Once Rose was out of the cage and her cloak was also discarded, the two started warming up for the fight that was about to come. Felix stretched a bit, swinging multiple forms of his weapon around, as Rose was making arrows on the spot, made of her own blood. She put her bow on her back, then turned the arrows back into normal blood which she absorbed, just as Felix finished up his swings. He defaulted his weapon to a sword, and he headed for the exit of the tent. Right before exiting, he turned to Rose and spoke.
"Just like last time. Buff me, shoot whenever you can, if you can, and do not die."
"Sounds simple enough. I just have to leave it all to you, huh?"
"As usual."
"You arrogant little..."
Felix chuckled slightly, then took in a big breath. He crouched down into a runner's start, holding steady. Then he waited, and waited, and the very second Rose was finished casting her buffs on him, Felix bolted out of the tent. His eyes were growing a powerful green and he could see everything and everyone. And it was showtime.
So, count them down with me, would you?
First, he killed the two people who were by the tent's entrance. That's two. He then dashed to the nearest group, who were just chatting away and couldn't even see his blade move before it was too late. That's seven. He then jumped up onto a tent and used it as a trampoline, landing on a poor lad and slashing at his friends that were walking by him. That's ten. Felix then once again dashed to the nearest group, then the next one, and the next, all with one sword motion. That's twenty.
Finally, the bandits of the camp started screaming for help, and everyone was leaving their tents as fast as possible, ready for combat. Ah, and would you look at that, it just became a target rich environment! Felix, as he was by a tent, quickly slashed down everyone who came out of it and then jumped to the next, also eliminating those from that tent. That's thirty-three. By now, some arrows were also flying from a nearby tent, helping him out. Thirty-five. Felix continued this sword-dance, moving and dashing from bandit to bandit, his crimson blade flowing alongside his body, perfectly in sync. He was almost copying a certain someone, one for one. Also, that's fourty-two.
The bandits, now realizing what was happening, finally started attacking back. They all swung at Felix, although... uselessly. Felix simply moved his blade through them, shifting it from sword to axe to scythe and back to sword in seconds. Blood was jumping around him in all directions, indiscriminately. That's fifty-three. A group of men charged him all at once, surrounding him and jumping on top of him. They thought they finally killed the fucker, that they got him...!
Unfortunately, they thought wrong.
With one move of his now-scythe, Felix left all the men with at least one missing limb. Another slash, and they were missing their lives instead. That's sixty-one. Actually, scratch that, some more arrows flew out from the tent, catching more bandits off-guard. That's sixty-four. Felix cracked his neck, as all of the bandits surrounding him were slowly backing off, trying not to fall over at the sight of all of their comrades, lying dead on the cold ground. Though, the blood was warming it up nicely, wasn't it?
Felix jumped on the spot for a bit, still feeling a bit... rusty. He jumped once, twice, three times, but the moment his feet touched the ground on the third jump, he dashed again at the bandits. He moved in a circle, eliminating any and all that sat by scared, allowing them the sweet release of death. Alongside some more arrows flying into the men's heads, that's eighty-nine. As Felix slowed down, looking around at all the blood, he couldn't help but sigh. That was all of them. And they were all weak.
"Really, man... Fuck..."
Felix looked around at the massacre he committed – no, the genocide he committed, and didn't even bat an eye. Why? Why wasn't he disgusted? Why wasn't he throwing up? Why didn't he care? Why?
["I wonder... Am I even human anymore?"]
Before Felix got much time to ponder on that, though, another, singular and lonely pair of footsteps started approaching him and the bloodbath surrounding him. Felix raised his red blade and pointed it in the direction of the noise, his expression emotionless and blank.
"Right. There was one missing, huh."
From behind one of the tents emerged a regular looking man. He was relatively tall, normal build, brown hair... He didn't even have a weapon on him. This... was their leader? The man looked around at his surroundings, at all of his dead comrades... and he didn't do anything but sigh, rubbing the bridge of his noise in annoyance and somewhat disappointment.
"These annoying, useless fucks... Man, and I even told them to not fight without me, y'know..."
"Sorry, but they weren't fighting. They were getting murdered."
"...You." said the man, pointing at Felix. "You did this, huh. This army, my men... It wasn't big. We weren't the biggest threat. Why not aim at the camp in the north? Or east? Or any-fucking-where else?"
"Just because." responded Felix, shrugging uncaringly before continuing, "I don't care. I see scum, and my blade moves my itself. My bad."
"You're gonna pay."
"Do try your best to entertain me."
"They were weak... Useless... Annoying...! But they were my comrades!"
The man shook and trembled, holding his stomach in obvious pain. Felix raised an eyebrow at him, before a sudden humongous cloud of mana exploded from the man. Immediately after, he stepped through the cloud, but he was changed. He was... way, way bigger. And, for some reason, purple. A Blank opened up somewhere above him, but Felix almost instantly shrugged it off, smirking as he looked up at the man who just grew ten... No, twelve feet in size.
"Finally. A challenge. Haven't seen one of those in a while."
Felix raised his hand, and with one singular finger pointed at the man, then he taunted him to come over with a wave of it. The man – or, rather, monster – immediately went to step ahead and charge at Felix, but instead, the huge mana cloud behind him started floating at Felix, soon surrounding him as his skin absorbed the whole thing. He let out a small "Uff, tingly..." at that, before stretching slightly.
"Sorry, I was hungry. That really hit the spot."
"...You're gonna die... Horrible death!"
"Mhm, mhm, I'm sure. Say, what's your name again...? I skipped your Blank, sorry."
"Name... Name...! Me is Ghandar!"
"Riiight, right, Ghandar. I've heard of you, y'know!"
"You have?! Then, you know me's powerful!"
"Pfft, just kiddin', asshole."
The second Felix said that, he was already by Ghandar's feet, blade in hand and ready to swing. The man barely dodged Felix's attack – he was surprisingly agile for his size. Probably powerful, too.
["Trading intelligence for stats... Not bad, if you're desperate."]
Felix didn't give the huge man much breathing time, though, as he immediately followed up with another swing of his sword. He didn't have time to waste here, after all. He had to quickly clear the floors and find a way to get to Kim, as fa—
Crack!
Crack.
Crack?
Felix froze the second his ears picked up the sound, his expression dropping immediately as his eyes glanced up at Ghandar's head... which was still attached?
"...What? Did I not just...?"
His eyes then wandered down slightly, at his neck, where his sword was supposed to cut through. But the only damaged thing he could see was his own sword. Felix's sword, which was made of literal liquid, was cracking under the pressure of the man's neck. His eyes widened at the sight, and he could see Ghandar raise his hand up, tightening his big fist. At the same time, a Blank opened up right in front of Felix's eyes.
[This enemy cannot be damaged by physical attacks.]
"...That would've been nice to know about ten seconds ag—"
Then suddenly, a huge thump echoed through his head, and Felix could see nothing but darkness. He could still feel... He could feel his surroundings, he could feel the wind blowing on his body, he could feel the blood gushing from his head, but most importantly, he could feel the giant boulder he was heading for.
["Defend, defend...! Can I... even defend right now?!"]
He couldn't.
Felix's body made contact with the boulder in less than a second of him being sent flying, and it fucking hurt. He got sent with so much force, he remained on the boulder for a few moments before slowly sliding down it and landing on his ass, in his own pool of blood which was growing larger by the second. It didn't even hurt as much as Qaart's attack did... It was worse.
Felix couldn't help but almost choke on his own blood, coughing it all up over himself. He could barely grip his sword anymore, but it's not like it mattered anyways. It's useless against this guy, isn't it?
["Shit... I never thought I'd run into someone who's actually immune to physical attacks... Neither me nor Rose can use any offensive Skills, can we...?!"]
Felix opened his eyes, though not much, just as much as he could muster. It still hurt like hell. The green flare in them was long gone, and as they gazed towards the cracked blade that sat in Felix's hands. It hurt a lot, damn it. He raised his trembling hand slowly, as he threw the sword in his inventory. Everything stung... He then glanced at Ghandar, who was stepping closer and closer to Felix, his footsteps echoing throughout the otherwise empty forest. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.
Was Felix... always this pathetic?
Did he only take out all those bandits... because they were weak? Weaker than him? So, the moment someone stronger showed up...
{"Pathetic, and weak."}
...Why now? Why were Kim's words resonating in Felix's mind right now? He already... He already knew, damn it! He knew he was weak, he knew he was useless, he knew he was the most pathetic of all! Felix knew it all! He went down in one hit, for fuck's sake, and he knew all too well!
["How'd I even... respond at that time, I wonder... How did the old me... respond?"]
The blood under Felix was growing more and more thicker by the second as it hurried out of his body through every single path it could, and he could slowly feel his consciousness slipping away from him. Felix tried his best to keep his eyes open, to stay awake, but the sleepiness... was growing so strong... Even stronger than on the Sixth Floor. The hit that demon inflicted on him was nothing compared to this guy...
...But Felix wasn't happy with this. Why did he have to die so early? This was just the Seventh Floor, wasn't it? He had a lot to go, right? So why was he on the ground now, covered in his own blood? What's this bullshit? He wasn't the type to give up so easily. Was he? He didn't give up when Kim was half dead and he had to kill the Boss with one hand, did he now?! No! No, he didn't! So get up! Get! The hell up! Felix Fox!
["Qaart... Qaart...! Like then. I have to... do it like then... If I do that, I can... beat this guy... I can beat this fucker to a pulp! No, I will!"]
So Felix struck the ground with whatever he had left in him, sticking his fist in the mud created by the dirt and blood that sat below him. He slowly got up on his knees, still holding back from coughing out his whole lungs on the dirt below. How did he even do that back on the First Floor? He had no fucking clue. But just sitting by, and watching this big guy crush his skull in...
"...That wouldn't be entertaining, now would it?! You big piece of shit!"
As Felix gripped the big boulder behind him for support, he rose up from his own lake of blood. And he was pissed. His brown eyes were still not ready to shine, but Felix's hand was shaking madly from how tight his fist was tightened. He was more mad than ever. Furious. Not even at the giant man... but at himself. He let out a huge breath, then he opened his hand and started calmly waving it around himself. At the sight of this, Ghandar couldn't help but laugh in his deeply loud voice, as he was growing ever so closer with each step he took, shaking the ground.
But Felix didn't care, he was busy.
As his hand waved around himself, grasping at the very essence of the world – at the mana in the air, a Blank appeared somewhere in front of him. Though he immediately shoved it to the side, uncaring, as his palm kept molding the air around himself into a sharp, precise and careful manner. The Blank, however, soon closed down automatically because it was considered as read. But, as usual... Just because Felix didn't see it... doesn't make it any less true.
[Skill {Sponge} is shaking! It's about to Revive!]
Felix finally let go of the boulder, as he could now stand up by himself, and both of his hands started grasping at the mana particles in the air, converting them from a beautiful bright blue to a dark, eerie green. Multiple Blanks were appearing all around him, which he was shoving away as he controlled the mana in the air. Some warnings, some hints, most of them congratulations – he didn't glance at a single one. He didn't care. Finally, his hands stopped moving, as they hovered around what stood before Felix – a dark blade, made entirely of green. Of his mana. Felix glanced a singular time at Ghandar, before flipping him off with one hand and gripping the sword with the other.
"You're sooo fucked."
The second his skin touched the mana, Ghandar froze in time. Felix raised an eyebrow at this, before looking all around himself and realizing... it wasn't just Ghandar. Everything was frozen. His hand was glued to the dark blade, probably, but he didn't bother checking if he could remove it. He only gripped it harder. His eyes started growing green once more, filling up the space around him with a green hue worthy of being called demonic.
Suddenly, Felix felt something – something familiar yet new. A soft, warm embrace on both of his cheeks, as a sweet feminine voice whispered into his very being. He recognized the voice, the tone, the intonation... He just knew.
[Felix. You can't.]
"Do it."
[You're still on cooldown. There will be consequences.]
"There better be."
[...As you wish, Felix.]
Immediately, time unfroze and Ghandar seemed to resume his walk towards Felix. Felix, unbothered, took in a big breath, before releasing it all in the form of a green mist that settled all around him. He slowly rose up the green mana sword, holding it with such ease, such comfort, such familiarity... Then, he pointed it at Ghandar.
[Revived Skill {???} is resonating with the Liner's custom Mana-Sword! -
Enhancing Mana-Sword by +3!
Temporarily giving the user 'Skill - {Sword Dance} - Lvl 5'!
Temporarily increasing the user's Stats by 225%!
Cut down thy enemies with a singular slash of your essence, marking your presence into this world. Let your mana echo through for generations to come. Godspeed!]
Felix cracked his neck once, before he locked eyes with Ghandar, who was still coming at him, not caring about him or his new fancy weapon. Felix took in another, singular shallow breath – as that's all that he needed. He stepped forward once, and he simply... vanished. Dissipated into thin air. Ghandar looked around, confused, as he just couldn't understand where he could've went? He was completely gone... Did he go invisible?
Wrong.
A beautiful, shiny, thin green line ran across his vision in an instant, leaving him mesmerized. Huh, that's odd... Where did that come from? Ghandar couldn't really pinpoint it, though, especially as his eyes fell lower, and lower, and lower, until his gaze met the ground. Ah, wait, that's odd too...! Why was he staring at his own feet? Hah, that's silly... He could've sworn he was looking for... for...? Hmm. Who was he looking for again? For some reason, he just couldn't remember. And he was feeling... so sleepy... Maybe he should just take a nap for now...?
Meanwhile, right next to Ghandar's head landed his body, as it shrunk rapidly back to its original size. Standing right on top of it was Felix, who threw the dark blade up into the sky as it dissipated into nothingness as quickly as it appeared the first time. His eyes quickly darkened as well, returning to the dark brown that they usually rested at, and by the time he blinked, any trace of green was completely gone from them. He took in another deep breath, this one more normal than the others. But he was so, so tired...
Not soon after, his wounds started stinging again and his body was aching like he just fought a war all by himself. Felix coughed a few times, leaving more of his blood on the ground below him as he staggered and fell to one knee, barely keeping himself from fainting. He couldn't faint. Not yet. Not until he was sure...
Felix's ears picked up a little something – some little footsteps running towards him, coming from his right. He turned his head in that direction slightly, looking at Rose who was coming at him full speed, obviously panicked as hell, with tears in her eyes. She immediately fell to her knees next to him once she reached him, and she yelled out a mix of multiple words she just couldn't take the time to put in order. Felix let out a sigh through the pain and gave her a little headpat, then attempted to get back up to his feet. Rose immediately pulled him down, stopping him as she yelled, "Felix, no! You're hurt! Stop it!"
"Floor's not... over yet... No Blank..."
"I said stop, dummy! Look up!"
Felix let out a confused "Huh..." as his eyes slowly drifted upwards, at a big Blank in the sky announcing the completion of the Floor and the Plot. He examined the Blank for a bit before chuckling and shaking his head slightly, muttering some more words before a huge pain shot through his chest, head, and basically just every part of his body, all at once.
Right. The consequences.
Felix immediately fell forwards, barely catching himself with his hands. He coughed up huge amounts of blood, meaning at least one of his lungs was probably punctured and, basically, all around fucked. Honestly, he might've had more than just a few broken bones. The pain kept going at him in waves, keeping him highly aware by simply the excruciating agony. He fell over on one side, attempting to control his coughing so he wouldn't choke on his own blood – and he was slightly failing.
The pain shot through him again, and again, and again, mercilessly. Felix felt like he was going to die, his head unable of forming thoughts because of simply how much willpower it took him to keep himself awake. Because, he was keeping himself awake by force. This was his punishment, and passing out would only mean he failed in receiving it. And he couldn't have that.
He was done being weak. And he was done being pathetic.
Felix suffered through the pain for what felt like a few good hours, in reality being only seconds. Rose was screaming stuff at him, worried out of her mind, but Felix was hearing none of it. Eventually, after wave and wave and wave of intense pain and torture, the stinging subsided and his pain... lessened. He passed his punishment. He stayed awake the whole time.
Felix, as he laid on the ground more than half-dead, couldn't help but crack a smile at that.
He glanced up at Rose for a bit, using everything he had to talk, with a raspy and broken voice, "I'm... sleeping for... a bit..." then, exactly as he said he would, Felix put his head on the blood stained ground, and fell asleep. Today, he had truly won.