==

[(Elite) Hackstroke Hyena Matriarch Lv.32]

HP: 4,500 / 4,500

==

The Hackstroke Hyena Matriarch sensed something approaching from behind, her ears twitching for a moment as she turned around, noticing the approach of a young human bladeborn.

If one were careful enough, one could stealth their way to a free hit.

One could even kill one's target without them knowing if the strike was clean and powerful enough.

But where's the fun in that?

Daru was here to test his limits, not practice his ambush skills. There was no need to hide in silence and sneak around.

The elite swordspawn snarled at him, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake as she turned into a blur, rushing at the impudent bladeborn who dared trespass on the territory of her clan.

Daru remained unfazed and steadfast in his stance.

Since the Hackstroke Hyena Matriarch was another aggressive Swordspawn, he shall gladly play defense.

The elite's charge became faster and faster until she lunged, airing dust to the side as she suddenly began spinning like a top, sending cutting wind slashes Daru's way.

Daru didn't panic, cleanly cutting each projectile apart while stepping back, though what came after was the spinning body and blade of the matriarch herself.

A piercing metallic clang rang as he was sent skidding back a few meters by the elite's power and momentum.

A red damage value floated up:

[- 15]

It was a small amount, but it was a testament to the difference in raw physical attributes.

An elite was clearly on another level compared to a regular Swordspawn.

This, however, only boosted Daru's enthusiasm, his lips curving into a competitive grin.

He quickly switched to offense, performing short and strange zigzagging steps before splitting into two and charging at the Hackstroke Hyena Matriarch, who had just recovered her footing after a crazy maneuver.

The elite was caught off guard, but she didn't panic, simply switching her grip and angling both of her falchions to defend herself from both sides.

But Daru already anticipated she would do this.

The matriarch was a dual-wielder, after all, which was a straight-up counter to his Havoc Rush.

Upon arriving within striking distance, he didn't continue his attack and jumped instead, spinning mid-air into a barrel roll and slashing down at the elite's right arm.

He managed to cut quite deeply into the matriarch's flesh, prompting a damage value to appear and activating a level 1 bleed status:

[-240]

"Haha, you're a tough one, hyena." Daru sincerely praised as he stuck his landing with the help of his left palm, immediately springing back up to face his opponent and assuming his fighting stance.

To his disappointment, the elite only snarled at him in response.

It was clear that not every spawn could speak…

"That's unfortunate…" he remarked as he prepared himself for the matriarch's incoming attack.

This time, the elite didn't charge on fours, closing in on him in a measured manner instead.

The matriarch held one of her falchions in a standard grip and the other in a reverse one

Clearly, she wanted to engage in a swordsmanship exchange, realizing she wouldn't defeat her opponent with cheap tricks alone.

Daru was more than pleased.

In the next moment, the elite was in front of him, brandishing one of her falchions.

He blocked the simple attack with a simple slash of his own, dodging the stab from the other free hand by tilting his head slightly and sending the matriarch staggering with a vicious stomp kick to the midsection.

[-40]

He then followed up with a sweeping horizontal slash, forcing the elite to block with both swords, though his power wasn't enough to move her from her position.

Still, this was enough to change who was the attacker and who was the defender.

Daru pressed the offensive, maintaining his almost-flawless distance management and immaculate footwork as he slashed, stabbed, chopped, and swept at Hackstroke Hyena Matriarch, who was slowly forced into a worse position with every passing second.

The elite snarled in frustration, forcing a stab.

Daru snorted triumphantly as he easily evaded the attack by pivoting his foot, cutting the matriarch's hand clean off with a vicious chop.

[-400!]

The elite whimpered in agony.

In that momentary loss of focus, Daru struck one more time, stabbing at the heart of the matriarch.

It was a rather optimistic follow-up, though.

The elite was able to shift her body on time, causing the tip of Daru's tachi to pierce the shoulder area.

This resulted in a regular damage value instead of a vital hit.

Either way, a successful hit was a successful hit, and with this, the level of the matriarch's bleed status increased to two.

Losing a hand was extremely lethal for a dual-wielder.

It wasn't too difficult for even a mundane person to figure such a thing out, so Daru immediately got back to attacking, this time going for the finish.

The elite hyena knew the battle was going south, temporarily jumping back to recollect herself.

But Daru stuck to her like glue, not giving her even a moment of reprieve, slashing, stabbing, sweeping, and chopping in the same swift but unhurried manner as he did earlier.

He left no openings.

…in his first few attacks.

Daru continued chipping at his opponent's patience and pain tolerance by settling for minor cuts, first increasing the bleed status level to three.

Then, with the matriarch's desperation peaking, he purposefully slashed a bit wider and slower to miss and dangle a juicy opening.

The elite hyena jumped at the chance like the hungry predator that she was, hacking viciously at Daru's neck in hopes of a comeback victory.

The matriarch fell right into the trap.

He ducked the desperate attack, countering with a full-powered rising slash that cleanly cut through his opponent's body horizontally.

He then took a deep breath, summoned the scabbard of his tachi by opening his left palm, grabbed it firmly, and gracefully sheathed his sword with practiced motion.

Daru smiled in satisfaction as the elite hyena slowly dissipated into red cubic particles behind him.

It was one of the rare battles in which he considered himself to have performed excellently, leaving the results at that instead of nitpicking what he could've done better.

It was a rather flawless victory against an elite swordspawn six levels higher than himself.

[You have slain an (Elite) [Field] Swordspawn [6] levels higher than you! Calculating experience point rewards…]

[You've obtained 5,000 + (5,000) Experience Points.]

[Congratulations! You've leveled up to 27!]

[You've obtained 500 Swordcoins.]

[You've obtained 20 Actualizer Crystals.]

[You've obtained a map item: Putrid Fang of the Hackstroke Matriarch.]

[Novice Tip: Map items are unusable outside the location where you obtained them.]

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