Asher stood up as his eyes reached the end of the content of the crimson text. A dull shiver went through his feet as he stood up. Slapping the dust off his blood-stained sleeves, he heaved a sigh.
Suddenly, his eyes sharpened.
"Bishop!" His voice echoed through the mysterious realm. A sudden surge of strength coursed through him. Shifting his feet in a concise way, he brought forward a kick.
The winds howled as his kick landed on mere nothingness. Immediately, his feet turned into a blur; instantly, several projections of kicks suddenly appeared simultaneously.
A corner of his lips curled slightly.
'So this one gives me agility while maintaining my base strength.' He muttered before suddenly twisting his torso; his left foot, which was on the floor, shifted before leaping through the ground.
In the middle of the air, he twisted his torso once again, bringing it forward several kicks at once. The air howled horrendously as he did so. At the same time, his eyes were sharpened beyond his expectations; each minute detail was in his observation, indicating his vision was enhanced beyond its limits.
His face broke into a grin before his right foot touched the ground, making a light sound. Twisting his body once again, Asher was able to land without falling.
A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead before soaking the ground beneath. Panting hoarsely, he let out a maniacal chuckle.
"Now, can I kill him? Now I can kill him even if he doesn't hold back!" He shouted to himself, the image of a certain man clothed in a black Assassin robe surfacing in his mind. Without a doubt, that man was Shadow Demon himself.
A fraction of a second later, his laughter faded. Heaving a deep sigh, he stared at the crimson text that had just shifted again.
[Bishop Stance]
[Abilities: Enhances vision and agility at no cost.]
[Flaw: A small mistake can lead to a fatal one]
He scratched his chin as his eyes darted through the contents of the text in a hurried manner.
'It makes sense. If I make a mistake, it could be as small as a single blink. It could, or rather it will definitely lead to a fatal error on my part.' His eyes reverted to their indifference to the world; a calm, serene, ocean-like hue still reeked his eyes.
Shaking off his thoughts, he shrugged before deciding to see what other stances could do.
Bringing one of his hands forward, he, with a solemn expression, started to speak.
"Knight!" Just as the words left his mouth, Asher suddenly stumbled. His eyes widened in shock.
'My legs, they lost their strength!' He gritted his teeth before bringing his hand forward to prevent himself from taking any damage.
He had to fight the Shadow Demon, after all.
Just as he thought he was about to fall, his legs suddenly regained their strength. No, it would be wrong to just say that.
'They are now reeking with immense strength!' He thought before bursting forward with unfathomable speed. His vision became blurry of its surroundings. Feeling that he would crash somewhere, he tried to halt his legs, but they continued their act.
'Crap.' He cursed from within. Suddenly, his legs came to a sharp halt, and as a result, his upper body burst forward. His arms swung as he tried to get the hang of himself.
'What?' A massive howl echoed through the realm. A scorched feeling started to rise through his knuckles. Lifting his head, he saw that his hands were clasped into a punch.
'Does that mean...' A grin appeared on his face before fading away instantly. Feeling his legs go numb again, he clasped his eyes tight before shouting.
"Rook!" His screeching voice echoed once more; his half-numb legs suddenly regained their strength. Due to the abrupt rise in strength, he staggered and fell to the floor.
A dull ache echoed through his head. His eyes were half-squinted as he stared at the constantly shifting crimson text.
[Rook stance]
[Abilities: Your body is like a metal. Mere swords and blades can't pierce through you]
[Flaw: A certain level of strength applied on the blade can render the entire stance useless.]
"It's much better than the knight." He muttered under his breath before standing up. Scratching his head, he blinked twice before staring ahead once again.
'I guess I can't experiment with this stance. I don't have anything here.' He concluded before nodding to himself. He also wanted to palm his face over what happened before.
'I hate that Knight one. It isn't something I can rely on.' He smiled weakly before becoming solemn again.
Heaving a deep sigh, he blinked again before speaking. If he had chosen the 'strength' as the basis of his battle style, this next stance would've been his most powerful trump card.
"Queen!" His voice fell against the silenced realm. In mere moments, his strength increased triple-fold. The veins on his forehead suddenly bulged out. His eyes became blood red.
'What is this?' He thought with gritted teeth, bearing through the sudden pain that had engulfed him. A tremor went through his heart. With the corner of his eyes, he stared at the constantly shifting crimson text.
[Queen]
[Abilities: It enhanced your agility and strength while placing you in a state of fight or flight. Your body will act as if it is going to die if it doesn't put everything it has into fighting your opponent.]
[Flaw: Severing pain will engulf you as you activate the stance.]
'Damn you, whatever you are. You could've told me this before!" Asher wholeheartedly cursed the mysterious voice for a whole minute. Suddenly, he felt his heart tremble again.
Suddenly, the content of the crimson text shifted once again.
[You can deactivate this stance upon your will.]
Just as his eyes read through the text, he immediately spoke.
"Begone!" His legs instantly became numb, and so did his entire body. Collapsing to the ground, his head crashed again the chill floor.
'Damnit!' He cursed internally before heaving a sigh of relief. He felt that if he stayed in that state for even a second more, he would've died. Instantly, he internally vowed to only use that stance when he was on his last legs, or there was no hope.
"At least now I have gotten myself a trump card." He exclaimed before standing up. His head was still being clutched by his hands. The pain from crashing against the cold floor hadn't faded away yet.
"So, the next one is king. Right?"