Breaking Limits

Alex moved his body like a snake, dodging every attack launched by the giants in front of him. He jumped onto one of the most energetic monsters, deflected its great sword with a kick, and then delivered a butterfly kick straight to its face.

His right leg takes a heavy toll, but he dismisses it as the most active one loses its balance. Alex seizes the opportunity to crush its skull and separate its head from its body.

Small skeletons jump at Alex in large numbers. Even though he is fast, dodging all of them in such a narrow space proves difficult. One of the skeletons grabs his leg, and as Alex tries to kick it off, another grabs his hand, then another his other leg. Before he can react, the entire army swarms over him.

Alex summons every bit of his strength to throw them all off at once. He kicks the one holding his right leg with his other leg, smashing the skeleton's skull. He swiftly cuts down the two charging at him, then spins 360 degrees, sending the rest flying backward.

One of the elite skeletons charges from behind the Lich, holding a chain and swinging it around. With precision, it hurls the chain at Alex while he is preoccupied. The sharp blades of the chain are aimed at Alex's hands, but he barely manages to dodge them. However, the chain lands straight on his right leg. 

"Ahhhhh!" Alex cries out as the blade pierces deep into his leg, and the chain wraps tightly around it.

As the elite skeleton pulls the chain into the air, Alex is lifted, flying face-down in midair. The skeleton swings the chain in a curve toward the ground, but Alex uses the momentum to his advantage, maneuvering with the chain's dynamics to cut down all the enemies in front of him.

Upon landing flat on the ground, the elite begins pulling Alex toward him. "You fell right into my bait," Alex grins.

Alex quickly dashes forward, charging straight at the elite, and cuts him down before he can make a move. The elite's head falls, rolling like a ball, without wasting a second, Alex immediately rushes toward the Lich.

...

The wolf immersed in full rage, his eyes were fully drenched in bloody red. The wolf jumps straight towards the white tiger in the air, the tiger immediately swings his fist straight towards the wolf, dodging it the wolf firmly bites the tiger in his neck. 

The tiger was still wounded from Alex's sword, making its attacks clumsy and easy to dodge. Desperate, the tiger thrashed its body left and right, trying to loosen the wolf's grip, and then leaped 7 feet into the air. The wolf eventually lost its hold but immediately charged back at the tiger, unaware it was his only chance.

The tiger launched its fist at the wolf, delivering a hard blow. The impact was strong enough to make the wolf lose consciousness.

...

A mysterious man was smiling as he watched the battle taking place. It was a messy fight where a human, group of undead and spiritual animals were fighting all over the place.

As the Lich raises his staff and starts enchanting a spell, all the five elite guards come up from his back and run towards Alex.

The first two were carrying a spear, the other two were carrying a sword and the last one was a huge 7ft giant carrying another great sword.

Alex was starting to grow tired as the enemies kept coming at him from every direction, seemingly endless. For every skeleton he cut down, two more would emerge. He was now breathing heavily, nearly reaching his limit. The numbers kept stacking, leaving him no chance to catch his breath.

Alex closes his eyes for a second imagining the best case scenario to effectively attack them without wasting any effort. Alex takes a deep breath and re-positions his sword, he reaffirms his leg stance while keeping a close tab on the number of the enemies. 

He lightly swings the tip of the sword at the end point of one of the skeleton's arm joints. His hands break apart easily and then stabs him in his forehead, while simultaneously turning backwards, to the other opponent and cuts the edge of the neck.

Alex's Sage Vision was gleaming blue in colour, although not clearly visible.

[You have gained a new skill!]

[Swordsmanship : Level 0]

Alex's eyes could now see the flow of where the attacks were coming from even though he was aware of it previously, but now it seemed to have become much more accurate and detailed.

Alex now stares at the Lich and raises his sword at him. "Let's end this"

Alex jumped straight at the giant, accurately stabbing him in the center of his skull, then cut down all three of the other enemies in a single strike. His attacks had grown stronger as soon as he received the skill, he could feel the subtle change immediately.

The two elite swordsmen circled him from both sides, swinging their swords to strike at Alex's neck and feet. Alex jumped between the two swords, spinning his body. He throws his sword at the one on the right and then takes his dagger out, throwing it at the other, simultaneously.

Both of them dodges it, but it was exactly at this time Alex uses quick dash to kick the one in the right with his knee. The elite fell to the ground.

The 7ft giant jumps on top of Alex and slams his fist on the ground, Alex barely escaping, finds himself being attacked from the other side. A spear was heading straight towards Alex's head but he caught it with his mere hands. 

"Thanks," Alex says, looking a little more confident as he stares at the giant holding the spear. The giant swings its fist straight at Alex, but Alex is fast enough to dodge and get close. The giant was full of openings, with the opportunity at hand, Alex slams the spear into its head.

[Swordsmanship Activates]

Alex could feel the muscle memory of using the spear from his early life.

After fighting for the next five minutes, all of the elites were now lying on the ground, and all the spears were broken after exchanging blows after blows.

But the issue still hasn't changed. The skeletons kept coming and the Lich had already gathered a huge amount of mana on his hands and was still continuing to gather even more.

The skeletons were gathered everywhere leaving no space for Alex to run upon. He picks up a sword from one of the fallen elites and starts running straight forward.

Quick Dash! Alex was jumping on top of the skeletons, since the elites were now gone, all of the rest were too slow. The arrows weren't able to deal any impact either.

Meanwhile, the Lich was almost getting ready, the mana was almost being stored in his staff getting ready to be launched. 

Alex instantly knew what the Lich was up to, so he throws the dagger straight at him. 

The Spear moves round maneuvering in the wind, hitting straight to the heart of the Lich.

But to his avail, nothing happened.

"Ah right I forgot he was an Undead"

Alex takes out the sword and dashes straight towards him, instantly filling up the gaps between them. The Lich, panicked, and immediately launches the premature spell that he had been preparing previously. 

A bright yellow explosion, burst erupts destroying everything 100 meters in it's vicinity. All the skeletons nearby was gone, either their bones perished into ashes or it was broken into small pieces like brittle sand.

The Lich was now lying on the ground, most of its body parts missing, only some bare pieces were left remaining. 

The entire place turned into dust, full of sand covering the visibility of the place.

Meanwhile, Alex stood tall, holding the sword, which had broken in half. His armor, however, was still in great shape, as if it hadn't even been scratched.

[Congratulations! You have done the impossible!]

[You have slained a low ranking Lich]

[You have gained 50 exp]

[You have slained a low ranking skeleton general]

[You have gained 15 exp]

[You have slained a low ranking skeleton soldier]

[You have gained 2 exp]

[You have slained a low ranking skeleton soldier]

....

....

The sword Alex was holding slowly began to shake. Not understanding why, he looked at it and realized it was his hands causing the tremor.

Just after staring at his hands, his entire surroundings turned white, as if time itself had stopped. He could no longer hear anything.

He could see the bones in his hands, as if the skin had melted away. His hands shook more and more from the sudden shock.

Alex quickly sits on the ground, losing the strength to stand. He stares at his palms in wide disbelief, then touches his face. Only then does he feel the burning sensation, realizing even his hair has been badly burned.

When Alex initially charged at the Lich, he immediately blocked the burst of mana. The highly flammable magic instantly shattered his sword and sent him flying 10 meters from his original position.

The magic burned his entire body. Now, Alex sat on the ground, hopelessly in shock, as if he could feel his final moments right here. 

Despite all the stress, pain and torment, for some reason, he felt peaceful.