CLANNNG CLANNNG CLANNNG 'Fuck, it is harder than I had thought,' I said as I defended against its scimitar, but the other two came again, followed by another. It had been nearly twenty minutes since I had been fighting against it, and I was improving at a speed that I hadn't improved for quite a long, but this enemy of mine had been improving even faster. It is reading me like a book and attacking my weaknesses that I could barely defend. The sweat had covered my whole body, and I was completely focused on the battle, analyzing its slightest movements to defend against its attacks. I have read about such zombies; they are completely dead but capable of learning from the enemy. It is all due to formation; it is artificial intelligence, but it is far more difficult to create than a simple computer program; even with all the knowledge, I could not create them. This bastard is learning and improving as we fight and, in the process, forcing me to improve beyond my limit. It had been a long while since I had come across an enemy such as this one, and I am extremely that I did, which is why on my sweat-filled face, there was no fear but a smile. I have been longing for such an enemy but did not have time to find it. If Jim hadn't forced me to come here, I would have been working, hopping one hall after another, treating the subjects, which have continued to increse at such a pace that the staff of the project barely have time to rest. In the past month, the level of staff has increased and so is the number of staff, as the council eased the requirements. All this rush is for that thing, which could appear any minute, and the pyramid wants a maximum number of powerhouses, especially the High Grandmaster, who have the highest chances of breaking through into the Grand Lord class in that place. Hun! Another few minutes passed, and the pressure on me increased even further; finally, one of the scimitars was able to break the wall my lances had created and came at me. CLANNNG! For the first time since the battle began, I used my sword, and it was to defend; the strike was fast as lightning, and even with a crown, it was very hard to discern its movements. I was able to defend myself because, like it, I am also studying it, and even if it had made its movements chaotic, I could somewhat predict its attack. "Micheal, do you need help?" asked Jim from behind, "No, I am fine," I replied as I defended against several of its moves that came from behind me. I would not take the help to defeat it; I have a couple of easy ways to fight it, like summoning the while armories of weapons; with twelve weapons, fighting it will become much easier, but where is fun in that? I am already feeling bad for using the sword and making a snap decision, an idiotic one for those who are watching. I put back my sword and immediately felt the pressure on me increse; my sword was my defense against its attacks, and now, I have put it back. It was an idiotic move, but I still did it; I wanted to fight without a backup so that I could push myself even more against the enemy. I could feel the end of the war was approaching, and it would begin when that thing appeared, and I had already decided on entering it, and for it, I would need to be strong as possible and hope I would level up to Grandmaster by that time, but that seemed likely the case. I am still quite far behind; it is not easy to create the inheritance through which I planned to gain the power of the Grand Lord while still being a Grandmaster, and that thing could appear this very day, which I truly hope, it did not, we are not ready yet. CLANNNG CLANNNG CLANNNG Another twenty-some minutes passed, and nothing had changed. Though, in twenty minutes, I have blocked all its attempts at me, not letting any of its sabers cross through my lances. Still, every clash is a challenge, where its scimitars are trying to outdo my lances, so they could come at me and hack me to pieces. Rip! A few more minutes passed when suddenly, its saber avoided my lance by the distance of hair and came at me; the strike was so fast and sharp that it ripped through my armor, and I barely saw how it had happened. The scimitars are extremly powerful artifacts, they ripped through my armor, and if it weren't for my lances which moved toward it and it was forced to take back its scimitar, I wouldn't have been able to get away with just a scratch. The scimitar had left behind a huge amount of necrotic energy that would have been enough to kill a High-Grandmaster of my power within a few seconds, but that would happen only when the energy entered inside me and the one left by the scimitar did not. In the project, I have learned many things, a lot of which I have incorporated, like the small runic bubble that appeared on the wound, containing the energy that would have ripped me apart. Now, that energy slowly entered my armor where it was consuming and filtering it; the energy would be dealt with in a couple of seconds; till then, I have to make sure to not get injured. As currently, I am only capable of creating only a single bubble. The attack is scary and makes me realize how close I am to death fighting against it; its sabers did not even need to hack me to kill me; it would be a job done if they just needed to scratch me a couple of times within a few seconds. I wanted to summon my sword immediately and even summon my shields immediately, but I crushed those thoughts. If I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have taken back my sword. No, I will fight this dead bastard with these four lances of mine and kill it with them without using any other move. CLANNNG CLANNNG CLANNNG The fight became even more intense after that; I pushed myself harder and harder, and even the dead zombie seemed to have sensed that it had changed its strategy from the cautious offense; it went on the total offense. The pressure on me increased immediately, but it also helped me push myself harder like never before. Our battle became the dance of blades, and in this dance, I cut myself multiple times, but I contained those injuries and continued fighting, giving every once I had, even the small part of my soul sense, which I used to keep an eye on Jim and Lester. TANNNG! The complete focus bore me the fruit finally, and for the first time, I was able to strike my lance at it. Though it was stopped by its broken armor, it did not matter, as I have filly touched it, and once I have done that, it will not be a problem for me to replicate it. The next time my lances would strike it, they would not be striking its armor.