Gravel

"ROAAAAR!" The rock golem bellowed at Ethan. It didn't have any facial features, yet Ethan could feel its hostility permeating the air. Thud....Thud....Thud. Its feet pounded on the floor as it lumbered towards him. Slam! Its fist pounded into into the floor.

Ethan jumped back as he dodged its fist. Rock golems weren't tough opponents. Of course, for an ordinary G-5 awakener, taking down a rock golem was difficult. But Ethan had honed his skills for the past three months. He had fought against countless monsters in the Tower. Taking care of this one wouldn't be that tough.

Ethan jumped into the air. Clang! His dagger collided against its chest. "ROAAAAAR!" It swung its fist towards him. He jumped back. He'd forgotten to infuse his weapon with mana! Without mana, his weapon was no better than an ordinary knife. He pounced towards the golem again.

Ethan held his dagger forwards. Stab! He pierced the golem's chest. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! It lumbered around, reeling from the attack. Ethan pulled out his knife. Crash! The golem fell onto the floor. The boulders fell apart to reveal a broken core.

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[Points: 171]

Unlocked:

[Kill 1 Clay Golem(s) (23)] - 1 point(s)

[Kill 10 Clay Golem(s) (69)] - 5 point(s)

[Kill 1 Pebble Golem(s) (58)] - 10 point(s)

[Kill 10 Pebble Golem(s) (48)] - 50 point(s)

[Kill 1 Rock Golem(s) (39)] - 100 point(s)

[Kill 10 Rock Golem(s) (30)] - 500 point(s)

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Ethan smiled. He'd been the first one to kill a rock golem. But the cost he had to pay was too great. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! He could hear the monsters in the distance. They had heard the noise made by Ethan's scuffle earlier. "ROAAAAR! ROAAAAR! ROAAAAR!" He could hear them screaming in the distance. Yep. They knew he was here.

Ethan had to admit- he was a fucking idiot. If he wasn't mauled to death by these golems, he'd fall down from exhaustion from fighting endlessly. He smiled wryly. He had already done the deed. Now he would have to feel the consequences.

Ethan felt the grooves of his dagger's hilt against his fingers. He basked in the familiar sensation as he gripped his dagger strongly. Thud....thud....thud....thud. Three golems appeared in front of him. He jumped forward. Stab! He acted quickly and stabbed precisely. Thud! A rock golem fell down.

"ROAAAAR!" The rock golems bellowed in anger. Slam! Ethan was flung backwards as a heavy arm crashed into his chest. "Ooof!" He fell onto the soft ground. The damn golem had struck him where the white haired young master had slashed him. He groaned in pain.

Ethan clenched his dagger. "Fuck off!" He didn't know whether he was speaking to the young master, the golem or both of them. He got onto his feet. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The golems lumbered towards him. He clenched his teeth.

"ROAAAR!" Ethan could hear roars in the distance. More golems were coming. Stab! He ducked underneath a swing, cleaving a limb off a golem. It fell down into Ethan's dagger. Crack! It stopped moving. Ethan puled out his knife. He grabbed the two cores as he darted away from the last golem.

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[Points: 371]

Unlocked:

[Kill 1 Clay Golem(s) (23)] - 1 point(s)

[Kill 10 Clay Golem(s) (64)] - 5 point(s)

[Kill 1 Pebble Golem(s) (55)] - 10 point(s)

[Kill 10 Pebble Golem(s) (48)] - 50 point(s)

[Kill 1 Rock Golem(s) (36)] - 100 point(s)

[Kill 10 Rock Golem(s) (30)] - 500 point(s)

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BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Ethan almost walked right into a rock golem. "Damn it!" He turned around, trying to get away. BOOM! BOOM! More rock golems lumbered towards him. He skidded to a stop. He was surrounded.

There were rock golems everywhere he looked. Ethan took a deep breath. This was the terror of the moat. It was a natural 'dead zone' - an area where no gatekeeper would wander. Dead zones were places where an abundance of monsters rendered an area impassible. The keyword here was 'abundance'.

The sheer amount of monsters would overwhelm gatekeepers, leaving no room for escape. Ethan was crazy if he thought he could escape this place unscathed. BOOM....BOOM....BOOM. He could her the rock golems around him. It was like a sea of monsters. Wherever he looked, he could see the golems extending as far as he could see.

ROAAAAR....BOOM....BOOM....ROAAAAR. Ethan was surrounded. He took a deep breath. It was time. He had to use his skill. The pathetic skill he had bought with his measly amount of credits. He extended his left palm outwards.

Skills were pathways established in the body. Learning a skill meant that the flow of mana in your body would be altered in a certain way, essentially changing an awakener's constitution. This was the greatest flaw and strength of skills.

All skills could be improved and incorporated into one's individuality. Progressing a skill to the next rank was a matter of improving and changing the pathway, unlocking new, related abilities. However, learning a lot of skills was a bad idea. The various pathways of mana would conflict with each other, making improving a skill difficult and even hampering the efficiency of other skills.

If an awakener's body was like a sheet of paper, skills were like random strokes of a pen- the more strokes there were, the more difficult it would be to convert the strokes into a drawing. Of course, this analogy wasn't nearly as complex as skill pathways.

Ethan had learnt a terrible skill. Mana coalesced on his outstretched palm, taking the shape of a dagger. His watch lit up.

[Skill: Mirror Blade(G)]

Ethan's magic trump card was- duplicating his weapon. Yep. It was horrible. It was the only skill he could afford to learn. He clenched the blade in his left palm. He wasn't used to fighting with his left hand. When he'd learnt the skill, he didn't have time to change his battle style to a dual-wielding format. But time wasn't the major problem.

This skill ate up a lot of mana. All skills were heavy on mana. Of course, this meant that Mage type awakeners possessed an advantage in this regard. The skills Physical type awakeners learnt were mostly low mana skills that complemented their battle style. But Ethan couldn't find a good skill that suited him.

He steeled his resolve. Complaining now wouldn't do him good. BOOM...BOOM...BOOM. The golems surged closer to him. He closed his eyes. The golems could strike him from behind. Fighting them head on wasn't an option.

Ethan outstretched his arms, holding both of his knives facing outwards. He could feel the hilt on his sweaty fingers. The mana dagger felt light, like it had no substance. Well, technically it didn't. "ROAAAAR!" The golems prepared to attack.

Ethan took a deep breath. Wherever he attacked, his back would be exposed. The golems would gang up on him. So he'd have to take them out in one blow. He channeled mana into his legs. BOOM...BOOM...BOOM. He opened his eyes. They were glowing. His blue eyes started glowing, like a predator staring at his prey.

A single word escaped from his mouth. "Whirlwind." Whoosh! Ethan started spinning. His legs turned his body as he rotated on the firm ground. WHOOOSH! A large gust of wind was kicked up. The sheer force of his blades slicing cleaved the air. Crash! Crash! Crash! His blade pierced through the chests of five rock golems at once. CRACK! Five large voices echoed, resonating with each other.

The golems fell to the floor as their cores spilled out. Ethan didn't stop spinning, breaking apart the next round of golems. WHOOOSH! It sounded like the grim reaper was swinging its scythe, bringing death upon so many creatures. Crack! The golems fell down once again, giving up their lives easily.

Ethan slowed down. His mana blade faded away. Sweat glistened on his forehead. Huff...huff...huff. He stared at the wreckage in front of him. Whirlwind was a powerful move, devastating the monsters near him. It was a crowd control move that he had come up with. He rested on his knees as he looked at the wreckage.

The rock golems were dead. They had immediately dies, leaving their cores for Ethan to loot. All that remained of their boulders was gravel. Ethan ran his fingers against the broken rock. "ROAAAAR!" Another round of voices bellowed, making their way towards him. Ethan smiled. He could take them on. His empty palm shimmered blue.

Ethan prepared himself for the massacre that was about to occur. Rock golems? They wouldn't even be pebbles when he was done with them. All that would be left of them was gravel.