The next few weeks passed by in a flash, Veritas lived in solitude and carefully planned his next actions in facing the Gargoyle Knight. Then, he skirmished against the Gargoyle Knight and learned of its patterns. He also formed scenarios in his head.
Nothing much happened from the hypothetical scenarios that Veritas made up in his mind. The scenarios showed him fighting against the Gargoyle Knight and in each scenario, he lost without even a challenge. Though, with each fight that he faced against the Gargoyle Knight, the Veritas in the scenarios began to improve.
That said, it was only limited to him fighting using his swordplay. There was no way of winning against someone so formidable!
For the first 4 days, Veritas contemplated and strategized.
Veritas learned many things about the unique devices that were made by the head of the Intelligence School of Knowledge.
He already knew what the metal ball did, so Veritas studied the other two devices.
He did not focus that much on the exploding device as per his Father's instruction, but Veritas still studied how the item worked. He looked at the nature of the device and discovered what made it explode.
Then, upon studying the small disc with a gaping hole, Veritas discovered that the purpose of the device was to make an instant-tent of considerable size.
When he folded the disc in half it seemed to expand and formed a triangular-shaped tent. Inside the tent, various furniture such as tables and chairs could be located. The tent itself was quite isolated and it looked very defensive in nature..
The sheets of the tent were made out of a soft-fabric, manufactured using various metals. It was quite durable! Still, this tent proved to be quite useless for Veritas' situation.
All-in-all, the three devices proved to be quite useful in a survival situation, but they were not that great in terms of combat. The pear-shaped metal ball was an exception, so Veritas made a mental note to use this.
Veritas was sitting down a log near the campfire and he seemed to be reading the reports made by the Wielders that survived the encounter.
For the past 4 days, this was all that he was doing.. memorizing every detail that could potentially be useful in felling the abomination.
Experience was still better in his situation though.
Veritas could not stop but thought of fighting the Gargoyle Knight.
However, one mistake could be fatal!
It was inevitable though.. he needed to improve his experience in order to have a better chance of winning.
He could theorize about the battle all he wanted but he still needed to apply those theories.
Veritas laid down on the cold ground and pondered about his plans for today..
'Ah- How do I beat that thing!'
He racked his head for weeks, even commencing the Gargoyle knight in fights. But alas, he could not come up with a solution!
Veritas laid on the ground for an hour before finally moving his body once more.
'I need to fight it again..'
Veritas brought three common-leveled potions, three mid-leveled potions, and one high-leveled potion. His inventory still consisted of 9 high-leveled potions, 15 mid-leveled potions and 23 common-leveled potions.
Then, he made his way towards the ruins once more..
It was morning and Veritas was wearing a new set of armor. This one was made of shiny steel and could be said to be more formidable than his last one. Veritas was still using the same blade that he fought with the Gargoyle Knight. It didn't seem to shatter anytime soon..
The sun wasn't shining on the forest yet and it wasn't too dark either. It was a perfect mix of dawn and morning, giving sufficient lighting for Veritas to see.
He saw the ruins of the castle, and in the middle was a taciturn statue that stood guard.
'I'll change my tactics this time.'
With that thought, Veritas unsheathed his sword and breathed deeply.
'I'll go on the offensive!'
He rushed again towards the Gargoyle Knight with great speed. Veritas grinned widely and aimed for the statue's side.
Veritas already expected it but the swift response of the Gargoyle Knight still perplexed him!
It held its sword on the right side and blocked with a posture that held its sword on the back, reaching on the side.
It pushed back and deflected Veritas' blade, but Veritas immediately responded with a rotating slash. He spun his body back and stroked with heaviness.
The Gargoyle Knight shifted its body to the left and clashed with Veritas' pristine sword.
He didn't let a second be wasted though, and Veritas immediately used his legs to leap back and crouched.
'Predictable!'
He saw the taciturn blade pass by on top of him.
Veritas then did an upward strike towards the Knight.
'Deflected again!'
He flowed like the winds and made many rotations using his legs, his figure seemed to vanish in the air. Suddenly, he appeared behind the Gargoyle Knight and feinted a strike to its side.
The Knight didn't fall for the feint though and it immediately dealt a heavy blow to Veritas' right side.
Veritas was taken aback by this and tensed his right side to receive the blow.
The heavy blow sent him meters away from the Knight!
'Such strength!'
This didn't stop Veritas though..
He rushed straight towards the Gargoyle Knight with swiftness like the winds.
His body flowed graciously and he danced like the wind. The Gargoyle Knight slash in the middle but Veritas easily dodge the strike! He counterattacked by slashing the Gargoyle Knight's neck but it was easily parried.
Anticipating this, Veritas' blade flowed like air and made its way to the Gargoyle Knight's chest.
The exchange between the two went on for a couple of seconds before Veritas was pushed back once more.
Veritas wasted not a second and immediately rushed back into battle!
This time, he was flowing graciously, the winds seemed to move with him. The Gargoyle Knight counter attacked by rushing towards Veritas too. With great speeds, it was immediately upon him, striking with a downward slash.
Veritas easily dodged this by tilting to the side and he slashed back with a gracious strike.
But it was not gracious at all.. When the Gargoyle Knight tried to parry the strike, Veritas quickly breathed and made his slash heavier.
"Pshhh"
The slash could be described as a gentle rain suddenly turning into a storm in a middle of a second.
This did not give the Gargoyle Knight time to react and it merely received the blow.
Still, the Gargoyle Knight was formidable, it stood its ground sturdily and was unmoved by the Veritas' heavy blow.
'Annoying bitch!'
Veritas spun his body and stroked down below. His legs formed a split and his arms aimed for the Gargoyle Knight's legs. Veritas already anticipated a parry and planned accordingly.
Once the Gargoyle Knight parries, Veritas would roll to the side and jump, striking down heavily like a thunderbolt!
However! The Gargoyle Knight didn't parry! It received Veritas' blow and loomed all over his stature.
Veritas felt a deep feeling inside of him.
It was dread!
He needed to move or he was going to die.
'Shit!'
There was no time to move, Veritas could only parry the attack!
But, the Gargoyle Knight never made an attack! Instead, it held Veritas by the neck and threw him towards a nearby tree.
"Gah!"
His back was forced onto the hard trunk, dazing him in pain. Veritas could not waste a single second and he felt the winds shift in front of him.
He brought his blade up to parry and it was immediately met by a taciturn stone blade.
The Gargoyle Knight had no expression as it kept striking down on Veritas' pristine blade. Each blow pushed Veritas back to the tree trunk, making a human-sized crater.
There were no openings to be found!
'This bitch! Let me move damn! At this point my blade will break!'
In peril, Veritas kicked the Gargoyle Knight but it seemed to be ineffective! It stood still, striking down endlessly upon Veritas.
After receiving countless blows, the tree behind Veritas fell down. Along with the tree, Veritas fell down to the ground and a Gargoyle Knight aimed to strike down on him. However, it made a split-second opening for him to escape!
Veritas then jumped swiftly to the side in order to dodge the downward strike.
At this point, he could just run away and recuperate. He already achieved his initial goal of getting experience. If he fought any further, he could suffer great injuries that will make him incapable of continuing further!
However, Veritas decided against that thought!
Instead of running back to camp, Veritas rushed towards the Gargoyle Knight!
In times of great adversity, one must realize two things: To know one's own weakness or to deny any chances of defeat.
And for Veritas... He chose to do both!
"I'll come at you as many times as I want you bastard!"
With a swift strike, Veritas clashed with the Gargoyle Knight's heavy blows.
It was Speed Vs. Strength!
Although the individual possessing the strength also had speed comparable to Veritas..
Still, Veritas was faster by a small margin. He would use this fact to his advantage.
'Keep out-speeding him and look for openings!'
It was near impossible for the Gargoyle Knight to have openings but Veritas was patient.
He exchanged blows, carefully parrying and deflecting the Knight's heavy blade.
Thus, Veritas' morning started with a fierce battle that went on for an hour..