The worst part was that he had yet to find a decorative sword while making his way to the safe room. His means of attack was starting to worry him...

'There it is!' Ed finally caught a glimpse of the bright light of the safe room. It was plainly visible from the end of the hallway.

Having found his target, Ed s.h.i.+fted to planning mode. Remembering his previous battle, he wouldn't try any ambushes.

'But a direct confrontation is also impossible' It took the area of effect damage of the fireball and a direct hit of lightning to finish him off. It all happened in less than 10 seconds, and he had a group of Skeletons to help him out then!

His s.h.i.+eld would be able to mitigate the damage but there is no doubt he would still get two shotted, not to mention it would break.

'This thing is so rusty that if I was alive I wouldn't dare touch it...' The real issue is that he couldn't hear any explosions. The magician must be trying to be careful.

He stopped near the safe room entrance and a.n.a.lyzed the battlefield. The large hallway that was connected to the room didn't leave him anywhere to hide.

(Shape is something like this

- the - is the short path leading into the room and also where he gets blocked off)

Last time he considered a long-range ambush but his only long-range skill was his level one hurl skill. He had to seriously ponder over the issue and after careful considerations, he came to a conclusion.

'It could work' He nodded to himself while thinking so. Although he was still unsure about the probability of his plan succeeding, he also believed it wouldn't get any better. But hurling stones should at the very least distract or disorient the magician long enough for him to close the distance.

Suddenly Ed had another idea, this one was quite ridiculous, however.

'Can he cast faster than I can throw? What is the range of his lightning attack?' If he receives a positive answer to both of those questions the plan might be feasible.

What's the plan? to pelt the magician to death!

No matter how weak Ed's throws end up being as long as they do some damage it would eventually acc.u.mulate. If the opponent was a warrior he wouldn't even consider something so ridiculous!

All Ed needs to do is gather some "ammunition" and place it in a pile which he could use to exhaust the magician. Even if he had to move away as long as he placed multiple piles in the vicinity the plan should work.

'Stay away from the range of his lightning attacks and throw rocks at any incoming fireb.a.l.l.s. The fireb.a.l.l.s should explode on contact.' A lightning attack in real life would be impossible but magic somehow makes it happen. Even so, it doesn't completely bypa.s.s the laws of physics in his original world.

'When I was attacked the lightning seemed to be heading towards the ground' Ed barely managed to catch a glimpse of it giving how fast the magical lightning was but it also wasn't quick enough to miss his eyes.

The lightning attack should have a relatively short range. Originally he thought the magician mainly used the fireball to attack due to its explosive nature and area of effect but the limited range of the lightning spell could have been another factor.

The only issue was if he would be able to hold his ground. If the magician pushed him too far back when he tries to avoid the lightning he could simply escape into the safe room.

'This is a pain...' The only option would be to hear which of the two directions the magician is coming from and charge towards him instead of waiting.

'But that means I'll need piles on both sides! and in a long line!' His thoughts were once again in disarray as he gnashed his teeth in frustration.

The first plan implied he had enough strength and accuracy to disorient the magician. It was a very simple and easy plan but it could just as easily fail.

'The second plan is just a large process...'

As an 18-year-old college student that loved to play video games, Ed could not be any lazier. It was already a miracle that he took the time to explore the dungeon instead of finding something fun to do, not that there was anything fun to do in the first place... It could probably be accredited to his increased mental fort.i.tude after his 24-hour isolation.

'I will just do both!' The first plan was quite simple so it didn't necessarily interfere with the second one. h.e.l.l, you could probably say they go hand in hand together.

When the moment comes he would need to decide between closing the distance or pelting the magician to death. Thinking about pelting someone to death made him tremble in disgust, however.

'It is about surviving. And not getting that penalty...' His first death already proved he can't really die. Or at least his penalties aren't severe enough for true death. Just as he was starting to see hope he realized he overlooked a very important issue...

'F*ck! The s.h.i.+eld artifact! This is hopeless! System! If I dodge the encounter what will be my penalty?' Ed was starting to panic.

[Champion will be subject to intense pain, large misdemeanors will have the subject recalled for harsher punishments]

'Ummm... How large would this misdemeanor be?' He kindly asked hoping for an amicable response.

[Extreme pain]

'You don't cut corners huh?' Ed sighed and resigned himself to fate. He chose to stick with his original plan and hope the s.h.i.+eld artifact wasn't the type that regenerates.

If he at least knew what artifact released that s.h.i.+eld he could try and come up with countermeasures, maybe s.n.a.t.c.h it or something.

Unfortunately for Ed, it was an enchantment on the magician's robe so he wouldn't be able to s.n.a.t.c.h anything regardless.

'I'll start gathering hurlable objects, I've wasted too much time just thinking.' He put his... new? bones to work and started gathering rocks from the crumbling walls all around the place.

's.h.i.+eld spells...' He let that thought run on as he tried to remember things regarding them.

There were three types of s.h.i.+eld spells, well two...

The first ones were the types that are cast one time. They don't require continuous casting in the form of mana drainage. If the spell costs 10 mana you won't continue to lose mana. The downside was that it wouldn't regenerate any damage it takes.

The second type was regenerating s.h.i.+elds. If the magician's artifact is this type then Ed's situation is completely hopeless as his damage output will not be able to keep up with the rate of regeneration. Regenerating s.h.i.+elds require constant chanting or strong focus to maintain especially when under attack.

There are some exceptions particularly the ones that regenerate independently. They usually siphon energy off some sort of mana stone so they are not possible in the form of a spell. Magic craftsmen can make these types of artifacts or trinkets.

Ed's limited knowledge flooded into his brain. If he had any facial expressions it would look grim. The situation wasn't looking good.

The hallway ran out of stones so he headed into one of the nearby rooms. There was a group of weaponless skeletons, five of them. They did see him pa.s.s by earlier but they weren't very smart and left him to his own devices. Skeletons that don't hold weapons do so for a reason, they are too dumb.

'I can't say much either though...' He still couldn't be sure if the system was making fun of him or not but his Swordsmans.h.i.+p lvl. -1 skill wasn't very rea.s.suring. His other skill hurl didn't ever have a -1. It might have had a 0 before he could check but definitely not a -1.

He put the useless thoughts aside and refocused on his plans.

'You only live once!' Or so he convinced himself as he didn't want to suffer a penalty.