James wanted to save his ammunition for other, more difficult trials.
After all, he only had a limited number of bullets.
When he runs out of them, he would be left with no way to refill the magazines of his rifles and handguns in this accursed land.
In other words, if he senselessly and irrationally continued using them in situations where he could afford to make other choices, such as fighting with daggers, he would eventually end up in a situation where he needed modern weapons to survive but didn't have the ammunition necessary to use them, and that would undoubtedly lead to his death!
The reason he used his AK-47 at the start of the battle was to take out the toughest opponents that he had no confidence of winning against in close combat.
However, he had confidence in winning against the stamina-type and vitality-type puppets in close combat even if he was fighting them both at the same time. That's why he decided to use his daggers to fight them instead of his Desert Eagles or AK-47.
Whoosh!
The two puppets were equally fast.
They closed in on James at the same time and started throwing fierce kicks and fists at him.
The stamina-type and vitality-type puppets were less formidable than their fallen comrades in terms of raw power and speed. James wasn't only faster and stronger than them, but his hand-to-eye coordination and reflexes were also superior to theirs. He only fell short to them in terms of stamina and vitality, but these differences would be negligible if he could manage to handle them efficiently.
He maneuvered his body like an MMA fighter, evading their attacks again and again.
'Are they too slow or am I just a natural at this?' James wondered while dodging the attacks of his opponents and looking for an opportunity to counterattack.
Upon seeing James dodging the puppets' attacks as if he were taking a walk in the park, the Administrator's eyes widened slightly. The puppets had attacked James several times, but not once had they managed to land a hit on him.
'There is not a single wasted movement. It's like he is used to this. Was he trained to dodge like this, or is it just his natural talent blooming in the face of adversaries?' the administrator wondered.
Meanwhile, James found the opportunity he was looking for.
He dodged the attack of the vitality-type puppet with a slick sidestep and kicked the unprepared stamina-type puppet that was looking to pounce on him in the chest with such impressive strength it skidded backwards a dozen feet.
But that didn't mean James got the chance to breathe.
He was still very much pressed by the vitality-type puppet, who launched a fierce kick at his head
James quickly ducked low to dodge it.
Before it could retract its outstretched leg, James executed a sweeping kick to the ankle of its other leg. With one its leg in the air and the other twisted by the force of his blow, the vitality-type puppet was swept off its feet. With a heavy thud, it crashed to the ground, completely destabilized and visibly disoriented.
A single thrust of his dagger would have put it out of its misery, but he wasn't given the chance to do such a thing as the stamina-type puppet, who was kicked away a few moments ago but had already bridged the gap between it an James, threw a fierce punch at him from the side. James had to roll to the side to dodge it.
Then, he quickly got back to his feet.
Whoosh!
Wasting not a moment, James dashed forward, closing the distance between him and the stamina-type puppet, who dared to get in his way when he was about to kill the vitality-type puppet, with explosive speed,
It threw a punch at him as soon as he came close enough.
James tilted his body to the side to dodge the attack of the stamina-type puppet by a hair's breadth. Then, he sliced at its mana circuit lines along its chest multiple times like a crazed serial killer ripping its victim apart.
Before the puppet could attack again, its mana circuit malfunctioned and the flow of mana, which was the source of its animation, was so badly disturbed it ceased to function. With a gentle push from James, it collapsed to the ground, lying there motionless like a corpse.
By then, the vitality-type puppet had recovered from its fall.
Like a relentless ghost, it came for James again, swinging its fist. With the swing of the dagger in his right hand, James parried the slow but powerful swing from the vitality-type puppet, then countered with a swift thrust of the dagger in his other hand into its torso. The dagger met resistance due to the puppet's tough wooden exterior, but James pushed harder, driving the dagger deep enough into its chest to badly damage its mana circuit.
Buzz! Buzz!
Its mana circuit began to buzz, indicating it was malfunctioning. Then, it exploded and the puppet was rendered inoperative.