Seed Of Speed

The warriors, Tovao, and Peyni all spread themselves out against the back wall, leaving only Diego and Rainshower to confront the giant stone golem. Rainshower took position in front of the pool of mana-water and summoned two large globes out of the pond, draining half of it. The orbs of water hovered just behind and on either side of her while her eyes glowed with a blue light.

"Focus on restricting its movements. I'll focus on breaking the stone around the crystal," Diego said as he walked forward.

The stone golem was twice as tall as Diego and its arms were as thick as the width of his shoulders. There was no face, but the golem had still created a head that seemed to stare down at him. Once it was in range, it raised its massive, bolder-like fists and brought them crashing down. Water came rushing up from behind him as Rainshower tried to slow the attack since stopping them seemed impossible. Diego filled his legs with Solar Energy as he jumped to the side.

He managed to dodge the attack, but the ground cracked and shook so badly it caused him to stumble, but the danger did not stop there. Stone spikes erupted from the ground and shot towards Diego. He activated his [Spinning Shield] as he sidestepped around the golem. He managed to deflect two before the third knocked his spear away, but it returned to his hand a moment later under Rainshower's control.

Before he could rejoice about his returned spear, the golem's left arm came swinging after him somehow growing faster despite it dragging through the ground. Once again, a stream of water moved block the attack, but this time, it swirled around the hand as it began to freeze.

::Jump over the fist and use [Quaking Stomp] on the arm when it fully freezes::

Diego did as Katalina said and jumped up in the air to dodge the swing. Just as he reached the peak of his arc, the water wrapping itself around the golem's arm solidified and Diego kicked while casting [Quaking Stomp]. A deafening boom erupted as the stone arm exploded under his kick. Although he was shocked, Diego knew he could not let this moment pass and jumped forward.

Diego landed right under the leaning creature and stabbed out with his spear, activating [Ten Strikes, One Thrust] while trying to control it. There was a big difference between just activating the skill and controlling it, and he was trying to do something that he had been unable to do in the past month. He could manage manipulating the three strikes to strike in a line or a prefect triangle, but truly overlapping the strikes was like the difference between heaven and earth. The closer he pulled the strikes together, the harder they resisted and threatened to rebound.

Three spears appeared as he struck out, but he instantly knew it was not enough. The sound of metal striking stone rang out, but there were only three tiny ch.i.p.s that refilled by the time Diego pulled back his spear. Before he could attack again, the golem's other fist was shooting for him, so he could only retreat around the golem. The fist smashed on the ground, but Diego had to keep moving as the golem swept it rapidly re-growing arm after him.

Diego cursed silently to himself as his life was truly in danger. When he had fought his brothers before, he had always felt in control and confident with his skills, but this time he was up against the ultimate weakness of his speed: a strong defense. How could speed overcome defense?

Dodging the follow-up attack of the golem, Diego opened up a little room while he panted lightly. He only had two more chances before he would be out of Solar Energy, so he had to make them count. He took a deep breath then dashed forward.

The golem punched out with its massive fist, but the water moved to incase its fist in ice once again. Diego dodged to the side, but stayed close enough that he felt the wind brush across his body and struck out with his empty had, casting [Quaking Stomp] since the spell did not truly require him to use his feet. The arm did not explode on contact like last time, but it did a moment later when it crashed into the ground.

Again, Diego pressed his advantage and rushed in under the golem's c.h.e.s.t. He struck out with [Ten Strikes, One Thrust], but three spears appeared again though, this time, the edges of the poles just barely touched. The "tink" of the impact rang out as the spearheads smashed in the tightest grouping that he had ever achieved, and a ship of stone flew out, revealing the faintest hint of green light. Before it could close, Diego threw out his spear again, this time not using a skill, but the stone caught the blade as it refilled the wound and prevented it from moving any closer to the golem's core.

"Look out!" someone screamed.

Diego knew it was already too late to dodge and his spear was still imbedded in the c.h.e.s.t of the golem. He activated his [Scarlet-Gold Skin] as he ducked on the other side of his spear, holding it out to block. The next moment, the colossal fist of the golem crashed into his upper body. Diego shot out like a cannonball and bounced a few times before he crashed into a stalagmite, but he had managed to keep holding onto his spear.

Pain radiated throughout his entire body as his defense skill could only block so much damage. His bones were bruised, if not fractured, and he had no feeling in his hands, but he pushed the crumbled rock off of himself as he slowly stood back up.

The golem was being stalled by a fierce dragon made from a stream of water, but Rainshower was pushing herself too hard as blood dripped from her nose. It was clear that this spell was too much for her and Diego could tell.

Ignoring his own pain, he tightened his grip on his spear as he dismissed his [Scarlet-Gold Skin] since he needed every scrap of energy he had left. The water dragon flew up then dive bombed the golem as it froze into a giant spike. It crashed heavily into the golem's back, making the creature fall to the ground with a massive thud that caused come crystals to shake free and fall, but there was no wound from the impact. As her spell completed, Rainshower's eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed.

Diego channeled his Solar Energy through his legs and jumped high into the air. As he sailed through the air, his mind emptied as he activated [Ten Strikes, One Thrust]. It was as if time slowed to a crawl as Diego struck out. He could see each of his three thrusts and could finally tell why it was so hard to control. The first was the fastest, the second was in the middle, and the third was the slowest, but each of them truly existed and were not illusions. To combine them into one true required him to fold space itself and, like lightning, the new ability activated.

::[One Strike, Ten Thrusts] skill learned. 25 mastery points awarded::

::[Speed Sight] skill learned. 100 mastery points awarded::

Diego paid no attention to the alerts as he struck out with his spear. The power of three strikes condensed into one point on the golem's back and the stone exploded while the spear continued down, piercing the vibrant green crystal. The crystal shattered and the magic controlling the golem dispersed as the body crumbled. With no remaining Solar Energy in his body, Diego passed out with a smile on his face.