ACT 4 The Phantom Hourglass

Kuaaaa!

The nails of the Mould Zombies aimed at his neck.The deeply rotted nails gave off a bad stench!Ark reflexively dodged the Mould Zombies attack.He avoided the nail, turned his body and kicked. The Mould Zombies ran into the wall and stumbled.After combining Sword Mastery with kicks, his movement skills had increased by leaps and bounds.The Mould Zombie that was hit stiffened and became Stunned. Even if skills that contained mana were blocked, he had used Eyes of the Cat beforehand to find the weakness of the Mould Zombies to cause the Stunned state.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwak!

He swung his sword like a rapid fire gun and pierced through the Mould Zombies. Black blood dripped from the holes in the zombie as it stumbled.

Master, the next fellows are coming!

Then he heard Racards voice from behind him.He turned his head and saw 5 Mould Zombies running.

Razak!

When Ark raised his voice, Razak who had been taking care of other zombies came running. He raised his shield and pushed two Mould Zombies.Meanwhile, Ark ran up to the remaining three and used sidekicks. The Mould Zombies who had been kicked flew back several metres and slammed into the wall. However, the zombies just opened their mouths after landing and ran after him again.

The saliva!

The Mould Zombies in the dungeon werent that high level.The difference with the swamp zombies was that the cave ones had poisonous saliva. The Mould Zombies spat their saliva and Ark rotated on the axis of his left food, and did a 360 degree spin kick.The jaws of the zombies snapped shut as the saliva gushed out from the side. That wasnt all. The neck of the Mould Zombies rotated after being kicked. The zombies couldnt grasp the direction because their heads were on backwards and wandered around crashing into walls.

Its a lot easier now that my body is moving comfortably.

Ark laughed as he looked at the Mould Zombies wandering around with their heads backwards.It was incomparable to Arks movement a few days ago.The conversion of sword and kicks increased his reaction rate He could feel the difference in his body after his physical ability rose.But the outcome of the training wasnt simply his performance.Over the past few days, Ark ad sealed his skills and only trained in his physical abilities. It was all because he wanted to defeat the dungeon. However, his training ended up different from his original intent and brought an unexpected result.

I never even considered it. The issues of only relying on skill-based battles.

Skill based combat was straightforward and convenient.It was unnecessary to explain.If he used his skills then he could dispose of the Mould Zombies in less than a minute. However, using generals would only take 3 minutes or 2 is he dealt a lot of critical hits.The battles were longer so of course he lost more health and it took a lot more time to restore it.Thats why Ark had mainly been using skill based combat.However, he had forgotten one thing while focusing on the speed of using skills.

Arks primary attack skill was Sword-Hand combat.Since he mainly used skills, his Sword-Hand combat was unable to increase in proficiency. And Arks Sword-Hand combat was advanced. If he didnt reach any special enlightenment in the related skill then it was impossible to increase beyond advanced. But that changed after he started to use Sword-Hand combat in battle again. Although he initially faced 3~4, he was eventually able to face 6~7 opponents. If he faced more than 10, his life was really in the balance. But even if he was in a critical condition, Ark never used any skills. Even if he died, he wouldnt use skills. If he was in a crisis then he would quickly escape. This was the training he decided on. Practicing martial arts was a hundred times better than skills. This werent techniques that could be easily learnt. In the midst of a crisis, he used martial arts techniques.

Japans legendary swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi was the originator of modern kendo that was based on a three stage level. Modern kendo had 9 stages of qualification but they wouldnt be a match against Musashi. The reason was clear. Modern students practiced in a safe environment and was no match against someone who polished their skills risking their lives. The explanation was slightly redundant, once Ark made a decision he decided to carry it through. If he wasnt positive about it than nothing would be done! That was Arks philosophy. Even if Ark was facing a huge mountain, he stuck to his resolution of only using his sword and kicks. After fighting at the Evil Silrion, his Sword-Hand combat had been stuck at 500 but it finally broke through.

-The proficiency of Sword-Hand combat has risen after a lot of experience.

Sword-Hand Combat (Master, Passive 503/1000): You have become a Master in Sword-Hand combat.

You have completely understood the special qualities of the sword and you are able to draw out its performance by 100%. You have received additional damage when using a sword or knuckle, and your evasion and critical hit has risen considerably. In addition, there is a 20% chance of fully understanding the attributes of the sword.

<Overall combat ability increases by 50%. The effect of Sword-Hand combat means that wearing a shield will become a baggage. When using kicks,the probability of causing a random state to a small monster is 10%, a medium sized monster 8%and a large monster 5%. When a difficult technique succeeds, the probability of causing an abnormal state will also increase>

* Master additional effect (Deferred Strike: There is a 20% to deal double damage with one strike. The second damage will only have 50% of your base damage.