The King's Mandate: Anomalous System

He swung his sword at me.

[Dodge!]

Lily's voice helped me get back to my senses.

This is the first time I am happy that she yelled.

"Thanks."

[Idiot.]

"Yeah, I might be an idiot. So." I glanced at it and shouted, "What the hell was that?!"

[Sword magic.]

Magic, huh?

"So how can I defeat him?"

I can't make ranged attacks. 

I have to wait for an opening.

[Activate your 'Harden' skill and withstand his attacks, and as soon as you get an opening, break him into pieces.]

"Roger that!"

We were thinking of the same thing.

[Skill-Harden Activated]

The skeleton kept attacking, and I kept dodging all of its attacks.

With every swing, the sword size was increasing.

It once again tried to attack me, and I dodged.

"Nice!"

As it swung its sword, the sword got stuck to the ceiling.

["An opening!"]

I dashed at the defenseless skeleton, and as I was about to hit it, it noticed me.

"Aw shit!"

It kicked the ground and due to the impact, the shield, which it dropped earlier, bounced in the air, and it grabbed it.

"Dammit!"

I clenched my fist tighter and hit the shield.

The shield shattered into pieces. 

"Whoa!"

I can't believe it!

Even the skeleton looked at me with surprise.

That was iron...no, it was some hard metal, and I just...

"Broke it?"

The sword was back to its original size. 

It swung the sword at me, but I jumped back, which helped me dodge it.

Lily came flying at me and said, [Are you okay?]

"Yeah"

"I just broke its shield, and its armor is made of the same metal, so that means..." I cracked my fingers and said, "I can break it too."

I just have to keep dodging its attacks and look for an opening. 

And then I will break him into pieces.

[Be careful.]

"Don't worry. There is only one enemy; it will be easy."

The skeleton plunged its sword into the ground, and soon after, fog covered the whole room.

[Be careful, it is using some kind of skill.]

"Don't worry. As I said before," The fog cleared up as I was talking, "There is only one--what the--!"

The entire room was full of skeletons.

"I didn't say that out loud, right? Could it be that I keep jinxing everything?"

[You just realized?]

"Shut up!"

[These are his clones. It's its skill.]

"So we have to find the real one and break him into pieces?"

[Yes]

But there are like hundreds of them. How do I find the real one? 

It's not like I can find them by looking at their shadows. It's dark here, and besides, every skeleton is wearing armor too.

"Which means," I dashed at the group of skeletons as I said, "I just need to break them all!"

[Skill-Sprinter activated]

"Time to break some bones!"

I have to use both skills properly.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, I concentrated all my force on my fist and started punching them.

"One, two, three, four, five."

They break as soon as I hit them. 

What else do you expect? My agility is 2424 right now, even faster than the supercars. And with my 'Harden' skill, it's like sprinkling water on fire….uh...ashes.

I quickly took down 180 of them in no time. But I still couldn't find the real one.

Well, only 19 more, and the last one would be the real one.

"Break, shatter, burst, and die."

Five more now. 

Am I out of breath too...huh? 

There are only 4 of them! Where is the 5th one?!

[Adas, behind you!]

I didn't look behind, nor did I bother asking why. As soon as she said that, I jumped in the air and swung my leg, kicking behind me. 

It was the 5th skeleton, or should I say the real one.

[Leveled Up]

[New Item found]

[Leveled Up]

[A New skill Obtained]

[Leveled Up]

[Leveled Up]

[Leveled Up]

"5 times?"

What level am I? 13.

To be honest, this one was the easiest.

[Hey, are you terrible with sports?]

"What?"

[Your skills are like a high-level sportsman.]

"I never said I am bad with sports."

And I know martia--

[Maybe you haven't realized it yet.]

Lily came near me and--

"Hey! Why are you sitting on my head?!"

[I am tired of flying]

"You..." I gave in.

I should let it slide. She helped me a couple of times...hmm?!

"I can feel something soft on my head."

[Wha--! you...] 

"Hey, stop pulling my hair!"

She started pulling my hair, though it doesn't even hurt. But I won't say this to her.

"Now then, I received a new skill and item too.", I opened my menu, saying, "Let's check them."

"Faker?"

[Must be the skill the skeleton knight used to make clones.]

"Then I can make clones too?"

[You can, but you need to evolve it into a cloner or something, I guess?]

"I see."

There is no information or description of this skill.

"And the item I got is a...sword."

It's the same type of sword the skeleton was using, but the color is different.

"So we got what we came here for."

I opened my stats.

[HP-93]

[ATK-172]

[DEF-185]

[AGILITY-307]

Hmm. 

Only my attack stats increased. My defense and agility are the same. 

Could it be...

"Hey Lily, could it be that--"

[No, it's not like that]

"At least let me finish!"

['Could it be that the stat gets maxed' is what you want to ask, right?]

How?!

"Ye...ah."

[They don't, the leveling up of this is so slow, and you need to grind to level up.]

"I see."

Well, now that I got what I came for. 

"Time to kick boss ass."

I rushed to where I last saw the boss.

"Heh!" I smirked as I said, "It's still here."

[Good luck, Adas.]

"Yeah."

Let's first provoke it.

I need to see its attacks and skill.

I picked up a rock from the ground and threw it at the...hmm? 

What do I call it?

Lily said it's a hybrid of a dragon, a wyvern, and a phoenix. Then what should I call it?

Let's take one word from each of them, so...Dragernix? 

How does it sound?

I hate to admit it, but it sounds more relaxed than me. And aren't I getting better at naming? 

So yeah, I threw a rock at Dragernix, who was sleeping peacefully.

Before the rock could hit it, it opened its eyes and roared, "Guaaaar!"

Aw, it looks angry.,

I know how it feels when someone wakes you up. Believe me; you wouldn't want to get woken up as my mom wakes me up every morning.

The Dragernix started flying and flapped its wings like it did in our first battle. But nothing happened. 

I didn't even move an inch. That means, "I have gotten stronger?"

But if I did, that would mean this Dragernix is also more robust now.

"Guaaaarraaaaar!"

He roared again. 

This time it was louder than the last time but still, "Not louder than Lily. "

[Shut up!]

See? I was right, after all.

The Dragernix flew higher and swung its wings again. 

Everything around me, including the trees and rocks, got blown away by its swing.

Some of the rocks and trees came my way, and I cut them all into pieces with my sword.

"Guaaraguaaar!"

"Stop yelling, dammit. " 

"I have to finish it quickly because," I tightened my grip and said, "My dear Elena will be waiting for me."