Weak knees

Curseweavers were known to be individuals who had awakened extraordinary abilities during the Void apocalypse. There was no knowledge of where the power bestowed upon them originated or what kind of entity granted them access to such abilities.

The powers told in myths and fairy tales came into existence, greatly aiding humanity in fighting back against the void creatures. Some people wondered about the motives of the entity that gave them these powers; there must be some kind of catch.

However, people just dismissed that thought and focused on survival, which was the only thing that mattered.

Brooks dashed forward with a velocity that surpassed his previous speed. He then hurled a fist, which Damon narrowly dodged, shattering the walls behind him. At the same time, Damon landed a precise punch, but it only felt like hitting a brick wall.

〘-2hp〙

〘Your broken knuckles have been healed〙

'He's faster and stronger now. Not to mention the toughness of his skin, which felt like hitting iron,' Damon thought. The fist had been too close. If it wasn't for his high perception, the attack would have landed, and probably taken quite a hefty amount of HP other than just breaking his knuckles, which would have caused severe damage.

'Hmm, my knuckles almost healed instantly. I guess the damage was too little. Anyway, I need to be serious about the battle now. I don't really know the extent of power the fury mode will give him,' Damon thought, taking a combat stance.

With both hands raised and palms spread out, along with his legs 15 centimeters apart, he assumed a unique stance he invented, mainly for close combat and effective in both defense and cohesive attacks.

To survive in the slums, one not only had to know how to fight but also be tactical with it.

"Humph, your attempts are worthless now," Brooks said, slamming his palms together, causing a strong, dense vibration in the air. What followed was a compacted form of air, created by the brutal force of Brooks' colliding palms.

A vertical wind scythe-shaped blade slash, condensed to the point it became glass-like, sliced through the air along with the ground, creating a deep cut on the earth's surface.

Damon, who had instinctively distanced himself from Brooks, quickly became alert to the impending doom. In seconds, the wind slash had already passed the one-meter mark he had distanced himself.

'Oh, fuck, I'm dead. I couldn't dodge that,' Damon thought, panicking. Even with that, he still used all the power in his legs to push himself to the side. His veins bulged as all his blood flowed rapidly to his legs. There was an urge to use void energy, but if he did, the reward for the quest would be lost.

'It might be stupid risking my life for just one quest because the system might give me more. But, if I do so, I can't push myself to get stronger. The system might be helping me in that aspect; however, what is power without a foundation?'

'The human body is such an interesting thing. It adapts to any situation, whether it's a different terrain like the slums or a world overrun with monsters, they still survive. At the same time, they never learn and always implement the same distinctions between themselves. Sometimes I see us as parasites that need to be cleansed from the earth.'

'I am not dying today; if not, being alive this long would have been for nothing. I have my purpose: to seek vengeance, redemption, and, with the system's help, become unstoppable. At least that's something to live for.'

Launching himself in the opposite direction, the wind slash passed by him, slicing his arm in the process from the elbow.

-5hp

Health: 5/10

'Ahh!!' Damon screamed in pain, tumbling face-first to the ground. He subconsciously held his now-severed arm. The pain rushed through his body to his brain, triggering a sense of agony he had never felt before. Blood gushed out, decorating the earth red in a thick liquid.

〘Severed arm, Health will continue decreasing until injury is healed〙

'This isn't good,' Damon thought.

Damon's situation just got a whole lot worse; having a detached limb in a battle placed him at an extremely high handicap, especially with his health decreasing.

'Ahuh! Damn!, what should I do now?' Even with his injury and hemorrhage, Damon still tried to stand on his feet, though faltering multiple times in the process.

"I have to applaud you. Enduring my Wind slash without being cut in half, although, you ended up with an amputated arm," Brooks said, walking nonchalantly towards Damon with arrogant steps.

Machael, on the other hand, was greatly astonished. 'Brooks' Wind slash is a very powerful attack, especially in fury mode when his powers double. I even find it difficult to avoid them, and this puny bastard didn't die with one strike?'

Although Brooks wasn't a wind ability Curseweaver, he could generate enough focus with his palms to create that vertical wind slash.

〘-1hp〙

Damon's balance quivered, feeling a little bewildered from excess hemorrhage. 'Wait a second, the system analyzed Brooks' frailty as, 'light on the feet,' which is quite confusing. Please system, could you explain better before I die here!'

❰ 'Light on the feet', in simple terms, weak knees.❱

Damon felt like face-palming himself, but his right hand was gone. 'You damn thing, you could have initially said so!!'

〘-1〙

Health : 3/10

Well, there was no time to argue; he was losing blood and hp. He had to act fast.

With the little stamina he had, Damon dashed towards Brooks once again, as blood left a straight line while he ran. The amount of blood being lost was large; the spilt blood was already equivalent to an entire liter of blood a human body holds, and Machael was flabbergasted by this.

"You're coming at me once again? You are not very smart, are you? Don't worry; I'll pound it into ya!" Brooks raised both hands high, but it was then Damon arrived and tried to tackle him by slamming his shoulder into Brooks' abdominal area, which was blistering hot due to the aura shrouding him and as hard as rock.

It was then both Brooks' hands came crashing down, ready to slam onto Damon's back and impale him to the earth. However, Damon navigated away, prompting Brooks to slam the earth, scattering it.

'Here it goes'

〘Devourer skill activated〙