Fighting was never supposed to be fun. The awakening state had made it feel too much like a game. There was next to no pain, fatigue was slow, and wounds were reduced to a floating notification rectangle. And still the more rectangles piled up, the more scared Dallion became. He always knew that the chief wasn’t only for show—being able to keep every other awakened in check took some doing, however, even he didn’t think things would be this bad.

The village chief’s skills were a match for Dallions’. In addition, he also had Gloria’s level of acrobatics, and a variety of ways to combine them. Mixing acrobatics with swordsmanship was impressive enough. Adding buckler moves was astonishing.

Spin attacks, defense push jumps, corkscrew slashes… Dallion had to defend against each of them, and not always successfully. When the amount of health reduced reached fifty, he started thinking of alternatives.

Escape was obviously out of the question, however running away in the realm itself was the only option. Deflecting the latest series of attacks, Dallion shot too bolts at the village chief, then dashed away through the fields. The new body level had done wonders on his speed, but just to be on the safe side, the boy took a few more shouts over his shoulder.

Don’t look back, he told himself. Looking back was only going to slow him down; he had other senses to rely on that. From what he could make out, Aspion was way back, not engaging in the chase.

That, in itself, was both strange and alarming. If Dallion was in the chief’s place, he’d take full advantage of the momentum swooping down after him like a hawk. Either that, or send the earth golem. Why hadn’t he, though? Come to think of it, the golem had been a silent observer this entire time. Dallion was pretty convinced that the chief was telling the truth about him being in control of the realm—as well as its guardian. It shouldn’t have been an issue for the old man to bark a few orders and have this whole fight over with. After all, he himself had said that there was nothing fair in war. If provided with such an overwhelming advantage, why wasn’t he using it?

You can’t use it, can you? Dallion thought. Rather, the chief couldn’t use the guardian against its will. Most likely he could use it to put up a show, or even for defense, but the guardian had a mind of its own and had decided not to take part in all of this. However, that didn’t mean Dallion couldn’t.

“Feeling tired, old man?” Dallion shouted, changing direction towards the lake. “Better not strain yourself. Would be embarrassing to pull out your back at your age.”

A series of distant footsteps suggested that the village chief had taken the bait and was chasing after him. For someone who spent a lifetime provoking people into making bad decisions, he was surprisingly thin skinned.

If only Dallion had acrobatic skills, he could have jumped and fired a few bolts at his pursuer matrix style. On the positive side, at least the village chief hadn’t watched those movies, or Dallion would have been in serious trouble.

“Running won’t save you,” Aspion shouted from behind. “No matter where you go, I can tell where you’re hiding.”

“I’m not trying to hide! I just want to see how good you are at swimming,” Dallion bluffed. He could only hope that the chief didn’t know about his fear of water. “If I swim across the lake, will you be able to catch me then?”

Dallion slowed down slightly, then turned around and took a few more shots. The bolts were easily evaded, but it was a relief to know that the old man wasn’t particularly fast. If anything, he was only pretty much at the level Dallion had been when joining the hunting party. That was interesting. For someone who ridiculed perception and mind as useless skills, the chief certainly hadn’t invested a lot in body.

By rough estimations, the lake was about fifteen minutes away—too far to run in one go. The better solution was to—

A wall of green appeared around Dallion. Faced with this, he instinctively jumped back, protecting his upper torso with the buckler while also shooting a bolt. The green disappeared just as the village chief appeared in the air, less than a few feet away. The sneaky old man had just taken advantage of the previous two bolts to make use of the guard skill bonus jump. He had also added something new.

The sword clashed against Dallion buckler, shoving him to the ground. A series of other strikes followed. This time it was Dallion’s turn to evade. It was pure luck that he was able to complete a full sequence, allowing him to jump away to safety.

“Not bad.” The chief smiled. “A pity your grandfather couldn’t see you now. Or maybe it’s better this way. He would have been so disappointed with how things turned out.”

“You’re one to talk.” Dallion was breathing heavily. Even with a body level of five, fatigue had started to creep in. “Seems to me like you’re projecting.”

“You know nothing! You’re just like all the rest once they awaken! You get a bit of power and think everything is possible. I’m here to show you that it isn’t!”

The village chief removed the buckler from his arm. The shield burst into dust and disappeared. An archway appeared behind him. There was no mystery about what had happened—the chief linked to his own room. The unusual part came later as a new buckler appeared, this one with a sharp serrated edge. That wasn’t good. Dallion’s own buckler had done considerable damage when used in battle. An improved version was likely to finish him in three hits or less.

I should try shooting his right foot again, Dallion considered frantically. Or maybe go for the left shoulder?

Either was an option, either seemed futile. Still, it was better than nothing. Before a second had passed, Dallion raised his dartbow and sent out a bolt.

CRITICAL SHOT

Weak spot found!

Dealt damage was increased by 150%

Dallion blinked. The village chief had raised his shield to protect his shoulder, while the bolt had hit his foot. Apparently, he was vulnerable, after all.