Varian and the murloc closed their distance in an instant. With only the intent to kill, Varian punched at its chin.
The murloc blocked it with its spear. But the real attack was the one that followed.
Another fist hurled at its abdomen with the spikes threatening to rip apart its stomach. Due to its short arms, a murloc wouldn't be able to block the attack. Varian felt he'd gain the edge with this attack, but ...
"Cling"
The murloc's tail parried the gauntlet, and sparks flew in the air. At a closer distance, Varian realized the tail itself was covered by a metallic blue layer.
'This is going to be difficult than I thought. But this is my way of progress.'
Varian continued his offensive with momentum.
"Clash"
"Click"
"Clash"
The sounds of gauntlets clashing with the bone spear and metallic tail reverberated across the island.
The murlocs in the vicinity witnessed the intensity of the fight and ran for their lives.
Varian tilted his neck and dodged the thrust of the spear. He sidestepped and avoided the tail's strike.
At the same time, he kneed the murloc in the groin and slammed his fist into the murloc's face, with the spikes aiming for the eyes.
The murloc's tail was nimble and flexible, so it blocked the knee with ease. The next moment, the murloc swerved to the right and dodged the punch to its eyes.
"Tch," Varian cursed under his breath and maintained his attacks. The one to drop their momentum would lose.
With growing battle intent, they dashed at each other.
Soil rose and gales blew. Shockwaves originated and shook the trees. In the middle of it all, the perpetrators stood unwavered — Varian and the murloc.
"Clash"
"Click"
"Clash"
A few minutes passed, but the intensity of the battle only rose. The battle itself showed no signs of ending, since neither party had an upper hand.
"Click" "Clash" "Click" "Clash"
Every attack was blocked by a spear and the tail or dodged.
Varian's advantage lied in his combat experience. The murloc's advantage was in its superior strength from its peak of Level 1 and its weapon.
Its arms were shorter than Varian's and thus took a bit longer to reach him. The previous murlocs also had the same problem, so they either lunged at him or used their tails. Varian exploited this and turned the tables by using his agility and speed to dodge their lunges and took them down one by one.
This murloc, however, cleverly avoided its inherent shortcoming and made it up with its spear. The spear had a longer reach than its arms and was quick to reach Varian.
It didn't have much expertise in spear, so it could only use its raw power. Despite that, it was able to block every single one of Varian's calculated and strategic blows.
"Argh" Varian yelled and blocked a strike from the tail. He took a step back.
He wasn't as strong as the murloc in term of raw power. So he leveraged his skill without competing for strength.
However, the murloc's battle style forced him to block some of the attacks. This made no difference in the beginning, but the rebound from the attacks was starting to take a toll on him. Little by little, his momentum began to fall.
"I should find a way." Varian panted and glanced into murloc's eyes.
For the first time, he noticed they held somewhat humanely emotions. Those eyes seemed to… mocking.
'How dare you challenge me? You loser!' those yellow eyes seemed to tell him.
'I will not only dare but also win.'
Varian dashed towards the murloc and faked a punch. The murloc put up the spear to block, and he grabbed at it.
The murloc slapped at him with its tail, and he was forced to block.
"Boom"
The massive impact pushed him and he slid backwards, his feet anchored on the ground and carving trails into the soil.
'If this goes on for 1 more minute, I'd lose.' Varian took quick breaths and felt fatigue slowly but surely catching up with him.
In the end, his stats were still only at 4% Greater Human and he was no match for the murloc which was at the peak of Level 1.
But he didn't despair. He was always fighting stronger opponents and won.
'This will be the final attack.' Varian shot at the murloc, kicking up dust in the run.
The murloc did the same and thrust its spear at his heart while its tail lashed at his head.
Varian put a block against the tail but didn't block the spear as the murloc predicted. Instead, he used his greater human agility to slightly shift his body in the nick of time and hit the murloc's hand holding the spear, knocking the spear out of its grip.
"Chhh"
The spear pierced his body, missing his heart by an inch. Due to its massive momentum, it pierced through and exited from his back, leaving a gaping hole.
"Ahh," Varian hissed at the pain and with no hesitation, caught the tail that was lashed at his head.
The murloc screamed and in panic, punched at him. A mistake he was aiming for. Its arms weren't as long and took a second more than the spear would to reach him.
That one second was all Varian needed as he grabbed at the murloc's neck with lightning speed and crushed it.
"Click"
"Boom!"
At the same time, he clicked its neck, its fist finally connected with his abdomen.
Varian clutched his abdomen and winced in pain. Right then, the pain from his wound, which he was trying to ignore, flooded his brain.
"Cough cough cough" He coughed out hard and spit out blood. He could feel his organs shaking and the hole...
He looked down to see the gaping hole in his chest, now a mess of flesh, blood, and splinters of bones.
'System, what's my status?' Varian asked, eager to know his improvement.
[ Xp+ ...]