It wasn't really a surprise to find a boss at the edge of the trail, standing before the looming arch that marked the boundary between one level to the next. What did surprise Arthur though, was the size of the thing. And, of course, what it was.
"Small. So lucky, it so small...," Arthur muttered, staring up at the twenty five foot creature. Skin like gray stone, moss and small shrubbery literally growing out of it. Sang Kelembai, the creature before him was supposed to be so big that it could have walked between Terenganu and Kuala Tahan - a hundred or so kilometers as the crow flies - in a few steps.
Of course, it was small only relative to its mythological size. Twenty five meant that Arthur could barely poke it in the thigh if he stretched, and mostly would be fighting around its ankles. Not that there wasn’t a lot of theory about it – but practically, he hadn’t had much experience.
Not many twenty five foot monsters to fight in the real world, nor practical ways to create scenarios and creatures for practice. The best they’d been able to do was to use large statues and pillars, padding them out with specific locations to be struck at.
More importantly, Arthur knew he was going to have a problem with his current weapon. The spear was great for giving more range, but it made a lot less sense when you didn’t have a range advantage. More importantly, a creature that big was more vulnerable up close.
“Going to have to get close and dirty then…” Arthur dropped his backpack away, tightened the straps around himself one last time and propped his spear away. He could have thrown it, but looking at the creature’s skin, he doubted it would pierce.
Kris, pulled out from the side. He kept it held close as he started trotting forward, waiting for the boss to spot him. It took a good minute, when he was over a hundred meters away when it opened its eyes and focused on him.
Dark red eyes, gleaming with anger. Focused, as it reached sideways and ripped a whole tree out of the ground. Suddenly, a hundred meters felt a lot closer, as the creature started swinging the thirty foot tree around with one hand.
Cloud Steps thrumming through him, Arthur kept running, gauging timing and distance. Big weapon meant that its arcs were quite large too, which meant…
He let himself drop, sliding along the floor, flattening himself as the tree roared through the air above him. A jutting root brushed against his body, knocking him sideways a little and causing him to roll to the side.
Arthur groaned, but ignored the pain and damage as he pushed himself up immediately. Time to go, to keep moving as he formed the first of the cloud steps, throwing himself into the air and sideways to avoid the descending tree, cutting the angle even as the tree descended, smashing into the ground and embedding itself into the soft dirt.
Another cloud, formed sideways so that he could push off it. He slammed into the puffy obstacle, pushed off it and struck the edge of the arm that was stuck for a moment as it wrenched the tree upwards. He rode the movement as it rose, taking the angle and lift to kick off, throwing himself forwards right at the creature.
Dangerous to be in the air, right now. He couldn’t dodge, not well, not while he was reforming another cloud; so he chose to distract his opponent.
A REED flew out, the energy dart boring through the air for the monster’s eye. A slight bend of the head, a twist and the dart impacted on the bony ridge of its sloping forehead, blowing apart a little skin and a lot of dirt and moss.
First blood, but it was barely a start.
A hand filled with a tree rose, the other arm swinging towards Arthur as it pivoted and tried to smack him. No longer in contact with anything, Arthur knew he had only one chance to dodge. A conjured cloud, barely formed in time allowed him to change direction one last time, such that he flew - not at the face anymore but the neck.
Big, thick, meaty and a perfect target as he utilized Focused Strike. He plunged the kris deep into the creature's neck, his momentum slamming the weapon and then Arthur's body into the creature, whippng him around the shoulder and wrenching his shoulder a little. He hissed, scrambling a bit as the weapon sawed and then slipped free of the wound, gravity taking Arthur to the ground.
Swearing, the Climber desperately tried to grab onto something as Sang Kelembai tried to swing around and grab him, battering Arthur by its sheer mass into the air. The swinging hand and tree clipped him again in mid-air by pure chance, sending him flying through the air to skip across branches and end up wrapped around a shorter tree, half-bending it before he tumbled off the thin sapling.
"Owwww...." Arthur complained.
Lucky for him, the damn monster was scrubbing at the bleeding scalp wound, getting blood out of its eye while casting around near its feet for the Climber. It's inadvertent strike hadn't even been noticed, so strong was the creature. Not that Arthur needed anything more than the dislocated ribs and cracked bones in his body and leg to tell him otherwise.
"Need to upgrade muscles next..." Arthur complained as he leaned against another tree, hiding behind it as he tried to catch his breath. Upgraded muscles would mean less bashing damage, a necessity if he wanted to keep alive.
Pushing himself upright, he shifted his position a little. A part of him wondered if he could just sneak up close enough and lurk in the shadows, letting his Yin poison enter the creature’s body in small increments. Of course, something so big, it might take too long and he’d run out of energy before it affected it. On top of that, he wasn’t Uswah. He didn’t have stealth techniques, and the ground around it was wide open.
No, he was just going to have to get in close and stay close.
A few moments to form the REED inside his Pocket Simpanan, then he threw himself to the ground as the tree the creature was holding was thrown at his hiding spot. He winced as he was showered with splinters and broken branches, feeling something impact his back and bounce off the remaining armour.
No time to wait though, as he scrambled upwards and started running, meeting the Sang Kelembai’s charge.
Duck to the side, skipping to the edge once and again, hand extending sideways a little with the kris as the arm came crashing down. He felt the blade tug and yank in his hand, nearly causing him to lose grip as it tore and knocked against bone, but it pierced the creature's flesh.
Imbued Strike - Yin Poison triggered moments later, pouring even more poison into the monster. Mixing with its aura, with its energy to slow it down, to decrease the speed of the vital energy that allowed it to move. Arthur kept running, twisting at the last second as the creature threw a kick, lurching sideways as he extended his body at an angle in an attempt to dodge the twisting and sloppy roundhouse.
Even as inefficient as the kick was, it was still being thrown by something over twenty feet tall and multiple tonnes in weight. It's leg by itself probably outweighed Arthur by two or three times and getting clipped by it threw himself sideways, forcing him into a roll and then, a handspring into the air as the monster next tried to stomp onto where he was.
Twisting in mid-air, he got his feet oriented properly before he landed, running forwards once more. He wished he had his Cloud Steps, but keeping himself from getting killed and pouring more Imbued Strikes in, tearing into the creature with the kris each time it came close was more important.
This entire thing was going to be a battle of attrition.
His opponent only needed a single, well placed strike to win. Arthur needed dozens, each of them tearing into its body and leaving a trace of Yin Poison to fell it.
Each moment, an attack that missed by inches, sending shards of stone, of stamped earth into the air. His breathing coming in deep and fast, pulling in the musky scent of forest and sweat, unwashed stone and moss as he danced near the monster's feet. Tearing into legs and the occasional arm that came down.
Not even trying to carve through to tendons and ligaments, but always, always, putting the weapon and his poison into it.
Step by step, wound by wound.