Kirk's eyes gleamed with confidence. With a nimble dodge, he avoided the hulking demon's charge, then followed through with a backhand slash as graceful as an antelope leaping over a cliff. Using the demon's own furious momentum, his own 21 points of Strength, and the unyielding sharpness of [Michonne's Sorrow], he carved a huge wound beneath its ribs, despite its terrifying 50–75 damage. Its black skin split open, revealing a demon bone cleaved through. Even more viciously, the fluid attack triggered the 15% chance of [Bleeding]. As the hulking demon charged onward, green blood sprayed from its wound like water from a sprinkler, until it finally collapsed.
Kirk turned coolly away. For the past few days, Spartacus, Vero, and the other gladiators had trained him and beaten him mercilessly day and night. His base attributes had barely improved, but his combat instincts and awareness had undergone a qualitative transformation.
The greatest change was that Kirk now understood the essence of combat in the Dimension. Fighting in the Dimension wasn't about having more Strength, Agility, or Stamina and being able to crush any opponent at will. Base stats weren't directly related to combat ability. A farm-raised hybrid liger might weigh a ton, but it would never be as strong a fighter as a wild male lion weighing 200 kilograms.
The secret to strength lay not only in having a high total of Strength (which, for a Contractor, meant high base attributes), but also in how that strength was applied. Technique and tactics mattered even more!
Why did Russian strongmen, with their high Strength and Stamina, get beaten to a pulp by Wong Fei-hung?
Because they focused only on strength's surface, not its essence.
Kirk's fluid, guiding slash, as graceful as an antelope leaping over a cliff, had relied mainly on the