"ARHHHHHGH!"
Lukas howled in agony as all of the pain set in, and none of the adrenaline. He nearly passed out from the pain. But as the corners of his mind regained control, he bit his teeth into some cloth to relieve the pain. Then he took as deep of a breath as he could.
"AH, FUCK! TOR!"
The moment he spoke, the ghast moved to strike his windpipe. Its bony claw was millimetres away when time began to rewind. Lukas breathed a sigh of relief as the pain dispersed. He watched his arm reattach itself and soon, the vibrant green became grey, dark, and wet.
His sense of time was temporarily dazed when the pain hit his brain. So he did not know how much time had passed, or when the ghast would attack. He had to take a blind guess on when its strike hit. Half a second off and he would lose control over his arm if it wasn't cut clean off.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and trusted in his senses. When the time was right, he dropped down and raised his blade above his head in a slash. He heard the mud squish beneath the ghast's feet. He felt the air hit him like a wave, and the vibrations in the steel signifying a successful hit.
But it was shallow, a minor cut on the ghast's arm. Although, he was unscathed. His timing was off, but he didn't lose his arm, and now he had a grasp on the ghast, however slight. His safety net was gone, however. Without access to his Frequency for about a minute, he was at a severe disadvantage.
He had to fight by predicting his opponent, something he was not well accustomed to. He knew little about the ghast, its strength and weakness, its fighting style, or even its full appearance. He knew it was fast, terribly so, and that it was deadly and cruel. It wasn't much to go off of, but it was enough. Enough to scrape by until he had some kind of advantage.
Until then, he couldn't risk continuing his retreat. He was stuck in the mud and a sitting duck in comparison to his opponent. Right now, he needed to learn as much as he could about the enemy and improve his situation as much as possible.
His mind thought fast, under the heightened awareness of the now-pumping adrenaline. There was no pain, but there was mental system shock. In this state, his mind thought a thousand times a second, going through every possible scenario.
Until one shone through the clouded sea of possibilities.
He turned to his left and whipped his kusarigama forward. Another shallow cut hit the ghast's torso. But its attack was interrupted and it was unable to hit Lukas.
He made a mad dash forward, only making it half a dozen steps before he had to deflect another strike with his tachi. He wasn't sure how long he could keep this up. He only needed to deflect the ghast, but that was already hard enough. On top of that, he had to constantly predict its movement and run back to Mistfell all at the same time.
He could try to go on the offensive and kill it, it seemed rather frail. But then he would be vulnerable to its swift strikes. No, first he had to understand it.
'Know yourself.'
'Know your enemy.'
'Throw everything else away.'
Lukas repeated this mantra to himself over and over, clearing his head of useless thoughts and emotions. If someone were to see him now, he would look like a machine. His face was void of emotion, and his body moved with nearly perfect movements, using little energy.
The world seemed brighter to him too. Not that he could see more, but that everything was a little clearer. It was almost as if the world unravelled itself to him, and it moved in slow motion.
Until something hit him in the back of his knee, knocking him to the floor. It broke through his concentration and left him in a terrible position. The ghast followed up on its attack, but Lukas managed to deflect it. Not without getting a few minor cuts along the way.
'Know your-'
The ghast hit Lukas' arm as he tried to get up. The damage wasn't severe, but it was the first he failed to deflect.
'Know yo-'
A blunt chop to his liver left him reeling in pain. It disoriented and dazed him briefly.
'Kno-'
"AH FUCK IT! YOU BASTARD! COME HERE!"