Grey was really starting to regret his opinion on old men. Usually, they were helpful, kinda funny, adorable. You often wanted to protect them like you would a helpless puppy or a newborn baby.
But he was running into old men that pissed him off more and more these days.
First it was Giyoto, then it was Calixan, and now it was this son of a bitch.
The old man had flowing white hair and a beard that was somehow longer than even that. He wore pristine white robes like he wasn’t touched by any sort of dirt or grime.
’Pretentious fuck.’
The style of dress was one thing, but what was really annoying was that damned golden katana he had. It must have been at least nine feet long, curving like a damn scythe, and the bastard just kept slashing and twirling about like a fucking Dark Souls boss.
Grey was gassed, even more gassed because of the weird curve his Stamina seemed to work on now. But he could still think clearly enough to know that if he stumbled back any further, it wouldn’t be long before his back was smashing against a certain force field wall again.
’Dammit.’
Grey watched his stamina tick down. The moment he looked, the old bastard seized the opportunity, a blade of light coming from its back and suddenly attacking him.
’No way...’
Grey got a bad feeling the moment he saw that. The world slowed around him as his mind came to a single conclusion.
It could use all six Abilities, could it?
’Son of a bitch. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.’
Grey roared, trying to gather some Holy Energy around his fist as he punched out.
The blade practically tore right through him. His Helion Body saved him a small bit, but since he couldn’t activate the Frame, the protection from all the metal he had ingested was limited.
Blood bloomed and his hand fell limply to one side, blood drizzling down.
’Oh no.’
Grey exhaled a heavy breath as his foot slid back against the force field. But this wasn’t what he was lamenting the most. The main problem was the fact that now he was injured...
The suction force on his Stamina came stronger and faster, quickly trying to heal his arm.
Grey groaned inwardly. His lungs felt like they were on fire, a thousand volcanic fire ants eating at his veins and arteries.
He was getting really tired of being constantly screwed over like this.
Grey’s head tilted to a side.
BANG.
The katana slashed down and hit against the barrier before it could reach him.
Grey grinned, leaping forward the instant the old bastard withstood the backlash and grabbing the latter’s wrists. Grey roared, pushing the old bastard’s arms up and driving a fist into his liver.
The eyes of the man bulged, but Grey wasn’t letting go.
He bent down, driving forward and pile driving the old man into the ground. Pinning the sword wielding hands down above the pretentious old man’s head, he drove down one fist after another.
Grey wailed on the old man without a care.
Maybe this trial was supposed to test his understanding of rhythm, maybe his sword skill, his Abilities, his Resonant Frame.
It wasn’t lost on Grey that he had entered this trial with no Abilities he could use other than Paladin Spirit and Center of Balance because he had tied all his other ones to Frames that were under lock and key right now.
Things would have been much easier if he had had the time to learn the unbound Abilities that Edmun had prepared for him.
But he didn’t have that time. He never had any fucking time. So he was all the more tired when things tried to test his patience.
"Just—!"
BANG.
"—Know—!"
BANG.
"—When—!"
BANG.
"—To—!"
BANG.
"—FUCKING—!"
BANG.
"—QUIT—!"
BANG.
The old man’s face distorted in shards of bone and twisted flesh. But Grey just kept going. Even when its hand went limp, he just kept going, and going, and going.
He didn’t stop until he felt the reverberation of hard ground against his knuckles, nearly shattering his hand to pieces.
He collapsed backward, heaving for breath.
"You... Paladins... really are... fucking weak..."
Grey wheezed out the words, heaving with every gasp he took. The world around him was little more than a swirl of colors. He didn’t even have the energy to define shapes around him at all.
Everything just fucking hurt.
The blood coming from the old man seeped into him, giving him an odd bit of warmth.
"I’m psycho." Grey wheezed out. He began to laugh at himself.
—
Stamina: 2/111
—
’Well, at least there’s some rubberbanding effect at the bottom... that better be my last battle, or I swear to god...’
Grey felt around, pulling on the old man’s hands and prying the katana out of his grasp. Wheezing, he slowly pulled himself to his feet, stumbling around.
Because he had PTSD, the first thing he did was waddle toward his long sword. He had to make sure he had it, lest the bastards try to take the katana away from him as well.
He was so focused on his task he didn’t notice the stairs forming behind him.
Grunting, Grey bent down and picked up the long sword. Only then did he feel content.
’When the hell did that appear?’
Grey finally noticed the stairs. They ascended in pearly white, seemingly to infinity.
’They can’t possibly expect me to climb that right now... right? RIGHT?’
Grey grunted, dragging himself over. He used his long sword like a cane, waddling over one step after another until he passed the old man’s corpse and stood before the stairs.
Taking a breath, he pushed away thoughts of his bad luck and took a step forward.
His body shuddered.
BANG.
Grey’s knee was driven into the earth. For a moment, he was in so much pain and shock that he just froze there. He thought his entire leg had shattered to pieces.