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'Shit, dodge!'
*Boom!*
A mini crater was formed at the place where Arthur stood previously.
'That was close!'
He had managed to dodge in time by increasing his speed to the max and with the help of his enhanced perception which helped him predict the trajectory of the energy attack.
After Arthur dodged that attack, the sword puppet sent an energy attack at him again, but this one was much weaker and was just like the one he faced on the previous floor.
Arthur was still able to dodge each attack that was sent his way. And just as he was wondering if the Sword Puppet could only send such an attack once, it released it again.
*Boom!*
Arthur dodged.
'I need to get close!'
Arthur was beginning to hate being in this state where he was limited in his attack methods.
How do you defeat an opponent who has fast long-range attacks that you don't?
'Get up close and personal...also I need to be faster.'
The Sword Puppet's speed could not compare to Arthur's at all. But the speed of the energy attacks it sent was what gave Arthur trouble.
'Right now, I have two choices. I can either wait for it to exhaust its energy reserve. Or I can risk getting injured to win faster.'
'Hmm, waiting for the energy reserves of an elite peak Gold Core Realm cultivator to run out before me would not be too realistic even though I have great reserves too.'
'I guess I have only one way to win then...good thing this is an illusion. I wouldn't want any harm to come to my handsome visage.'
Arthur ended his inner monologue and readied himself to get closer to the puppet.
Through his observations, he discovered its attack patterns which will make it easier for him.
Arthur began to run around the battle ring while making an unpredictable changes in his movement direction 'randomly'.
This threw the attacks of the puppet off balance as the flow of its attacks was disrupted.
While Arthur ran around, he managed to pick up some stones which were parts of the broken floor caused by the puppet's attack.
*swoosh!* *swish!*
Arthur started hurling the stones at the sword puppet with great precision, and soon he found a chance.
"An opening!"
Arthur did not let go of that chance and used the advantage in his speed brought about by his rank-9 speed intent and ran towards the puppet.
In an instant, he had closed the distance between them by half and threw the remaining stones he had with him at the puppet.
The sword puppet dodged many of them and had to block some of the stones which carried a great force as Arthur also used his full strength from using Rank-8 Strength Intent.
Even then, by the time it was done dodging and deflecting the attacks sent to it, Arthur arrived before the puppet.
Arthur grabbed the hand of the puppet that held the sword and punched it with his other hand.
The sword puppet reacted fast and sent a punch of its own at Arthur's fist.
*Bang!*
Their fists collided causing a small wave of air to be pushed out due to the collision.
But Arthur's strength was stronger and so his footing was steady and he did not take a step back, unlike the puppet which was shaken by the attack.
Arthur wasted no time and sent a barrage of punches at the puppet.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
The puppet could not resist and temporarily became Arthur's punching bag.
*Boom!*
Arthur gave the last punch that sent the puppet flying into the mist that surrounded the battle ring.
With that, the floor was cleared and Arthur decided to use the resting time which was little to plan out an attack strategy.
Soon his rest time was over and he once again felt the sensation of being lifted upwards as he ascended to the 30th floor.
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Arthur used the same strategy he used on the 29th floor but he tweaked it a bit and also defeated the puppet on the 30th floor.
Only that this battle lasted longer than the previous one and Arthur was not sure if the strategy he used here would be effective on the next floor.
*Bang!*
Arthur forcefully stepped on the head of the puppet as it lay on the floor immobile.
Looking at the puppet, a thought occurred to him and his gaze descended on the sword of the puppet.
'Can I use its weapon?'
Arthur picked up the sword and waited for the mist that surrounds the stage to take the puppet away as it always does.
Soon the mist entered the battle stage and covered the puppet as it receded to the edge of the stage.
Yet, the sword in Arthur's hand remained.
'I guess I can then...'
Back then at the Sword Stairs Arthur had comprehended Sword Intent up to the fourth rank. And he has not had the chance to use it or test its prowess when wielding the sword.
When he was asked to choose a weapon at the beginning of the sword tower, he decided to use just his fist as he had not trained with any weapon in the past.
But now...
*Swish!* *Swish!*
Arthur swing the sword around multiple times and found out that with his strength and speed his sword attacks were more deadly than his fist attacks.
The sword was sharp enough and can be used to send energy attacks if you have the right technique.
'I have no sword techniques, but it will do for hacking these puppets.'
*Clank!*
Arthur arrived at the 31st floor and the familiar footsteps of an armored puppet echoed from within the mist, and soon a puppet stood before Arthur.
Upon seeing the puppets Arthur's senses warned him of the danger and he took a battle stance going on full alert.
'This is gonna be fun...or not.'
This time the puppet wore golden amour and the aura from it was in a cultivation realm beyond the Gold Core Realm.
'The Martial Origin Realm!'
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