18 Last Chance

Avic moved to a small section of the Room Of Proditio after being instructed by Amon to begin his task. The area in which his task was located was different from the rest of the room. It was in a slightly secluded area that was barred off by a sturdy door.

Slowly, Avic then moved past the door which slid open for him with a gentle rumble before closing back up again, locking him inside. The area was not much different from the rest of the Room Of Proditio. Apart from being in a much smaller space, it was exactly the same. In short, it was like a miniature version of the Room Of Proditio.

Before Avic, was the strange pattern of a dagger imprinted on the wall at the opposite end of the room. However, unlike the rest of the room, it did not have a red glow, strangely indicating that it was not imbued with Hemo Energy. Upon moving closer to the strange pattern, Avic came to notice that there was a small note attached to the wall.

"To begin your task, you must first manipulate the Hemo Energy in the wall and pull it into the dagger-shaped pattern," read Avic from the note. "Once the pattern has absorbed enough Hemo Energy, your next task will automatically begin."

Avic sighed as he read the note. It was quite evident that the first stage of his task was testing his Hemo Control. If he was unable to control the Hemo Energy in the wall then he would not be able to pass the first task, automatically failing and losing all hope of becoming a Sicarius.

"That Old Geezer sure knows what he's doing... This is surely gonna be a pain. I need something that can keep me focused or I'll have no chance of completing this task..! But what could keep me focused? Hmm..."

An idea immediately popped into Avic's head.

"That's it! My favorite thing to do is sleep! Maybe if I can imagine myself sleeping, then I'll be able to focus!"

Putting his strange idea to the test, Avic moved toward the pattern and brushed his hand against it. He closed his eyes and immediately began concentrating, imagining himself sleeping in a comfortable bed.

This was when a strange feeling came over him. His skin tingled and he suddenly felt extremely tired as if he was about to fall asleep. His eyelids twitched and a look of discomfort crawled over his face.

Oddly enough, the dagger-shaped pattern was immediately filled with Hemo Energy, drawn from the walls. This resulted in a small shock that jolted Avic awake. Frightened by the strange occurrence, he scurried backward across the floor on his butt.

"W-what just happened..?" He muttered to himself in confusion.

However, Avic would soon come to realize that he was not blessed with the time to find the answer to what had just happened. Responding to the Hemo Energy that had been pulled inside of the dagger, a strange red current also made of Hemo Energy flowed through the room like a gentle stream.

Hemo Energy quickly began to converge in the center of the room, swirling around like a passive tornado. Slowly, it then began to take shape. Before long, a humanoid monster made of Hemo Energy had appeared.

The monster stood at least 10ft tall and 5ft wide. It had blood-red skin and glowing red eyes. It was also quite muscular and wore thick armor that was also made from Hemo Energy. Finally, in its hand was a longsword 8ft long and 2 inches thick which was extremely intimidating.

"Oh, hell no! There's no way that Old Geezer expects me to fight that thing! Its sword alone is bigger than I am!" Cursed Avic.

Quickly, Avic jumped to his feet before running toward the door. To his horrific astonishment, the door was sealed shut and refused to open. He was locked inside until he could defeat the monster.

"Damn it! Open the door, you Old Geezer! I'm not trying to get skewered, you know!"

Gaining no answer, Avic turned back toward the massive monster with a depressing sigh. His only choice was to find a way to defeat it.

Gripping his dagger tightly between his fist, Avic looked up at the monster and steeled his resolve.

"Fine! If I have to beat you to get out of here then so be it..!" He said calmly.

As soon as the words left Avic's lips, the monster came down with a powerful swing of its blade. Avic dived out of the way as the floor was cracked into pieces with a massive bang. However, the monster was much faster than he could have anticipated. Quickly following up, it swung its massive blade toward Avic once more, splitting the floor into pieces in the process.

Avic gritted his teeth and prepared for impact. There was no way for him to dodge. With a bone-rattling clank and force equivalent to that of a charging elephant, the monster's sword slammed into Avic's dagger before he was sent crashing into the side of the wall.

Avic groaned in agony. It was quite unprecedented. Not only was the monster big but it was also quite swift. That was a combination that would give anyone a run for their pecunia.

Wreathing in agony, Avic got back onto his feet. He then dashed toward the monster as fast as he could. However, it wouldn't let him get close. It swung its massive blade at him, forcing him to jump out of the way at the last second.

Not wanting to give up, Avic tried again. Unfortunately, he was only met with the same response. Before he could even get close, the monster attacked him, forcing him to back away.

Avic hissed with frustration. It was quite annoying fighting a monster that wouldn't allow him to get close.

"Damn it..!" He cursed. "I can't even get close to that thing! As soon as I even try to get close, it just swings that massive sword, forcing me to retreat..! At this rate, not only will I fail the task but I could also be killed!"

Not giving him time to think, the monster roared like a lion before coming down with another lethal swing at Avic. The floor was webbed with cracks like a spider web and dust and debris spiraled into the air. The floor was quickly being reduced to nothing but rubble. Avic was however okay as he managed to avoid being hit yet again.

"What am I going to do..? I can't win if I remain on the defense for the entire time..! But because of that damned sword, I can't get close! This dagger is far too small to go up against a weapon like that!"

Just then, his conversation with Amon flashed across his mind like a bolt of lightning:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I see. A dagger is a great weapon to use in close combat. It's swift and easy to use. But despite this, it requires great skill to be used properly in battle."

"Great skill? I used it fairly easily."

"Yes, but I'm sure you noticed something when fighting that harpy with it. The dagger has very little reach. When compared to every other weapon, the dagger is the worst in terms of reach. What I mean by this are its length and striking range. For example, a yari like Eliisabet's can reach you from up to 13ft or more away. A dagger on the other hand can only strike when you're at least 2ft away from your opponent. That's a significant difference in reach. Someone using a yari is much safer than someone using a dagger because they can kill their enemy before they even have a chance to get close to them."

"Then how do I go about fixing that problem..?"

"Good question. To make up for its small size, the wielder must be flexible, agile, and precise. Without these attributes, you're nothing more than a knife-wielding maniac. You must train your body to become flexible enough to dodge attacks, agile enough to counter before your enemy can strike again, and precise enough to take your enemy down in a single blow. That is how you make up for the dagger's small size."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Avic's eyes broadened as he remembered. He immediately understood why his opponent was someone with a massive weapon. It was to test if he had the skills necessary to use a dagger.

Realizing this, Avic looked down at the weapon in his hand before clenching it tightly in his fist once more. He now knew what he needed to do to win.

"I see now... So this is what the Old Geezer meant. Fine then! Let's finish this!"

Pushing himself off at full speed, Avic charged toward the massive monster once more. As expected, it came down with a powerful swing of its sword.

"I must be flexible enough to dodge!"

Avic swiftly moved to the side, dodging the massive blade, this time refusing to retreat.

"Agile enough to counter before my enemy can strike again!"

Planting his foot on the floor with all his might, Avic pushed himself forward through all his pain as fast as he could. He then jumped as high as he could with his dagger held firmly in his grasp.

"And precise enough to take my enemy down in a single blow!"

Finally, Avic then came up with a powerful jab toward the monster's neck. But he knew that this alone wasn't enough to kill it in a single blow. This was when he began charging the blade of his dagger with Hemo Energy, turning it red before transforming it into a cold icy-blue.

"Bloodline Art: Cold Cut!!"

With a sharp zing, the monster's head was removed in a single slash. The battle was over.