17 Dark Souls: The Swordmaster

After going through all his stats and figuring out exactly what it was they did, he rearranged them to suit his style of combat.

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<Divinity: Dreams // Divine Energy: 3>

<Species: Human(Irithyllian)>

<Vigor: 15 (-5) // HP: 550 (-214) // (HP/Regen: 1 per hour)>

<Attunement: 0 // FP: 0 // (FP/Regen: 0 per hour)>

<Endurance: 14 (-6) // Stamina: 100 (-12) // (S/Regen: 45 per hour)>

<Vitality: 20 // Equip Load: 63% // Tougness: 11>

<Strength: 15 // Poise: 15 (+8)>

<Dexterity: 35 (+9) // Preception: 17 (+4)>

<Intelligence: 32 (+4) // Attunement slots: 0 // Wisdom: 50 (+2)>

<Faith: 0 // Divine Strength: 33>

<Luck: 10 (-2) // Charm: 68 (-1) // Item Discovery: 10>

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Taking points out of Vigor, Endurance, and Luck, he added them to his dexterity and intelligence.

Intelligence increased the speed of which he could make decisions and problem solve. Dexterity allowed him to then carry out those decisions as fast and precisely as possible. Drake had decided to take points from Vigor and Endurance for the most part as they would not affect him as much in the heat of battle.

The loss of Vigor would only affect him if he got heavily wounded, which hopefully the added dexterity would allow him to avoid, and the effect of decreased Endurance on his stamina reserves was minor. Also, with the massive boost in his dexterity came a sizable increase in preception, improving his senses, further aiding him in avoiding any unnecessary damage.

Having refocused his stats, he bid the firekeeper farewell before making his way to the Swordmaster.

He walked out of the shrine taking a right and up a series of stairs, on the way, there were two hollows that he quickly dispatched with his bone spear before making his way to the top.

At the top, there was a dried out, bony, middle-aged man wearing a rag even worse than Drake's original attire. He stood guarding a gated tower, a katana in hand.

Different from the enemies Drake had faced before, this man seemed almost normal. He was not a monstrosity, like Iudex or a walking corpse like the many hollows Drake had killed, heck, given a suit and dropping the sword the man could be mistaken for an ordinary middle-aged office worker.

Drake tried to speak with the Swordmaster, not wanting to kill someone in cold blood just to get a new weapon. "Excuse me, er... Hello, my name is Drake, can I have the pleasure of knowing yours?" Drake said in greeting.

The Swordmaster sheathed his sword.

Drake almost relaxed for a moment before tensing up. He remembered that in the game, the Swordmaster used an incredibly quick drawing attack. Sure enough, after a second passed, the Swordmaster attacked his sword flying up and between Drake shield and spear.

Drake dodged back, avoiding the blow by the skin of his teeth, before making a lunging attack at the Swordmasters throat. The Master in a fluid motion changed his previous attack into a high stance guard, deflecting Drakes blow away from his neck, leaving Drake wide open. The Swordmaster went for the kill slicing down. Drake quickly kicked the Swordmaster away, creating some space.

"slusss" sparks flew, created by the sword passing by Drake's neck, glancing off his chainmail.

Drake's mind whirled. "This guy isn't stronger than me in any way, he's physically as powerful as the cemetery hollows but is far more skilled than anything I've come up against before. I need to be cautious no big swings or stabs, this guy is basically human if I can hit him a few times I'm sure it won't take long for him to drop."

The two clashed again, Drake moved in, holding his shield ready to block a blow, but the Swordmaster simply slashed at Drake's legs forcing him to jump to avoid the strike.

Again and again, Drake and the Swordmaster fought each time Drake was put on the defensive, unable to land a proper blow. He relied on his high dexterity and preception to dodge, but the Swordmaster was too skilled at parrying and deflecting attacks with his katana for Drake to hit him in return.

Panting slightly, Drake thought to himself, "Shit! This isn't working at this rate I'm going to run out of stamina, damm it, I'm already regretting lowering my Endurance. Think, god damm it, think. There has to be a way to win this."

Drake analyzed the fight, his every attack was stopped by the enemies katana, and the Swordmaster was unable to hit him due to his speed.

Every time the Swordmaster attacked, he avoided Drakes Shield and weapon, striking through the gaps in Drakes defense. A plan formed in Drake's mind, it was a little risky, but it was better than continuing with the current stalemate.

Drake dropped his weapon and held his shield central, not unlike what he had done to finish off Iudex's first form. He waited for the Swordmaster to attack. The Swordmaster was cautious, and they both stood still for a minute before the Swordmaster went in for another quick draw attack.

Drake watched and waited, the katana was heading low, slashing towards kneecaps. Drake didn't dodge this time and directly smashed his shield at the katana's blade.

"Crack."

The katana was embedded into the wood plate of the shield, and Drake gave it a quick twist disarming the Swordmaster.

"Can't be a Swordmaster without a sword now, can you," Drake snarled with a wicked grin.

"Yes, I am nothing without the sword, and I have dishonored myself by letting it go, it is your win...

I bid you a farewell" Came out a horse voice from the Swordmaster, the only words he had spoken thus far.

Without his sword, the Swordmaster looked lost, despondent, and before Drake could even attack, the Master ran to the side, taking a dive off the world's edge.

Drake peered off the edge, watching his body fall into the billowing smoke below.

"Suicide, guess his dedication to the sword is what stopped him from turning hollow, and without it he had nothing."

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