Another opponent was already above him—a hammer bearer with a hammer bigger than Eiran's entire body came down.
'Boom!'
The ground shattered, and the right Forge Form hand's energy supply was completely depleted.
Eiran saw it when a whip wrapped around him and pulled him away from under the hammer, then threw him up into the sky before yanking him down.
Gravity and the whip's pull were enormous.
Bam!'
His left hand's energy was depleted to half. His body bounced up, and with no rest, another appeared—a Glove Bearer. Each glove had sharp spikes, and Eiran faced a barrage of punches. Each punch consumed considerable amounts of energy before he went sliding down.
That's when his Mind Instant Shift ended, but no one attacked—though his danger sense went haywire as he looked up.
A slender mechanical humanoid approached with a scepter, a hundred meters away from him, and the scepter glowed.
His Forge Form hummed, and Eiran dreaded when the link between it and the Royal Uniform was severed—no more instant barriers.
Instant Shift. Eiran didn't repeat his mistakes. His body blinked away from two chakrams that passed through his former location.
He quickly breathed out and in as he used the Instant Shift skill again. His body flickered ten feet away, arrows landing where he'd been.
Instant Shift again, but this time he was almost too slow as someone with a dagger got too close to his face he felt the rush of air pass him.
Each time he used Instant Shift, Eiran felt he needed oxygen. Without it, his stamina rapidly waned, and his next Instant Shift would be slower.
Eiran flickered for the fourth time away from an incoming iron staff, but the location he appeared at was right next to the slender mechanical with the scepter.
This time, his Royal Uniform suddenly became heavy and deactivated, the little enhancement even without energy supply turned off. Eiran panicked, and even though it didn't attack, his hand went to his blade.
Waxing Crescent Art: Lunar Fang
His hand moved, matching his Instant Shift in speed. It blurred, the single-edged blade gleaming as it sliced through the air to meet the scepter close to him.
Clang!
The blade failed to even scratch it, but the strike's shock deactivated the scepter's effect on him. However, Eiran's eyes became red as his hand rebounded back, slamming into his chest, sending him backward and dislocating his arm.
The speed and power of Waxing Crescent Art was too strong for his weak body that wasn't being enhanced by the Royal Uniform.
Even the Instant Shift would have damaged him if not for the Royal Uniform's protection.
Forge Form hummed, their link returned, his dislocated arm fixed, and Eiran wailed in pain. Tears rolled down from his eyes.
Blood Art: Growth aided in dulling the pain and fast adaptation
Ratatat!
Bullets bounced off his now active barrier, and he skidded back from their impact. The barrier shook as if it would burst open. Screams escaped his mouth in fear, and then Nyara's gaze landed on him.
Her gaze somehow gave him a moment of slight calm, and immediately he used Mind Instant Shift.
He saw the bullets coming, slamming at him. His attention also noticed the Scepter Bearer walking toward him, while the other Weapon Bearers all waited for their turn to attack.
His mind went to his energy reservoir. Even when his left hand was exhausted, he had his feet for supply. But the Scepter Bearer was the problem—he needed to get rid of it.
However, the Sliding Moon Art he was excited about proved too much for his body. With the Royal Uniform's enhancement, though, he might be able to use it.
Sudden realization came to him, and he almost facepalmed. 'I'm just inexperienced!'
The bullet attacks stopped. The Scepter Bearer dashed and appeared before him. The Royal Uniform was unlinked from him, and a flail attack came precisely at his head.
Nyara's gaze intensified, but Eiran's body flickered closer to the Scepter Bearer. The flail missed him by a hair's length, and his hand went with Waxing Crescent Art: Lunar Fang.
The blade gleamed as it went through the scepter with ease. A chakram came just behind him, and he flickered away, his blade sheathed and ready to be drawn again.
The Scepter Bearer became still before it faded away.
There was a moment's pause from the attackers, as if mourning their comrade. This allowed Eiran to enter Mind Instant Shift to strategize.
He realized he was in battle without his full art. He only used Haste without complementing it with the others.
Blood Art: Vein—Strength Vein Glyph as his Brand skill, gave him a degree of resilience with more strength to use the sword art.
Also, the Royal Uniform reacted to his added strength and became tighter on him, reducing vibrations.
Now, during the pause, his Instant Shift allowed him to understand he needed Blood Art: Heart—Impulse as another Brand Skill to allow his body to react to what Mind Instant Shift showed him.
It was useless to see attacks but not have enough reflexes to move or counter.
Instant Impulse would connect Mind Instant Shift and Body Instant Shift.
His attention then came to Blood Art: Bones, but it was passive for now—no active skill to go with it. The same with Growth, which aided Eiran's shoulder in healing faster.
Hand on his hilt, mind on Instant Shift, a Spear Bearer appeared at his speed. The Impulse skill activated Body Instant Shift, and he dodged in time.
Body still filled with strength, his blade flashed at the spear, cutting it in two, and the bearer faded away.
Another pause. This time Eiran didn't wait—he dashed toward the closest one.
Before he arrived, they moved, but with perfect timing he cut their weapon, then moved to another one.
Nyara's shoulders slumped down as she watched from a distance. She'd almost had a heart attack multiple times just now, but the payback of satisfaction seeing Eiran take control of the fight was rewarding.
She gazed at the box in her hand before storing it away. She didn't need it now. Eiran had survived this round.
The Dagger Bearer was the hardest to defeat because they were extremely fast. Eiran had to plan while being attacked, his barrier taking hits, and he strike at the right moment before successfully cutting the daggers in two.
He stood alone, breathing deeply. Limitless stamina didn't mean he couldn't get tired—he could just recover fast.
His hand left the hilt, trembling. Even with the Strength Vein Glyph, it was hard using Waxing Crescent. His gaze turned to the city silhouette before he dashed forward.
Glowing dots came down, but he stayed far away as they exploded upon impact, sending chunks of earth and debris flying.
More came with multiple explosions, some even had metal shards blasting around. Most of those were taken care of by the barriers.
But things didn't get easier—they just got faster and more hectic.
Eiran had never been so focused, mind haste and body haste thinking of things he should have done or shouldn't have done.
This allowed him to adapt, improve, and read the patterns even as they changed from time to time, until he came to a ground made of cement boulders where Nyara stood beside him.
"Take your time and rest!" her soothing voice said.
"Ha. Your voice is a melody!" Eiran couldn't help but say. His body was covered in sweat. The moment he stood still, the Royal Uniform sucked in air and he got dried.
"Impressive uniform!" Eiran said. He looked at Nyara. She didn't say anything when he complimented her, but he found her smiling at him.
"Should we—"
"No. Rest. The moment we step in, we have to ride the boat to the city within ten minutes."
"Oh." Eiran then checked his Forge Form. One foot was still full, but the other was close to exhaustion.
"You did great. Though your focus broke multiple times, it's still impressive for your first time."
Eiran beamed. "It was chaotic coordinating my movements and attacks. And I realized I have detection problems."
"How so?"
"Well, I can detect living things easily, but those mechanicals are a blind spot to me. Sometimes it was your gaze that told me something was attacking."
"But you can listen to the wind," she said before adding, "We will have to train that aspect of you." She had recalled that the boy before her was a blank slate—everything he did now was new.
"And about Waxing Crescent. It felt heavy, and the first time it dislocated my arm."
Nyara smiled. "I heard your cry. I almost came but held back. Because you needed the experience."
"Hmm!" Eiran harrumphed and looked down at the blade's hilt.
"Tell me what you understood about the Sliding Moon Art!"
Eiran at first felt like not tell her due to how she'd laughed at his cry, but then he remembered the hardship he'd survived—he needed her insight.
"It uses something called Moon Phases as Minor Arts..."
"Something called Moon. Haha." She laughed. "Don't tell me you don't know what a Moon is?" she joked.
"I don't!" Eiran said in earnest. Nyara's smile ceased, and she looked at the boy before her.
"But how? I mean, even if you'd never been to the surface, you should have learned that from people or..?" She sighed and said, "No matter. Tell me more about the phases you understand."
Deep down she thought, *Who is this boy?*