Chapter 29: Defensive Technique

"System notification: congratulations for killing the Twin-headed Alpha, rewards: 7000 exp"

Killing the 18 Savage Wolves gave Tony 6300 coupled with the exp that the Twin-headed Alpha have given him made his road towards level 10 closer.

Tony first checked his status panel which if other players saw they would be blown away, after the world energy purified his body, Tony found that he got +20 in all his attributes and +200 HP, then the soul refining happened and he got another +10 in Intelligent and Constitution. While distributing the 10 free attributes he got from levelling two times between Strength and Agility. This made his status panel mind-blowing.

[Name: Mad Demon] (Swordsman)

Lvl 09: 28,500/100,000

HP: 1100

Mp: 114

St: 45 Ag:45

Con: 42 Int: 38

Vit: 30

If we compare attributes alone then Tony would be in terms of HP, sturdier than a Guardian knight, in terms of strength stronger than a berserk, and in agility faster than a thief. That's why he dared to challenge the Nightmare difficulty because his attributes alone made him confident.

"Damn from this day onward I would challenge only Nightmare difficulty" after he checked the loot from the Twin-headed Alpha, Tony became agitated because the loot can be described as INSANE.

[Blood Crossbow] (Gold)

Requirements: Level 7

Attack +21, 10% Armour-piercing Effect, deal 10% additional bleed damage every second for 5 seconds,

Additional skill: Triple-shot, have a 30% chance to inflict cripple status effect.

Cooldown: 1 minute.

[Divine Shield] (Gold)

Requirements: Level 7

Endurance +20, Health Points increase by 150 points, Parry Chance: +27%

Additional skill: Eject: push the user or the enemy 20 yards.

Cooldown: 10 minutes

[Wolf Fang] (Gold)

Requirements: level 7

Strength +25, Agility +25

Have a 0.2% chance of instant-kill the enemy.

[Cloud Boots] (Gold)

Requirements: level 7

Defence +15, Movement Speed +30%

Additional skill: Flying Cloud: increase agility by 120% for 5 seconds in the first 2 seconds can't be touched.

Cooldown: 10 minutes.

[Flame Wave] (Special skill)

Summon a wave of flames for a 10 by 10-yard area-of-effect attack for 5 seconds. Damage is based on Intelligence (x3)

Cooldown: 30 minutes

[Water Breathing potion]

Allows the user to breathe underwater. Once drunk, for 30 minutes.

Cooldown: 6 hours.

[Potion of Strength] (basic)

Create a potion that Increases the player's melee attack damage by 30% for 30 seconds.

cooldown: 5 hours

Just from the first boss Tony already got amazing loot, any player would have drooled for such loot. Especially the skill book and recipes, if those big guilds outside know that a solo player is holding many valuable items they would go mad from jealousy, let alone Tony who can be described as a walking treasure trove.

Without hesitation, he learned the [Flame Wave] and then equipped [Cloud Boots] which raised his survivability by a notch. After adjusting himself to a peak state again, Tony approached the door that appeared after he defeated the boss which leads to the next level of the dungeon.

The second level of the dungeon was also a wild plain just smaller in size, however, the instant Tony landed he felt as if his life was not in his hand anymore. Without hesitation, Tony activated the boots skill [Flying Cloud] as he ran from where he was.

Tony ran for his life for 5 seconds yet the feeling of death was still closer to him, his speed was so great that he left behind many afterimages, and while running he saw that all were shattered by multiple claws.

Behind him was a pack of wolves filled with killing intent and ruthlessness as they chased after Tony since their initial ambush was a bust, after the effect of the skill duration ended the wolves caught up to Tony and then surrounded him while giving him no room for escaping.

"What the actual fuck how can the system put me in the middle of an ambush from the start" while eyeing the wolves, Tony cursed the system because if not for the 2 seconds of invulnerability the first six claws would have taken his life.

[Blood Wolf] (Special Elite)

Lv: 7

HP: 5000

Skills: Blood Claw, Glory, Blood Sacrifice

The most cunning type of wolf.

From the description, Tony became even more focused because he understands that a small mistake can mean his end against the 12 bloody wolves. While he was trying to come up with a strategy the wolves already came up with a simple plan. Jump him until he dies.

Seeing how the wolves trying to jump him, Tony cursed again as he tightened his defence, first dodging the first claw he then blocked another one while wanting to lend a hit only to feel that a claw already reached him as he lost - 230, tightening his grip on his sword he kept battling the wolves with all his might and in just 10 seconds what remind from his HP was merely 130.

Although Tony was at the death door, he was in fact smiling because of the thrill he felt in this life-or-death battle, dancing between the line of life and death was Tony's favourite hobby. Tony's low HP was his biggest problem at the moment as the cunning wolves were sneering at Tony thinking that his death is deserving because this madman was actually fighting them head-on which was stupid in their eye.

Only to see Tony reaching into his bag and taking out a potion and drinking it, suddenly the dying man returned to peak form instantly. The potion was one of the few trump cards that Tony got his hand on in Lone peak mountain.

[Regeneration potion] (advance)

Restore the user's full HP for 10 seconds.

Cooldown: 3 hours

"Stupid wolves let's begin the second round" Tony entered a frenzy-like state as he didn't even care about defense, trading blow by blow against the wolves while not caring about his life in the slightest made these Blood Wolf go from looking down on Tony to fearing him.

For nine seconds no matter how low Tony's HP got it will always go back to full, in that time Tony was able to lower almost all the wolf's HP by at least 1000 when his blessed time was coming to an end Tony got a flash of inspiration.

Tony Formless Art was one of the most difficult techniques in the world because each person had a different understanding of martial arts and life which made it hard to have a teacher, even with his master's help who was one of the strongest in human history it was hard for Tony to progress in the art. The bottleneck that he felt was losing up since Tony entered Ancient Myth, like how at this moment he came up with a defensive technique.

Tony continued his battle, using his blades to form a sphere around himself as he repelled the wolf's claw attacks. Moreover, as he brandished his swords more, Tony refined his swords' trajectories, little by little, gradually reducing his excess movements and strengthening his defence.

As Tony improved his sword trajectories, the defensive range enlarged as well. Right now, he could block roughly 30% of all attacks aimed at him from anywhere.

In the next moment, countless streaks of sword flashed around Tony, forming what looked like a barrier of sorts around him. Any wolf that came at him would have their joints struck by Tony's swords. Although Tony's Strength was insufficient to repel the Blood Wolf, he still managed to deflect their attack trajectories slightly.

As these Blood Wolf moved past Tony, a streak of his sword would strike at their bodies, causing over -200 damage to the special Elite monsters in their blind spot.

Simply dodging their attacks was very exhausting to one's stamina, yet Tony was actually toying with these Elite monsters like they were puppies right now, because his Formless Art was tailored for battling while being outnumbered and with his new technique the fight became easier as time passed.

The improvement that Tony was having at the moment will shock anyone, he was like a sponge that can hold any amount of water you pour in it, especially his blockage rate which became 50% as the battle progressed, this baffled the Blood Wolves as no matter what they did, no wolf could touch Tony as he either blocked or evaded the attack, while they kept getting killed one by one with his deadly sword.

After 20 minutes of fighting the last Blood, Wolf died under Tony's sword, even when the wolf used [Blood Sacrifice] which by sacrificing its defence the wolf became stronger and faster, yet the Blood Wolf couldn't do anything to Tony who refined his sword attack to a great high, coupled with the Formless Art unpredictability made it hard for the pitiful wolf to do anything alone.

"I'm falling in love with this game more and more" Tony was having the time of his life as he sat on the body of the wolf recuperating his stamina, while mentally going through the battle again and again.

The biggest reason why experts could become experts in the first place was their brain's processing speed and their ability to memorise something instantly. Once one strengthened their mind, memorization and calculation would improve tremendously. They could then run through various simulations in their minds using what limited information they had.

"since its a defensive technique let's call it (Sword Barrier)" coming with a defensive technique is one of the hardest things, let alone a defensive technique in the Formless Art. Which made Tony really proud of himself although it was only in the initial shape it's still a big achievement for him.

"If not for the dungeon I would have logged out of the game to tell my master about my progress" the person that Tony respected the most in his life was his master who to Tony is more than just a master . As Tony returned to peak form and thought about looting the Blood Wolf corps he heard the sound approaching him. Turning around he saw a wolf that had blood-red fur covering its body and was twice the size of a lion, Tony was shocked to discover a cruel smile on its face. Seeing this, Tony's body shivered as it was overcome with a terrifying chill.

Aoooooooooo

The entire plain trembled at its mighty roar.

[Blood Wolf King] (Lord)

Level 7

HP: 15000

Skills: claw tempest, mighty roar, Blood Sacrifice