Chapter 133: Black Cube

'Every time he learned something new about me and adapted to me, It took him a few times to look at my abilities. The first time I walked, It was slightly delayed. The first time I talked, It talked back in a slight delay. Even when I was dodging, It took a couple of dodges before he could actually read where I would dodge and change his tactics. Attacking is the same as well, the first punch, It punched back with a slight delay… If I have to win, I need to play my tricks carefully to destroy it within a few moves or it would adapt to it quickly… this battle was never for me to battle myself but to find a way to finish off an opponent before it adapts to you… So I can't ever use the same move or attack twice. Even if I do, I need to not do it consecutively.' Alex thought.

He had more things in his mind but he wouldn't think about them for now. He had to destroy the opponent at hand then think about other matters. Alex smiled and stopped dodging. This time, he only felt an attack pass by him but it wasn't close. It was towards a place where he could have dodged but didn't at the last minute. In this game Alex sometimes as he could look through the other attacks he could do. Alex hadn't used the leeching ability, and the dagger strikes on the shadow. He also hadn't used Might for increased strength and agility. He just had to play his cards right to win this. 

Alex attacked towards the shadow, it landed but an attack also came towards him. Alex, unlike last time, dodged this attack. He knew that the shadow would predict that he wouldn't dodge again but Alex outplayed the shadow and dodged the head-on attack. 

It seemed like Alex had confused the bot slightly. It was taking the offensive, not following Alex anymore. It wanted to see what Alex would do just under its attacks. Alex didn't want to fall into the trap and kept on repeating a small pattern. He wanted the bot to think that he was just alternating between dodging and not dodging without much thought. And it seemed to be working. 

Alex quickly found that the shadow was hitting all of its attacks. However, Alex wasn't that hurt from it. He was repeating the same pattern over and over and it looked like the shadow was also attacking in a pattern against Alex. Making it easy for Alex to determine what might come next and lower the impact. He had to be struck just so that the shadow wouldn't change its pattern. 

Now, Once Alex was used to the shadow's moves, He began to hatch a plan to take it down within a few moves only. Alex kept on getting hit but he was never too hurt. He was waiting until his body was used to the pattern so he could strike without a mistake. After an unknown amount of time, long enough for Alex to feel pain from the cumulative damage done by the Shadow, he felt ready to strike back at full force. 

Alex activated might and just before the shadow could strike him, Alex grabbed its hands and pulled them to the ground. This was the move pulled by Midnight, Alex remembered watching her do and followed it exactly. Once the Shadow was on the floor, It tried to kick Alex away but Alex just took the hit and equipped his dagger. Once he had his dagger in hand, The shadow tried to bend away from being struck by it but it didn't expect Alex to actually punch with his left hand. Alex punched the Shadow with the leaching attack. He didn't get any mana from the Shadow so he was sure that it was just a glorified bot, like the ones he was tested with before. 

After the punch, Alex elbowed the shadow's face and struck the dagger through its head. Alex could see that the shadow was slowly powering down but he continued to stab until it stopped the movie. After the shadow stopped moving, He got up, but his guard was up the entire time. He didn't know if the shadow could process anymore or if it was actually down. All he could do right now and hope that it was over. 

After some silence, A small laughter was heard from all over the room. Alex looked around but he saw no one. The voice spoke, "It seems like you've done it… Congratulations! You took a lot longer than expected but after realizing the secrets, you were easily able to just end the battle after looping the bot in a pattern. This was an easy battle because I have already confirmed your identity. It would have been an organic shadow if it was someone else other than you. You don't know of it yet but You're someone special to all of us. So by the laws of the Gods, I grant you the power to use Hades!" The voice was loud and it sounded very happy. 

Alex smiled when he heard the man speak. He just felt relieved that the challenge was over. The last battle did feel easier now that Alex looked back to it. He wasn't down on health that much and once he did figure out the secret, it was just a matter of time before He could finish it off. What Alex was confused about were the other things the man spoke of. He didn't know what the man meant when speaking about knowing Alex's identity. 'I think he means this system… I guess he knows something about the system… I need to ask him before I leave this place…' Alex wanted to know more. 

Alex felt like he was falling once more.

The environment was extremely hot and Alex saw a rock path surrounded by Lava. Alex shook his head and took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." He said as he walked down the path. After a few minutes of walking, Alex saw a few statues around the path, all seemed to show beautiful women with dark wings. The statues looked extremely life-like to the point of looking like they were actual people who were painted in stone-like textures. Alex looked forward to seeing a black cube at the end of the path.