Ivan's recent attack seemed to take on toll on his energy. He felt tired and his head ached. He descended on the side walk of a street. He sat down on the street floor and took two deep breathes.
'Why am I tired?'
"Weak fighter! You exhibit tremendous power but yet you are weak! I will give you the honor to battle me," A voice yelled from a close distance.
Accompanying the speaker were heavy slow footsteps.
>>>
You have received a challenge.
Defeat (kill) your challenger.
Reward: 500 exp.
Reward (2): x2 green mana rocks.
Ivan paused and read the information on the information bar that popped up in his vision. The moment he decided to sit on the street, his danger instincts warned him of a threat in the vicinity. But he didn't wander to find what out what the threat was because he felt exhausted in body and mind.
Ivan looked over at the direction of the voice. He saw a 10 foot tall Und casually approaching. From the manner in which the Und carried itself, Ivan correctly guessed that the Und was a special character.
The Und who approached walked in a bipedal manner (it was walking on its four legs). It's lower pair of arms cradled an exaggerated rifle in its hands while each hand of the upper pair of arms held a switchaxe.
"What in the world of man!" Ivan blurted out.
Ivan felt fear now he was felt tired. His entire being wanted to relax. Part of him wanted to abandon the challenge and flee to somewhere safe. He overcame his urge to flee and sharply stood up. He held the hilt of the sword, pointing the tip of the blade at his alien opponent.
"Vile being from the cosmos, flee now or meet your demise," Ivan proclaimed with confidence.
"Such arrogance. You have made me like you. I will make your death quick for you," the Und in the distance roared.
The Und burst into a sprint, charging at Ivan.
"The river has receeded and your power has diminished. Finish off this opponent before you will become weaker," a deep voice said to Ivan.
From the corner of his left eye, he saw the Merlin_13's phantom appear before vanishing.
'The river is the source of my strength?' Ivan looked at the river water that submerged the center of the street.
It was at this moment that he noticed that the river had indeed receded and was now ankle height deep.
Flying sword!
Ivan charged at the incoming Und, flying on Black Riot. The moment when the gap between the fighters zeroed out, Ivan grabbed his sword and slashed down. The Und crossed their switch-axes together, parrying the attack away. They quickly countered, raising its rifle's muzzle to aim for Ivan's abdomen and they pulled the trigger, letting out a barrage of bullets.
Sword Projection!
Ivan cast his defense skill and blocked the bullets from hitting him. Ivan flew away from his opponent, putting some distance between them. He stood on an area in the street to catch his breathe.
'I wanted to cast One Thousand Sword Lights, but I almost fainted, why?' Ivan mused.
His intention was to get close to the Und and finish it off with one move. But as he tried to cast the powerful skill, he felt hypoxic and almost fainted. He could only attack with a strong sword slash.
The Und had an amused smile on their face, seeing their opponent back away from them. The Und was surprised to hear multiple sounds of metal falling into water on the street. Their upper right hand felt lighter. The Und looked at the switch-axe in their right hand and discovered that the blades had cracked and fallen to pieces. They lost the smile on their face.
Ivan lifted his chin in mockery. His action enraged his opponent.
"I see you pack more punch that I expect," the Und snared. "Let's get serious."
The Und aimed their rifle at Ivan. Ivan quickly put up a Sword projection before his opponent let loose a barrage of bullets. The Und slowly approached Ivan because the recoil of their weapon was strong. The alien's aim was reckless. Sometimes, it hit Ivan's shield, other times it hit other things on the street. Ivan was worried about the consequences of the alien's stray bullets.
Flying Sword!
Ivan dashed towards the alien while he maintained the Sword projection. He intended to slam himself into the alien hence upsetting their balance. The alien side stepped Ivan's attack which meant that Ivan's back was open to them for an attack.
Sword Light!
A sword light flashed and the alien's rifle was cut into two unequal halves. Ivan crashed into the street, the water on the street offered little to no cushion to his fall.
Ivan recovered from his fall sparing no opening for his opponent to attack. The alien stood in shock, looking at their severed weapon.
'I have lost two weapons in a matter of minutes to a puny human. A human who doesn't seemed stronger than D-rank,' the Und recounted their loss.
The Und raised its gaze to Ivan, "Human, you took from me what took me years of laboring to get. You will pay for this."
In Ivan's vision, the Und seemed to have blinked over his position. The Und moved so fast that he couldn't track its attack. His danger premonition told him to move left and he did, dodging an axe blade that cleaved down and lodged itself into the ground. He caught the scent of the alien but the instant he did, he received a blow to the head. The assault launched him a few meteres away and he crashed into a building, slamming through a window.
Roar! Ivan heard the alien's loud rushing sprint-steps. He instinctively punched forward, with a sword projection leading his fist. The crashing wall and the alien's bulldozing attack met the resistance of the sword projection.
Ten Sword Lights!
Two sword lights flashed and cut the alien into ten lumps of meat.