"Boom!!! Booomm!!! Booommm!!!!"
The three remaining Neo-Life tortoise seemed to have come to a communal decision, on how they would deal with the puny ass creature that had destroyed four of them.
A joint attack!!!.
They dashed forward towards Rex, matching their paces as they moved to encircle Rex.
Rex could feel his heartbeats slowly intensifying,
He could feel excitement creeping in,
This was what he was seeking that he had heard no idea of,
A Challenge.
A challenge that bore a semblance of danger.
When he had dispatched the first Neo-life Tortoise; the tension, the high-pace nature of the attacks, the uncertainty of the fight. All these factors had merged, giving birth to a feeling he had never experienced before. A feeling birthed from adrenaline, combat, and the desire for victory. He had attributed this feeling to been borne from the unique nature of the game.
But having dispatched five more of those creatures, employing his new skill, he had not experienced the same feeling; it had felt more mundane, like he was completing a task. Simply putting himself in the best position to deliver a lethal strike with HARDEN.
But now that he could no longer use the skill and was been ganged up on by three Neo-life tortoise, he was getting that euphoric feeling again. It was a desire for a challenge, a craving for an insurmountable challenge, A craving to surpass his obvious capability.
Whack!!!!
Rex's face narrowly avoided a fist headed for his face; with a swift jump, he narrowly avoided a sweep kick aimed for his leg. Still temporarily airborne, another attack was imminent, a fist headed for his abdomen.
Rex's mind was pushed to its limit. With all of his mind focused on trying to conjure up a solution for the impending abdominal strike, the punch seemed to be slowed in his perception.
As Rex's mind raced for a solution to his predicament. His body was reacting instinctively. A kind of subtle guidance.
The punch, his immediate adversary, was also his opportunity.
Bam!
A perfectly timed grab, a grab that, if it had been performed any moment earlier, would have been too early and any moment later would have been too late. With his right hand fingers outstretched, Rex grabbed the fist that was heading towards him, as he maneuvered his center of gravity, employing the momentum of the punch to send his body hurling over the Neo-Life tortoise.
Dumm!!!
Rex landed; his maneuver had gained him a little distance from the Neo-life encirclement. But the peace was brief. Immediately following up with his maneuver, the three Neo-life tortoise were once again dashing towards Rex.
Swoosh!! Swoosh!!! Swooshh!!!!
Their punches and kicks were incessant, with each strike carrying enough force to wipe out at least a fifth of Rex's HP.
But amidst all of this, His health bar was fully intact. None of their attack had been able to touch Rex. It had been incessant, but so also had been Rex's dodge. Several near misses had occurred, similar to the airborne abdomen punch he had survived.
But he had learned.
No more dodges that placed him airborne. His feet were always on the floor in all of his dodges.
He squatted,
he tilted,
he rolled,
he dashed.
This had been his moves, each chosen from split-second analysis, made in between dodges. This had aided him in successfully weaving through the incessant attacks of the three creatures.
But the satisfaction of his actions was missing. He felt a deep lack of satisfaction with his dodges. They lacked grace, his dodges were nothing but an incessant shuffle of steps borne from desperation. All that was needed was a single misplaced step, and his desperate prattle will end.
He could feel a deep dissatisfaction with his weave through the several strikes..
Rex had chosen not to counterattack because of his deep dissatisfaction with his dodges.
Maybe it was his arrogance or his despise for the creatures. He wanted to dominate them entirely. The desperate shuffle of steps and actions he was performing to avoid their attacks. Left an obvious distaste.
This desperate prattle continued for a few mins
And then,
Slowly but incessant, Rex could feel his desperate shuffle of actions gaining some form of order.
"Footwork"
One of the basics of combat. It was among the very first things that was hammered into his head when he began martial arts training. An integral part of combat, needed to deliver powerful punches, maintain balance, and several other stuffs, he often didn't pay attention to his dojo trainer rumble about.
He was very aware of how important good and solid footwork was.
Yes, footwork can aid one in improving their agility and control of combat, but it could be restrictive.
This fact had also been hammered into his head.
Different people had different sizes and battle styles. One needed to integrate the right footwork for one's combat style.
His trainer had made sure to show him most of the common footwork techniques. In hopes of him finding his own path. When he actually begins active combat. His trainer's hope had only been for him to find the footwork that benefits him best and learn to employ it. But right now, with his chaotic dodges and shuffling around. He was slowly weaving into being his very own combat footwork.
Whoosh! Whoosh!! Whoosh!!!
Rex leaned back his chest as a fist shot in the position his head should be, with a deft slide, he narrowly avoided a sweep kick, in-chain with his slide, he dashed few steps forward, as another fist shot past behind his head. His movements were beginning to bear some semblance of grace, it was slowly moving from hyper desperate dodge manuveurs to desperate manuveurs with a hint of control.
As Rex continuously weaved through the attack, falling into a flow with the frenzied attacks of the Neo-Life tortoise, a notification woke him from his reverie.
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Dance of Grace
Dance of Grace: Seed Growth 0.5%
.....Respect Earned...
+30 Authority Points
(Cosmic Citizen 30/50)