Chapter 155: To the end.

Chapter 155: To the end.

Charlotte's strikes had been faster than Milo had been expecting, almost as fast as Gilad, but he'd been expecting her to try something since the first step she took towards him. The weird swaying thing she did with her tail and hips he didn't understand. Maybe it was something to distract him the way a cobra confused prey? In any case her stance gave away both the hidden dagger and the preparation for the claw strike.

Milo had been sparring relentlessly with three very scary opponents. Gilad was a Master with decades of experience. Cremona had once been a leading claw fighter who had added the arcane spells from poison and death to her style. And Larry was a creature designed to slaughter his way through an army with strength and speed far beyond normal. Adding some rumba and tango moves had just made him that much tougher. Charlotte hadn't trained half that hard, and it was to her credit that she wounded Milo at all.

An armored forearm blocked the incoming dagger. The steel it was made of was inferior to the hardened bone of the Claws of Alta Viator. Milo didn't bother to block the claw strike. He'd learned to take small wounds that his regeneration would heal, if it would let him land a more devastating blow. All ratkin started with Weak Claw attacks. Charlotte had upgraded that to Not-so-weak Claws. Her strike left bleeding furrows along Milo's abdomen, but they were minor wounds. Toughness negated some of the damage, and his regeneration began to knit back his flesh. It hurt, but not like Charlotte was going to hurt when he struck back.

With a skill in Claw Fighting of Rank 6 and a STR of 4, Charlotte had a base damage of 90 points. Milo did 210. As his forearm moved inside her dagger strike and her claws raked his belly, Milo brought up his left hand in a claw strike against Charlotte's side. She gasped at the pain as the claws tore into muscle, and then his right hand slashed down on her shoulder, tearing deep furrows down her chest. She tried to roll away from him and use Disengage, but his tail slashed hard against her arm as she blocked her throat.

Milo was at 2033/2210 health. Charlotte had taken much more damage and was at 585 /1280. "Give up, Charlotte. I'm better than you and a lot tougher."

The injured Shadow Skulker hissed at him. "And that's why I hate you. You still think you're better than me." She took a chunk of cheese from her pocket and tossed it into her mouth, chewing fast. "I'll be good as new soon."

Milo's tail struck her again as she was chewing, slamming into her ribs and cracking some of them. He moved forward to press the attack, but she scampered back quickly using Disengage. She ate another piece of cheese. "A little healing, a little more speed, and I'm good for round two." She sprinted back at him, clawing desperately. Milo was a little surprised by the ferocity of the attack and how she wasn't blocking his counter attacks.

Charlotte ran to the pile and grabbed a wheel of cheddar, chewing it down. It wasn't the carefully crafted Battle Cheese that she had devoured too much of, but it would still start healing her wounds and giving her energy. Milo realized he was in the worst place in the world to fight a Cheese Fiend.

He got daringly close and lashed out with his tail, knocking the cheese out of her hands. She growled and grabbed another cheese. He knocked that aside, and slashed at her back. She tried a backhanded claw attack while getting another round of cheddar and turning to him. His tail once again knocked the cheese out of her hands, but this time she caught his tail. He vaguely remembered Gilad warning him about this.

Round and round Charlotte whirled him. If not for his time spent in the Puke-n-Twirl he would have passed out. She took two steps and toss him into the pit. He hit the far side, thirty foot down the rockface, clinging desperately to it. His tail felt like it was broken, and likewise one arm wasn't responding well. Toes and one hand held him on. Charlotte walked up and looked at him, chewing on a ten-pound wheel of cheddar that looked tiny in her hand. "Charlotte Wins! Charlotte always wins!" She leaned over, giggling at Milo.

Petey kicked her in the butt from behind. She overbalanced, too top-heavy to pull back from the edge and she tumbled into the darkness of the pit with an echoing scream of rage and dispair.

Petey looked down at Milo. "Hi. I'm thinking about becoming the next Death Master. Can I count on your vote?" He tied a rope to a section of shelving and tossed it down to Milo. With Petey's help Milo managed to get back to the top of the pit.

Milo looked at the smiley, chubby ratkin. "Sure. I think you have all the right qualities for the job."

Petey held out a hand full of candy. "Jellybean? The red ones are ripe and act like minor healing potions. You look like hell."