Open is Guarded II

The two were quite stronger than the ones Ezra had killed prior, including Ron and Von. They were almost decently matched with Ezra in terms of strength, but what really troubled him was the fact that they were two of them. Not to mention even his fatigue was building up.

It took a bit longer than expected, but he killed them.

The last one he killed on top the fallen monster and dropped his body off of it.

'What's with him? He didn't even make a move to help his subordinates.' Ezra thought to himself.

The last one just stood in the same position he had been in since the beginning of the fight with his hands to his side, staring at Ezra uninterrupted. He had a muscular build and stood at least 6'6ft tall.

"Your heart's as cold as your eyes." Ezra said.

"Hmph. If they can't even take care of a bug like you, then they don't deserve to be part of the Earth Scale Gang." He said, without a show of remorse for his fallen ones. In fact, there wasn't any particular emotion on his face.

"So, what are you waiting for?"

"I was asked to just spectate and determine your future. Though you are not a threat to us, I don't like keeping annoying bugs alive." The man said.

Before Ezra could think of a clever remark to give, the man approached him with such speed that Ezra found himself unable to defend.

It seemed like the man before him was just a couple of frames ahead of him. At the last moment however, Ezra managed to bring up the sword he took from Von to his side to block the hit. Even then, he still took enough damage from the impact.

Ezra wasn't a masochist, so he swiftly brought out two vials from his inventory and consumed them. One held blueish liquid, while the other was red as blood. Immediately, he felt himself getting rejuvenated.

More attacks were dished out, each one as heavy and ferocious as the one before. The enemy seemed to be a melee fighter, as that was all he had been doing since the fight begun. Unfortunately for Ezra, he was yet to attempt a single attack.

Even before the fight started, Ezra could already tell that this one in particular was stronger than the rest, and even stronger than he himself. Though even then, he felt as though he could take him, so that meant the strength gap wasn't too much.

Just a minute into the fight, Ezra realized quickly how wrong he was to assume that their combat powers were similar. As it would seem, they were quite far apart in terms of combat power. His opponent possessed superior strength and speed, much so that he still hadn't landed or so much as attempted a single attack.

Ezra thought of ways to turn the situation, but looking at his skills, there wasn't much he could do. He had just one skill that might be helpful, but he was saving that for a crucial moment in the fight, with the hopes of using it to land the final hit.

At the moment, Ezra was no longer able to avoid all the attacks, and was getting hit more frequently than before.

Though he could not exactly think on what to do actively, his brain was indeed working on every possibility he had open to him that could be used to turn the situation around. He needed to think of something fast, or he really wouldn't be leaving the dungeon alive.

'He seems to be toying with me at the moment, I still have some time.' Ezra thought to himself, as he tried to make an analysis of his current situation at the moment. As Ezra analyzed his situation, he opened up his status screen and noticed something that drew his attention..

'That's right! I have that.' He said in his mind.

Subconsciously, as he activated his skill, he said the name out loud, a bit soft, but enough for his opponent to catch his words, causing him to slow down a bit before delivering a heavy kick to Ezra's back after appearing behind him in an instant. It sent Ezra face first into the sturdy dungeon walls strengthened by mana, and he crashed hard enough to make a small dent and cause some chunks to fall. But then, he was yet to know if it was worth it or not.

Ezra ignored the pain and immediately looked at his immediate surroundings, but there was nothing but chunks of rocks.

'Nothing?' He asked himself as his attention when straight towards his opponent. 'No…'

"What did you do? Is that your special ability?" The man standing to kill Ezra asked, his expression still plain.

Ezra didn't bother answering and just opened his system and entered his inventory panel. 'Bingo.' Inside his inventory was a piece of equipment which he had just taken from his assailant. Of course, this was apparent, with his attacker showing now his bare chest and upper body.

"Your jacket's gone missing, huh?" Ezra said as he pulled out the jacket from his inventory and wore it over his own shirt. It was a bit bigger in size, but it fit well. The main thing though, was not in the fashion sense, but in the jacket's attributes. Apparently, this jacket that had little attractive features granted a +25 boost in speed and maneuverability. In Ezra's case, that meant an exponential boost in his agility stat.

.

[Steal]

Steal other's material possession. Can only be used once in 12 hours and once per person.

No mana consumption.

.

"So you are actually a slow one, all muscles and no speed to back it up." Ezra taunted.

He didn't need a response, as he disappeared from his position and appeared just behind his attacker to land a solid punch. Now, the speed difference was far greater than what he was faced with a few moments ago. It doesn't take a mathematician to do the addition and subtraction.

Ezra began overpowering his opponent until he activated what seemed to be his hidden skill which he had been hiding, thinking its use would not be needed in the fight.

"Body of Tempered Iron!" The opponent screamed out as Ezra got dangerously close to cutting off the opponent's neck.

Ezra had only been playing with the enemy, giving him a taste of his own medicine, and when he decided it was enough, he went for the kill. After all, it wasn't a good thing to play with food, as his mama always said, and immediately, Ezra found out why one should always heed their mother's words. His sword shattered on impact.

Looking at the sudden confidence the enemy exerted, Ezra was a bit irritated. "Big deal. If I can't cut, I'll smash." Following this statement was a series of bashing, as Ezra focused only on hitting the opponent's head against anything he could find which he deemed tough enough, in this case, dungeon walls and floor.

'He isn't bulging.' Ezra thought to himself.

"Don't feel so confident." Ezra said, before activating his skill, intimidation.

Ever since the opponent activated his iron body skill, he reduced the amount of attacks and focused entirely on defence, and the way he did it gave Ezra an idea. Maybe he had to maintain some level of focus for the skill to work.

Luckily, Ezra was right on the mark. Under the effect of intimidation, the opponent's skill broke for a moment, giving Ezra the small window he needed for a final attack.

With a powerful force behind the man's head, Ezra cracked his skull and bashed it in flat against the dungeon floor. At that moment, the iron body skill was back on, but just a step too late. For the first time since Ezra saw the man, he showed an expression of fear. Ezra couldn't lay any taunts though, as his foe was already dead.

'This guy was a problem; I need to get stronger quickly.' He thought to himself. He wasn't planning on just staying low-key, so he would need the power to back up his actions. These guys were part of a gang, and though he had never heard of such a gang, that only meant they were not a small time group either.