Whoever said that the larger a creature, the slower its actions clearly had no idea what they were talking about. As Dallion found out, the pack-panther was not only big—roughly the size of an elephant—but also had reflexes rivaling his own. The first time it attacked, the boy barely had the time to evade by following the guard skill markers that had appeared. What was more, the beast had no intention of letting him make use of his specials, interrupting the boy mid sequence with further consecutive attacks.

How did I get myself mixed up in this? Dallion wondered as massive clawed paws swirled around him.

Ten minutes ago, it had seemed like a solution to defeating the pack had been found. Now, the boy was engaged in surviving to such a degree that he didn’t even have time to worry what might happen. All his regrets for not choosing the rare crafting skills had also evaporated.

“Let me attack!” Dallion shouted, slashing at the beast’s paw.

There was a loud howl accompanied by a shearing sound. Half of the paw fell off, disappearing in a puff of smoke, only to get restored moments later. Apparently, simple attacks weren’t going to do a lot. There went the hope that one good strike would kill off the monster.

Struggling to suppress the increasing pain in his leg, Dallion hopped several steps back. To his surprise, the panther didn’t immediately follow. It was a minor thing, something the boy wouldn’t have even noticed before. Now, though, he saw it for the opportunity it was and didn’t hesitate to take advantage of it.

Green and red footsteps appeared, directing Dallion towards his enemy: a three-step approach, a sidestep while using the buckler to defend against the inevitable paw slam, a crouch-twist, then finally a slash in the beast’s back. The sequence was complicated and would undoubtedly result in pain, but it was the only chance Dallion had.

Taking a deep breath, the boy rushed forward. The monster reacted as the markers suggested it would; it focused on the boy, then attempted to slice him in half with its massive claws. The buckler met the paw head on, pushing Dallion back in the process.

Crouch-twist, the boy said to himself, angling the shield so the attacker’s remaining strength didn’t affect him. The paw slid off, ripping the air above his head.

“Got you!” The panther’s side was exposed. As tempting as it was to attack immediately, Dallion followed through with his sequence, ending at the creature’s back. Only then did he strike.

At that moment several things happened at once. Time went to a crawl. A second set of red-green markers appeared, suggesting how Dallion should follow up the attack. As the boy thrust his sword, though, the panther’s body also changed. Two creature heads emerged from the massive monster’s back, like creatures leaping out of a pool in slow motion. Two green lines appeared linking the two new heads to Dallion’s arm.

Damn it!

That was the price of overconfidence. All this time the boy had considered his enemies to be brainless mobs that did the same actions over and over again. As it turned out, they too could form strategies and also trick him into following a certain path. The beast had sacrificed part of its health, but in exchange had gotten Dallion’s attack arm. Without a sword the boy had as much chance of winning as a dodo bird flying over the Atlantic.

Think!

Dallion’s reaction level still allowed him to do something, but what? If he went through with his attack, both he and the monster would suffer serious damage. If he didn’t, there was no telling whether he’d get another opening. Was this a time to be reckless or to exert caution for once?

Options played out through his mind. There was no way he could twist his arm to achieve both goals. It was either mutual damage or no damage at all.

Crap!

If only he had a better weapon, or even two weapons, he wouldn’t be facing such a dilemma. It was said that only incompetent players blamed their gear, but in this case Dallion had a reason to. There was only so much he could do with a short sword. Also, it was not like he could pick the weapon up with his left hand and keep on fighting. Awakening had granted him a lot of abilities, but ambidexterity wasn’t one of them. As things stood now, he only had one sword arm and one shield arm… which for some reason he hadn’t been using to attack.

That’s it!

Mustering all his remaining strength, Dallion swung his buckler at the two heads while continuing with his sword attack. Timing was key. The tip of the sword sunk in the panther’s path. The creature heads opened their jaws, aiming to bite into his wrist. Before they could, though, the edge of the buckler hit the leftmost one on the side.

COMBINATION ATTACK

Dealt damage increased by 200%

Both heads disappeared in a puff of smoke as Dallion’s continued on until the entire blade was buried in the monster.

An ear-popping howl shattered the air, forcing Dallion to jump back. The panther did the same, doubling the distance between them.

“Thank goodness,” Dallion managed to say, breathing heavily.

The pain in his body had subsided, replaced by numbness. By the looks of it, the panther wasn’t doing much better. The constantly attacking monster had taken a defensive stance, glaring at Dallion with such ferocity that it could drill a hole through concrete with its gaze alone. Also, the creature appeared to have shrunk in size by roughly a third. It was still quite large, but not even close to the monster it had been at the start of the battle.

Of course! Dallion smiled. Everything was clear now. The creature was the embodiment of the pack, and as such shared all of its characteristics. Each successful strike corresponded to the death of a pack member, and as the pack members diminished, so did the overall size of the enemy.

“Good attempt, but it’ll take more than that to defeat me.” Dallion smirked. Finally, he’d gotten to use some cheese in real life without being judged. “Darude!” He charged forward.