Back in the real world, Rūkasu awoke in the tent. “So you finally finished the tutorial then? About time. Get some levels under your belt kid?” It was Master Amon, still smoking his pipe and drinking his rice wine.

  “I am level 5 now. I don’t want to talk about it though. I did get a reward that unlocks a Grand Quest so that is kind of nice.” Amon and Rūkasu went back and forth for an hour as he told his master all he had learned, leaving out Philip for his own sanity.

  “Well open the box. Lets see this Training Dummy.” Outside, Rūkasu opened the box and the training dummy popped out except this dummy wasn’t stationary. It was a training golem. “Let us not waste time my boy. Destroy that thing quickly so you can get this quest.” Cracking his knuckles, Rūkasu grabbed his sword and rested it on his shoulder like normal. “Training begins now!”

  *8 months later*

  “Skill activate- Distinguish. Enemy Identified. Number Strike Training Golem. Level:10.” The golem had been set to full combat mode this time. It methodically swung its sword around as it warmed up.

  “Right to left diagonal slash followed by a horizontal slash and a downwards vertical chop. Still using its same number slash technique. Looks like the number 4 this time.”

  Rūkasu’s mind was racing. He had seen this move dozens of times in the past 8 months and decided that no matter what, today was the day he would defeat the training golem.

  Everyday since he had started training with the golem he had fought it and everyday he had lost. It almost felt as if the golem also got stronger as time went on. It stood three meters tall and about 2 meters wide and swung a greatsword with one hand like it was a stick.

  “I will try that new two part combo I think.”

  Rūkasu had been working on combining his skills to generate more power and damage recently to fight the golem on equal footing. He took in a deep breath and opened his left eye wide.

  Rūkasu held the hilt of his sword and channeled some MP into the empty hilt. Yes the hilt was empty because well… He didn’t need a blade. Charging his skill as much as he could, a rather sharp and curved sword blade began to form from ash onto the hilt.

  Although made of ash, it shimmered in the sun like a folded steel blade.

  Calmly he stated “ Ashen weapon armament- manifest katana.” The skill still wasn’t perfected so it took time to summon a weapon but the golem would not activate until he made the opening move.

  With the sword fully formed, Rūkasu lunged forward in a clockwise spinning motion. With a shout he let out his skill “Swirling Slash!” he spun at unbelievable speeds and felt his sword strike true at the chest of the golem in three rapid strikes. “Not good enough… One more!” Rūkasu lowered his stance with his sword lowered, charging his magicks and leaped forward “Ashen Armament - Wave Slash!”

  A crescent wave of wind surrounded in ash sprang forward from his sword cleaving the legs from the golem. “I missed my mark! I can rally on it before it gets up. I can charge at least one more skill so now this will be my strongest combo. A three part combo.”

  He charged his Magick again holding his sword high above his head “Ashen Windfall!” BOOM!

  With a downward swipe of his sword a torrent of wind fell down on the blade as Rūkasu sliced the golem down the center kicking up dirt and debris in every direction. It was the strongest attack combo he had ever used thus far. The golem split in two and fell to each side of Rūkasu.

  “FINALLY! After all this time I finally won! Master did you see?!” Rūkasu barely got the words out as he was catching his breath.

  “Oh I saw but you’re still not there yet. Round 2! Fight!”

  “Wait what?”

  WHACK! Rūkasu had been backhanded by the golem who had reformed itself ready for another bout.

  “Oh you have got to be kidding me master! C‘mon, I won the fight! I split it in two!”

  “You did indeed but the problem is that you did not destroy the core of your enemy, its soul. Use the eye to your best ability. Sense where the soul resides in the body and cut it down.”

  Digging the tip of his sword in the ground, Rūkasu stood up and took his ready stance. “I guess it is time to get serious then!”

  “Ashen Weapon Armament- manifest daggers!” Five daggers appeared in Rūkasu's offhand between each finger. Launching himself forward Rūkasu drew his fist back and punched forward stabbing all five daggers into the golems' face attempting to blind it.

  The golem reacted as the number “1” appeared on its chest. One cleaving downward cut caused Rūkasu to be pushed onto his backfoot. “Damn, I should have thrown them instead of pumping stamina into my fist.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  The golem charged this time, the number “3” lit up on its chest, the training golem swung its sword in an upward diagonal swipe from left to right. Rūkasu managed to drop down to his knees, the sword grazing the tips of his hair.

  “Now comes the downward diagonal chop.” Rūkasu’s thoughts were racing but his eye kept track of the blade. Just as predicted the golem had indeed done a downwards diagonal chop.

  Rūkasu naturally spun on his knees to the left to dodge out of the way of the massive training sword. “Ha just as I predicte-” in a burst of speed the golem swung his blade from right to left in a horizontal sweep. Caught by surprise Rūkasu blocked the best he could with his sword but was still pushed away by a good 5 meters.

  Panting, Rūkasu looked at his sword to assess the damage on the blade. “Looks like my constructs still have a long way to go before they can handle a hit like that.” The sword turned to ash in his hands and fell through his fingers.

  Looking at his point pools he noted that things were NOT looking good.

  Heart Points- (HP) 45/310

  Magick Points (MP) 40/310

  Stamina Points (SP) 40/310

  His resources were slowly dropping and he understood what he had done wrong. “I really need to be careful with these flashy combo moves. They take too much magick and stamina to string 3 skills together the way I had done at the beginning of the fight.”

  It should be noted that stamina was also used for skills but not the way magick was used. Magick was used to summon his armaments and activate his skills.

  Stamina, on the other hand, was infused to determine how much power went into Rūkasu’s skills and how much durability was given to his constructs. To put it simply, stamina and magick were two sides of one coin that smashed together in the middle to empower C.O.S. users at their own discretion.

  “I will just have to stick to single skills for now. No combos.” Rūkasu reformed his katana into his hand. “This one is not as good as the first but 10 magick and stamina should keep it steady for now. I have 30 points left in both pools. Better make them count!”

  Returning to his battle stance, he felt this would be the final bout with the golem. If Rūkasu could take a guess the golem was going to use number 5 rapid slash or the number 7 which ironically were two heavy swings that had devastated Rūkasu the last time he fought it. Sadly he had been wrong.

  In the eight months Rūkasu had fought this one training golem it had always used odd numbers for attacks with the oversized two handed sword it wielded but today the status quo had changed. The number “8” had flashed on the golems chest. The golem had always used the even numbers to warm itself up but never during the actual combat. What the-? That is new. Stay on guard. Focus!

  Rūkasu’s mental state scrambled seeing the golem take the sword in both hands and split it apart. Stepping forward the golem now carried a long heavy curved sword in each of its hands and had begun to swing them in a figure-eight pattern.

  Stepping back Rūkasu began to panic. “Master, I can't follow the movements!” Laughing, Amon began wiping the wine from his lips. “You know for someone with the relic to see all you sure do not use it to your advantage. Let go of the physical sight when you fight. The ashes show you all there is to see. Let the winds guide your ashes to your victory.”

  Rūkasu still had not mastered the Ashen Eye despite training with it for nearly a year. I need to focus, let the wind guide me.

  Removing his eye patch, Rūkasu closed his left eye and opened his right eye activating the ashen eye. Everything looked hazy as he had to regain his sight through the ashes. Focusing finally, the grainy picture of the golem stepping closer still swinging its sword came into focus.

  Everything was so clear but his point pools started dropping by one every 3 seconds the eye was activated. Where is the core? Where is this “soul”? Looking deeper through the silhouette of the golem he searched its entire body.

  Scanning over the chest, Rūkasu saw a shimmer of green sprawl from the center of the number it bore on its chest. That has to be it! I HAVE to end this now.

  Looking at his point pool he saw he was down to his last 10 points in magick and stamina. “Alright, all or nothing! I’m coming at you with all I have left Golem!” The golem just groaned as it kept on pace, creeping closer to its enemy.

  Digging his feet into the sand and lowering his hips with his katana in a side stance he lowered forward to help him push off his front foot. Charging forward Rūkasu kept low following the swirling blades with his eye.

  Shifting to the left he dodged the first cut keeping his momentum going. The next arc came at him toward his legs. Jumping forward he put himself in the center line of the golem. My timing has to be right for this to work.

  Rūkasu kept his thoughts calm, sticking to his final plan to finish off the golem. The next rotation of blades had come around simultaneously as two overhead arcs came crashing down at Rūkasu. His timing was spot on with the golems swords. Pumping the last bit of stamina and magick into his final skill he shouted "Ashen Thrust- Pierce!”

  Rūkasu had timed his skill to execute right as both the golems' swords had passed through their arcs so he would have a clean shot at its chest and its soul. Smirking, Rūkasu expected to find purchase but the golem had managed to swing both blades back into a cross block to protect its chest. Struggling to push forward, Rūkasu felt the golem gaining ground and pushing him back. “I cannot back down now!”

  With another scream, he pushed forward with all his might. His vision started flashing red with warning messages strobing through his vision.

  Ignoring it, he kept pushing his blade forward wanting to claim victory until finally there was no longer any resistance. Crashing into the ground and rolling for a few meters Rūkasu landed on his back and looked up at the golem. It towered over him, and for a split second he thought it would just raise his arm and would slice down at him, that is, until he looked at the chest of the golem where the numbers had been. A meter wide hole had replaced the number counter. Looking at his katana he noticed a wisp of green the blade had pierced. “SYSTEM MESSAGE- Congratulations! You have successfully defeated the Number Strike Training Golem level 10! 150 exp gained! Upon defeating a higher ranked enemy you have been awarded a new item!”

  Rūkasu looked at the soul. Is this the item it is talking about? Pulling it off his sword he used his distinguish skill to see what it was “Item: Soul of Growth- a soul of growth grants the combatant who equips this soul in their soul slot a 5 percent boost towards exp. Forever bound to who equips the soul. When 8 souls are merged into one, untapped power can once be grasped. Has a cooldown of 30 days upon usage. ~B”

  Smiling, Rūkasu promptly passed out from over exerting himself.