Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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/Just after the spear was thrown…/

/Thud…/

"Huff… Huff…"

Collapsing onto the ground, Dale could do nothing but watch the spear fly as his body grew weak, all of his stamina being drained away.

His inner pathways were saturated, even a bit inflamed, he knew that it wasn't a good idea to push them to this extent, just like if you try to drink too much water fast and your throat gets sore, this is how he felt, just for his entire body.

But he believed that this was the right course of action...

He felt that it was just right to try everything he could against an enemy that was also giving it his all.

Well, take everything with a grain of salt as Dale had yet to use all of his items to their full potential.

"..."

Still, his mind was clear, devoid of thoughts, only the spear flying forward was reflected in his eyes.

/CLANG!/

The impact finally occurred…

"!"

'He…'

Using everything he had, Muddan swung his cleaver down, intending to cut whatever was in front of him in half…

And the spear was stopped, its seemingly unstoppable momentum was brought to a sudden halt!

Yet just like the spear, his cleaver stopped...

/BOOM!/

A thundering explosion happened soon after, sending Dale tumbling down backward as a thick wave of dust covered the skies once more.

…

Time passed quickly, and his sore body slowly went back to normal as dirt accumulated on his armor.

"COUGH COUGH!"

'I think some dust got into my mouth…'

"?"

'I can't move… Dammit!'

Dale felt a bit lost and even slightly panicked, he cared very much for his body as he had a single life, but he soon recovered his cool.

He calmed his breathing, and let his body recover naturally as he focused all of his attention on his surroundings.

Because his face was facing downward, he couldn't see what had happened after the explosion, but considering no one had come to him, especially that raging green monster, it likely meant something had happened to him as well.

It was safe... For now.

So Dale circulated his Mana around his tired body in an attempt to activate one of his items.

/Shine.../

And after a little bit of trial and error, he succeeded, already feeling some of its effects take action.

...

/Inhale.../

/Exhale.../

First, he recovered his sense of touch, and then the weakness he felt in his hands started to fade…

He could now grasp the dirt on the ground, but his arms were still wobbly, not enough for him to move around.

But soon enough, he had enough strength to get up, even if with a lot of effort.

"One… One minute and 8… 9 seconds."

'This was the time it took for my body to recover after I used everything it could handle.'

Dale was now on his knees, trying to make sense of his current situation.

'I learned from the training I received over the last 2 weeks that there are mainly 3 bars I must set up for myself.'

'One bar I must never cross during normal fights, one bar I must never cross unless my life is at stake, and one bar I must never cross unless death is certain.'

'The first one is for reference during my daily life, everything I can use without suffering severe backlash from trying too hard.'

'It is supposed to be my normal limit, what I can do without putting in too much thought, even if that is a fight.'

'This is to help me maintain a certain growth and to avoid tense fights, as even if I fought with my life on the line all the time, it may take me days to recover from each one.'

'They're definitely useful towards my growth, but I must enforce caution and care towards my own skin...'

'The second bar is what I just did, overloading my body and pushing it to its limits, but stress is stress, and my body is made of flesh, and not all of it is solid.'

'It's like flexing too hard and getting a severe cramp, it hurts like hell and it can be pretty dangerous in some circumstances.'

'If the first one can at most tire me, the second one will completely knock me out just like now.'

'But I guess I was lucky today, or perhaps it's thanks to the passive effects of my newer items…'

'If that's so, then I may have to recalculate my bars... As last time, it took me close to two hours for me to recover to a half-decent state.'

Dale took another deep breath...

'It could also be due to my high affinity for mana and recent Stat increases, reducing the side effects of the overload... Regardless, I shouldn't do this again anytime soon.'

'The last one is the bar for when death is a pretty high possibility because the amount of stress I'll have to go through will be so intense that it's pretty likely I'll damage some internal organs fatally.'

'If I were to burst an artery… It would be pretty bad no matter the circumstances.'

'Like when I opened the heart gate, almost having my head implode on itself...'

Dale raised his head, shaking it as he rubbed his eyes.

"?" <subtxt> . </subtxt>

'It's so dusty…'

His entire field of vision was covered by a cloud of smoke, he had to squint his eyes in order to see even a foot in front of him, and even doing so was hard, given the sheer difficulty he had in keeping his eyes from getting into contact with the dust particles in the air.

"Cough..."

He got up from the ground, with one step after the other, each one more stable than the one before, he made his way towards the center of the explosion.

He needed to know what had happened, and most importantly, to make sure the green guy was okay.

Dale didn't think Muddan had died due to his strike, he was too sturdy for that.

And the fact he hadn't received Experience points...

But he can bleed, and like most Humans, if they bleed too much too fast they die.

Or so he imagined, but it was better to not leave it to fate as if he were to die here, who knows what the repercussions would be?

Whatever information he has, whatever goals he came here to accomplish, all of his efforts... Everything would go to waste just because Dale was a bit too lazy and afraid to check up on a potentially injured man…

…

/SNOOOOOOREEE!/

Dale finally arrived at the zero point of the explosion after crossing through the desolate area around it.

And inside a small crater still clutching onto a battered piece of metal in the shape of a cleaver was the half-naked Karrkavan warrior, his clothes having been mostly burnt or ripped apart during their fight.

He was bruised all over, bleeding in several places and his body had several unsightly purple-blue spots, but he snored loudly like a fat pig, he even seemed comfortable!

If one was to simply go by the sounds he was making, they would think he was pretty okay, but Dale knew better.

"..."

Dale even had the extreme displeasure of seeing a dark green oval object next to his legs... His eyes would never forget that object which was almost the size of his right fist...

"He's out cold… The gal of the bastard."

'If there's a word to describe him, then it would be...'

'Barbarian!'

With a tense forehead, Dale turned his gaze from the lying man and instead inspected his surroundings.

'There you are.'

With a slight nod, he went to his spear that was now dipped in the ground, holding it, albeit he did not pull it off the ground.

Instead, he went into deep thought:

'What a guy, so not only did he defend, but he actually made the spear bounce and change directions…'

'Although he still suffered some injuries, he avoided a fatal one.'

'Albeit, his physical condition is way worse than mine as he collapsed from the fight, and it doesn't look like he'll wake up anytime soon.'

"Sigh…"

'I'm still lacking too much.'

'It's undeniable that my Stats are currently very high, and apart from something like… Prime Origin and Soul Power, I imagine I currently hold the highest values for every single section in this entire Village.'

'I can believe that Testros is stronger than me, that Misgurd is sturdier than me, and that Tina has faster reflexes than me…'

'But I have to admit that it would be odd to assume they surpass me with all my current items, even with their many years of training.'

'Yet, even with the difference in Stats, I cannot see myself defeating them… Perhaps Misgurd, but not those two.'

'Somehow, Tina is still faster than me, and Testros can still pack quite the punch.'

'But hey, that was before I wore these Accessories, still, I think I know how strong they are very well...'

'After all, I felt it in my skin more than once.'

'And with everything I have seen, I can tell that they're still better than me.'

'What I have in stats, they have in experience, a mix of decades of self-training and self-reflection.'

'If I have 100 points in one stat, I may be barely able to use 40, while they would be able to use 80-90 if not over 100 making more of what they have.'

'Or perhaps, if I have 100 points in one Stat, I may not even be able to fully employ it, while they can push it beyond its boundaries.'

'So what would be the point of being so far ahead if I can't even make use of it?'

'And that doesn't count combat experience, those old foxes are likely to leave me in the dust simply by mind-playing during a fight.'

'Of course, I won't deny my own efforts, however, it is clear that I'm not capable of using all of this, there is a reason why Testros always asks me to only use a simple blouse and a pair of shorts every time we train.'

'Because there's no point in getting accustomed to a strength that is essentially, not mine.'

'How strong would I get if I were to properly use all of these numbers? Together with the decent techniques and combat experience?'

'And how would that Greater Devil fare against me at that time? Would it just fall to my feet without even a shred of resistance?'

'On that note, how would Tina or Testros get if I gave them appropriate Accessories?'

'Resko is still in dire need of items...'

'But enough thinking...'

"Huff!"

Dale bent over, trying to lift the warrior.

"Holy moly, how much does this guy weigh? Half a fucking ton?"

'I expected him to weigh at least 200 kg given his size and his thick body nature, I mean, he looks like a walking castle given how much muscle he has.'

'Did I underestimate his weight, or is it his clothes made from an interesting material?'

"Huff... Fine, then, not like I need to carry you over like a sack, I'll just drag you over, the dirt ground is nowhere near as sturdy as your skin, so it won't hurt at all."

'Can't say the same for his injuries... But I'll try to be as considerate as possible.'

Dale grabbed Muddan's empty hand and started to drag him down.

He was beaten, and hurt, but victorious nonetheless!

But just a few seconds after moving…

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!"

He opened his system menu, checking the notifications that played after the explosion.

"???"

His expression changed slightly.

"The what now?"

…

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Notes

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