Cliff had accepted his role as a centurion with pride. He tested into the top 10% for combat aptitude across the entire colony after all. The Arbiter even gave a speech about the importance of defense in this new world they had to adapt to. On its own, that wasn't too special. Everyone had an important role in some respect but this time, he gave the speech in person.

Cliff stood among ranks of his fellow centurions, less than 20 meters away from their leader as he extolled how virtuous it was to defend the colony. giving his newly minted centurions honors above and beyond any of the new clans that were forming. Now he would have given anything to have been selected for the builder clan, farmer clan or even the logger clan, which was made up of people with little aptitude for any other useful labor.

He made another swing at the Demon before him. Once again, the monster chopped his hand into Cliff's wrist, hitting the same exact spot yet again and adding to the growing bruise there. The heretic pushed Cliff's fist out of its trajectory and was abruptly moving in the other direction. Cliff couldn't turn with him, not fast enough, and not if he wanted to keep his balance. His fist was pushed to the left and his momentum followed it while the monster slipped around to his right.

He was so big but the rusting heretic was more slippery than it had any right to be. If only he had his weapons. He would at least be able to benefit from his skills and profession bonuses. He'd be able to try and keep the monster at a distance too. As it was now, the seven-foot-tall beast had the longer reach. That, added to his odd fighting techniques put him in complete control of the fight. Cliff didn't have any experience with bare-handed fighting and his reliance on straightforward punches wasn't getting him anywhere.

A pair of light taps in the middle of his back signaled another failure. Another reason why he wasn't worthy of the spear Griswold's guards had lent him. A spear he wasn't likely to get back. He gritted his teeth and swung a fist behind himself while spinning, hoping to catch the demon unaware. He should have known better.

The demon was crouching low, white teeth gleaming out of the darkness as it mocked him with its playful grin. Enough starlight made it through the bare branches overhead so that he could make out its outline even in the darkness. He still didn't see his hands come up to deliver another pair of light taps on his chest before the demon leaped back and out of range. The monster stumbled a bit, taking a couple of steps to regain its balance but this wasn't the right time to act. So Cliff gritted his teeth and bore the humiliation.

The beast had flown back nearly two meters from its jump and still landed despite the uneven ground and the darkness shrouding it. Cliff was suddenly pushed forward, robbing him of his balance yet again. He spun but was too slow to see what kept hitting him from behind. Sometimes he saw silhouettes flitting through the branches above him, sometimes he heard them hissing from the shadows around this ash-filled arena. These monsters grew larger and more threatening in his mind the longer they went unseen. He only turned away from frantically searching for their elusive forms in the dark because of the Demon's relentless assault.

Another two light taps brought his attention back to his taunting jailor. he let off a rapid-fire series of punches but each attack was slapped to the side with infuriating ease. This time there were four impacts, each one was still fairly light, especially with the armor he was wearing but the force behind them still rocked him back. He glanced over at his Health Bar. It had dipped again.

HP: 42 / 65 MP: 50/50 SP: 18 / 65

He didn't know how long the monster had toyed with him for. This was his third round against the monster. Hendrix had been carried off long ago, but the other members of his squad were subjected to this humiliation time and again. They were forced to drink some vile solution that healed them, but slowly. The monster, for his part, held back its punches to prolong its fun. At least there hadn't been a repeat of the attack that had folded Cliff's leg in on itself.

He shuddered at the memory but another few hits rocked him to the side and brought his focus back to the present. He was determined to score at least one hit on the monster before he tired out this time. He was unsuccessful.

Don was satisfied when the Centurion collapsed to the ground, completely spent. He had his ColoColo tie him up and bring the next victim forward. Don assumed his stance and began to stalk in smooth, deliberate steps around his fresh target. They had gotten him with their punches fairly consistently when the fighting began. Don's Hardened skin and massive health pool let him shrug off the attacks until he had gotten used to his new [circle steps] form.

Experimentation had even resulted in his discovering the [rolling punch] form. Unexpectedly, the worse the centurions did, the more eager they were to throw themselves at Don.

He had been training like this for hours. While the acceleration provided by his improved strength was exhilarating, he was much more enamored with another benefit. His every action was just, easier. He barely drained SP anymore unless he really exerted himself. Against these slow and weak centurions, that was hardly necessary and so he had been able to go nonstop while entertaining four separate sparring partners.

So long as he didn't kill them, or personally secure them, the combat could continue and Don was using that little exploit to train his Monk profession. He would have liked to take credit for the idea but it was all Cel. He might have felt bad about toying with the soldiers if their low pain threshold and Don's attempts to hit them softly hadn't turned the fight into more of a game.

It turned out to be a game he enjoyed despite the intermittent verbal abuse that came with it. Once Hendrix was carried away by some ColoColo, even that had dropped to acceptable levels.

Don watched the centurion as he paced around him. His opponent turned nervously, hands raised in fists. Don's hands were raised towards the man as well, but they were open. When he saw the man's weight shift, preparing for an attack, Don swung his front leg around, turning to head in the other direction even before the man's windup was finished. When the fist came. Don gently guided it behind himself. A few quick steps would have taken him around the man but he darted after his fist and out of the circle Don had made.

The new strategy took Don a moment to adjust to but his 21 points in Wisdom let him catch up to the man before he could even regain his balance from the desperate move. Don held his hands close to his chest, balling them into fists. he unleashed a [rolling punch] just as he came into range.

One fist shot forward. There was no windup, no wild swing, just a controlled jab straight out from his chest and into his opponent. His bent wrist snapped straight at the moment of impact, providing extra speed and force for very little effort. As that fist bounced back towards Don's chest, the other shot just over the retreating fist to strike the same exact spot. He continued for another two strikes before bounding back out of reach and starting up his [circle steps] again.

This might have been difficult if it wasn't for Don's new [Dark-Vision] ability. He couldn't maintain the mana cost indefinitely, but between his pool of 80 mana and his decently high regeneration, he could maintain it for two whole hours without rest. When he did rest, his Enlightened trait let him recover fully in under four minutes. Don tried to meditate during those short respites but he was unable to manage it. Every time he tried, an image of a blackened spear, gleaming in the sunset kept him from calming his surface thoughts.

His [Dark-Vision] was much more involved than just being able to see in the dark like he expected. It let him see the darkness itself. Well, that wasn't quite right.

It was more like he could feel the darkness around him, mostly because it didn't matter if his eyes were open or not. He could feel where his opponents moved, pushing the darkness out of their way as they did so. He could feel the rough bark of the trees around him and the clouds of ash that billowed in the wake of any large movements. He could 'see' right through the ash clouds as if they weren't even there. The darkness between each particle informed him if anything was hiding in them.

For ten meters ahead of Don, nothing was hidden in gloom. Anything in the darkness was highlighted to his senses. The only drawback was that the new sense ended wherever pools of starlight gathered. The spots of light which used to be Don's only way of determining what was around himself were now blank patches in his [Dark-Vision].

He wasn't about to complain. The ability let him keep perfect track of his opponents while he was a shadowy blur to their eyes.

His [rolling punch] was the first form to finish its development despite it being the most recently acquired.

Martial Art Form learned! Rolling Punch: Initiate 1 Effect: Deliver 2 lightning-fast strikes to the target at 30% reduced damage (6.6) Cost: 3 SP

Cooldown: 5 seconds

Don used it sparingly because after the form was completely developed, he couldn't pull his punches anymore. Anytime he started the attack, he was locked in, unable to do anything else until he had finished the two strikes. That wasn't so much of a problem for him because now his fists blurred with speed like the [flurry] attack he was so wary of. The problem was that his strength was too much for the centurions to handle and he sent them reeling with his new technique. Even with his lowered usage, it still leveled up before he completed his [circle steps] technique.

Rolling Punch: Initiate 1 --> 2 Effect: Deliver 2 lightning-fast strikes to the target at (30 --> 29)% reduced damage (6.7) Cost: 3 SP

Cooldown: 5 seconds Martial Art Form Learned! Circle Steps: Initiate 1 Effect: +5% AGI and +5% WIS

Bonus Effect: Clarity: +20% WIS

Duration: 1 second

Cooldown: 5 seconds

Cost: 5 MP Cost: 1 SP / second

After mastering the basics of [circle steps] his stance changed subtly. Don didn't understand the significance of the changes but he immediately noted the extra drain on his SP. He also felt noticeably lighter on his feet and his opponent slowed at the same time. If it was easy to dodge the attacks before, it was trivial now. Don closed his eyes, relying on his dark vision as he danced around his insulted enemy. He gained a level in the new form but the effect only increased his agility and wisdom bonus by 0.5% and his clarity bonus by 1%. It wasn't much of a change but it would still double the basic effect before he reached the apprentice rank.

He activated [clarity] experimentally. He felt mana surge through the pathways circulating it through his body before dumping into his head all at once. Not only did the world slow considerably, his sense for the mana in himself and his opponent sharpened. Now, in addition to his dark vision supplying an outline of the man, Don could see the ghostly blue of mana flowing through his body.

After positioning himself behind the centurion he decided to unleash another [rolling punch], mostly to see if his enhanced wisdom was enough to perceive the fast strikes. The attack broke the clarity effect however and the world sped back up by 25% catching Don by surprise and making him stumble a little.

The centurions watching from the edge of the clearing shouted "Now!" and Don's current opponent lunged away. Don thought he was trying to run and was slow to respond. When the Centurion reached the spot where their spears leaned against a tree. Don readied himself for an attack by dropping into his [circle steps] stance. He should have charged instead.

The man turned the spear on himself and slit his own throat. he was dead before he hit the ground and Don cursed himself even as the man's body dissipated into motes of light.

Don was suddenly back in the dark mud and under the bloody sky. He looked up at the man who had just escaped him and had to watch helplessly as he plunged his spear into the Demon repeatedly. The memory was thankfully brief and Don only had to suffer one death before he returned to himself.

+3 EXP

Don was furious. Mostly at himself. He had gotten complacent and let one of his prisoners get away. He felt so in control of the fight that he didn't notice when his target got dangerously low on health. Then he even let him get back to his weapon. There wasn't much danger of a lone spearman challenging Don now, especially with his tribe surrounding them, but he had forgotten that there were other means of escape available to them.

He couldn't risk staying here much longer. It would take three hours for the level three Centurion to respawn but there was no point staying in the last place he was spotted for any longer than he had to. He turned his eyes on the remaining Centurions. They were taunting him while laughing.

Why wouldn't they? They had just outsmarted him and gotten a messenger back to their camp. Nothing the demon could do would even hurt them, not really. Don wasn't sure what to do with his captives before. He couldn't take them to the refuge and give up its hidden location. He couldn't leave them out during the day and protect them from the apes either.

Now that one of them had died, the decision was suddenly much easier. He pulled them into the ashen circle one by one and reinitiated combat. This time he didn't hold back, using his undeveloped [low kick] form at every opportunity. It didn't cripple them immediately, he had to keep hitting their legs until they eventually buckled under the constant and one-sided attacks.

Once they were incapacitated, Don tied them up. Killing them would only net him their level worth of EXP but capturing them alive tripled the experience he would get. One by one, he crippled, then captured the centurions. Each victory ended with a vision of how each of them had stabbed him to death with grins on their faces and the assurance that they were carrying out justice in their eyes.

+9 EXP +6 EXP +9 EXP 36 / 200 EXP to level 2

After reliving his death several times, and with no repercussions left for killing his captives, he let his instincts take the reins. His leg swung up and didn't stop until it was raised straight into the air. It paused for a moment before whistling down, only stopping after it had crushed one of his captives skulls under its heel.

New Form Under Development:

Axe Kick: (1%)

The others weren't even afraid. They were glad to be done with the endless humiliation of being toyed with. They knew they would respawn among friends and welcomed Don's crushing heel.

When they had dissipated into light and the only evidence that they had been there was a layer of ash adhering to the wetness on Don's foot, He felt empty. The vengeance didn't give him any answers. It wasn't even satisfying. It had been too quick, too painless for Don to feel like he had gotten even.

That was when he looked up, his [Dark-Vision] making it easy to see all the ColoColo concealed there. He didn't need to get even. He didn't need vengeance. He just needed to keep himself away from the army of fanatics who would happily resume his torture if they ever caught up with him. For now, there were more pressing concerns.