*Pat* *Pat* *Pat*
The sound of Acht's footsteps and his rhythmic breathing filled every corner of the tight corridor. His calm aura coupled with his expressionless features made him somehow even more intimidating than the place he was in.
"What could be the next test?" He pondered over the possibilities. Until now, it was all about making him reach his limits in terms of reflexes and composure. He didn't know how they chose these tests but he was sure that there was some pattern in the equation and the closest possible thing is the main skills a hunter should have.
With the two previous tests, he had used many skills but the most important ones were his reflexes and composure. Now, it could be anything else but the choices aren't endless.
As he thought about such things, his eyes landed on what seemed like another room with a big space. When he entered the room, he found it to be extremely similar to the one where he previously fought the kobold chief. It was just a huge space with nothing inside except for what seemed like a pedestal in the middle of the room.
The pedestal had a whiteboard on top of it with some words written on it. He approached the board and read the content of the board.
"'Welcome to the third test. You have 10 levels here. Each level will be harder than the other. With each level you complete, you gain a certain amount of points based on many factors. You can skip one level if you can't beat it. Just say the word skip. But, keep in mind that you could only skip 3 times. Tap on the tablet when you are ready to start." He read the tablet loudly.
The rules seemed simple at first but they didn't explain what kind of things he had to pass.
"There is no point in overthinking it. Let's just start." He tapped the tablet and retreated a few meters.
The tablet started shining with a faint light before it got destroyed and turned into shiny shards that dissipated quickly in the surroundings.
Then, in the place of the pedestal, a huge creature landed from the ceiling roughly on the ground. The sheer size of the creature made its landing akin to an earthquake.
Acht looked at the monster with an impressed look. It seemed to be a golem made out of rock that looked like the one he saw in the training capsules with Scarlett.
This one, however, was way bigger and even more powerful than the one he fought previously.
The creature also had a big hole in its face where a small shiny orb floated silently. It seemed to be the source of its energy.
"Golems? Isn't this way to eas-"
Before he could even end his words, the golem saw Acht and immediately went into action. It lifted its huge arm in the air above it. Instantly, a strong light engulfed its hands. Then, the pebbles scattered around them started vibrating strongly.
Acht looked around him in surprise, the pebbles had started floating from all around him and flying toward the golem. The hundreds of small pebbles quickly accumulated on top of his hand creating a huge boulder.
Then, it made a throwing pose and swung its arm as strong as it could.
*SWISH*
The boulder was then launched like a bullet straight toward Acht.
'Shit.' He cursed as he jumped to the side as fast as he could. The boulder barely missed and struck the wall behind him with a loud impact.
*BOOOOMM*
The strong boulder was destroyed into small pieces that flew everywhere. Acht, who had barely landed on his feet, had to deflect the shards that came at him from everywhere.
But, he couldn't avoid all of them and some scratched his skin as they passed him or even struck him directly.
He wasn't badly injured because of it but he wasn't relieved at all since when he looked at the golem again. It was already preparing the second boulder.
"Oh no, you don't!" He didn't want to let it make another boulder and charged at him with his sword in his right hand.
Then, when he was close enough he jumped and struck its face. The golem didn't seem to be surprised as it used its free hand to fend off Acht.
Acht saw the hand that wanted to hit him so he used it as a support to stand on. Then he ran on it until he reached its face.
Then he struck with his sword at the glowing orb in the middle of its face. The golem was about to put some defense to protect his weak point but it was slow so it wasn't able to do so.
*Dnnnn*
The sword hit the orb and immediately destroyed it into pieces. Losing its only source of power, the golem became stiff and fell down to the ground.
Then, it started breaking down and becoming nothing but small pieces of rock.
Acht sighed quietly and made a fighting pose again. It was because immediately after the first golem died, two other ones fell down from the sky. They were identical to each other and to the first golem so Acht was sure they would start throwing rocks at him if he gave them time to accumulate the pebbles around him.
To stop that, he charged at one of them before it even landed on the ground. He used his gift and made it lose its gravity the moment it touched the ground. The golem fell down on the ground with a loud thud. Acht saw the opportunity and jumped on top of the first golem to finish it off.
The moment his sword was about to crush its stone. The other golem had already made a boulder and threw it at Acht.
"Good." Acht muttered with a small smile. He was intimidating this so he jumped off the golem and left the boulder to hit him directly.
*BOOOMMM*
The loud explosion that happened almost made Acht stumble and fall down. But, he adjusted himself and ran to kill the last golem. He didn't bother to check the other golem since it couldn't survive such a strong attack.
When he was close, the golem tried to retreat and make some distance between them.
'Huh? Is it smarter than the first golem?' He thought to himself as he continued its charge.
He did the same with the first golem and jumped on top of it as it tried to create another boulder. What made these golems easy to deal with when you are close to them is their inability to engage in close combat fights. They seemed to only be able to make boulders and throw them.
*Kling*
Swiftly, Acht was able to kill the second golem quite easily.
He then jumped off it and didn't bother with the two anymore. More and more are about to come and he couldn't afford any mistakes or he will be in a bad situation.
As if responding to his thoughts, 4 golems landed in front of him. They all seemed to be identical just like the case of the other ones. But, one of them was different. Instead of the usual grey color, this one was bright red and its orb was bigger than the others.
"What could that one do?" Acht muttered to himself. He didn't have time to try out or experience, he had to deal with it according to what it would do.
Then, with a fearless look, he engaged in a fight with the golems. It was way harder than the previous round but it was still not that difficult.
When Acht got rid of two, the red one moved. It ran at him like a raging bull, its speed was something that should've been impossible for a creature of that size.
*Boom*
When it reached Acht, it smashed with both of its arms on him. When its arms touched the ground and crushed it like a piece of tofu.
"Don't be that reckless." Acht muttered to the golem as he stood on its shoulder. The creature didn't question how he was able to reach its shoulder and immediately tried to punch him.
Acht jumped again and landed on its fist like a butterfly flying from one flower to another. His moves were extremely simple yet very gracious and elegant.
Then, with his sword in his hand, he threw it at the soul stone. The sword flew and pierced the stone.
*Boom*
In an instant, the creature fell to the ground motionless. Acht didn't stop and immediately ran to his sword to pick it up and continued his sprint to the last golem.
"Hah." He made a small growl and attacked the last golem. He looked like a monster slaughtering its prey.
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