Chapter 13: Slash or Punish? That is the Question
[Slash]
[Generate 5 Wrath per attack]
[Ignite the air in front of you, damaging all the enemies caught in the flames.]
It was no different from the Punish skill except for the fact that it didn't need a shield for use.
In fact, the Slash skill was more lenient in its restrictions since any weapons could be paired in its use unlike the Punish skill that had the requirements of a shield.
Of course one could argue that a shield was a better choice since it could be carried in their non dominant hand to protect themself.
And the fact that the punish skill flung enemies backwards to free up some space couldn't be ignored.
And although Slash doesn't toss enemies around like they were nothing, it ignited the air itself to burn enemies.
Now that he thought about it, wasn't it strange that a simple swing of the sword could ignite the air?
But wasn't it also as strange that enemies could be knocked back regardless of size due to Punish?
... Slade thought it was better to not dwell on the situation.
But at the end of the day, the shield was a tool to be used and so was the sword.
It wasn't for nothing Humanity developed as quickly as it did.
Staring at the new skill, Slade already drew up several hypothetical situations where he would need to use Sladh instead of Punish.
Since he was skilled enough to already know how to fling off people due to Riot shield training, it would be a safe bet to go for the Slash Skill as Punish was basically a wrath generating form of Riot training.
And it was actually a better choice in his mind if he thought long and hard about it as well.
Since Punish needed to fling his shield to generate wrath to further supplement his other skills, it was a guarantee already that he needed to expose himself to danger.
And although he hadn't used it yet, Slash could most likely be swung anywhere he liked to generate wrath without the need to expose himself to further danger.
But it was better to put the skill to the test till he learnt the pros and cons of changing his skills before he dived into a battle and regretted changing his skills arbitrarily.
Having those thoughts, Slade slowly moved through the dense mist that covered the night.
Hovering several feet off the ground, Slade kept his shield up, sword in hand while moving forwards.
In the empty expanse of the Ruins of Old tristam, everything was eerily quiet save for the not so desirable night life which roamed these parts.
Hearing dragging steps coming from afar echo throughout the darkness, Slade silently gulped his saliva as he moved forwards.
And even though he knew what he was feeling was a product of the minds fear of the unknown, he felt a subtle fear clench his heart like a vice.
Squeezing it.
Heart thumping unnecessarily loudly in his ears, Slade's booted feet crunched through the cold hard soil as he moved forwards with purpose.
Covered in armor that gave a comforting yet uncomforting tightness to his chest, Slade continued onwards to the figures who revealed themselves through the mist.
Undead.
Staring at the undead Risen that was pallid in skin tone.
Slade took this chance to properly assess his enemies in full now that he noted the creature wasn't looking his way.
Slightly wreathed in the mist, Slade made out a few of the distinct features the undead had.
It stood at the height of a normal person, and if it didn't have the incredibly grey pallid skin tone devoid of any blood, many would most likely confuse it as one.
Covered in a series of gaunt contours as if the undead hadn't eaten anything for a while which it most likely did, it showed a strange feeling of freshness in the term of state despite being dead for who knows how long.
But nevertheless, from past experience that was actually a few (Hopefully) Hours ago, he already knew that the risen were incredibly fragile.
Albeit they were less fragile than normal untrained people, but their fragility lay in the fact that they were on the level of slightly trained people.
Above that they were weak.
But that didn't mean Slade had the chance to go easy on it as even a lion gave it's all when it hunted.
The fact that the Risen would most likely shout for its comrades to help it most definitely played a part in the fact since Slade wasn't entirely confident he could take down a horde of them.
The saying an army of ants could take down even an elephant wasn't for show.
Moving forwards, Slade suddenly lunged forwards and caused his blade to be set alight.
Seeing the strange sight of a steel sword suddenly getting set alight in fire, despite all of his instincts screaming at him to drop the burning sword, Slade tightened his grip and stabbed.
Unleashing a gout of flame outwards from the tip of the blade, the Risen barely had a moment to scream before its upper body was engulfed in flames before it keeled over, dead.
Deader than ever in fact since it now had died twice.
Moving forwards, the map which was at the edges of his vision continued to expand as he moved forwards.
Slicing through the enemies, Slade continued.
Stabbing a sword straight through the belly of the large Walking corpse that was previously a ginat amongst men now a giant amongst dead, the blade was set alight.
Following that, as if he was flipping the meat in a barbecue, Slade twisted his wrist and created a large scorched hole in the middle of the lumbering giant.
Following it up with a kick at the lower knee which would force it fo fall down onto its other knee.
Slade used both the momentum of the giant and the power of the earth to slam his shield straight into the face of the Walking corpse.
Exploding it into several bits of gory mess, Slade mentally noted that it was a bit overkill to use a combo of that power alongside the shield bash skill.
Watching the shockwave expand outwards in an arc behind the undead, Slade pirouetted around the falling corpse and slashed outwards, trailing a tail of flame from the edge of his blade.
'This can't be good for the blade.'
Adding that thought in as an afterthought, Slade cut through the most fragile part of the body before dragging himself out of it with a shield bash.
And although the power behind the shield bash was mostly lost due to the poor stance, it did what it was meant to do.
If someone saw him fight through the hordes of undead like a ghost in the battlefield, they would only be able to describe what they saw with a few words.
It was like a dance.
A dance of death to be more specific.
As Slade spun, moved, stabbed and slashed, to the outside eye it looked like a dance.
A dance where the partners were unliving dead with the added sword and shield in the fray.
Flitting between the tiny gaps between the undead, Slade was like a ghost as he reaped the undead lives of the horde as if they weren't even there.
In fact, the blade seemed to pass through every single body like a fish through water.
That was how smooth the blade seemed to have been going.
Easily sinking into the flesh of the undead like a hot knife through butter, Slade continued to flit about.
Of course this wasn't exactly the truth since Slade was mostly using previously built up momentum and knowledge of the softest parts of the body, but to the outside eye, it was an act worth applause.
The fact that dancing flames and scorched corpses lingered in his taken path added to the show as it added some flair to the thing.
Watching the map expand from the corner of his eye, Slade continued onwards with his fight and mentally compared the two skills.
In comparison to the Punish skill which used the shield as the main attacking weapon, the Slash skill was a much more fluid thing to use.
The fact that he was also more accustomed to swinging weapons around instead of a shield also probably had a hand in that fact, but no one could deny that he was incredibly skilled with the blade.
But as he fought, Slade noticed a few facts.
The fire left behind by his attacks were a small hindrance.
If left alone, the fire would quickly burn out and disappear in short manner.
The problem was, Slade usually fought a LOT in that short time frame.
So as he continued to fight, Slade noted several things despite being a much more fluid way to fight as the Punish skill was limited to two axis.
The flaming sword which could move from three axis was at a disadvantage as the flames it left behind were an incredibly hindrance.
The undead could ignore it because they were, quote on quote dead.
But as a living person of flesh and blood, Slade couldn't ignore the flames as they would eat his flesh and scorch it, leaving behind a large wound that would hinder his future battles.
The fact that a majority of the flames seemed to have a distinct love for ankles was not a bonus to him in the slightest.
On the other hand, despite being restricted to the shield, the Punish skill was also useful since he could just push the shield forwards to attack instead of flinging enemies around.
So right now, Slade was stuck with a dilemma in the dark abandoned forests of Old Tristam.
Should he use [Slash] which would allow more flexibility in fighting in return for a high risk of burning oneself?
Or should he use [Punish] Which would force his battle style to be more rigid in return for a more safe approach?
Having that dilemma, up ahead in the dark edges of the mist, Slade could faintly make out the form of the final Wretched mother he had to slay.
+++
So what do you guys think?
Should I stick with the sword and have Slade think about the consequences of fire.
Or should he stick with the shield and have Slade be constricted to one battle style for later?
Tree that is slightly conflicted.
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