Ultimate Level 1

Chapter 308

Sheemena didn’t charge forward like all the other opponents had.

Like Max she stood there, legs bent and ready as each waited to see who would move first and what openings might come.

The crowd still roared with excitement, but it was muted. The shield cut down on the noise, and the two of them slowly started to circle one another, twenty yards between them being nothing more than a single step.

“Do you want to die fast or slow?”

A snarl came from Sheemena, her fangs showing as her lips pulled away.

“I will skin you and make a rug from your smooth hide!” she shouted, still not moving forward. “Do you think so highly of yourself?! You are nothing!”

Max stopped moving. When he did, his opponent froze, bending lower and holding the circular shield before her chest, sword ready to defend or attack.

Driving his staff into the ground, Max smirked and grabbed his robe with both hands.

Underneath it was no armor. Just his tanned flesh, darker than usual from the amount of sun he had experienced in the desert.

Strapped across his chest were two belts, dozens of small daggers wedged into tiny sheaths.

A confused look came upon Sheemena’s face as she watched Max.

He looked defenseless, but she knew he had skills. She had seen his fights before and been told by many what he had done.

Speculation about all that he could do ran wild, but there was never a mention that he could control sand or stone.

The weapons she saw looked different from all the others. They were not dark black. Instead, they were clear.

“Truth be told,” Max said as he yanked on each of the leather belts with a hand, the pieces separating from a seam upon his shoulders. “I’ve always wanted a lion fur rug.”

Sheemena didn’t wait.

Flashing green, she dashed forward, weapon flashing red, aiming for Max, who was standing behind his staff.

Whatever skill Sheemena activated was cut short as the staff she ran into didn’t budge.

A thud sounded from the impact of her shield and the staff.

Max had backed up just a few steps, out of reach of her sword that swung and wiffed badly.

He watched as she staggered backward, eyes blinking rapidly.

“Let’s begin this lesson,” Max growled, tossing the belts into the air.

Twenty-four daggers flew from the leather prisons, each one sparkling clear in the air, except for a stone that was set in the middle of the blade, perfectly placed so that they were still balanced and able to be controlled.

Ever since the first one was made, Max worked on finding a way to make one he could control, and his weapon skill lent him the knowledge he needed.

Sheemena backed up, shield held slightly higher as her eyes tracked the blades that began to fan out, surrounding her.

Two different circles formed, each one with twelve daggers that rotated in opposite directions.

Her head snapped in each direction, yellow eyes landing on Max, who stood behind his staff that was still stuck in the sand.

He laughed as the lionkin spotted the truth about his staff.

The impact of her charge had knocked the sand he had placed it upon away.

It had not been buried. Even now his staff was floating slightly above the dark sand.

“Wood? Stone? How?!”

Her questions didn’t matter because Max was ready to demonstrate what he could do.

He could feel the eyes of every creature in the stands. Each one was locked on him, and he figured not a single one cared about Sheemena.

Even better was the sensation of knowing Igarra had a front row seat to him displaying yet another power none could fathom or believe he had.

“Lesson one,” Max shouted. “Never touch one of my friends!”

The daggers moved, coming in like a swarm of bees from every angle and height.

Sheemena’s body flashed green, and while she managed to stop a large number of the daggers, even managing to break five of them, she lost the fight in an instant as nine blades slid into the different parts of her body from behind.

Each calf, and hamstring found a six-inch blade buried inside, cutting through the metal with ease.

Her lower back, shoulders, and triceps found the same fate as each felt the sting of his new weapons pierce her defenses.

She roared with pain, and this time Max didn’t doubt for a moment that she had used an Intimidation skill as waves of pressure assaulted him.

Trying to move toward him as she yelled, Sheemena watched as the wooden staff cut her off, pinning her against the stone blades and the staff.

“Let me show you how it really sounds,” Max called out.

[ Intimidation ]

Her eyes seemed to go dull for a moment as his shout washed over her, and without waiting for a response, Max drove his staff harder, the long edge sliding under the shield and weapon that had blocked it, pressing against her waist.

Pinched between all these things, Max sent the rest of his daggers into her, sticking in from the front side, making sure each limb and the torso had one inside.

Then, like an arrow, she launched upward from the arena floor until she slammed into the shield above.

Ninety feet? One hundred?

He wasn’t sure, just that it was high.

Control of the staff and daggers was difficult, and he had tested it once, knowing this was the limit of his ability.

Unable to truly hear the crowd, Max spun around, waving his hands upward as if calling for their voices, and he could see and now hear them over the muffling of the barrier.

Dropping his arms down, he brought Sheemena down headfirst, her arms fighting against his weapons, letting the daggers pierce deeper into her body as she raced toward the ground.

She flashed a color just before impact, and the sound of her body hitting one of the stone tiles in the floor made a crunching noise.

A groan came, pained for certain.

She flashed a color, and Max wondered what she could be doing now. Her body looked broken, and so much red blood stained the stone.

Cracking came, and Max sensed the shifting of his weapons.

No, the daggers were the sound of the cracking. The stones he could feel were being pushed from the lioness’s body.

Max watched as her body began to grow.

KILL HER NOW!

Moving with everything he had, Max raced toward her, seeing her lift her head as he reached her in a heartbeat, swinging his fist.

[ Power Strike ]

[ Festering Touch ]

[ Weakness ]

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[ Rampage ]

[ Magical Strike ]

[ Quick Attack ]

[ Ghost Attack ]

With a speed that he couldn’t see, even though it was his own hand, Max’s fist struck her three times, right in the head, and each blow that connected knocked the head downward into the stone.

Her body flashed black, and then the claw of hers that had been holding the sword, but were not letting her push upward came at him, moving with almost the same speed of the attack he had just used.

It hit him right in the leg, sending him flying across the arena floor until he crashed into the wall.

[ Regeneration ]

Pain filled him. His leg was broken, and he knew it was starting to mend together, but as he staggered to stand, Max watched as the lioness roared.

Half of her head was missing.

The green circlet was gone, and as Sheemena or whatever she was stood there, hunched partially over, the one eye that still worked locked onto Max.

“Time to die…”

Her voice carried across that distance, barely faster than she had been.

Now the lioness stood twenty-three feet tall, and every part of her was bristling with muscles that seemed impossible to house on that frame.

The claws on her hand were each a foot long, and there was no doubt how sharp they were.

As she charged, Max summoned the stone wall, the ice wall, the air wall, each one placed in her path, trying to trip her or slow her down as he pressed against the stone wall to stand.

Both the stone wall and ice wall shattered against her legs, the air wall catching her face slightly and knocking her just a little bit upward, but it too was gone in a moment, unable to withstand her power.

Every stone block that was within his range came racing like arrows, pelting her body, armor now gone and nothing but dark orange fur covering the beast that sought his death.

Sheemena used her arms to swat away the blocks, shattering them into dust, none of them withstanding the power she possessed.

His Ice Nova was preparing, just about ready to cast as the lioness reached him.

Both claws came in a slashing attack, aiming to shred him like paper.

[ Demonic Teleportation ]

Ten long grooves were set in the stone as he vanished, appearing behind her in a last-ditch attack.

His staff came at her from behind.

Its tip had been cut, trimmed to a fine point. No longer was it blunt, as in all the other matches.

She turned as the weapon came, trying to find where Max had gone, the staff piercing her side and burying itself within her back.

Sheemena howled with pain as she felt the six-foot staff in her side and back, wedged within her muscles and flesh.

Those yellow eyes locked on Max, who was almost able to stand as normal, his broken leg almost now healed.

As she turned to come at him, Max had an ice spear forming, growing it as fast as he could.

Both of her feet pressed off the ground, jumping at him, aimed once more to take Max’s life.

His staff, still wedged inside her, was sent upward, carrying her body higher than intended, missing her target by a dozen yards, landing awkwardly as the staff fought against her.

Blinking, Max watched as she reached around her own side and started slashing at her skin with a few claws, forcing Sheemena backward a few steps as his weapon pulled against her flesh and skin. He felt it burst free as the muscle and hide that had imprisoned it was torn loose.

Trying to summon it back, Max felt it not moving, seeing the bloody and crazed lioness holding his staff in her clenched fist.

“No more!”

His leg was healed, he could stand, and the pain was gone, but Max knew at this moment everything was going to come down to the next few seconds.

I need help.

The power is yours.

[ All Cooldowns Reset ]

Somehow Max could sense the change inside him. The power it took to do what Bob had just done hurt their goal.

Yet he wasn’t going to lose. There would be no more of that.

“Let’s end this!” Max shouted, setting his feet and clenching both fists.

Roaring, the lioness charged, tossing the staff way as she came, claws ready to strike.

[ Evasion ]

[ Bulwark ]

[ Armored Warrior ]

[ Harden Body ]

[ Ice Nova ]

[ Berserker ]

Claws shattered as his fists hit her attacks, blood came from him and from her, and yet the two bashed at each other.

Max’s world was calm, almost serene, as he saw the lionkin’s yellow eye blinking rapidly.

Every slash she sent was met by his fist, and the impact left her injured more than him.

In six seconds both of them had hit the other at least thirty times, and now Sheemena’s arms were connected to broken and battered hands, claws missing from every finger.

“Class is over,” Max growled.

[ Demonic Teleportation ]

[ Power Strike ]

[ Magical Strike ]

[ Quick Attack ]

[ Ghost Strike ]

The right side of her exploded in a shower of red.

No bones or other material existed as the power of Max’s combination of attacks struck three times in an instant.

He fell onto the furry shoulder, the body of his foe standing there, headless for a few seconds before it began to fall.

A roaring fire filled him, hot, cold, electric.

[ Bonus Stats Consumed ]

[ 3 Dexterity Consumed ]

[ 31 Constitution Consumed ]

[ Stat Milestone 2 Reached ]

[ Constitution of 500 acquired ]

[ Bonus resistance granted - immune to damage from Epic and below grade weapons or spells ]

[ Bonus hit points granted - 100% more hit points ]

[ Rest required for final Milestone upgrade ]

[ Consume has successfully Consumed a skill ]

[ Skill does not match being’s body type ]

[ Consume is adjusting skill ]

[ Skill Consumed is Equal to Rank of Current Skill ]

[ Power stored for future use ]

[ Consume has Consumed a Higher Rank Skill ]

[ Harden Body - Rare has been upgraded to Harden Body - Epic ]

[ Consume has successfully Consumed a skill ]

[ Skill does not match being’s body type ]

[ Consume is adjusting skill ]

[ Skill Consumed is Equal to Rank of Current Skill ]

[ Power stored for future use ]

[ Consume has successfully Consumed a skill ]

[ Skill does not match being’s body type ]

[ Consume is adjusting skill ]

[ Consume has successfully Consumed a skill ]

[ Would you like to learn [ Ultimate Form ]? ]

[ Yes / No]

His body gave out, and both he and the headless corpse fell toward the arena floor.

Bouncing a few times against the ground, a presence moved toward him.

Let me have this.

Darkness took over as Max let go, letting Bob have control.

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