I laid flat, and Tuxedo Maskless never came, but I was getting frustrated.

[I really can’t seem to figure out a pattern that you can use to make it through without getting chopped in half. The speeds are constantly changing, and there is no pattern to the changes.]

I could see that, and I was trying to figure out how I was going to make it past this part. I looked up, and all the ropes were attached to a one-foot wide I-beam.

If I could climb up to the top, I might be able to cheat and cross, but that was cheating… Wait! Who gives a fuck if I cheat!

I got up and dashed forward, leaping and grabbing the rope. I scurried up it and then pulled myself up, allowing me a better look at my surroundings.

It looked like the rest of the sections were covered as far as I could see. If I stayed up here, I might be able to make the rest of the way to the top with ease!

[Tuxedo Maskless! RUN!]

I didn’t look; I just ran and burst forward as I heard the swish behind me. Looks like there were rules, but I was already here, and I didn’t want to start over; I was too close to the goal and my kiss.

“Zackery Foreman, you are outside the course’s intended area!” Tuxedo Maskless said with a straight face as he jumped over another hammer strike as he appeared beside me from thin air.

I landed on the roof out the next section and then rolled to dodge another strike. Each time Tuxedo Maskless would appear, there would be a shimmer of him just before it happened.

From that, I judged where the next attack would come from with the position of the outline he made pre-attack. Still, this man was fast, but the course had been teaching me that the rules here were more of suggestions.

“I can not allow you to keep this up. You must return to the course,” Tuxedo Maskless said in a calm, level voice, but I intercepted his strike this time.

Plating my foot and stepping inside the hammer’s strike area, I grabbed the hammer just below the head and kicked Tuxedo Maskless. I broke his grip, still holding the hammer, letting its momentum spin me as the man somehow caught himself in the air and shot back for me.

I let the hammer slide in my hands and caught it at the end as I wrapped it around. I timed the swing and drove the spike into Tuxedo Maskless.

The surprised look on his face was priceless as he exploded into a cloud, but I didn’t wait. A new shiver was already appearing, but this time it was different, but I swung the hammer to meet the simmering blade.

Sparks exploded from our weapons as an armored version of Tuxedo Maskless appeared, but my strike blew his greatsword back. I swung around lightning fast, golfed him into smoke like the last time, and then sprinted up the metal-plated path.

The shimmer came from above, but I was getting used to looking for the shimmer and jumped into the air into a front flip. The hammer strike turned another knight with a battle-ax into smoke before he could fully form, and then they started to attack in pairs.

The first came from my right with a downward battle ax strike, but I turned him into dust before he could get close. I let go of the hammer and threw myself sideways as the great sword blade slashed over me horizontally from the left.

I planted my hand and kicked up hard, connecting with the blade’s flat, sending it up in the air and the remaining knight off balance. I rolled with the kick, spinning around to face the knight, and shot forward before he could recover.

I grabbed the hit of the great sword that the knight was holding and then planted my feet on his chest. I could sense the one reappearing behind me, and I kicked off the one fighting me for his sword, ripping it out of his hands.

The knight was sent flying off the metal trail into the open-air wordlessly. I drove the greatsword into the shimmering area using my momentum before the other knight formed again, twisting.

The second the double-bladed battle ax appeared in his hand, and he exploded, I snatched it.

I hit the metal decking and rolled but used the big weapons to stop myself, but I stayed down for a moment.

Nothing happened, and I breathed out and took a few more breaths. This was almost worse than fighting the dragons, and I had no powers to augment myself.

[This is why it’s so vital for you to get better like this. This will help you in the future as well. Think how well this will be if you can augment what you learn here with what you already know?]

All excellent points and the metal deck ended up ahead. I was almost at the top; the fight had constantly been moving me forward, and now I had less than twenty feet left to go.

Then the shimmer started again, but it was all three this time, and they were now blocking me from the end. Tuxedo Maskless was the only one with a weapon, and he stepped forward.

“You can not go any farther. You must return, or we will be forced to use extreme measures,” Tuxedo Maskless told me as I got up with the two large weapons, both of them lowered.

“What happens if I can get past you? If I get to the platform behind you, do I still not win?” I asked as I rolled my shoulders and casually stretched my neck.

For the first time, I saw annoyance cross Tuxedo Maskless face. Then it was gone just as fast as it came.

Looks like I must have hit a nerve, and this guy must not like people that take the easy way. That was not how I saw this; this was still training, but it was my way.

“Prepare yourself, I come,” Tuxedo Maskless said, and the three of them merged.