Evolving Classes In The Apocalypse-Chapter 27: The Honey-Man

The Adept’s hand was clamped around my neck. But the ground beneath us suddenly began to sink, swallowing us both.

"Galahad! Let that child go!!"

My eyes flew to the side. That voice. I knew that voice.

Walking towards us was a man with brown skin like that of honey, braided hair packed to the back, and amber eyes glaring at the Adept from the distance as he strutted forward like he owned this battle.

I traced his steps down and saw a golden liquid flowing out of him. It had flooded the ground we stood on, sunk both our legs, and solidified, locking us in place.

The Ascended Adept, Galahad apparently, turned to the new Adept, who I was sure was an Established Adept.

’Isn’t his name... what’s it again... uhm... A–Archer!’

I was proud to have gotten it right. It was indeed Archer.

"Archer? Have you gone nuts? Undo this..." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The Established Adept stood a few meters away, facing Galahad in particular. Galahad was still locking my neck with one strong grip.

And that one strong grip felt like a metal slab had been twisted around my neck with brutal force.

"Gone nuts? You’re the one who has gone nuts!!"

He touched his forehead, suddenly looking utterly tired, then shook his head.

"What did I even expect... the rumors about you had to have been true. And that uncomfortable air around you..."

His amber eyes burned with anger now.

"But abandoning your cohort? I’d never imagined an Enforcer like you was capable of such treachery!!"

Silence held for a moment. Then Galahad burst out laughing, a huge grating sound, and grinned at Archer when it ended.

"And what is it you’re doing here? The only way you would possibly be here, all the way towards the western sea is if you also abandoned them to come after me. Or what business do you have here besides preserving your life and raising your chances of survival?"

Enforcer Archer glared.

"I saw you drag the boy away while everyone was fighting for their lives. You... you’re not taking him to the NEGI, are you? The only place that boy should be submitted to is the NEGI."

Galahad had a sanguine smile on his face. He shook his head at the Established Adept.

"I’ve had enough of people telling me what I should and should not do. Here’s what’s going to happen, Archer."

He turned to me, a small smile etched on his face.

"I’m going to beat this one here to a pulp."

He turned to Archer.

"I’m going to kill you."

He shrugged.

"And I’m going to return to the Celios like nothing happened... in fact, I’m going to return a hero. The only survivor of the Undefined attack. I’m sure I should be promoted and decorated an honorable officer for that act."

His grin turned devilish and he continued to stare at the Established Adept.

"What? Did you think you’re the first person to discover my unfriendly businesses? Oh, you think Patrick and I really were attacked. Or that Osborne really sacrificed his life to make sure that I got back to the base with the refugee..."

As he spoke, Archer’s face turned paler and paler.

And for me, still held in Galahad’s grip, my time was slowly coming up.

While they were bantering, I sent ten points to strength and five to agility, vitality, and spirit.

[Your Strength attribute has increased]

[Your Agility attribute has increased]

[Your Vitality attribute has increased]

[Your Spirit attribute has increased]

I needed the boost that strength was going to give me more than agility. Vitality and Spirit were necessities because those were what contributed to my stamina, both physically and spiritually.

If I didn’t have enough spiritual stamina, it would be difficult to use my Class skills.

"G-GALAHAD!!"

The Established Adept shouted and broke into a dash.

"For the sake of the deaf gods, stop shouting so much, Archer!"

Galahad turned to me and curled back his fist, about to drive it into my face, but my hands clamped around his wrist and I swung my whole body up, wrapping myself around his arm.

His blow went wild as I twisted both our bodies with the momentum. The golden liquid beneath his feet suddenly loosened and caught him off-balance causing him to slip, and sending both of us crashing to the ground.

I tasted some of the golden liquid in my mouth. It was sweet.

But I couldn’t be distracted by that. Galahad struggled against my grip and was already standing, hauling himself upright despite my entire weight pulling him down.

He punched my face a couple of times but I didn’t release my hold.

Then Archer finally closed the gap, dropping toward Galahad with a knee aimed at his skull, but Galahad sidestepped the blow, having seen it coming.

He lunged a kick forward as he sidestepped and shoved Archer away. The honeyed-skin man tumbled across the plain, rolling to a stop meters away.

Galahad turned back to me, red with anger.

"I’m going to make this the most painful day of your life."

His eyes glowed with a sickly crimson light.

’It’s coming...’

I had surmised that his Class allowed him to send false information to his opponent’s nervous system and control their motor responses for a short time.

And I was looking for a way to combat that.

But something strange happened when his eyes flared.

I felt fortresses of metal as high as mountains rise inside my head, and something was slapped back outside.

At the same time, Galahad staggered back as if a jolt of force had struck him in the face.

He caught himself awkwardly and managed to stand back up.

When he stood, his nose was bleeding. He touched it and looked at me with a mix of shock and confusion.

Then I remembered the description of the new Class trait I got.

’Ahhh... why did it take you so damn long to activate then? Did I have to take a beating first?’

My hands were not as good as they had been before Galahad restructured them with the hammer, but adding points to vitality and strength had reinvigorated them to a usable extent.

In the midst of all that, Archer returned. He closed the distance in a blink, his fists blurring as they smashed towards Galahad from different angles.

But Galahad was faster. With just a look he wrenched Archer’s arm aside and smashed the hammer into his chest.

But Archer... that man had a durable body. He didn’t go down or get thrown back a second time like the first.

He faltered for a second and gave the impact point a derisive look before continuing to throw punches at Galahad.

A few of his punches did connect, and each one sent Galahad stumbling back a couple of steps. But Galahad still had the upper hand.

When Archer closed in to land another downward punch, his fist froze mid-air. Galahad twisted his body sharply and slammed the hammer against Archer’s temple.

The Established Adept went down. But in that same space, Galahad could not move... because the ground beneath him had already been turned to golden viscous liquid and solidified around his legs.

Archer held his head and spat blood. He was standing up again, but slowly.

Meanwhile... I... I picked up a stone.

A very big one.