While he didn't need both hands to hold Flamberge, Jake put his shield away to obtain some extra power by using both arms to attack. It was quite the bold plan considering that six frozen grizzlies were running toward him. Neverthless, it was the kind of plan that made his blood boil in excitement, so it was only natural that he would do such a thing.
When the first approached, Jake used all his might to use his sword and split the head of the monster; Naturally, the beast used both arms to block the attack. However, Jake's sword pierced the monster's flesh up to the halfway point. The beast lost the battle of strength, and then Jake took another second to move his sword and thurst it on the head of the creature after spinning in order to increase his power.
Unfortunately, he didn't have time to celebrate since another grizzly reached him and tried to rip his head with its claws. Jake immediately blocked the attack with his sword. However, the attack still made him fly in the opposite direction for thirty meters. Despite the pain in his arms, Jake welcomed that because he gained some distance from the beasts.
When Jake saw the monster running and raising the snow around, he had the same idea as usual, to make the enemy lose sight of him for a second. So, when they were five meters away, he hit the ground with his sword while using Explosive Touch. The snow quickly turned into steam, and the beasts began to collide against each other. Their grunts of pain made the sound of Jake's attacks almost inaudible. The steam quickly moved away, but Jake had already killed two of the grizzlies by beheading them when that happened.
The remaining three tried to surround Jake and use a barrage of Ice Arrows to kill him. Still, they didn't imagine that he was just going to jump toward them, ignoring the damage that he was receiving, only to get close to the enemy and give them the chance to smash him. One of the beasts tried to smash him with both of its claws, but Jake just jumped to dodge the attack and then landed on the arms of the monster. With a single step, he got close enough to swing Flameber with all his might and cut off the head of the beast.
The remaining monsters attacked him from the side, and Jake only had time to thrust his sword toward one of them and kick one. In the end, he kicked the claws of one of the Frozen Grizzlies and made his sword pierce the hand of the other. After jumping in the air and spinning once toward the enemy, Jake landed behind one of the creatures and then swung his sword horizontally and cut off the head of that monster as well.
Blood gushed from the wind, and for a moment, it looked like blood was raining in the area. The remaining monster was smart enough not to know what to do since it knew that winning was impossible against Jake. The creature began to move away from him, but then Jake threw his sword at the enemy, and when the creature grabbed it, Jake charged and kicked it with all his might the hilt of the weapon, making it pass through the hands of the beast and even pierce its head.
Congratulations! The class Gladiator has leveled up.
Congratulations! The class Swordsman has leveled up.
Congratulations! The class Knight has leveled up.
…
"I guess the idea worked… I just need to deal with the pain," Jake thought while he was checking the places he got hit.
He didn't get hit directly even once, but Jake's health had dropped to forty percent after just two attacks and physical defense was supposed to be one of his strengths. Nevertheless, at least the fighting time decreased by half, even though he fought against two times more enemies.
"... Maybe those can be better than my shurikens," Jake thought while he was taking the claws from the monster's bodies. "The shape makes them a great projectile."
The Frozen Grizzlies had three claws in each paw, and since they were on the size of knives, they truly could be used like that. The only downside was that they didn't have a handle, so Jake would have to improve his technique and not make them spin while they flew toward the enemies. That will make them lose some piercing power…
Jake did some tests by targetting some trees, and he confirmed that they could be used quite well when he used Concentrated Strike, so it would be excellent when he needs to take someone or something by surprise.
"Ah… There is a problem," Jake thought. "I don't want to copy Guts. That would be a disgrace for such an awesome character."
Not using the claws would be a pity as well, so Jake thought of another solution to the problem. He created a larger three-pointed star shuriken using three claws and his flames of Wrath. Now Jake finally solved all the problems… The projectile needed some polishing, but it wasn't half bad for a first attempt. Besides…
Congratulations! The skill Blacksmithing has leveled up.
Three-Pointed Star Shuriken
Speed + 05, Luck + 05
Durability: 15/15
"Not bad… Not bad at all," Jake thought. "Finally, I made an item that the system recognizes."
Without wasting time, Jake began to work on the next shurikens, he lost the notion of time, and he couldn't recall the last time that such a thing happened while he wasn't fighting… Creating things was also quite fun. Or maybe Jake was enjoying that because he was making his own weapons… it was hard to say. When it comes to most things, he was pretty stubborn, but he liked the freedom of having many possibilities on the path ahead of him.
Regardless, after he had some copies of that weapon, Jake decided to put them to good use…
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