I made it past the first 10 rows in a matter of seconds, but then they started to notice me. Perplexed and confused they didn’t react at first. I used this to my advantage as I dodged and ducked through and past row after row of kobold. Half way through, someone had alerted the rest of the group and they were ready.

I slithered between two kobolds and there was a spear waiting for me. I narrowly avoided it by dropping on all fours. I rolled as best as I could and began running horizontal. If I lost momentum, then I would die. I leapt back through the kobolds lines.

Spears began finding their marks, but just barely.

28!

25!

I ran faster and faster. I became increasingly fluid as I became more and more aware of my surroundings. At some point I heard myself begin to laugh. Faster, Faster!

24!

22!

I hastily drank a health potion and restored my missing health. Approximately 15 rows to go. I broke through another line of kobolds and suddenly there was a clearing. In a semi-circle stood 20 kobolds pointing their spears at me. I checked my necklace, 4 seconds left on cooldown. I sprinted forward.

Half a dozen spears came flying at me from various directions and I did my best to avoid the most lethal, but I was still pierced.

35!

42!

41!

Luckily, leveling up automatically gives 2 attributes into every category. This meant the 2 endurance points brought my health up from 163 to 177.

The specific class determines how each point corresponds to the appropriate field. For example, sorcerers have a pathetic endurance ratio of 1 point for 7 health, while some of the tank classes will have a ratio of 1 endurance to 12 health points. On the flip side, each intelligence point correlates to 12 points of mana for sorcerers. It’s all a give and take.

The quickest way to get between two points is a strait line. So I did that, well as best as I could while dodging spears. A fearsome kobold let out a roar and began a combo consisting of stab-horizontal slash-stab. I easily sidestepped the first stab without losing any speed. I was within 2 feet when he proceeded to slash at me, I slid the remaining distance and used arcane barrage on his exposed crotch.

Tears glistened down his face while he disappeared into the void of nothingness.

I was stabbed from behind as I stood up and felt a throbbing pain in my back.

55!

My heart began to pound quicker and the edges of my vision got blurry. I only had 4/177 health left, and my potion still had a 45 second cooldown left. I was 15 rows away from my target and any sort of damage was going to kill me.

I steeled my resolve and pressed forward. I might die trying, but I will sure as hell get to him. I continued sprinting forward, weaving through the kobold ranks. 12 rows to go. A spear glistened in the sun as it flew towards me. A kobold had thrown it with great precision and it had caught me off guard. I dove behind an unsuspecting reptile.

130!

A look of surprise crept upon the face of the pierced lizard. Probably due to the fact that a) his friend threw a spear at him, and b) there was a 3 foot spear sticking out of his chest. I chuckled silently to myself and scurried off. I made sure to remember that they had the capability to throw their spears for the future.

It felt like an eternity, but it was only 8 seconds. 8 excruciatingly long seconds of dodging, ducking, running, spinning, sliding, and jumping. I broke into the clearing, and saw him.

Lvl 6 Elite

Attack: 100-120

Defense: 40

Health: 1500

Rage: 100

Skills: [Charge], [Commanding Shout]

Oh Shit! He was about 5.5 feet tall, compared to the 2.5-4.5ft tall kobold guards that I had just sprinted through. He was surprised to see me. Hell, I was surprised to see how freakishly strong he was.

Unlike the other kobolds he had full leather armor covering his body, in addition to the two axes that he wielded. From their size and shape, I approximated that he could probably throw them, in addition to slicing and crushing with them.

Before I knew it I was surrounding on all sides by kobold spears, completely encircled. One broke away from the ranks and charged at me.

A loud shout came from the kobold commander and the grunt froze. The commander began shouting at his troops and gesturing wildly. They began to back up and give us space. A huge grin encompassed his entire face. He walked over to a random kobold and took his spear, he tossed on the ground near me.

Holy shit, he’s challenging me to a duel. I thought about picking up the spear, and then I thought better of it. Instead I sat down and pulled out a chunk of bread from my bag and started chowing down. The simple bread restored my ingame health when I ate it, but I could only eat it when I was out of combat.

The crowd began laughing, I checked my necklace, 22 seconds left on cooldown, I needed to stall a bit more. After my health was fully restored I stood up slowly. I walked over to the spear and kicked it to the side. The commander looked at me confused. I pulled out my tome and laughter erupted from the horde.

I walked over slowly to the commander, if he was going to be foolish enough to not utilize his army, I would definitely take advantage of this opportunity. I stopped 10 feet away from my opponent and did a half bow, trying to show him that I was ready. I flipped opened my book and stood there.

He popped his neck and stretched his arms. Silence. Virtual sweat began dripping down my back giving me chills. I stood there. The adrenaline rush from my dash through the kobold lines was fading, but a new one seemed to be emerging. I felt it first in my toes and the tips of my ears. A nervous energy, unbridled and uncontrollable. I charged forward, taking my opponent off guard, but he quickly recovered.

He slashed at me first with his right axe, and then his left. I deftly dodged the first, and barely managed to dodge the second. The air itself seemed to be sliced with each of his attacks, he was definitely powerful. Not wanting to get too close, I reached out my arm, “Arcane barrage!”, I shouted.

100!

121!

114!

I had originally been aiming for his face, but my arm had jerked with the quick stopping maneuver and they ended up hitting him in his right shoulder.

He took a few steps back, surprised by his foes power and agility. He began beating his chest wildly, and his legs began letting off a red hue. It reminded me ominously of the boar’s gore move.

That’s it! It’s one of his special moves, I thought back to the move list I had just seen for the commander, charge and commanding shout, this was most definitely going to be the former.

I slowly began strafing to the side, when he shot towards me like a bullet. He covered the distance between us in a fraction of a second. Had I not been prepared, I would probably have been dead meat.

I ducked down low and bolted hard to the left. I barely manage to duck beneath his axe as it slashed through the exact spot that my head had just been moments before. I once again increased the distance between us, I needed to buy myself more time so I could use my magic again.

He began walking backwards until he was the same distance as before, and then his feet let off that ominous glow again. I tried a bluff, I stretched out my hand. He immediately stopped the activation of his charge and crossed his axes in front of him to block.

I grinned and walked forward a couple of steps. He clenched his teeth, realizing he had been duped. He jumped backwards again, creating more distance. His feet began to let off an aura. Once again he charged at me swiftly, I ducked low and dashed to the side, but he had already seen this maneuver and his axe was ready. A swift slash from below caught me in the arm.

121!

My arm throbbed in pain as I slammed into the ground and then scrambled to get back to my feet. I quickly drank a health potion while cautiously moving away.

It seems like he needs to be a minimum distance away to use his charge. We did a weird dance, where we were constantly moving back and forth towards each other. Whenever he would try to create distance to charge I would move forward, but whenever he ran towards me to attack I would dash away.

He must have realized my plan so he just ran towards me at full speed. I just backed off and began running around the edge of our makeshift arena. I was slightly faster than him, so I was able to continually manipulate the distance between us.

After my cooldown was up I let out an arcane barrage.

100!

115!

Miss~

Already he seemed to be getting the rhythm of my only attack down. This was going to be a long and difficult fight.

To create distance for himself, he began throwing his axes at me. This more than anything was the most terrifying aspect of our dance. He would throw an axe that I would have to dodge and then he would take a couple steps back while I was still recovering my balance. He would then charge at me before I could completely recover.

Thankfully he only had one axe in his hand so I was able to dodge it easily enough, but he used his massive fist to punch me square in the chest.

46!

This cause me to roll and crash 5 feet back. He raised his remaining axe and launched it at me. Had I not been so proficient and hiding behind my tome, I probably would have died. Thankfully, I suck at this game and I’m good at hiding behind stuff.

The impact of the axe landing squarely into my book still damage me from the shock.

22!

While still on the ground, I unleashed an arcane barrage at my unsuspecting foe.

130!

201!

122!

Every attack found their mark, and one even managed to crit. This dropped my opponent to 1/3 of his health. A faint aura emitted from his entire body.

Uh oh, this isn’t good. I got up and readied myself. He reared back his head and let out a terrifying roar, commanding shout.

A gust of wind emitted from him, and fear overtook my entire body. I was frozen, terrified. My blood froze in my veins, and I couldn’t move. But this was different from before, this was something that my body was naturally doing on its own, this was something caused by the game.

His entire face was oozing with rage. He didn’t activate his charge, but he sprinted directly at me and kicked my face like a soccer ball.

81!

Everything went black for 2 seconds, and for a brief moment everything felt peaceful, until I skidded across the ground into the nearest guard.

5!

Confused and dazed I glanced over at my health, 3/177. Seems the 5% less damage I take from being an undead has its moments.

My opponent was still seething with rage, and came barreling at me before I could completely recover. I did what any decent fellow would do, which was using a scapegoat. I grabbed the nearest guard and yanked him in front of me and into the commander. The commander lowered his shoulder and plowed through the guard like a running back plows through the line of scrimmage.

There was only one hope left, my secret move. I raised my tome high into the air, the sun glinting off its magnificent cover, and I threw it directly at the commander’s face.

4!

“Knowledge is power!” I yelled while running to the opposite side of the arena. The impact had left the commander temporarily stunned. When he came out of it, his frenzy had ended. I played a dangerous game of cat and mouse, in which I was most definitely the mouse. He picked up his axes, I picked up my book. He sprinted at me, I ran away. Like I said, cat and mouse.

I could sense it, a tangible sensation in the air, the end.

He activated his charge skill and I reached out my hand and activated my own skill. “Arcane-“ I was stopped short, he was already upon me axes beginning to cascade down. A huge grin spread across his face, he knew he had won. I reared back my arm, if I was going to die then I would at least wipe that smug grin off his face. Before his axes could hit me, my fist landed against his soft squishy nose. “-Punch!”. There was a gray explosion as my fist met his face.

629!

The force of the punch snapped his neck, depleting the rest of his health. The momentum from his charge had aided to the force caused by my fist.

A window popped up.

Congratulations! You have created a new skill

The skill you have named [Arcane Punch](C Rank)

[Arcane Punch] lvl 1: Compacts the explosive damage of arcane missiles into the users fists, and deals a devastating blow. Consumes 150 MP to activate, cooldown: 30 seconds.