delighted, he immediately attacked the same spot on another knight surrounding him. Their longswords could only pierce Rama momentarily, while Rama could easily target their weak points and kill them.
< You gain 20 XP! >
< You gain 20 XP! >
< You gain 20 XP! >
...
He kept gaining XP after killing the remaining knights, but his Soul Fusion did not gain XP. Rama wasn't thinking about that now and continued to kill all the remaining knights.
< You Leveled Up! >
< You Leveled Up! >
Rama felt his strength increase as he leveled up. His Mana, which should have been depleted, was now fully restored.
Only five knights remained. Rama didn't waste any more time and killed them in the same way until they all died, leaving their crumbling armor on the stone floor.
< You Leveled Up! >
Rama sighed in relief but didn't let his guard down, as another surprise might appear. However, after a while, he didn't hear anything else; Rama could finally breathe easy.
A moment later, another message appeared in his vision.
< Congratulations! You have completed the challenge in the first part of the 1st Floor of the Holy Tomb Dyre! >
< You can choose to proceed to the next part or leave. >
< If you want to continue, please go to the door at the end of the room. >
< If you want to leave, return to where you came from. >
Rama rubbed his chin. "This is quite confusing. Can I come back if I leave now?"
Surprisingly, the writing answered him.
< Yes. You can return here at your will. You, as a descendant of the Forsaken Bloodline, have been registered as one of the users of the Holy Tomb Dyre. >
Rama frowned. Once again, he found something that raised significant questions about himself.
~~~