My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 134: Gambit

As the deadly liquid left his mouth, Dao who had sensed the danger that he was in quickly made his move. The liquid harmlessly bypassed him as he continued to run around Kace. Not daring to come close. However, a shocked expression flashed across his face when he realised what Kace had done.

Kace had chased him with the attack until it ran out. But Dao was never his target. Instead, a wall of fire closed off about half of their fighting area. Effectively narrowing their field of combat. 'What a cunning brat! He's trying to force me into close combat where he can lower my abilities with his skills!'

Sonja's eyes on the sidelines narrowed at this gambit of Kace's. She was quite interested in the method he had used to seal his opponent's advantage over speed. 'He has the makings of a first-class Hexblade. Even without my training, he's already considering the best moves to land those skills! What a treasure I've discovered!' A slightly creep smile spread across her face.

Dao decided to comply with Kace's wishes.

After all, if he kept his distance now, Kace would keep narrowing the field. Then he would have nowhere left to go when he really needed it. As he drew close to Kace, the strange vines moved to seal his movements again. Making Dao click his tongue in annoyance. He had already confirmed that they would be difficult to cut through.

Grugda, who was watching the strange standoff, was more fixated on the vines as well. Kace had said nothing of this weapon's capabilities, but he had felt a strange connection with it. Now that he saw the vines in action, he understood why.

It seemed that Kace's new weapon had some kind of connection with earth and nature, just like Grugda himself. 'Hmm, that would. Have been perfect. For me.' He mused.

As Dao hesitated on what to do Kace launched an Ice Spear at him. With how close they were Dao had insufficient time to dodge the attack. 'Guess this will have to do...'

Kace's eyes almost popped out of his skull as he watched the flowing blood on Dao's hands form a shield. The Ice Spear shattered as it slammed into it, causing a flurry of ice shards. 'Well, damn! He's just full of surprises!' Kace clicked his tongue as he had thought he might be able to end the battle early.

With no time to waste, Kace used Stampede to put Dao right in front of him. As he swung the stave towards his opponent who was still recovering, he noticed a sly grin upon Dao's face. As the weapon passed through Dao's body, Kace's eyes narrowed. 'So he finally used it, huh?'

Dao had adopted his most form to avoid taking the blow. He was in no way inclined to allow Kace to lower his stats if he could prevent it. 'Although he doesn't know it, he's already passed beyond what was asked of him.' His eyes moved to meet the stare that Sonja was giving him.

When their eyes met, she gave a slight nod of her head. 'I see, well at least now I have permission.' Dao's smiled widened as he had been given permission to test Kace's limits. Within reason of course.

Dao used his mist form to put distance between the two of them. When he solidified his body again, he began to channel the blood in a new way. Slight cuts appeared over his body to allow more of his blood to escape into the open. 

It flowed around his body to form a tight fitting crimson armour. It's surface was constantly moving like a river. In his hand, a longsword also took form. After swinging it a few times, he was satisfied. It had been some time since he had last used this ability. It was the perfect chance to shake the rust off.

Kace, on the other hand, did not like how things were developing. He could already tell that the rules had changed and he was now at a disadvantage. 'Hey, Sylvan. Do you have any ideas?' Kace was grasping at straws. He had to make sure he passed this test, but he had no idea what would be deemed good enough.

'Hmm, there's one thing we could try. You aren't strong enough to survive the whole thing. So we will go with a partial merger.' Sylvan replied while projecting images into Kace's mind so that he knew what he was in for.

'Well, damn! What's our odds against Dao?' Kace was curious about Sylvan's opinion. After all, he had no idea how this would affect him, nor did he know Dao's limits in his current form.

'Hmm, maybe fifty-fifty. It's hard to guess if I'm honest.' 

Kace could only sigh at this guess. Still, it was better than nothing. 'So what do we have to do?' Kace was worried that their plan could leave an opening for Dao to exploit.

'You just have to buy me time. I'll tell you when I'm ready.' Sylvan sent an image of a large grin into Kace's mind.

Dao noticed something was up. The purple vines that had been his leading cause for concern had suddenly withdrawn. It struck Dao as a strange thing to do at this moment. They could not be used for another surprise attack, and keeping them out would have allowed them to react quickly.

'Just what are you up to?' Dao's curious gaze bore into the centre of Kace's forehead. As though he were trying to physically read what was on Kace's mind. With no new information to glean from Kace's body language, he could only wait and see.

"Ready for round two?" Dao called out, as he readied his sword.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Kace asked in return. Trying to buy time. He was sure that Dao would not really want to act without enough information.

Dao scowled at this obvious attempt to stall. 'Whatever you're planning, I'll break you before you're ready!'