Chapter 537

 

Floor after floor, he climbed. Sometimes, he managed to get some additional accessories, most of it not particularly useful for himself. An enchanted flower pot that was large enough to contain – and grow – a magical plant. It seemed to contain and draw Tower energy to itself, such that Arthur was almost certain it could be used for growing a magical Tower plant outside of the Tower itself. Cumbersome to drag around, but luckily, he often had a place to drop off his backpack and spear or just left it in the Clan residence for the time.

Another addition, a watch-projector that worked as light, alarm clock and pretty much anything one might want in a smartphone. For the moment, it worked with the Tower’s unique world, but Arthur was uncertain how it would hold up in the real world. In either case, having an actual watch in a Tower that might sync to the Tower, along with a database of music, information, a compass and even a mapping unction would be well worth it.

A small piercing, meant to go into nose, belly button or other portions of the body. Arthur chose not to add it to himself, but the small boost to Mind and the ‘focus’ it brought was not without its benefits. It would sell well outside the Tower for hard working executives and students alike.

The fork of poison detection was similar. Arthur actually took a few moments to look over the magical enchantments on the fork itself, thinking that he might actually be able to utilize the runes and his Impartation Skill eventually to create bowls of similar form.

If he did figure it out, it would be another source of income for the Clan if he trained others in the same methods. Or for himself. He’d have to create a Tower rich energy environment to undertake such manufacturing, but he knew it was possible. It just cost a lot of beast stones, often crushed and released through even more runes and enchantments into a room, and then contained.

In the end, though; Arthur always chose to take the additional ‘gifts’ of his clearing as side payment. He focused on the single quest line, hoping to acquire a powerful and useful storage bracelet while he climbed, clearing floor after floor.

An underground combat ring, that he was forced to take part of to clear his name. Multiple battles, cultimating in a mass brawl that saw him fighting not just one but a half-dozen of the ‘specials’, each of them dangerous and skilled.

Another murder mystery that had to be solved, gumshoe style by getting his ass kicked as his clues came and tried to beat him away from asking the wrong questions. Arthur enjoyed that particular floor the most, particularly since one of the tropes – the femme fatale – was particularly enthusiastic in her job. Of course, having to fight and kill her as the final boss was a little bit of a letdown, especially when she transformed and opened up with plasma blades.

He did, however, steal the blades – only to find that they no longer worked the next floor. No cheap loot for him.

Up and up he climbed, the first retailer appearing at times to remind him that he could give up any time, return to a more ‘normal’ choice of quests. The difficulty ramped up, and to Arthur’s surprise, he found himself pushed at times by the creatures he fought.

Not just because they had guns and laser beams and plasma weapons – though that was part of it – or that they actually were sentient and skilled opponents – never a good thing – but because while he might have cleared quite a few Towers and was past the third Transformation, he was still not entirely out-Leveled. And this was a particularly difficult Tower.

More than once, Arthur dragged himself back into a clinic or a bus stop or a cyber café, hiding in a corner till his energy had recovered enough that he could push more healing through him. His Steel Skin technique received quite the workout, as he dealt with bullets that tore through his flesh or dented them – depending on when he had it triggered and the angles.

His old armour was discarded, the only thing still in play his spear – and even that, the shaft was changed out. Instead, Arthur purchased semi-modern ballistic plate enabled and Kevlar-woven futuristic armor in its place, picking up a second set for use when he was out of the Tower. Smart, well cut and skintight, it offered greater protection than his old armour, at least against these modern weapons.

Too bad head protection was harder to find, at least on a military level.

Tower level after Tower level, he rose; till he was done but for one last one. Funnily enough, Arthur found himself facing a massive skyscraper; his clear requirements simple.

Traverse the skyscraper from bottom to top, climb it to reach the Boss at the end who had been pulling all the strings, killing Arthur’s leads and causing the trouble. Some backstory of drugs and death, but it mattered little.

This was a straight out battle, and Arthur had taken a few days to ensure he had topped off all his energies, that he had upgraded as much as he could; before he chose to enter the building. Everything he had was in the Clan building – easy to access after the battle was over.

Spear in hand, armor on, mind settled. He took one last look at his Status Screen, just to marvel how far he had grown.

 

Cultivation Speed: 5.31 Yin

Energy Pool: 40 (Yin) + (7/7)

Refinement Speed: 0.2991

Refined Energy: 0.444 (61) +(3/3)

 

Attributes and Traits

Mind: 30 (Multi-Tasking, Quick Learner, Perfect Recall, Intuitive Leaps, Pattern Recognition, Plastic Mind)

Body: 35 (Enhanced Eyesight, Yin Body, Swiftness, Fast Twitch Faster, Lightning Reflexes, Explosive Strength, Deceptive Build, Enhanced Senses)

Spirit: 28 (Sticky Energy, From the Dregs, Strengthened Aura, Resonant Energy, Drip Refinement)

 

Techniques

Night Emperor Cultivation Technique (95.8% compatibility)

Focused Strike (158.3%)

Accelerated Healing – Refined Energy (Grade Vd) (11.8%)

Heavenly Sage’s Mischief (205.6%)

Refined Exploding Energy Dart (222.8%)

Steel Skin (178.4%)

Seven Cloud Stepping Technique (421.8%)

Poket Simpanan Tua (243.7%) (Refined Exploding Energy Dart 92% Integrity)

Imbued Strike - Yin Poison (163.3%)

Yin Aura (Level 1) (178.7%)

Yin-Yang Energy Exchange (125.9%)

Simultaneous Flow (431.7%)

Book Spirit of Diligent Study (141.3%)

Shadow Sense (178.2%)

Heavenly Sage’s Heaven Beating Stick (141.3%)

Yin Poison Darts (109.2%)

Eleven Pagodas of Thought and Defense (115.9%)

Sticky Threads (104.8%)

Impartation (118.9%)

Energy Dart (983.1%)

 

Partial Techniques

Water Walking (83.1%)

 

Comforting himself with the fact that he was, in all senses, a badass, Arthur approached the skyscraper to begin the climb.

One last level, then he’d actually get his storage device.

 

Chapter 538

 

Imagine a skyscraper, one built to house the big bad. It had multiple floors, multiple elevators. It was so tall you could not even approach it by taking a single elevator but would have to change elevators through the building itself, just so that you could make your way up.

Forced times to do battle, ways to get trapped. Taking the stairs was technically viable, but that climb would take long hours and exhaust even a Climber with massive Body Stats. Then, you had the goons – the sheer volume of guards.

You could enter the main doors, but there a half-dozen men inside the lobby itself that you would have to fight or con your way through, before you were forced to deal with the roaming attackers. At best, you’d be recreating the infamous Matrix lobby scene. At worst, you’d tire yourself out long before you made your way out, running out of energy and stamina long before they made their way to the top.

Thing was, they had made the entire city and its environment extremely realistic. Which meant that among the things that Arthur could do was actually hire a helicopter to drop him off at the rooftop. Which he had done – but being some-realistic, there were also flight plans and restriction zones and everything else that went with that.

So, while the helicopter he had sent to look for them was going through the air and drawing a lot of attention, and the courier delivery that was currently making itself a bother over in the entrance, Arthur was climbing his way up.

In the middle of the night, clothing all blacked out, Arthur was a dark bug that no one was seeing. Sure, it took a long time to climb, but the advantage was that no one built senses on the front of skyscrapers. In addition, the architecture in this alien city was just gothic enough, with sufficient places to grab hold of and ledges and balconies to perch upon that Arthur could rest.

“Only problem is, I forgot how cold it’d get…” Arthur muttered to himself, flexing his fingers and arms. Climbing a building seemed fun and all, until you got into the actual tedious boredom of it. At least in a mountain, the handholds and challenges were different – but a skyscraper was mostly the same problem, over and over again.

Made for good design and easy construction, terribly boring climbing.

Eventually, energy restored, he continued on his way; finally managing to make it to the penthouse. Along the way, he glimpsed some of what he should have experienced if he had done it properly including a King Kong-like sub-boss, a whole floor that was made of cubicles that were reflective that made a strange, office-shaped mirror maze and a snapping turtle sub-boss that breathed fire.

The top floor though was a four armed monster that glared at Arthur as he rapped on the door with his spear, the haft shortened for the climb. Metal pole that could extend, twice as strong as his wooden haft but just as flexible. It did take a little training to get used to it, but the spear shaft actually worked better with his greater strength and flexibility now.

“You avoided my people,” the creature growled as the doors slid open automatically.

Arthur smiled, ducked in. Glanced at the big double doors that were the main entrance in here, noted a second exit in a single door near where he was. Big enough to fit his opponent through, but more suited for someone Arthur’s size – or a little bigger.

“Well, I was always one to have dessert first. Figured I’d make you curse.”

The boss blinked, reached out sideways and picked up the pair of pairs of swords, four of them guttering to life. Plasma blades – that were, actually nowhere near as good as you’d think. Pretty but they were intensely hot, and four blades could easily get in the way of one another – and when they could cut one another apart, that made it even worse.

Arthur let himself slide closer, smiling as he brought his spear tip forward. “So, you going to tell me that I should have dropped the case?”

“Too late. Now I’m going to make you pay for disrupting my operations.” Cut scene over, the creature charged Arthur. Rather than face it head-on, Arthur released the Sticky Ball right at the creature, attached to his Energy Dart that he had formed low and behind his elbow. Hidden until he shifted his grip, but it didn’t matter.

The creature dodged it, and Arthur had to skip back as it leapt and swung its swords, criss-crossing them over while two more stayed close. The Climber tried stabbing outwards with his weapon, targeting for the central chest region but the other pair of swords caught and tore his weapon aside, leaving glowing trails on the metal shaft.

He could not take too many more of those attacks, but glancing blows were fine. Arthur pumped his Yin Aura to his maximum, only for the Boss to react by throwing its own aura back. This one heated the very air around them, causing his skin to prickle.

“Heat aura?” Arthur wondered, bouncing back as he tested the creature’s defense again with a few quick probing strikes, swirling the spear head up and down as he attempted to see if he could trick the boss into trapping its own blades.

Unfortunately, the boss was rather too skilled to do that. Not overtly so, that Arthur could not see any gaps in their defenses, but also none that were open enough that he could guarantee his attack would land. Even probing strikes at fingers and hands were blocked with ease, the creature shifting its arms out of the way and lashing out with its greater reach to lop his head off.

Arthur jerked his head back, feeling the passing heat of the flames crisp and make the skin of his forehead to smart, as though he had been in the sun for hours. Retreating, Arthur tried his next favorite tactic, conjuring a series of Exploding Energy Darts above him. Just before he engaged, he released them, one after the other, targeting the creature’s chest and then arm to force an opening.

He managed it, though he had to pass through the shockwaves of his own attack and set his own teeth clacking hard. He could feel the pressure in his head, in his ears as he pushed onward, his own weapon licking out sideways to strike at the upper portion of a hand. His blade bit deep, cutting deep and tearing through the flesh and tendons and caused his opponent to drop his weapon.

Then, cheekily, Arthur jumped back and released the last Exploding Energy Dart at the falling plasma sword as he retreated before his opponent could recover in time, sending the weapon tumbling through the air. It clipped the boss in the leg as it flew, drawing a hiss from the monster as Arthur rubbed at his side where a glancing cut had bounced off his own armour, only to leave him burnt and his armour scored open.

“Shit. You recovered fast,” Arthur said, padding back as his opponent put one of its swords near its own injury to stop the blood loss. “And brutal.”

“And you are tricky. Webs, explosions, poison. What next?” It growled.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Unfortunately, Arthur actually was running out of tricks. Sure, he had attacks that could do more damage if he managed to land a blow but the damn monster was so fast, he was worried about trying to get in. Each time he engaged, his skin prickled and dried and crisped up, such that he could feel blisters on anything exposed already.

If he got hit… well, his arm was functioning but it hurt just to move it.

Yin attacks were his go to when he couldn’t get through a monster’s defense, since poisoning them with a higher Yin energy dose slowed them down, made them lethargic and eventually put them to sleep. However, the damn monster before him seemed immune to his Yan Aura and probably Yin Poison, since it either had enough Yang energy and heat innately that it would take forever for Arthur to wear it down or was naturally resistant.

“Alright, time to get serious,” Arthur muttered, running through his options. He let his Yin Aura to fade to its background level, switching out his flow to the Heavenly Sage’s Mischief to increase his speed. That should be a nice surprise for his opponent. Next up, more Energy Darts, though he kept them to their basic form. He was going to spam attack them, releasing and building them when he was out. He could hold about three of them above him at any one time, if he was engaged melee combat but creating them and targeting was too hard; so he’d have to refill when they weren’t engaged. On top of that, he had Steel Skin active and lastly, Cloud Steps. That was all he could utilize, at least for the moment.  “Before it gets furious.”

“Stop rhyming!” The boss roared and stomped forward. At the same time, the front doors threw open and the first of the adds arrived.

“Ah hell. This smells.”

 

Chapter 539

 

Good news – the boss was too impatient to wait for his new allies to flank Arthur. Bad news, it meant he rushed the Climber immediately, all three remaining arms swinging left and right in strikes that caused Arthur to retreat. He dodged around the table, down and pass the chair that was in the way and that got lopped apart on a backwards swing.

Arthur’s own spear licked out, thrusting for the face, the arm and the shoulder one after the other, attempting to draw the swords high. That left an opening further lower, especially where the injured arm had no sword.

There, Arthur targeted with his own Energy Dart’s, firing one after the other. The first was blocked by the injured arm, bracer taking the attack and shocking the creature backwards. The other two Energy Dart’s, however, struck his opponent. Unfortunately, the creature’s suit just hid an underlayer of armour that absorbed the low-powered attacks, causing it to stagger and bruise but not kill.

“Shit!” Arthur felt his spear nearly get torn out of his hand as a pair of sword strikes nearly tore it out of his arms. It was not just strength but leverage, with two weapons and his longer weapon making it hard for Arthur to hold onto his weapon. He let it spin, twist it around and spin across his body, his fingers burning as it came into contact with the portions of the staff that had been struck by the weapon. He let his fingers slide down the haft, so that it was full extended as he kept the spin going, throwing it down low to cut and strike at the creature’s feet.

That caught the boss by surprise, resulting in Arthur’s scend actual solid hit with his weapon. Unfortunately, angles and speed meant that he only managed to get the tip of his spear point on the sweeping cut, leaving the creature bruised but not cut.

Rather than pursue the attack, the monster leapt away and roared. “Surround and finish him!”

That was when his opponent’s opened fire at Arthur, with the beam and projectile weapons. Eyes wide in surprise, having forgotten his opponents had guns, Arthur leapt and twisted, conjuring a Cloud Step to go higher since that often threw off his opponent’s aim.

It worked, for the most part. He only got hit a couple of times, a bullet tearing through his side, a couple of beam weapons impacting his armor. It burnt and spun him about, causing him to fall to the side as he struggled to keep his footing. A Cloud Step conjured beneath him allowed him to roll on it, forcing him to throw himself into a hand spring into the air, his spear held in the other hand as he cursed.

Two Exploding Energy Darts had reformed, allowing Arthur to unleash them on his opponents in a spread pattern that caused more dust and rock to enter the air along with a splash of blood as it tore apart one of the new adds limb.

Angling himself, Arthur charged the group, only being forced to leap even higher into the air and stabb downwards at the boss who tried to intercept him. It gave his opponents enough time to spread out, to put their boss before them again.

It also meant that they kept shooting, forcing Arthur to dodge once again.

“Cheating!” Arthur snarled, changing tactics.

He dropped the Exploding Energy Dart that he had been about to form, switched to the Sticky Threads. He created balls of them and threw them as he dodged about, filling the surroundings with the traps that spread outwards, forcing his opponents to be careful of where the moved or get caught.

The boss could bully his way through – or cut the threads apart – but his adds were useless in that case. Arthur dodged down, behind a particularly robust cabinet that had come apart and stayed down for a moment to catch his breath.

The wounds that he had accumulated were increasing, and even though he had changed the environment to suit him a little more; the adds just kept coming. He reformed more Exploding Energy Darts, ducked sideways and released all three in rapid order, blowing those rushing in from the door apart and then two others around the room.

“This might be why you don’t skip the bottom floors…” Arthur muttered. The number of adds they could afford would just keep increasing, since he had literally tens of floors to draw upon. He needed to end this fight sooner rather than latter.

He had to move. His cover was being blown apart. More Exploding Energy Darts formed and he rushed out, throwing his hand sideways to layer one side of the room in explosions. The only good news was that fires were beginning to form, making everything much harder to see. Made his Sticky Threads even more of a hazard, and since the boss was busy holding up three big beacons, Arthur could avoid him easily.

Still did not mean he intended to stick around and fight, as he formed a cloud, jumped and ran on it and across the back of a chair before he plunged his spear into an opponent. Tore it out, swept and crushed a throat with the backend of his spear and then cut across the body with another motion. Three more adds down, but just as many appeared in the doorway.

No choice…

He poured more speed into his movements, hissed as another beam caught him in the lower back and propelled him forward. His foot sunk into one of the Threads, caught him as he fell over. It saved him from getting shot in the head, at least, but one of his opponents had the bead on him and staffed his automatic gun down.

Bullet impacts on his arms and body, slamming into him over and over again. Steel Skin and the protective weave meant that none tore through him, but it left him badly bruised. Arthur snarled, tore himself free and left a little skin behind but kept moving, knowing that stopping was an excuse to get shot again.

Before he managed to make it to the balcony, the boss was there. Looming before him, swinging his swords. Arthur dodged the first, blocked the second with his staff. Had nothing for the third other than to step in deep, let the hilt slam into his shoulder and buckle his feet underneath him.

The boss knew his job, did a draw cut as he stepped back, its focus entirely intent on slicing Arthur apart, make him lose control of the spear that he was using to block the lower arm. The right arm was forgotten, just for a moment, because it was intent, though it was recovering. Slower than normal.

Arthur was inside the creature’s guard, for the first time. All at the cost of his shoulder, and a lot of damage.

Unlucky for his opponent, he did have one last trick. Pocket Simpanan Tua, his storage skill, allowed him to conserve a skill technique. The Refined Exploding Energy Dart shot upwards, angled along the line of Arthur’s gaze.

It struck his opponent in the neck, at the part where head met jaw. It burrowed into the body, tore apart the skin and muscle and then exploded. Not a kill – this was a boss – but it left the monster gravely injured. Made it tear its sword out, without leaving a full proper draw cut and push such that it bisected Arthur.

Did leave him burnt, collar bone cracked and split. He ran for it, agonizing pain locked away by sheer will and control, thankful that his Yin Body gave him just enough distance to keep moving, to throw himself out of the building, across the balcony railing, shots trailing after him.

Didn’t even have time to leave behind any parting shots, as he escaped into the sky, the world blurring before him.

 

Chapter 540

 

Arthur slammed into a conjured cloud, burst through it. Bounced over the second one he formed, went off the edge and tumbled. Took the third one, and slid along it but managed to grab hold of the edge. Just long enough to slow himself further, before it disappeared. A fourth reappeared beneath his feet and he leapt sideways, towards the wall.

Focused Strike allowed him to slam his spear into the join of the wall, such that it penetrated all the way through. He slid a little, the spear tearing through the side of the wall before it ripped free, his speed still too fast. He plunged, meridians burning, concentration broken as he tried to get over the agony of being shot and cut apart, his skin and muscles stitching themselves together as Accelerated Healing went into active mode as he swapped out his offensive skills.

Below his feet, the jutting lip of the next floor. He slammed into the ground of the balcony, his feet buckling and knees bending to distribute the load. Arthur tucked himself as he fell, rolled end over end – backwards, not the best option – and ended up striking the railing with his feet. He rolled himself the right way, flopped onto the ground, a bloody streak sign of where he had fallen.

Pain, radiating from bruised and broken ribs, from damaged organs. One shoulder and arm not even working, small bones in his feet aching and a couple more holes plugged in him along with burns everywhere there was exposed skin.

Arthur just lay there for a few moments, swapping out his Energy Dart for Refined Exploding Energy Dart as he replaced the missing dart. Terrible thing to not be able to finish that fight, if he had just a little more time, he could have won but…

Thoughts drifted away, as shouts came from above. He squinted past the blurry, tear-filled eyes and realised some of the guards were looking down at him. None were shooting though, which was for the best. The range was far enough that shooting near direct downwards would likely have missed, especially with the way the winds danced out here.

Instead, noise from nearby told him that the room he was in was likely going to be invaded. He hauled himself to his feet, groaning as he broke the doors, eyeing the entrance. A quick conjuration and casting of Sticky Threads blocked the door, along with striding in and tossing the furniture in the way, jamming up the entrance.

He backed off from there, after that, waiting as his body kept healing. There were other rooms, and from the pounding on the door and then the bullets tearing holes into it, Arthur figured they’d try it in a little while.

Good for them, terrible for him. He needed more time to heal, more time to fix himself up. If possible, time enough to get his Energy Pool increased too. He wasn’t going to get any of that, though he could reduce the numbers coming after him.

Realisation firmed within him, Arthur crouched low, listening hard as Shadow Sense expanded. He felt them moving in the distance, coming across the balcony. Saw the front door get torn apart as beam weaponry fired upon the doorway tore into the furniture. A few moments later, tiny oblong objects landed and the world turned into fire and pressure washed over him.

When one of the more adventurous of the guards climbed onto a railing, Arthur took action. He leapt up, put his spear through the poor bastard and then leapt over the small gap between balconies to land amidst the guards.

Each of the adds, especially in close combat, were no real problems. Guns were great – until you started trying to get the barrel to face the right way against someone moving three times as fast as normal, right next to you, putting a spear that could trip, stab and cut into play.

He tore through this team, entered the room and kept going. Take out as many of these guards as possible, make them commit to fighting him here; buy himself some time to heal even as he – hopefully – didn’t get even more injured.

New plan. Time to make it work.

 

Chapter 541

 

Arthur finished killing the last of the guards coming up the stairs, having rushed the group in the fire escape. There were a few of them, in play, right now and hitting the farthest staircase had meant fewer people to kill or fight his way up. Skipping down two floors, then going through the floor itself, killing the few guards left on that floor had bought him some time, before popping up a few more floors.

These in-between landing spaces for floors were huge, and even better; once he started moving; the sheer volume of guards decreased. They could not cover every single floor and so long as he kept shifting, they were forced to hunt for him.

Sure, they checked in on one another and eventually had a better idea of where he might be, but so long as he never truly stopped; they could not apply their greater numbers like they did on the boss floor. He had even glimpsed one of the sub-bosses in play, though Arthur had chosen to stay hidden rather than take them on.

Instead, after a good thirty or so minutes of playing with them, Arthur figured it was time to head back up. This time around, he was intending to climb the staircases and go for the boss that way. It might be that they had clogged the staircases with bodies, making any attempt futile – but he’d slain enough of their number that Arthur figured that was unlikely.

More likely, the entrance and the corridor in was going to be filled.

And thankfully, he had a trick or two he’d picked up to deal with that.

Walking up the stairs, near twenty stories was exhausting. He had to stop twice, hiding inside floors and closets while he watched groups pass him by, utilizing his Shadow Senses to the maximum so that he could watch without being seen before he made it.

Like he expected, there was only a single guard watching, and Arthur managed to surprise the fella with a single Refined Energy Dart drilled into their head before they could raise an outcry. He nearly mistimed the grab though, as their body slumped and the gun clattered against the wall and nearly the floor.

Snarling, Arthu grabbed at the toys he had picked up. Tugged one of the grenades on, threw the door open and poked his head out. As expected the corridor was filled with more guards, but he started tossing the grenades into the group, hands blurring as he triggered and added them to the surroundings.

He got two thirds of his collection in the air and landing amongst the group before they reacted, one of the fastest managing to score a shot that tore into Arthur’s arm. He snapped the door shut by hip checking it and fell back, even as more beam attacks and bullets tore into the reinforced door.

Moments later, even as Arthur retreated down the stairs itself, the roar of exploding grenades going off, one after the other filled the environment. He grinned savagely, danced to the glowing hot door and got ready toss more of his stolen toys into the corridor. After all, they wouldn’t last beyond this floor – so there was no point in keeping them.

 

***

 

The big boss was alive. That was no surprise to Arthur at all. He was not particularly happy with the grenades that Arthur had thrown into his room, though the massive alligator-like sub-boss that had somehow managed to make their way up here – how? A cargo elevator? – had taken the brunt of the damage.

As much as Arthur might want to utilize their guns, the weapons were all locked against other use, unlike the grenades. The difference between the consumables and the personal weapons, he assumed. Every time he had tried one of the guns, it had locked out and refused to fire.

At least they hadn’t blown up on him.

Now, he was charging back in, Refined Exploding Energy Darts formed in halo around him. He set them to drill into the sub-boss, the alligator charging him without care or concern; moving so fast that the damaged anti-personnel gun on top of its body could not get a proper bead on Arthur.

A quick pause, dropping his spear into position and letting his opponent drive itself onto the point ended that fight. After which, he only had a few of the guard who had somehow managed to survive the explosions and the boss itself.

Face bandaged, the neck held together by more gauze and an inflatable addition, the boss was slower than ever as it rushed him. In the first few passes, Arthur found the creature was having a hard time getting back into the fight, most especially as the Climber added to its woes by threatening to unleash his Refined Energy Darts.

It was much more wary of the birght blue, glowing attacks than it was of the less powerful Energy Darts. Of course, Arthur also had fewer of those to use, especially since he had to utilize a lot of stored Refined Energy to heal himself – so much so that he was now running on passive healing, even with the wounds he had picked up on his way here.

But a style that required absolute mastery – such as wielding four – now three – individual weapons, and then adjusting their timing and spacing to guard itself had a problem. When you weren’t at your best, then, it became easy for one to foul the attacks, to leave oneself open.

Arthur leaned back, watched as the blade passed him by. A second swung, criss-cross and he used his spear to strike the weapon arm down, driving it low. It fouled the recovery of the first hand, made the third arm strike near impossible to carry off as the creature had his arms crossed before it. It could only come sideways and knowing that, Arthur just stepped aside, batted the weapon and arm upwards and then put his Refined Energy Dart into the elbow.

The explosion of gore and scream of pain was well worth it; but Arthur was not done. He had his spear in the right position, so he twisted it around, put the spear down and drove it right into his opponent’s foot. It pierced the appendage, sticking his opponent to the floor – briefly, before the boss tore itself free.

Leaving a blood footprint behind, it backed away.

That worked for Arthur as he leapt back, released another Refined Energy Dart at his opponent’s face only to see it blocked. He reached inwards, checked his stores and chose not to recreate another one. He had one last dart hovering by his side, another in his Pocket Simpanan.

That would do. Especially since his opponent was slowing down, the wound in its neck reopened as it fought to keep standing. It was now a matter of time till he finished the creature.

Of course, that was when the adds started arriving.