Luxen Forest

<Author's 10 Thoughts: This is an extra chapter for reaching more than Power Stones this week. Thank you, LeonidasCSNeto, hiatusy, V_S242005, Alexis_Adams and Higime142! Really appreciate your support!> 

Whooosh!

Whooosh!

Vivian made a few swings with her poleaxe.

"How do I fight with this?"

Whooosh!

She made a thrusting attack.

"Seems very limited..."

Whooosh!

Chud!

She jumped and swung the weapon down, hitting the ground a few inches below.

"Well, at least I have a longer range and have more masteries to train."

"Okay, I'll postpone [Throw Mastery] and focus on [Axe], [Hammer] and [Spear Mastery]."

She slowly jogged and then finally burst out running.

In just a few steps, she encountered 2 sunflower monsters.

They noticed her and immediately charged.

Vivian stopped and waited for them.

'I wonder if they'll die if I do that…'

One entered her attack range.

Poke.

She poked the monster on the head with the spear blade on her poleaxe.

But instead of stopping, the monster continued trying to move forward.

"Useless."

Whoosh!

She whipped her poleaxe to the left, tearing its flower head open and leaving the top half dangling.

However, it was still charging.

"Very persistent, huh."

Meanwhile, the other sunflower monster was already about 4ft away.

Vivian raised her poleaxe up and aimed with the axe.

Whooosh!

Chud!

She swung down, cutting the monster in half and the blade of her axe penetrated a few inches on the ground.

Vivian felt no resistance at all that it felt like she was cutting paper.

Psssh…

The remaining sunflower monster got close and only managed to let out a weak orange gas attack due to its injury but missed because Vivian pulled her weapon and stepped away just in time.

Vivian swung her poleaxe from the back in order to swing it like a baseball bat.

Thud!

The hammer of the poleaxe hit a tree behind her, causing her to change focus and lose her bearing for a split second before quickly recomposing herself.

Whoosh!

She swung her weapon and cut the monster in half with the blade of her axe.

After dispatching the monster, she looked at her weapon and a dark expression appeared on her face.

"This weapon is ugly!"

She massaged her temples.

"Ugh…!"

She stopped massaging her temples and stared at the weapon once again.

"Well, no use in crying over spilled milk…"

"Just have to endure this useless weapon for now…"

She resumed running around to search for more enemies.

After a couple of steps, she saw a group of tiny jumping mushrooms.

She stopped but they already noticed her and charged.

Vivian thought about what she should do.

'Thrusting is out of the question…'

'And if I use the hammer, swinging to the side will only throw them away while smashing them will only hit one…'

'My only choice is the axe…'

The tiny jumping mushrooms entered her attack range.

Whooosh!

She swung her poleaxe like a scythe and sliced 3 mushrooms.

Whooosh!

She twisted her weapon and swung once again, killing 2 mushrooms this time.

Whooosh!

She continued the second swinging motion and turned her whole body around to deliver another swing. But this time around, she only managed to slice 1 mushroom.

Meanwhile, the remaining mushrooms got closer.

Poink!

Poink!

They jumped and hit her with their head.

One hit her chest which was covered in leather armor, while the other hit her arm which was covered with her newly bought black, fitting and stretchable long-sleeve.

Pah!

She kicked one mushroom away before jumping a couple of feet away.

Tch!

She clicked her tongue.

'Even with my increased agility, the time it takes for me to make one swing takes too much time…'

'And once the enemy got close, this weapon becomes useless…!'

Whoosh!

She swung her poleaxe and sliced 2 mushrooms.

There were only 3 mushrooms left.

She activated her skills.

[Power Leg].

A mushroom' got its body shredded into tiny pieces, leaving only a handful of shreds on the ground.

[Power Fist].

Another mushroom that was jumping in mid-air also suffered the same fate, leaving a handful of shreds in the air.

Bam!

And the last one she stomped to death.

Vivian glanced at her weapon.

'I'm really not liking this…'

'Not only does it look ugly, but it also takes time to swing and is useless in close range…'

Braaak!

She swung her poleaxe and destroyed a tree that was as thick as an adult's arm using the hammer.

'On top of that, there's also the issue of the terrain…'

'I have to be mindful in jumping or taking a step back in order to create some distance in case I don't want to use skills…' 

She shook her head and chuckled.

"At least now I know I don't like spears or weapons like this…"

"Looks like I'm going to struggle level uping [Spear Mastery]…"

She burst out into a run to search for more enemies.

***

Beak!

Beak!

Vivian stopped and turned to the direction of where the sound was coming from.

When she spotted the Bukaroo, she didn't charge and instead waited for it to come.

Rawr!

All of a sudden, a fox came out jumping from the bushes.

Whooosh!

With Vivian's increased Agility and Intelligence, when her mind went overdrive, the world appeared to move slowly.

She took a step back and swung her poleaxe using the blade axe, cutting the animal into two pieces in mid-air before returning her gaze back to the bird.

The bird was already a few inches close to her attack range.

Whooosh!

She twisted her weapon and delivered an upward diagonal swing, cutting the bird in half in mid-air as well.

Pah!

She slapped her forehead.

"Stupid!"

"Why didn't I poke it?!"

"Seriously, this weapon is confusing!"

"There's the axe! There's the spear! There's the hammer!"

"My God!"

"Really confusing!"

"And yet it can't even do anything about close range!"

"Very useless!"

She let out a sigh.

'I wonder if I can change this weapon…'

She thought about the bardiche.

'I really should've chosen that weapon…'

'At least that weapon looked way cooler than this…'

'Whoever thought about this weapon had no sense of aesthetics…!'

She burst out into a run once again.

***

Vivian's lips curled up into a smile and didn't stop running.

Up ahead there was a Treebark.

Once she got to a couple of feet away from the monster, she jumped up in the air and raised her weapon above her shoulders.

When the monster finally noticed her, Vivian was already on a downward trajectory with the hammer of her weapon pointing at it.

BRAAAK!

Thud!

The monster's body shattered into pieces like a vase when the hammer it and then made a thumping noise when it hit the ground. 

Vivian inspected her weapon.

"Well, at least it's fun smashing things…"

"But I think it would be much fun if the hammer was bigger…"

Although her poleaxe was 6ft long, the hammer was only as large as a 10-year-old's fist. And as for the rest of its heads, the blade of the axe was only about 5 inches long, while the blade of the spear was only 4 inches long.

"I really want to go back and buy another weapon…"

"Either that bardiche or a giant hammer…"

Whooosh!

Whooosh!

Vivian did a double-spinning attack, holding the end of the poleaxe with one hand and turning her whole body around.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Chud!

She did a triple-spinning attack with the last one where she jumped and delivered a downward strike, hitting the ground.

"Was that too much or too flashy?"

"I also feel like I'm too open for range attacks or any surprise attack, especially at the last attack…"

"Unless of course if I have a full-plate armor…"

She pulled back her weapon and rested it on her shoulder.

'I definitely have to win that Ranking Match…'

An image of Marie looming over her and holding a blade of a sword against her neck flashed inside her head.

'I'm going to kill that bitch...!'

She burst out into a run to search for more enemies.