Andrew, despite the tremor in his limbs and the pounding in his head, tried to assess his situation. The mana point counter was a glaring reminder of his precarious state.
He needed a plan, and fast. Raw emotion had given him a momentary reprieve, but it wouldn't last against a coordinated attack.
"Surge"
Immediately his dagger appeared in his right hand. Just a damn dagger to fight scary-looking elves.
'That's just partial' he thought.
With a surge of adrenaline, he lunged for it, his movements still clumsy but imbued with a newfound urgency.
The elves moved forward again their initial hesitation gone. One of them larger than the others, held an oddly large wicked-looking axe, it's edges glinting menacingly, moved closer to Andrew.
Time seemed to slow down. Andrew could hear his own ragged breathing, the guttural snarls of the approaching elves, the faint ringing in his ears. He gripped the sword tightly. He was still terrified, but beneath the fear, a sliver of resolve hardened.
'Fuck!' he wasn't proud of charging at damn-looking elves.
'Like I've got a choice.. darn'
He wouldn't just stand there and take it anymore. He would fight, however futile it might seem. He would fight for Anna, for the chance that maybe, just maybe, her belief in him wasn't misplaced.
"Ahhhhhhh".
With a yell that surprised even himself, Andrew swung the dagger. It felt awkward in his grasp,the weight unfamiliar but the motion was fueled by desperation.
The blade met with the axe with a harsh clang, sending vibrations up his arm. The force of the hit staggered the larger elf and it stumbled backwards. Andrew pressed his advantage, his movements becoming more driven. He swung the dagger again, a wild, untrained move, but it connected with the side of another elf, who yelped in surprise and stumbled.
The other elves where left in awe. A flicker of doubt in their eyes. This wasn't the weak, defenseless gamer they had been trouncing moments ago.
Something's changed.
[MP: 200/1000]
He couldn't do this for long, he was still outmatched,his mana reserves where dangerously low and his lack of skills was glaring. Mana power lowers by numbers of hits or attacks,he has to take less or no hits from the elves if he wanted to make it pass level one.
Damn! This newfound courage was good and could also be deadly if you took the wrong move. He swung the dagger with more force, relying on instincts. The elves, thrown of balance by his sudden aggression struggled to regain their coordinated attacks.
One lunged at him with a sword but Andrew,
dodged the attack and brought the sword down in a clumsy manner. He thrusted his dagger into the elf's shoulder, and it recoiled with a hiss of pain. He pulled out the dagger from it's shoulder and decapitated the elf's head from his body, dropping lifelessly to the ground.
Another elf tried to attack him, but Andrew immediately spun around. It didn't connect cleanly but if forced the elf to retreat giving Andrew a precious moment of space. His MP continued to reduce, each action costing him energy.
'Don't these damn punks have weaknesses'.
He noticed the elves relied on brute force and numbers rather than sophisticated tactics. They were all attacking relentlessly trying to overwhelm Andrew with individual strength and skills. He scanned the room for any potential choke points. The room was relatively open, but there were few overturned tables and scattered debris from his previous attacks.
A deadly idea crossed his mind.
'Damnn. Guess I have no other option. Fuck it' He was pissed with his stupid idea.
'Is this the best you could come up with huh, Andrew? You're good for nothing' he disregarded himself.
Using the overturned tables as cover, Andrew lured the elves into following him, swinging his sword then retreating immediately. This tactic annoyed the elves and they took the bait, chasing him across the room. He led them to a narrow gap between two large pieces of debris, a makeshift choke point.
"Come on!" He yelled, his voice laced with determination.
The elves hesitated as they were shock with the sudden change in tactic. He seized this opportunity and charged at the cornered elves. With a swing of his dagger, heads flew in mid air, blood splattered and elves decapitated bodies fell lifelessly on the ground. The dagger struck flesh and armor, and blood splattered the environment.
The confined space worked well with his clumsy attacks, and the elves had difficulty dodging his attacks. With another swing of his dagger, elves dropped dead to the ground.
The remaining elves in the choke point were terrified, witnessing the brutal slaughter of their kind in the hands of Andrew. They stumbled back, trying to escape the confined area.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Andrew yelled.
He moved with a newfound ferocity, his earlier clumsiness replaced with anger and aggression. The dagger swung in the air, flashing in the dim light as he moved from one stunned elf to another. He weaved under a wild swing of a club and with a swift upward thrust, pierced the elf's chest. The elf gasped and let out a painful, yet soft moan. It was soothing to Andrew, it was music to his ears.
The choke point had become a slaughterhouse. The numbers of elves was dropping rapidly. One of the elves finally broke ranks and tried to flee but stumbled on its dead comrades. He found himself face-to-face with Andrew. There was no hesitation in Andrew's eyes only grim determination. He brought his dagger down in a swift brutal strike and elf's head rolled on the floor, spilling blood on Andrew's face, he seemed to careless about that.
They were five elves remaining, they hesitated, scared and surprised to attack Andrew. One of them let out a loud cry and turned to flee. The rest followed suite with their morale damaged. They entered a passageway at the right hand side of the room which Andrew didn't notice initially.
Andrew couldn't pursue,he was low on mana and he needed it to complete the main mission of this level.
'Tchh...not like they are of any use'
He turned to the ending of the room, only to find Ramos sitting on his throne, unmoved by the scenario that just occurred in front of him.
[LORD RAMOS E4 RANK ]
[SKILL: ELEMENTAL MAGE(FIRE)]
'Now you tell me he's a mage? I could have used that information earlier. Dammit'
[MP: 90/1000]